Geometry Editing
Geometry Editing is the main mode of the editor. Here you create, edit and organize the objects of the project.
The viewport has four views: perspective and three orthographic ones. The properties of the selected object are in the Property Inspector.
Tools
Transform
- Select: Selects objects with a click.
- Move (G): Moves objects with the gizmo.
- Rotate (R): Rotates objects with the gizmo.
- Scale (S): Scales objects with the gizmo.
Mesh Editing
- Vertex Edit, Edge Edit and Face Edit: Turn vertex, edge and face editing on and off.
With one of them on, the editing tools show up in a bar on the left edge of the viewport. Ctrl+click (Cmd+click on Mac) on an element selects the shortest path from the last selected one.
- Add Vertex (A): Creates a new vertex.
- Loop Cut (Ctrl+R): Cuts a ring of edges around the geometry. The mouse wheel changes how many rings, a click locks them and the mouse slides the cuts. Another click or Enter confirms, and Esc cuts in the middle.
- Bevel Edges (Ctrl+B): Rounds the corner of the selected edges. While dragging, V bevels vertices, C toggles the limit that prevents overlap, P flips the profile and the mouse wheel, or + and -, changes the number of segments.
- Extrude (E): Pulls the selection out, creating new geometry. Alt+E (Option+E on Mac) opens the extrude menu:
- E: The faces together, along their average direction.
- F: Each corner along the faces that touch it.
- I: Each face on its own.
- M: Merges the sides into neighboring faces on the same plane. Pulling the top of a cube only makes it taller.
- Inset Faces (I): Creates a smaller face inside the selected face.
- Knife (K): Cuts the mesh along a line drawn over it, click by click. Enter or Space cuts and Esc cancels. The cut goes only through the visible faces, and Z makes it go through the whole mesh.
- To sphere (Alt+Shift+S, Option+Shift+S on Mac): Rounds the selection toward a sphere. Moving the mouse to the right increases the effect, Ctrl steps by 0.1 and a click or Enter confirms.
The three dots in the top right corner of the viewport hold the editing options:
- Proportional Editing (O): Moving, rotating or scaling the selection also takes the vertices around it, less and less the farther they are. The mouse wheel, or Page Up and Page Down, changes the reach.
- Correct Face Attributes: The texture stays in place when you move vertices along the surface, extrude, inset or bevel, instead of stretching along.
- Discard Unmoved Operations: An extrusion or split (V) that ends without moving is discarded. Turn it off to duplicate vertices in place.
Selection Operations
With vertices, edges or faces selected, a right click in the viewport opens these operations:
- Fill Face (F): Creates a face joining the selected vertices or edges, for example to close a hole.
- Dissolve (Ctrl+X, Cmd+X on Mac): Removes the selection without opening a hole, merging the faces around it.
- Bridge Edge Loops: Joins two selected edge loops with a strip of faces.
- Flip Normals (Alt+N, Option+N on Mac): Turns the selected faces to the other side. With nothing selected, turns the whole object.
- Slide (G twice): Slides the selection along its own edges, without changing the shape of the mesh.
- Hide (H): Hides the selected faces to edit what is behind them. Shift+H hides everything else, and Alt+H (Option+H on Mac) shows everything again.
In the selection, L adds everything connected to the element under the cursor, Ctrl+L (Cmd+L on Mac) extends the selection to everything connected to it, and Ctrl+= and Ctrl+- (Cmd on Mac) grow and shrink the selection.
Creation
- Add Object: Adds primitives, lights and other objects.
- Add Modifier: Adds modifiers, which change the objects placed inside them.
- Add Asset: Adds assets from this or other projects.
Sculpt Mode
Sculpt is in the More modes menu and shapes the mesh with brushes.
- Draw (D): Raises the surface.
- Grab (G): Drags the area along with the cursor.
- Smooth (S): Removes bumps.
- Inflate (I): Thickens the area.
- Flatten (F): Levels the surface.
- Pinch (P): Squeezes the area toward the center of the brush.
- Crease (C): Carves a groove.
Brush size, strength and falloff are in a bar over the viewport, along with Invert Direction (X), which reverses the brushes: draw starts digging, inflate starts deflating.
Menus
File
- New Project: Creates a new project.
- Open project...: Opens a project from your account or, without an account, a
.tnpfile. - Save: Saves the project right away or, without an account, downloads the
.tnpfile. - Share: Creates the public link or invites collaborators.
- Import: Brings 3D models, textures and materials from your computer, or the content of a
.tnpfile. - Export: Downloads the 3D models, textures and materials (For other tools) or the whole project as
.tnp(Tinypoly file).
Edit
- Copy, Cut and Paste.
- Duplicate: Creates a copy of the selected object.
- Rename: Renames the selected object.
- Select All: Selects all objects.
- Delete: Deletes the selected object.
Geometry
- Convert to Triangles and Convert to Quads: Turn the mesh of the selected object into triangles or quads.
- Merge Vertices: Welds vertices that are almost in the same place.
- Recalculate Normals: Fixes the side the faces point to.
View
- Show Normals: Shows where each face points.
- Show Vertices: Shows the vertices.
- Show Wireframe: Shows the edges over the surface.
- X-Ray (Alt+Z): Makes the object see-through, to see and select what is behind it.