Troublesome 3d object reflection

Question

Dear Microsoft team,

Please provide users with the option to remove reflections from inserted 3D objects. Are you not aware that these reflections make objects unclear? There is a forum response suggesting removal of "am3d:ambientLight" and "am3d:ptLight" in the extracted XML from the PPT file, but this process is complicated for normal people. When the files are compressed back into a PPT, they become unreadable and require repair, then the results in the file not being openable.
this problem is old and there is no follow up from you guys.
Thank you.

Answer 1

I agree that Microsoft should include more controls in the program for handling 3D models. But until they do that, we're stuck with XML editing.

One of my specialties is writing about editing XML to solve programs in Office, particularly in PowerPoint. If you can post before and after samples where you have inserted a 3D model, then tried to edit the XML, I'll post a step-by-step method here, and also write an article to help others facing the same problem. Upload files to a cloud server, then post share links here. These don't have to be actual files you use, just dummy samples that show what problem you're trying to solve and what goes wrong when you edit the XML.

Answer 2

Great idea, John. Above and beyond!

Answer 3

>> However, reflections often render designs overly bright and even obscure

Frustrating!

On this forum we're either volunteers or paid support staff, but not on the development team for PowerPoint. We can't change the product to solve this problem. But please use the File | Feedback feature in PowerPoint to report this issue; when you do that, it DOES go directly to the developers.

If you do that, upload a sample 3D model to OneDrive or the like and include the link to it in your feedback report. Reproducible problems with actual sample files are much more likely to get attention from the devs.

Answer 4

Thank you for your response. I have attempted extraction and compression using both 7zip and the built-in Windows Explorer, yet the files still required repair and remained inaccessible. I also tried using editorlike Notepad++ and VSCode, but the files still needed repair and wouldn't open. The only successful method was editing directly within 7zip, allowing the file to be opened.

Yes, power point is not a 3d editor and I know that. All 3d files that I import always get annoying reflections.
My purpose inquiring here is that the 3D import feature is highly beneficial for project presentations, especially for those involved in design. However, reflections often render designs overly bright and even obscure. In my opinion, as a design-oriented user, the best approach would be the ability to remove reflections directly, particularly if this feature could avoid the tedious r xml and fixing process.

Nevertheless, I appreciate your attention to this matter.

Answer 5

>> There is a forum response suggesting removal of "am3d:ambientLight" and "am3d:ptLight" in the extracted XML from the PPT file, but this process is complicated for normal people. When the files are compressed back into a PPT, they become unreadable and require repair, then the results in the file not being openable.

PowerPoint isn't a 3D editor; it's more of a playback engine. My guess is that it's not likely to become a 3D editor any time soon either.

If the lighting settings are part of the 3D object embedded in PPT, you'd probably need to open the original model in a 3D editor and make any needed changes there.

As to the problem of PPT files becoming unreadable after you edit the XML, that's usually because an edit has made the xml non-compliant or it's been compressed and re-inserted incorrectly; easy to do, since the whole process is very finicky.

If you want to pursue the XML editing fix, I'd STRONGLY suggest installing 7-Zip, a free program that lets you open PPTX/etc files directly, no need to change the file extension, and if you do a bit of extra setup, you can open and edit individual XML components from within the open archive and have them automatically update (correctly!) back into the original PPTX.

If you don't already have a decent XML editor, Notepad++ with the XML editing plugins makes a good addition to your toolkit. Also free.