Transforms
A node's local transform is edited in two places that write the same values: the Transform card in the Node tab, and the gizmo in the viewport. Dragging the gizmo updates the fields live, and typing in a field moves the gizmo.
Transform editing is available for glTF, GLB, FBX, and OBJ.
The Transform card
The card holds Position, Rotation, and Scale, each as three axis fields. Rotation is displayed and entered as Euler angles in degrees, and stored as a quaternion. A node whose transform was authored as a 4×4 matrix is presented decomposed into the same three rows.
Scale axes are locked together by default so that a model scales uniformly.
The gizmo
Selecting a mesh node draws a gizmo at the node's pivot. Two tools are available from the toolbar's tool cluster:
| Tool | Keyboard | Handles |
|---|---|---|
| Move | W | Translation along each axis, and rotation |
| Scale | S | Scale along each axis |
Press L to switch the gizmo between world and local axes. These keys apply only while a gizmo is on screen and no modifier is held, and they are ignored while a text field has focus.
Instanced copies
When an instanced copy is selected rather than the node that draws it, the gizmo moves to that copy's own position and the drag edits only that placement. See Selecting.
What each format stores
- glTF and GLB store the transform natively as translation, rotation, and scale, or as a matrix.
- FBX stores it natively. Solidly solves the values back through the node's pivots so that a transform set in Solidly lands in the same place when the file is reopened elsewhere. A save carrying node edits re-applies Solidly's Y-up and centimetre normalization to the document, so the written file declares those axis and unit settings.
- OBJ has no node transform. A transform set on an OBJ partition is baked into that partition's vertex data when the file is written.
Orientation for STL and PLY
These formats have one surface and no node, so they have no transform card. The Info tab's Auto Orient rotates the surface upright, and the rotation is applied to the geometry on save.
Rotating the whole model
Edit ▸ Rotate Model turns the whole model by a quarter turn, for every format. It is intended for a model that opens lying on its side or upside down. The six turns are named for the directions you see on screen, and each one is an exact 90° turn about the world axis nearest to that direction.
| Command | Shortcut | Turns the model |
|---|---|---|
| Turn Left 90° | ⌥⌘← | To the left, about the vertical axis |
| Turn Right 90° | ⌥⌘→ | To the right, about the vertical axis |
| Tip Back 90° | ⌥⌘↑ | So that the top moves away from you |
| Tip Forward 90° | ⌥⌘↓ | So that the top moves towards you |
| Roll Left 90° | — | Anticlockwise, about the viewing direction |
| Roll Right 90° | — | Clockwise, about the viewing direction |
For STL, PLY, STEP, IGES, and 3MF files, the Info tab's Orientation section offers the same six turns as buttons.
Every turn can be undone with ⌘Z. What a turn changes depends on whether the format can be saved:
| Format | Effect of a turn |
|---|---|
| glTF, GLB, FBX, and OBJ | Every top-level node of the scene turns about the model's centre, as one edit that the next save writes |
| STL and PLY | The surface turns, and the rotation is applied to the geometry on save, as it is for Auto Orient |
| Gaussian splat PLY | Only the view turns. The file is not marked as edited, and saving writes the splats in their original orientation |
| USD, STEP, IGES, and 3MF | Only the view turns. The file is not marked as edited, and reopening it shows its original orientation |
An animation that drives a top-level node's transform would override a turn applied to that node. When the scene has such a node, the turn places the model under a new top-level node named Rotation, which carries the turn.