Publishing updates: 3D embeds

Product: Web app

Preview your model on different device types

Now you can get a better sense of how your 3D model will appear on desktops, tablets, and smartphones when embedded into a webpage.

Use the toggle on the right side of the Publish window to switch from Desktop (default) to Tablet or Phone to preview what your model will look like when embedded on mobile devices.

By comparing the three previews against one another, you can quickly identify any changes you need to make to the Viewer size or aspect ratio to accommodate mobile embeds.

Publish your 3D model in one click—or customize your settings with ease

The new simplified layout of our Publish window will speed up your publishing process—whether you use our default publishing settings or choose to customize them to meet your needs.

Because our default publishing settings are suitable for most educational contexts, you may not need or want to make changes before you publish. If this is the case and you are happy with our default settings, simply click Copy Embed Code or Copy Link at the bottom of the window. (Not sure which format to select? See Which format should I choose when I publish my 3D model?)

Paste the resulting code or link into the HTML editor on your website, LMS, or preferred digital solution, and you can immediately start interacting in 3D!

On the other hand, let's say you want to customize, disable, or enable certain settings to better complement your learning objectives, your target device size(s), or the layout of your digital solution. (For example, if you are embedding multiple models into a single webpage, you may want to disable the "Load 3D model automatically" option to minimize your page's load times.)

Now you can simply click on a settings category you want to customize—such as Viewer Size, Anatomy Labels, or Toolbars—and the settings available for that category will appear below. 

The settings categories are collapsed by default so you can select the ones you want to customize and skip over the ones you do not. But if you want to expand them all at once, just click Expand all.

To collapse all open categories, click Collapse all.

Once you have adjusted the publishing settings to your liking, again, all you need to do is click Copy Embed Code or Copy Link at the bottom of the window, and paste the resulting code or link into your website, LMS, or preferred digital solution.

 

Make your Viewer responsive

You can now publish a responsive embed code from the Publish tool.

With a fixed embed code, the width and height of the Human Viewer powering your 3D model remain the same at all times, regardless of the size of the screen or the container in which it is embedded. Depending on how and where your embedded models will be accessed, this may result in important tools or parts of the 3D model going off-screen on mobile devices, as you can see here:

A responsive embed code, on the other hand, causes the width of the Viewer to automatically adjust based on the size of the screen or container; specifically, it fills the entire width of the container in which it is embedded. This ensures your end users are able to view and interact with the 3D model in its entirety and access all of the available exploration tools regardless of the device they are using.

Our responsive embed code setting additionally offers three preset aspect ratios to choose from:

• Standard (4:3)
• Widescreen (16:9)
• Square (1:1)

Establishing a single aspect ratio for your Viewer provides a consistent and predictable experience across multiple device types and sizes. You can learn more about aspect ratios here: Working with responsive 3D embeds.

 

Enable or disable media controls

Now you can customize the media controls that will be displayed in your animated 3D models or chapters. (This was previously possible only by manually adding a string called a URL parameter to your link or embed code.)

Under Media Controls, you can now choose to:

• Show or hide audio controls when audio is available in a given chapter. When enabled, the Play Audio icon appears in the upper-left corner of the 3D scene and the words "Play Audio" appear on hover.

Default:

On hover:

• Choose your animation controls preferences: 
  • Show all (play/pause button & scrubber). This is the default setting and is recommended for animations that illustrate a process so the end user can use the scrubber and speed controls to explore the content at their own pace.
    
  • Only show play/pause button. If deeper exploration is not necessary for a particular animation, this option will reduce the clutter in your Viewer.
    
  • Do not show. This option should only be selected if you do not want the end user to be able to control the animation. Not recommended in most situations.
    

 

Hide all UI elements

If you are publishing your model for a screen recording, you now have the option to disable all of the user interface (UI) elements in the Viewer, including:

• Anatomy labels
• The information panel
• Media controls
• Toolbars (3D controls, Explore tools, Undo, and Menu)

 

Reset settings to our defaults

We now offer a "Reset to Default" button that resets all of the publishing settings to our default settings.  

 

Publishing updates: 2D images

Product: Web app

Publish your 2D image in one click—or customize your settings with ease

The 2D image publishing experience shares the same simplified layout as the 3D model publishing experience. 

The publishing settings are organized into four easy-to-understand categories—Image Size, File Type, Background Color, and Labels. Simply click on a category you want to customize and the settings available for that category will appear below. 

The settings categories are collapsed by default so you can select the ones you want to customize and skip over the ones you do not. But if you want to expand them all at once, just click Expand all.

To collapse all open categories, click Collapse all.

Once you have adjusted the settings to your liking, select Download Image in the lower-left corner of the window. Then you can take the image, which will now be stored in your device's downloads folder, and drop it into any website or application.

 

Other 2D publishing updates

With this update we have made a few additional improvements to the 2D image publishing experience.

1. A new Hide all labels option under "Labels" enables you to create clean and uncluttered images.
   
2. Three new presets under "Background Color" make it easy to change your background color to white or black, or return to the chapter's original background color.
   
3. Our redesigned custom color picker is easier to access via the Custom button.
   
   

 

Add audio to your 3D models and tours

Product: Human Studio

Turn your 3D models into an even more engaging, multi-sensory experience by enabling automated text to speech narration or uploading your own custom audio files.

 

Enable text to speech narration

When enabled, our new text to speech narration feature reads your chapter descriptions out loud—in all eight of our supported languages—when the Play Audio button is clicked in your published 3D model. 

Text to speech narration enables learners to absorb complementary information about a 3D model while allowing them to maintain their focus on the interactive visuals. Presenting visual and verbal information together can also facilitate more effective information recall, leading to better learning outcomes.

Enable text to speech narration in any chapter in a 3D model by taking the following steps:

1. Hover over the model in Explore or My Library.

2. Select Customize in Studio at the bottom of the model's tile.

3. In the Chapters panel on the left, select a chapter and click the Edit Info button to open the Content Manager window.
   
4. Scroll down to the Audio section. The drop-down menu should currently read "No Audio."
5. Select Text to Speech Narration from the drop-down menu.
6. (Optional) To preview the narration audio as it will sound to end users, click Listen to narration.
   
7. (Optional) Repeat as desired for other chapters, or click on the Apply audio settings to all chapters icon next to the Audio header.
   
8. Click Done.

9. Click Save in the lower-right corner of the page to save your changes.

Our system detects the language in which your chapter description is written and reads the text in the appropriate language and accent. For example, a chapter description written in Spanish will be narrated in Spanish with a Spanish accent, as you can hear in this example:

 

Once text to speech narration has been enabled in your 3D model, you can test the end user experience by opening the model from My Library and clicking the Play Audio button in the upper-left corner of the 3D scene, next to the information panel.

This Play Audio button is enabled by default when you publish your model, but you can optionally disable it under Media Controls:

 

Upload your own audio files

In addition to our automated text to speech narration option, you can now upload audio files to any 3D model or chapter in the BioDigital Human. This option is ideal if you prefer to record your own narration or would like to add a different type of auditory information—such as instructions or even heart or breath sounds—to your models.

Just like our text to speech narration feature, clicking the Play Audio button in your published 3D model triggers the uploaded audio files to play.

Upload audio files to any chapter in a 3D model by taking the following steps:

1. Hover over the model in Explore or My Library.

2. Select Customize in Studio at the bottom of the model's tile.

3. In the Chapters panel on the left, select a chapter and click the Edit Info button to open the Content Manager window.
   
4. Scroll down to the Audio section. The drop-down menu should currently read "No Audio."
5. Select Audio File from the drop-down menu.
6. If applicable, select your audio language from the drop-down menu.
   
7. Drag and drop your audio file into the Audio block or use the browse function to find and add your audio file manually.
   
8. (Optional) Repeat as desired for other chapters.
   
   • Note: If you click on the Apply audio settings to all chapters icon next to the Audio header, the audio file that you upload to the active chapter will be uploaded to all of the other chapters currently in your tour.
9. Click Done.

10. Click Sav in the lower-right corner of the page to save your changes.

Our audio file requirements are as follows:

• One (1) audio file per language per chapter
• Allowable file types: .aac, .mp3, .mp4
• Maximum file size: 50 MB

Once you have uploaded audio files to your 3D model, you can test the end user experience by opening the model from My Library and clicking the Play Audio button in the upper-left corner of the 3D scene, next to the information panel.

This Play Audio button is enabled by default when you publish your model, but you can optionally disable it under Media Controls: