How to Download Luxology Files for PhotoView 360

This guide describes how to add appearances to the selection set of appearances included in SOLIDWORKS Professional or SOLIDWORKS Premium software packages. 

PhotoView 360 Appearances

PhotoView 360 appearances allow SOLIDWORKS users to more accurately represent their 3D models graphically. With appearances, users can create models with a transparent appearance that actually looks like glass or plastic, or create a model that has a polished or brushed brass finish. A user can create original appearances also. This document will describe how to download and use the appearances from the shared resources on the Luxology website.

How to Download More Appearances

Click the link https://community.foundry.com/pv360 to go to the Luxology site, then click “Take me to the Assets” to view the gallery of PhotoView 360 appearances. Appearance files can be downloaded from here.

How to Use Downloaded Appearances

The files downloaded from the Luxology site will be zip files. Place these in a folder and unzip them. Once unzipped, find the *.lxp file and the indel.xml file. Note that the *.lxp will work without the *.xml files, so if the *.xml files get over-written, as they may if more appearance files get put in the same folder, then the appearance files will still work. Also note that SOLIDWORKS does not operate well if a folder is named the same thing as another folder that it references in another location, so make sure the folder is named something other than what the SOLIDWORKS folders are named (for example, do not name the folder “Plastic” or “Metal”).

The folder location for the appearance files is not important, but should be separate from the standard appearance files. Once a folder has been established for the files, SOLIDWORKS will need to be pointed to the folder. To do so, click on the Appearances, Scenes and Decals tab on the right side of SOLIDWORKS then click on the button to add a file location. Refer to the screenshot below.

Once the appearance files are referenced by SOLIDWORKS, they can be applied to a model. Please note there are restrictions on some of the files in terms of the ability to edit their characteristics. The screenshot below shows a model with and without the Fire appearance applied.