Hello Twinmotion Team,
I am currently testing the Twinmotion 2026.2 Preview and noticed that support for .3ds file imports has been deprecated. I am requesting that the team reconsiders and maintains .3ds support, as it is an essential pipeline for those of us drafting in Chief Architect .
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Native Export Limitations: Chief Architect does not natively export to
.fbx,.obj, or.udatasmith, and there is no dedicated Datasmith Direct Link plugin available for the software. -
Material Hierarchy Control: The
.3dsformat is the only reliable export method that inherently preserves our material-centric hierarchy out of Chief Architect. It allows us to retain precise control over individual architectural components and material scoping without identical items collapsing into a single uneditable mesh. -
Cumbersome Workarounds: Removing
.3dsforces Chief Architect users to export as a Collada (.dae) file, import it into a third-party intermediary program like Blender, force-embed the image files, and export it as an.fbx. This adds significant friction to daily workflows and increases the risk of broken texture paths.
Retaining .3ds support ensures that the architectural user base relying on Chief Architect can continue integrating with Twinmotion smoothly. Thank you for your time and consideration.