We’re going to take a break from the weekly Slide Cow PowerPoint tutorials. Instead, let’s focus on something HUGE that Microsoft just rolled out for the Microsoft Office suite; 3D Models!
That’s right! You, as a presenter, can now import 3D models into your PowerPoint slides.
I’m not talking about some 3D image that we can stick on a slide canvas. I’m talking about legitimately using a 3D Model file in your PowerPoint slide; an object you can scale, rotate, and play around with however you’d like. You may think that sounds complicated, but it really isn’t. In fact, PowerPont’s 3D Model feature is straightforward; all you have to do is import a 3D file into your slide, and get to work.
Confused? Don’t be. Watch the video to get an idea of what I’m talking about.
Wait, what? How can I do this?
Go to the Insert tab, and you may notice (more on that later) a little button in there named “3D Models.” When you click it, can start importing specific 3D Model file types, which appears to be the only option available right now. That said, it looks like Microsoft is planning to bring in another option where users can pick and choose specific 3D objects they’d like from a set library that is connected to the Remix 3D platform. Microsoft’s Paint 3D looks like another 3D platform that can also be used to make and import 3D models into PowerPoint slides.
But I don’t have that button in my Insert tab!
Let me try and explain what’s going on.
The 3D Model feature is part of an Office 365 update, which means you need to be subscribed to Office 365 to have this feature downloaded and installed as a newer version of your PowerPoint software.
As far as I’m aware, people who use earlier versions of PowerPoint (e.g., 2010 or 2013) won’t have access to this feature. In fact, I found out that some of my colleagues and friends who have PowerPoint 2016, but are not subscribed to Office 365 don’t have access to 3D Models either.
Oh, and it gets weirder.
Apparently, this feature was rolled out in waves; some users received it before others.
I didn’t have access to this feature until last week, but I found a few blogs who had access to this feature as early as July.
It ain’t all that bad, though.
Putting all the shenanigans aside, this feature is a real game changer.
Can you imagine what you can do with this thing? You can take an audience on a story surrounding just one model. Say you had a detailed 3D model of a hotel; you can take your audience on a journey in and around the hotel! You can show off things from bird’s eye view while also zooming into one of the rooms from a window. How cool is that?
That said, I do foresee a few problems for the next year or two, especially since this is a brand new feature. I expect non-tech savvy users to struggle with using this feature “correctly.” I’m also pretty sure that there are going to be compatibility issues since some users will have access to 3D Models, and others don’t.
Nonetheless, these are just short-term disadvantages. Once this thing becomes a norm, we’re going to see some stellar presentations come up in the future.
The Slide Cow Take
I don’t think I’m going to make any 3D Model tutorials soon because not everyone has access to this feature just yet. Once this rolls out full-scale though, you can be damn sure I’m going to go crazy with it on the Slide Cow platform.
