VIDEO COPILOT | After Effects Tutorials, Plug-ins and Stock Footage for Post Production Professionals

Element 3D V2.2 Help Home

What's New

Installation and Compatibility

Installing Element 3D Specifications & Requirements Installing VCP model packs Updating Element from a previous version

Importing 3D Objects into Element

Importing 3D Objects Supported 3D Formats Exporting 3D Objects for Element 3D Exporting 3D Objects from C4D Object Transform and Anchor Point Settings Importing Pre-Fractured Geometry 3D Object Troubleshooting Baked Animation Sequences Exporting Animated 3D Sequences

Texturing & Materials

Building Materials in Element 3D Material Texture Slots Physical Shaders Standard Shaders Texture Channel Pop-up Environment Textures (reflection map) Reflect Mode Subsurface Scattering Wireframe Material Presets Supported Image Formats Surface & UV Mapping Animated Video Textures Normal Bump Map Creation Minimizing Texture Artifacts Pro Shaders Advanced Material Options Opacity Maps Auto Map Size Limit

Animating 3D Objects

Animation Engine 3D Object Groups Unified Render Particle Replicator Particle Look Baked Animation Options Multi-Object Mode Deform Adjusting the Anchor Point Group Utilities & Null Objects Obj Export Utility World Transform

Extruding 3D Text & Mask Shapes

Extruding Text Use Layer as UV Bevel Presets Bevel Options Tessellation Options

User Interface (Scene Setup)

Scene Setup Hotkeys Preferences Adjusting UI Panels

Compositing Element 3D

Using Depth Compositing World Position Matte Using a Mask with an Element Layer Custom Layer Maps Using Matte Shadow plane Element 3D with 3D Camera Trackers Element 3D & Lens Flare Obscuration Custom Environment maps

Camera & Lighting

Camera Setup Lighting Controls

Render Settings

Physical Environment Lighting Shadows Subsurface Scattering Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) Matte Shadow Fog Motion Blur Depth of Field Glow Reflection Ray-Tracer Camera Cutoff Tips for Large Resolution Comps Render Order & Opacity Maps Optimizing Render Settings & Performance

Sharing & Transferring Projects

Transferring Element 3D Projects and Assets Relinking missing files

Troubleshooting

Licensing Problems Model Browser Empty Plug-In Not Opening Render Problems Installer Errors Unable To Find Solution? MacOS Catalina Issue

FAQ

Element V1 Updates

Element 3D v1.6 Element 3D v1.5

Home > Sharing & Transferring Projects > Relinking missing files

Relinking missing files

File Relink Options
Element 3D allows you to replace or relink missing Textures & 3D Models when files are moved or assets are not found. This can happen when a project is downloaded or transferred to another computer or when a drive is unplugged.

Missing Files Warning
Element 3D automatically detects if files in the scene are missing. Choosing yes allows you to select the location of the missing files so they can be relinked.

HOW IT WORKS:

1. Missing Files List displays the name of the missing files
2. The Search Location will try to find the missing files so you do not have to select one file at a time.
Search Depth will look inside sub-folders for missing files.
3. By clicking Relink, Element 3D will search for the missing files.
4. Repeat these steps by selecting different folders until all assets are located.

File List Button
Shows a complete list of missing files.

Select Folder Button
Opens up folder browser to look for files.

Search Depth
Choose how many sub-folders to look in.

Option Buttons
Set options before choosing Relink to
limit what gets changed.

Relink
Press relink to execute search in the
selected folder.

REMOVING UNUSED MATERIALS:

If unused materials contain missing assets, Element 3D may still try to locate these files. To automatically remove unused materials: Select the option from the Material Browser to Remove Unused Materials.

Replace or Swap your 3D Model
To swap a 3D model and reuse the materials, you can Right-Click on the object and choose Replace Model. This is useful when using multiple versions of a single model with revisions to the model design.

Live Updating of 3D Objects and Textures
Element 3D will automatically detect if a 3D model or has been changed and reload the file. If you have trouble seeing the change, try restarting After Effects and clearing the Element 3D Model Cache inside the preferences.

COLLECT FILES NOTE:

When using the “Collect Files” function inside of After Effects, models and are not able to be collected.
Files must be manually collected and relinked when transferred.