Getting started

Build, adjust, then edit polygons

• Choose a primitive: Box, Plane, Sphere, Cylinder, Cone, or Prism. Its button enters viewport drawing mode.
• Draw or enter values: draw the object in a viewport, or use Create at origin with the displayed parameters. The next guide page explains each shape.
• Adjust the primitive: select it and change its dimension or segment spinners. Only parameters supported by that shape appear.
• Convert to Editable Poly: freeze the current primitive mesh to unlock Vertex, Edge, and Face selection. Undo can restore the primitive parameters.
• Tool shortcuts: Q selects, M moves, R rotates, and S scales. Use Key bindings before Guide to change shortcuts or assign modifier combinations. Lighting is in the Perspective viewport’s lightbulb flyout. New primitives reset to dimensions of 1 unit, one segment per box/plane dimension, 6 sides for cylinders and cones, 3 sides for prisms, and 12 segments × 12 rings for spheres. Cones keep a zero top radius for a pointed tip.
• Numeric spinners: click an arrow for one step, or hold and drag up/down to adjust continuously. Dragging does not add a click step. You can also type a value.
• Save project: keep an .autumn3d file to preserve parametric objects, converted meshes, layers, and editor settings.

Find your controls

• Left panel: layers, object names, color, and opacity.
• Right panel: creation parameters, transforms, selection levels, modeling operations, and pivot controls. Click a rollout heading to collapse it.
• Guide pages: use Previous / Next or the topic menu to jump directly to a tool.
• Hover tips: short explanations follow the cursor over buttons and tools.
• Existing models: older projects and imported OBJ geometry remain editable meshes; they do not gain primitive parameters.

Primitives: draw & adjust

Draw a primitive in a viewport

• Box: press at the first corner and drag to the opposite base corner. Release, move the mouse up/down to raise or lower the height, then click to finish.
• Plane: drag between two opposite corners and release to finish.
• Sphere: drag outward from its center to set Radius; release to finish.
• Cylinder / Prism: drag the base radius and release. Move up/down to set Height, then click to finish. Prism uses a regular polygon base; Sides = 3 makes a triangular prism.
• Cone: drag its base radius and release. Move up/down for Height and click, then move right to set Top radius and click again. Top radius = 0 produces a point.
• Construction plane: Top and Perspective draw on the ground plane; Front and Side use their corresponding view planes. Grid snap applies to base sizing and height.
• Finish or cancel: drawing mode stays active for another object. Stop drawing or Escape exits it; an unfinished preview is discarded. Right-click also exits drawing without opening a menu.
• Create at origin: creates a new primitive at the world origin using the current parameter values.

Adjust the selected primitive

• Box: Width, Length, Height, and independent Width / Length / Height segment counts.
• Plane: Width, Length, and Width / Length segment counts.
• Sphere: Radius, Segments around the sphere, and Rings from pole to pole. There is no separate Number of sides field.
• Cylinder / Prism: Radius, Height, Sides, Height segments, and Cap segments.
• Cone: base Radius, Top radius, Height, Sides, Height segments, and Cap segments.
• Live controls: only relevant fields appear. Dimensions reshape the primitive; segment spinners change subdivision without moving the object or its pivot. Parameter edits support Undo/Redo and are saved with the project.

Convert when ready for subobject modeling

• Convert to Editable Poly: preserves the current shape and transforms, removes primitive parameters, and unlocks vertex, edge, and face tools.
• After conversion: use polygon modeling operations to change the mesh. Undo conversion to recover its parameters if that undo step is still available.
• Preview safety: unfinished primitive draws are excluded from autosave, project files, and OBJ export. Finish or cancel a draw before continuing other edits.

Selection & deletion

Select exactly what you need

• Plain click: select only the clicked vertex, edge, or face.
• Ctrl+A / Cmd+A: select every vertex, edge, or face at the current subobject level.
• Shift-click: add a component. Clicking one already selected keeps it selected.
• Ctrl-click / Cmd-click: remove only the clicked component.
• Select tool: drag a dotted rectangle over objects or components. Dragging empty space in other tools also starts a marquee.
• Shift + marquee: add. Ctrl/Cmd + marquee: subtract.
• Show back-face subobjects: in Selection Level, turn this off to hide rear-facing vertices, edges, and faces and exclude them from picking and box selection. Works in wireframe and shaded views; overrides Select through for rear components.
• Select through: include back-side or obscured components. Without it, shaded views use visible surfaces for picking.

Delete and recover

• Delete / Backspace: remove selected objects or components. The toolbar also offers Delete.
• Face deletion: leaves a hole. Deleting vertices or edges also removes their incident faces.
• Undo / Ctrl+Z: recover edits and deleted geometry. Redo / Ctrl+Shift+Z: restore an undone edit.
• Escape: cancel an active drag; otherwise clear selection or cancel a pending tool operation.

Transforms & precision

Move, rotate, and scale

• X / Y / Z handles: drag along one axis. Rotation uses colored rings.
• XY / XZ / YZ panels: move or scale on two axes.
• Center square: free movement in the viewport plane, or uniform scaling.
• Grouped transforms: select several components, then drag the gizmo to keep the group selected.
• Coordinates: objects use world coordinates; vertices and edges use object-local coordinates. Face rotation aligns X/Y to the surface and Z to its normal.

Numeric values and snapping

• Transform fields: update with edits. Type exact X/Y/Z values, then Enter or Apply. Position is absolute; rotation is in degrees; scale 1 is the original factor.
• Grid snap: enable it and choose 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, or 5 units.
• Shift + Move: lock the dominant movement axis. Release Shift to move freely.
• Shift + Rotate: snap the angle change to 5° increments. Shift-click away from the gizmo still adds to selection.

Viewports & display

Navigate the model

• Top / Front / Side: orthographic views for precise editing. Perspective: inspect depth and shape.
• Alt + drag in Perspective: orbit. Middle-button drag: pan. Mouse wheel: zoom.
• Frame all / F: fit visible objects into the viewports.
• Viewport maximize button: enlarge that view. Orthographic views: restore the four-view layout.
• FOV: click the Perspective header button and enter 15–120 whole degrees. Lower values give a narrower view.

Shading and work lighting

• Shading menu: choose Wireframe, Flat shaded, or Smooth shaded independently for each viewport.
• Show polygon edges: overlay topology on shaded surfaces. Translucent layers also show dim rear edges; opaque geometry still blocks them.
• Work light: click the lightbulb beside FOV in the Perspective header, then adjust Work light in its flyout. Only Perspective lighting changes; it never exports.
• Mesh statistics: show polygons, quads, rendering triangles, and vertices.

Vertex tools

Reshape and combine vertices

• Create face: activate Create face, then click four boundary vertices in order. Each fourth click creates a quad; continue with another four vertices, or click Create face again to exit; existing vertices and edges are shared, keeping the patch connected. Each selected boundary edge must have one attached face.
• Chamfer vertices: activate Chamfer vertices, then drag the diamond viewport handle up/down or edit Chamfer amount. Apply commits; Cancel discards and exits. Vertices split along their incident edges. Each corner is left open; new boundary vertices remain selected. Undo restores the original corners.
• Collapse: merge selected vertices at their average local position.
• Weld vertices: merge selected vertices into nearby groups using the weld threshold. Each group merges at its average position; vertices outside the threshold remain separate.
• Target weld: drag a vertex onto another joined to it by an existing edge. The source fuses into the target position.
• Align X / Y / Z: set that coordinate to the selected vertices’ average to form aligned rows or planes.
• Converge: overlap selected vertices at their center without welding them.
• Rejected merges: the editor blocks several degenerate or non-manifold results rather than applying them.

Cut new connections

• Cut tool: click a starting vertex, then an unconnected endpoint. A dashed preview follows the cursor.
• Crossing polygons: the cut follows a connected surface corridor in the active viewport, including folded surfaces.
• Crossed edges: receive shared intersection vertices; affected polygons split into new faces.
• Cut selected pair: use exactly two selected vertices and the active viewport.
• Escape: cancel the pending start. If no continuous cut is found, try another view or shorter cuts.

Edge tools

Select and connect topology

• Select loop: start with one edge. Border edges follow the connected open boundary; interior loops follow regular quad topology.
• Loop limits: interior loops stop at irregular vertices or non-quad faces. Separate boundaries stay separate.
• Chamfer edges: activate Chamfer edges to open the controls and enable viewport dragging. Drag a highlighted edge or the diamond viewport handle up/down to adjust the amount. Release keeps the preview; Apply commits and deactivates Chamfer. Cancel or clicking Chamfer edges again discards the preview.
• Chamfer settings: adjust Amount and Segments in the open rollout. One segment creates a flat bevel; 2–8 segments round it. Connected corners are joined; open borders add an inset strip. Apply commits one undoable edit; Cancel or Escape restores the mesh. Keep amounts small enough to avoid overlap.
• Select ring: follow opposite edges across connected quads.
• Connect midpoints: select two non-touching edges per affected face to split between their midpoints. Select a ring to connect across several quads.

Extrude an open border

• Extrude border edges: select one or more open edges, then activate the tool.
• Arrow handle: drag freely in the viewport plane. New quad strips connect the original border to the new outer edges.
• Shift while dragging: lock the dominant local axis. Releasing Shift restores free movement.
• Outer edges: remain selected for another extrusion. Shared endpoints remain connected.
• Restrictions: edges must have one attached face. Drag outward rather than along the selected edge. Escape cancels; Undo restores.

Face tools

Add depth and detail

• Extrude: select faces, activate Extrude in Face Operations, then drag the face or arrow handle along its normal.
• Bevel: drag vertically for height and horizontally for inset. This is a basic bevel; complex intersections still need manual cleanup.
• Numeric distance: enter Distance / inset and use Apply numeric distance.
• Quad tessellate: split each selected quad into four. Neighboring faces share new edge points and may become n-gons; triangles and n-gons are skipped.
• Delete faces: open a hole without adding a cap. Use border extrusion to extend its boundary.

Normals and edit safety

• Flip normals: activate the button, then click faces to reverse their normals. Click the button again to exit. Each flip supports Undo. Shift-click adds to selection; Ctrl-click removes.
• Unify normals: select faces, then Unify normals. Connected selected faces are made consistent with the majority winding; a cube with five outward faces and one inward face becomes outward. Ties retain the first selected face’s winding. Unselected faces stay unchanged.
• Recalculate outward normals: repair winding on closed geometry. Open surfaces have no enclosed outside and remain two-sided.
• Interactive edits: each completed extrusion or bevel drag is one undo step. Escape restores the pre-drag mesh.
• Model checkpoints: save projects before substantial topology changes. This remains a developing modeler, not a complete production modeling suite.

Object pivot

Choose what the editor affects

• Affect pivot only: move the transform origin without moving the visible geometry.
• Affect object only: on an Editable Poly, move, rotate, or scale geometry while the pivot stays fixed. Convert a primitive first to use this mode.
• Visual editing: use the gizmo. Numeric editing: use the rollout coordinates, which describe the pivot or object center depending on the mode.
• Recenter in pivot mode: preview the pivot at the object’s world bounds center.
• Recenter in object mode: preview the object’s center on its fixed pivot.

Apply, cancel, and continue

• Apply: commit the preview and turn both affect buttons off. Pivot fields and Recenter lock until you re-enter a mode.
• Cancel: restore the previous geometry and pivot. Escape cancels a drag or pending preview.
• After Apply: ordinary object transforms use the applied pivot. Committed origins survive project saving and Undo/Redo.
• Unapplied previews: do not enter project files or OBJ exports.

Layers & files

Organize and identify objects

• ＋ / trash can: create or delete a layer. Layer deletion moves its objects to a remaining layer; Undo restores assignments.
• Object assignment: drag an object onto a layer or use the Selected object layer menu.
• Eye icon: hide or show the layer. Double-click a layer name to rename it.
• Object names: double-click to rename inline. Enter or clicking away commits; Escape cancels.
• Color chip: choose the layer color and drag its opacity slider. Object-row gradient accents use the layer color; orange outlines identify selected objects.

Save, open, import, and export

• Tool shortcuts: Q selects, M moves, R rotates, and S scales. Use Key bindings before Guide to change shortcuts or assign modifier combinations. Lighting is in the Perspective viewport’s lightbulb flyout. New primitives reset to dimensions of 1 unit, one segment per box/plane dimension, 6 sides for cylinders and cones, 3 sides for prisms, and 12 segments × 12 rings for spheres. Cones keep a zero top radius for a pointed tip.
• Numeric spinners: click an arrow for one step, or hold and drag up/down to adjust continuously. Dragging does not add a click step. You can also type a value.
• Save project: choose a destination for .autumn3d. It preserves primitive types and parameters, converted geometry, transforms, pivots, layers, and editor settings.
• Open project: select an .autumn3d file to replace the workspace. Save your current work first if needed.
• Import OBJ: select a file to add polygon geometry for continued editing. Export OBJ: choose a destination for the scene’s geometry, including hidden layers and live symmetry.
• File pickers: saving/exporting require browser support for the system Save As picker. If it is unavailable, the app explains the limitation and does not auto-download.
• Autosave: keeps the workspace in this browser; keep manual project backups. FBX, UV editing, rigging, and animation are not implemented.