Geometry operations
The Resources tab carries operations that act on geometry rather than on the scene graph. They are reached from the menu on a mesh, geometry, or primitive row.
Geometry operations are available for glTF, GLB, and OBJ, with a subset for FBX.
Splitting
A mesh that holds several primitives, or an OBJ mesh that holds several element groups, can be broken apart so that each piece becomes a node of its own and can be transformed, hidden, or assigned a material independently.
| Command | Where | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Split Into Nodes | A glTF primitive, or an FBX geometry | That primitive becomes its own node |
| Split Elements Into Nodes | An OBJ mesh with several primitives | Each element group becomes its own node |
| Split Into Objects | An OBJ primitive | The primitive becomes its own object |
Faces and normals
| Command | Scope | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Flip Faces | One primitive | Reverses the winding order, which turns the surface inside out |
| Flip All Faces | A whole mesh | The same, across every primitive |
| Recompute Normals | One primitive | Recalculates vertex normals from the geometry |
| Recompute All Normals | A whole mesh | The same, across every primitive |
Flipping faces is the fix for a model that renders inside out. The Face Orientation visualizer shows which faces are affected: red on the outside of a closed surface means the winding is reversed.
Tangents
Normal mapping requires tangents. A primitive that has normals and texture coordinates but no tangents can generate them:
| Command | Scope |
|---|---|
| Generate Tangents | One primitive |
| Generate All Tangents | A whole mesh |
| Regenerate Tangents | A primitive that already has them |
The command is disabled for a primitive that lacks normals or texture coordinates, since neither can be inferred. The Tangents visualizer marks primitives without tangents in magenta.
Texture coordinates
Generate Texcoords computes a UV unwrap for a primitive that has none, which is what allows a texture to be applied to it at all. The command is disabled on a primitive that already has texture coordinates.
Unwrapping is expensive on a dense mesh, so it runs in the background and the model cannot be edited again until it finishes. Check the result with the UV Checker visualizer: the checker pattern should stay square and evenly sized across the surface.
Making a shared resource unique
A mesh, camera, or light referenced by several nodes can be made unique to the selected node from that node's card in the Node tab. This is the step to take before editing a resource that several nodes share when the change should apply to only one of them.