Work in the 3D canvas

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Goal

Inspect a GLB, set its presentation and produce reviewed media for a gallery or product page.

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Prerequisites

• Sign in to Stackshift and select the Assets space you want to work in.
• Your role must permit the actions you perform in that space.

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Workflow

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Open a model on the canvas

Open 3D Studio. Choose Upload GLB to add a model or Choose model to select an existing asset. With an empty workspace, Starter models opens the sample catalog and Your library opens your media. The selected GLB loads automatically into the canvas. The model stays visible when you open Scene, Materials, Export and Outputs. On desktop, properties occupy a side panel; on smaller screens, the panel sits below the viewport. Close properties to recover more canvas space. The 3D Studio canvas is an editing/inspection workspace; the customer-facing gallery viewer has its own loading and presentation behavior.

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Navigate and inspect geometry

Orbit rotates the camera around the model. Pan changes the view position. Scroll to zoom. Frame recenters the model, and F provides the same framing shortcut. The X, Y and Z controls select right, near-top and front views; 3D chooses an angled view. Focus the canvas and use arrow keys to orbit; Shift plus arrow keys pans. Escape clears selection and closes the object list. These shortcuts apply to the canvas, so typing in a property field does not accidentally move the camera. Objects lists the model’s actual mesh parts. Select a part from the list or click it on the canvas to see its bounds, triangle count and material names. This helps identify which part you are inspecting; selecting a mesh does not edit its geometry.

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Use grid, wireframe and studio lighting

Grid toggles the ground grid and colored ground axes. Minor and major lines help judge orientation and relative scale. Dark mode uses a neutral charcoal viewport with visible guides; light mode uses a light neutral viewport. Interface theme does not change the model’s material colors or substitute UI colors for scene lighting. Wireframe reveals the mesh edges. Turn it off to return to the material view. The canvas uses studio environment lighting and shadows to make surface shape visible. Its inspection background and grid are editor aids, not extra objects added to the uploaded GLB. Scene controls include the Neutral and Studio lighting presets, orbit angle, elevation, zoom, exposure, shadow intensity and output background. Transparent output is represented against the editor’s neutral background so the model remains visible. A solid background chooses a render color. Check final rendered output separately because its lighting can differ from the local canvas.

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Frame a product view and use history

A useful product view starts with Three-quarter, a moderate elevation and enough space around the object for labels or page layout. Adjust exposure to preserve surface detail rather than brightening until all material differences disappear. Reset scene restores the scene defaults. Undo and Redo restore scene-setting changes. These controls do not undo an uploaded file, a saved material variant, a submitted job or a published output. Use each workflow’s own revision and history controls for those resources.

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Inspect animation and capture a viewport image

When the GLB contains animation clips, choose a clip, press Play or Pause, and drag Animation position to inspect a specific moment. Scrubbing pauses playback. A model without clips does not show an animation selector. Capture downloads a PNG of the current viewport. It is useful for inspection notes and comparisons; it is not a completed product-rendering job or an approved publication. Fullscreen enlarges the viewport using browser fullscreen support.

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Create a material variant

Open Materials and choose Original or a saved variant. New material variant is available for models with replaceable texture slots. Enter Variant name, Swatch label and Swatch, then choose an image for each required texture slot. Create variant saves the texture selections while preserving the original. Select a saved variant to update its texture images or name, then Save changes. The swatch labels the variant; it does not recolor arbitrary geometry by itself. Texture replacement is tied to the slots the model exposes. Models without replaceable texture slots do not offer that workflow. The canvas can show “original geometry” while the selected variant has no completed model output. Generate the variant’s outputs and inspect the completed rendition before approving its appearance. Saving the variant definition and generating its media are separate operations.

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Generate and review product media

Open Export, select a final resolution and choose the outputs you need. Product image creates a still; Interactive spin creates 24 frames; Turntable MP4 creates a rotating video. Interactive model is associated with variant output. AR companion creates the supported companion output when available. Render preview requests a proof; Generate outputs requests the selected final outputs. Turntables use a solid background with shadows off; selecting that output adjusts the compatible settings. The rendering usage shown belongs to the selected job. Moving around the canvas does not itself submit a render. Open Outputs to inspect the finished set. Review the exact product image, spin or video and then use the publication actions. Proof images are for review, not final product publication. See 3D product rendering for output roles, SDK submissions and publication references.

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Publish and deliver 3D and AR

Use model preparation and AR for GLB validation, optimized packages, posters and supplied USDZ companions. Build a media gallery from approved publications to combine model, video, spin and photographs. AR depends on supported devices and fresh delivery authorization. A desktop canvas preview does not establish that a phone can open a particular companion. Test the published model on the intended device and verify real-world scale. The canvas is not a polygon-modeling, rigging or CAD editor; create or repair geometry in your 3D authoring application before uploading.

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Recover from a blank or failed canvas

Use Retry model if loading fails. Confirm the selected asset is a supported GLB with embedded resources and that your browser supports WebGL. If the model has loaded but is outside your current view, use Frame. If the grid is missing, check Grid; if the surface is hidden behind edges, turn Wireframe off. Try a starter model to distinguish a file-specific issue from a browser issue. Check the model report when materials, textures or animations fail validation. Do not assume a generated variant is ready while the canvas explicitly labels the view as original geometry.

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Expected result

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