3d models

A 3D model node holds one model as a list of operations: sketch this, extrude that, sweep a wire, cut a hole. The list is the model. Change an operation or a parameter and the shape is rebuilt from the list, in your browser.

The same node is a part you can export as STEP, a ring you sculpt and cast, a garment draped on a body, or a circuit board. What changes is the mode you work in.

how it fits

• Add one from the dock: Add nodes, models & assets ▸ 3D model. A pixie arrives with it, the node's resident modeler.
• Parameters are named numbers (and text) that operations read. You can wire another node into one, so a table row or a sandbox can resize the model.
• Exports are the node's output ports. A STEP, a GLB or a render goes out through a wire to the next node.
• Several nodes can share a canvas; one model can place another as a reference (assembly).

the card

On the canvas the node is a 320 px card: its name, the current mode, a status dot, a live preview, and three sections.

section	what it holds
references	pictures, model files and other models' exports it places. + offers From this canvas and From another project.
parameters	one row per parameter you exposed, each with its own input handle on the left.
exports	one row per file it makes, with its format, size, age and an output handle on the right.

Click the card to open the editor. A click on a parameter field, a swatch or a button stays that control's. Only three editors hold a live 3D view on a page at once; the others show a snapshot with a View 3D button.

parameters

A parameter is a name and a value. Anywhere an operation takes a number you can type $name instead, or a small expression:

$w/2 + 3        2in        45deg        max($a, 4)        clamp($t, 1, 6)

Expressions take + - * / ^, brackets, the units mm, cm, m, in, ft and deg, and functions such as min, max, abs, sqrt, round, sin, cos, clamp and lerp. Angles are degrees.

To make one: open the Browser panel, select Parameters, press Add parameter, then choose its unit (mm, °, #, —, or Aa for text). The plug button on its row exposes it as an input port on the canvas node. A wired value overrides the typed one without changing the model.

Text parameters go into any text as {$name}. A text parameter that holds a hex colour (#17130f) gets a colour picker, and one with a list of options becomes a dropdown. The leather belt in the custom buckle project is steered by one such colour parameter.

the modes

The mode picker in the editor's header is grouped by what you are making.

group	modes	for
CAD	Sketch · Solid	2D profiles; extrude, revolve, fillet, combine (cad)
Mesh	Polygon · Sculpt · Jewellery	vertices, clay brushes, stones and casting (meshes, jewellery)
Apparel	Pattern · Garment · Drape	flat pieces, sewing, cloth simulation (apparel)
Electronics	Schematic · PCB layout · Fab outputs	electronics
Packaging	Dieline · Fold & fit	packaging
Spaces	Plan · Build · Stage & rigging	spaces
Assembly & motion	Assemble · Mechanism · Animate	assembly and motion

A mode is a workspace, not a file type. It decides which tools the ribbon shows and which parts of the scene are drawn. The custom buckle sits in Solid yet is built from SVG, imported-mesh and boolean operations, because one document can hold both.

New models start in Solid with three exports: STEP, GLB and Render (a PNG).

the full-window editor

The editor covers the window. Along the top: the model's name, the mode picker, an evaluation status, view controls, Export, Open in a window, and Save & close (<kbd>Esc</kbd>). Changes save as you work.

• Ribbon. The mode's tools in labelled groups. A tool the current selection can't use is dimmed, with the reason in its tooltip.
• View controls. Undo and redo, Fit to view (<kbd>Home</kbd>), Isometric (<kbd>0</kbd>), Top (<kbd>1</kbd>), Front (<kbd>2</kbd>), Right (<kbd>3</kbd>), sketches (<kbd>H</kbd>), grid, Section, Walk, and Saved views.
• Panels. Browser (the design tree, with an eye per item), Timeline (one entry per operation, with a rollback marker) and Properties (the open operation, or the selected thing).
• Right-click opens a ring of verbs. On a thing: Hide, Show all, Isolate, Section, Frame, Measure, Edit and Properties. On empty space: the named views, Grid, Sketches, Fit all. A right-drag still pans. Hiding is a view setting: it never changes exports.
• 2D workspaces (sketch, schematic, pattern) are seen from above and don't orbit.

the modeler pixie

Adding the node also adds a pixie in the modeler role. It moves into the model's own workspace canvas and edits the operation list for you: you describe the part, it adds operations, and you watch the timeline grow. The card shows its name and a chat button, and a dot when it has something for you. If none is attached, Assign a modeler pixie… picks one from the canvas.

Everything it builds is ordinary operations, so you can open any step and change it by hand. See meet the pixies.

exports and where they run

Each export row has an output handle. Wire it into a file, a composer or another model. The row's buttons download the file or pop it out.

An export is fresh when it was made from the current model. Ones that something reads (a wire, another model) refresh about 1.5 seconds after a clean rebuild, at most every 15 seconds. The rest wait until the model has held still for 45 seconds, or until you press Export. A stale row says so.

The model is rebuilt in your browser, and it is also rebuilt when no tab is open, so a pixie's work and its exports finish without you watching.

good to know

• A model holds up to 2,000 operations, 2,000 sketch entities and 5,000 placed instances.
• Length is millimetres and angles are degrees, whatever unit the display shows.
• On a phone there is no editor: you get a snapshot and View in AR (look and share).
• A pixie can propose several versions at once; see variants and checks.

next

cad is the best place to start. For a quick look at what the node can hold, see meshes and sculpting, jewellery and apparel.