Imported OBJ from an STL won't properly apply asset store materials

Questions & Answers
1

Hey Guys,

I’m a CAD guy and not so much a 3D modeler, so I made a model in a CAD program and exported it as STL, then converted that STL to an OBJ format and was able to import it into Unity3D just fine. Now the problem I’m having is that I’d like to just throw on some free materials I found on the asset store to just get me up and running, but I’m finding that I can’t apply materials. They just end up as a solid color and not a texture. Any reason why this is occurring? What’s the best way to get around this. I’m not looking to do anything major with this project, I’d just like a few simple materials on a simple 3D model. Here’s a screenshot of what it looks like in the editor:

2

To apply a textured material onto an object, it must have UV mapping information assigned to the vertices.

In 3D modelling software such as Maya, Blender, 3DS max etc. this is a pretty basic operation - for CAD software I’m guessing it might not be so relevant. You don’t mention what CAD software you’re using - but does it have a function called UV unwrap / texture unwrap, something like that, prior to exporting the model? If not, a cursory Google search reveals various software that claims to be able to assign texture coordinates to arbitrary 3D models - you could try one of those.