Importing AI 3D Models into Blender: GLB, FBX and OBJ

GLB / glTF

The glTF 2.0 add-on is enabled by default; if the menu entry is missing, enable it under Preferences > Add-ons. Import options listed in the manual:

• Merge Vertices. The manual lists it as an import option; the manual explains that glTF stores discontinuous normals, UVs and other attributes as separate vertices, but the part we read does not state the default or the full effect, so if shading looks wrong, import with it on and off and compare.
• Shading, Lighting Mode (Standard, Unitless, Raw deprecated). See the manual for what each Lighting Mode does; we did not confirm it.
• Pack Images packs the images into the .blend, which helps if you move the file and do not want broken texture paths.
• Import WebP textures / Import KTX textures, Bone Direction, Guess Original Bind Pose, Import Scenes as Collections, Select Imported Objects.

Why GLB first: the glTF 2.0 specification defines +Y up and meters (the Blender glTF manual page itself states only the +Y up export convention), while the sources we read give no unit for OBJ or STL and we could not confirm FBX’s default; see scale, pivot and axis fixes. Note that “GLB” is a container, not a quality statement.

FBX

The manual documents an FBX importer with these options: Scale, Custom Properties, Enums As Strings; under Geometry, Custom Normals, Subdivision Data, Vertex Colors (None / sRGB / Linear); under Materials, Material Name Collision (Make Unique / Reference Existing); Animation Offset; and Armature Ignore Leaf Bones. Each FBX take becomes its own Action. The 5.2 page names the importer operator bpy.ops.wm.fbx_import and says export is handled by the FBX add-on (bpy.ops.export_scene.fbx); it gives no File > Import label, lists no export options, and does not mention a legacy importer, though a fbx_legacy page exists in the manual tree. Check File > Import in your install to see which FBX entry is offered. Two options matter for AI files: Custom Normals (otherwise Blender computes them) and Ignore Leaf Bones (drops the last bone of each chain, which only marks the previous bone’s length). If materials arrive blank, check whether the textures came as separate files next to the FBX.

OBJ

OBJ stores geometry and refers to materials in a companion MTL file (the Library of Congress describes mtllib, usemtl, newmtl, Kd, map_Kd and so on). It has no lights, and the page mentions no units, skinning or animation. PBR support in MTL is uneven, so metallic and roughness maps may not link up. Keep the MTL and texture files in the same folder when importing. Use OBJ for static props only when GLB is not available.

Vendor add-ons

Meshy’s pricing page lists a Blender plugin (Pro and above), and Rodin’s homepage lists Blender among its plug-ins. This page is deliberately about files from any generator; if you use a vendor add-on, follow its documentation, and see Meshy and Tripo for how they fit a workflow. We have not evaluated any add-on.

What to check on arrival

1. Object count. One mesh or dozens? Many pieces is the signature of a fragmented AI mesh; see repairing holes, floaters and broken pieces.
2. Dimensions in the sidebar against a real reference.
3. Triangle count, via viewport statistics. AI exports can be far denser than a game budget.
4. Materials and textures. Do the images load? Does Base Color carry baked shadows? Is there a normal map?
5. UVs. Open the UV editor and look for dense, fragmented islands.
6. Normals. Shade in solid view; dark patches may be flipped faces.

Record these in your own notes; they decide the route through the full pipeline. Format trade-offs are discussed in GLB vs FBX vs OBJ.

Fixing the common arrival problems: exact menu paths

All paths below are from the Blender manual source on the blender-v5.2-release branch, read 2026-11-08.

1. Apply transforms. In Object Mode, select the object and use Object > Apply > Location, Rotation, Scale, or Rotation & Scale (shortcut Ctrl-A). There is no single “All Transforms” item in that menu; “All Transforms to Deltas” is a different operation that moves the values into delta channels, so do not pick it by mistake. The Redo Last panel has a Corrective Flip Normals option for the case where a negative scale is applied. Apply scale before baking, collision or export; the engine pages (Godot export notes) recommend applying object transforms before export.
2. Set the origin. In Object Mode, Object > Set Origin offers Geometry to Origin (moves the mesh to the object’s origin), Origin to Geometry (moves the origin to the center of the object), Origin to 3D Cursor and Origin to Center of Mass. The manual also lists a Center choice, Median Point or Bounding Box Center, for the origin placement. For a prop that sits on a floor you usually want the origin at the base, which means placing the 3D cursor there first and using Origin to 3D Cursor. The manual also documents Affect Only Origins (in Tool Settings > Options) for moving an origin by hand without moving the geometry; it does not give a more specific path.
3. Recalculate normals. In Edit Mode, select all, then Mesh > Normals > Recalculate Outside (Shift-N). Recalculate Inside (Shift-Ctrl-N) points them inward. The manual says the mesh does not need to be a closed volume for this. Mesh > Normals > Flip reverses selected faces by hand. To see the result, turn on the Face Orientation overlay (the manual names the property show_face_orientation; it did not give the popover label in the text we read).
4. Merge duplicate vertices, remove strays, fill holes. In Edit Mode: Mesh > Clean up > Merge by Distance (options Merge Distance, Unselected, Sharp Edges), Mesh > Clean up > Delete Loose, and Mesh > Clean up > Fill Holes (option Sides, where 0 fills all). Delete Loose and Fill Holes are covered in repairing holes and floaters.

Not confirmed: the label and location of the Statistics overlay (the page we tried returned 404), and whether menu names are identical in 4.5 LTS.

Troubleshooting table

The causes are what the documentation implies or general practice; they are not measured on any generator’s files.

What goes wrong

• Textures missing: FBX/OBJ external files not found; or Pack Images was off and files moved.
• Model appears huge, tiny, or rotated: convention mismatch, usually FBX or OBJ.
• Black or flat shading: materials failed to import, or normals are inverted.
• Slow viewport: a multi-hundred-thousand-triangle mesh; work on a reduced duplicate.

Stop at import when the model is visible, correctly sized, and textured. All fixes after that belong on the other cleanup pages.

This page is part of the Cleaning Up AI 3D Models section.