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FAQ

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© New Art City

FAQ

Basics

What is New Art City?

New Art City is a an accessible toolkit for building virtual installations that show born-digital artifacts alongside digitized works of traditional media.

What is a "space" in New Art City?

Each space is a unique URL where visitors can view an exhibition. Some exhibitions consist of multiple spaces connected by URL Portals, which could be for stylistic reasons or because the page load time was too great for a single space.

More about spaces:

📍Spaces Overview

Artwork Sales & NFTs

Can I sell artwork and NFTs using New Art City?

We allow creators to attach hyperlinks to any artwork that they upload, which can be used to link to any NFT platform that you are using.

Preservation

How can I archive and preserve my exhibition after it's over?

We are currently working on an export feature that allows room owners to generate a ZIP folder containing all the necessary files to host their room long-term on any webserver. This feature will generate a static webpage, and does not include features for multiplayer, livestreaming or editing.

Media

What media formats can be shown in New Art City?

Images, videos, audio, 3D files and even documents.

More about file formats:

📍File Format Guidelines

Are there size limitations for media?

For optimal performance across devices, we recommend that rooms stay under 40 megabytes. Keep an eye on your room size with the performance budget feature in the top right hand corner of the edit page.

There are no strict limits for individual file sizes in a room, but every additional file increases the load time of the page. Media is automatically converted into optimized formats, but per-file there is an upload limit of 500MB.

Specifics about file formats:

📍File Format Guidelines

How do I make a 3D model smaller to improve my room's performance?

We recommend that artists decimate their models to reduce polygon count, and compress textures. We have a guide for this linked below, and there are third party tools such as RapidCompact for this.

More info about reducing 3D model size, and other tips:

📍How to Improve Performance

How do I convert non-supported file types to file types that are NAC compatible?

New Art City supports several file formats and we add more as needed. However, since there are so many different types of 3D file formats, it may be necessary to convert your file before uploading it. The easiest way to convert non-supported file types is to import them into a 3D modeling tool such as Blender and then export them in GLB/GLTF format.

Where can I find 3d objects for my world?

There are many different places online to find free and low-cost 3D objects in glb, fbx and obj format. Some of our favorites include:

You can also create your own 3D models in Blender, a free 3D computer graphics tool. See our guide, Blender for New Art City.

What are the best apps for creating 3D scans?

Photogrammetry can capture 3D models of physical spaces and objects, although you will need to be mindful of file sizes. Some apps to check out are Polycam, Trnio, 3D Creator, Sitescape, Scann3D, and Canvas.

How do I add lights in New Art City?

There are a few different ways to add lights to your room. The first is to use the lights provided in the New Art City Shape Library. You can find them here: https://newart.city/show/free. The second is to export lights from Blender.  For best results, make sure they’re around 2.5 watts. Lastly, you can use Blender to bake lighting directly into your model. If you choose this approach, make sure to include punctual lights in your export.

More Info on Creating Lights:

📍Blender for New Art City

Does New Art City support animations?

Yes! New Art City supports animations that are baked into a GLB/GLTF or FBX file.

How do I set the spawn position and spawn height for my room?

Access Players & Controls in your room's 2D Gallery Editor, and then choose the start point coordinates that you would like.

How do I enable flying for visitors to my room?

Flight mode is now a built in feature! Access Players & Controls in your room's 2D Gallery Editor, and then choose "flying" under "travel mode".

How do I teleport within a gallery?

In your room's 2D Gallery Editor, use the button "add URL portal", choose the same room you are currently in, and enter the coordinates you want to teleport to.

How do I disable clicking on artwork or prevent it from appearing in the catalog?

To disable clicking on an artwork or to prevent a work from appearing in the catalog, simply remove its title in your room's 2D Gallery Editor.

What is the scale of a New Art City room?

1 meter is equal to 6 units in New Art City.  The default player eye level is set at a height of 10 units, or 1.66m (5.45ft).

Can I add collisions to objects in New Art City?

Currently, New Art City does not support object collisions.

Can I change the text color or appearance of a portal in New Art City?

Currently, all portals look the same in New Art City.

User & Editor Experience

Does New Art City meet accesibility standards?

Each 3D gallery comes with an automatically generated 2D catalog, which is friendly to assistive technologies. This is an area that we are actively improving and seeking feedback on. Please read more in our article:

Can you republish or make edits to an already published show?

Yes! You can edit and publish a show as many times as you would like. "Publishing" just means that whatever you see in the preview mode will be accessible through the public URL.

Technology

Is New Art City compatible with VR headsets?

No, but we have built it in a way where this will be possible in the future.

What technology is New Art City running on?

The gallery view is built using the open source 3D rendering library, three.js. Everything else is a custom system using standard web technology.

Question Not Answered?

Click the contact link on our homepage to send a message.