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. For an FBX geometry the command reads Recompute Tangents when the geometry already has tangents. 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. For glTF, GLB, and OBJ the command is disabled on a primitive that already has texture coordinates. For an FBX geometry that already has them, the command reads Recompute Texcoords and replaces the existing coordinates with a new unwrap.
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.