Render Preview

Prepare the scene#

Import models from Geometry → Import model & resources. Edit and assign surfaces in Materials and Material Properties. The former model selector/import dropdown and material/roughness bottom bar have been removed from Render Preview. Existing documents retain their preview fallback material settings.

Viewport display modes#

The top-left control strip has Wireframe, Shaded, Rendered and Faces. Wireframe draws mesh edges in object-layer colors. Shaded shades surfaces using those colors. Rendered follows compatible object assignments, layer materials and inherited/source materials. Faces checks front/back winding and normals. Display mode is saved per document; switching modes preserves material definitions.

Wireframe, Shaded and Faces bypass preview effects, display exposure, grading and diagnostic passes. Returning to Rendered restores the saved rendering settings. Choose Rendered/Beauty for material evaluation.

Three interaction modes#

The controls use at most two rows above the image. The first holds Orbit, Light Paint, Transform, View and projection (with its dropdown chevron), and display mode. The second holds the current tool's options followed by view-controller visibility, ground shadows, grid, HDR environment, Reset Camera and Auto-rotate. The strip fits the 620 px minimum panel width and landscape layouts.

Right-drag pans and scroll zooms in every mode. Command/Ctrl toggles selection and Option/Alt removes; Shift is required for area gestures. Light Paint labels its dropdowns Method and Gesture; both match the compact height of the viewport display dropdown. Transform uses the same compact height for Transform Axis → World / Local. Transform automatically shows handles, axes and snapping; selection tools are in its selection-count menu. Switching modes retains selection. See object transforms.

The bottom-right view controller offers all six signed axes and a Perspective/Orthographic button. Its projection stays synchronized with the options in View and projection. Use Show view controller to hide it. Auto-rotate is available in Orbit. The same controls remain available in full screen and detached panels.

Show Scene Background displays the background selected in Scene Settings. Show Light Stack uses the spherical lighting environment; orthographic rays are parallel and sample one viewing direction. Image templates remain flat backplates.

Quality and render passes#

Quality is now in HDRi Canvas, before the channel dropdown. It selects the environment lighting resolution. Render Preview follows its panel size in CSS pixels. DPR selects pixels per CSS pixel: Screen DPR or 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, 2.00, 2.50, 3.00, 3.50, 4.00, 5.00. The menu heading is DEVICE PIXEL RATIO. Screen DPR displays the detected value (for example Screen DPR: 2.00) and updates when moving between displays or changing browser zoom. A value of 2.00 renders twice the width and height, four times the pixels. Explicit DPR is independent of performance mode; graphics dimensions and a 16-megapixel allocation limit can reduce it. The control tooltip reports that limit. New projects follow Screen DPR; saved numeric Detail choices retain their numeric DPR. The Render Pass dropdown and effect “Show … Only” controls are available only in Rendered mode. The saved pass starts at Beauty and is restored when returning to Rendered.

These are diagnostic views, not a multilayer EXR export system. Non-PBR and custom shaders have approximate material diagnostic passes; return to Rendered/Beauty to assess the authored shader. Their appearance depends on the model, material and enabled effects. Return to Beauty when finished.

Capture and export#

Open Render Preview → panel menu → Export Preview, or expand Scene Settings → Export Preview. Both use the same settings. Choose Current view or a standard view, floor grid and axes, transparent background, and post-processing effects. Select Viewport size, Custom size, Full HD or 4K UHD, then set Scale. Custom dimensions can follow the viewport aspect ratio. The displayed pixel dimensions are the actual image size, independently of viewport DPR.

Use Save to File or Copy to Clipboard. Clipboard images require browser support and permission; use Save to File if copying is unavailable. Export waits for a ready model and lighting. Transparent exports use the RGB beauty pass; ordinary exports preserve the current display mode and diagnostic pass. Maximum output is 8,192 pixels per side and 16 megapixels, subject to device limits. The export camera and size do not change the interactive view. Export HDRi instead produces an environment map from the lighting stack. Camera framing, floor, tone mapping and preview post-processing do not become HDRi lighting. Gizmo handles and the object-selection outline are editor guides and are omitted from captures and HDRi exports.

Extended settings for view, camera, Dynamic Ground and animation are in Advance. See camera, materials and ground.

Pick and resize a light#

Right-click the model and choose Pick HDR light at reflection to select the strongest pickable HDR light in the ideal reflection direction. The same menu offers object selection, applying the selected material, framing, camera reset and viewport modes. Hidden, preview-excluded and non-pickable layers are ignored. Roughness, refraction and post-processing are not inverted by this picker.

During supported Light Paint scale gestures, hold Alt/Option while Shift is held to preserve estimated spherical radiance. The estimate integrates the light profile and solid angle; it is more accurate than width-times-height compensation, but small or highly detailed sources still need output inspection.

Exposure in full screen#

Use Exposure in the full-screen panel's top navigation to adjust the shared scene value from −6 to +6 EV. Its slider and numeric field stay synchronized with the application header, Scene Settings and full-screen HDR Canvas. Undo/Redo follows the same lighting history.

Global Exposure changes the lighting used by the preview and HDRi export. It is separate from display effects and Light Magic's comparison-only exposure. Interface appearance changes the surrounding controls without recoloring the rendered image.

Scene authoring inputs#

The Materials and Geometry panels feed this same preview. Explicit per-object materials take precedence over source or inherited materials. Imported source materials are retained without a global toolbar override. The Node Graph controls material assignments and environment/geometry participation. Render diagnostics, camera controls, ground and preview effects continue to apply. HDRi export contains the lighting environment only.

The ground-shadow toolbar button controls the same Dynamic Ground object as Geometry Tree and Scene Settings. It creates the object if needed.

Canvas size and preview background#

Scene Settings starts with Render Canvas. Viewport Resolution follows the panel; square, portrait and landscape presets use defined base pixel dimensions. Custom Resolution exposes Width and Height. DPR is synchronized with the Render Preview heading and multiplies the base dimensions. A fixed canvas is contained inside the panel, including a portrait canvas in a landscape panel. This fit changes display scale, not the target export dimensions. Background appearance now lives in the separate Background section. Display Canvas Details starts disabled; enable it for pixel dimensions and fit information below the preview.

The toolbar has separate Grid and Axes controls. The axes are short, headless colored lines, approximately twice the minor-grid thickness. Fit Object/Scene frames the current selection or scene and sits beside Reset Camera. Auto-rotate runs at the updated faster speed. Collapsing Render Preview hides the render-pass, DPR and PBR/ACES heading controls.

PNG and JPEG options#

Export Preview uses compact label/value rows and stacked Save to File and Copy to Clipboard actions in both the dialog and Scene Settings. View changes the capture camera without changing the editor camera. PNG supports transparency, Adam7 interlacing, embedded color profile and conversion to sRGB. Transparency selects PNG. JPEG supports compression quality, estimated size, embedded profile and sRGB conversion; the estimate is indicative, not a guaranteed byte count. Clipboard output is PNG. Filenames include pixel dimensions, view and transparency context.

Export a turntable video#

Open Export Animation from the Studio menu or Scene Settings. Use the canvas resolution or a 720p, 1080p, 2160p or custom size; presets support landscape, portrait and square. Choose 24/25/30/60 FPS, 1–60 seconds, clockwise/counterclockwise rotation, quality and standard or 2× supersampling. MP4 and MOV containers support H.264 or HEVC when the browser encoder supports the selected combination. Floor grid, axes and post-processing can be included.

Generate Video fills the available form width. Export progress reports frames, elapsed time and an estimate; Cancel Export sits in the footer. The file downloads after finalization and names its dimensions, FPS, duration, codec, quality and rotation. Limits are 4,096 pixels per side, 16 megapixels including supersampling and 512 MB encoded output. Encoding availability depends on browser/device; unsupported combinations report an error. There is no audio track or server encoder.

Canvas-aligned overlays#

For aspect-ratio and custom canvases, the view controller and optional Display Canvas Details stay inside the visible canvas rectangle. Canvas details sit at its top; the controller stays at its bottom right. The DPR, Render Pass, display mode, view/projection, HDR quality and channel triggers share a consistent height.

Render Canvas and anti-aliasing#

Render Canvas defines the live image dimensions and DPR. It has its own reset, separate from model playback. Anti-aliasing defaults to Balanced: one FXAA pass at every pixel density, without duplicate native multisampling. SMAA provides an alternative for fine edges; explicit MSAA offers device-limited 2×/4×/8× samples. Off disables compositor anti-aliasing. These controls use the existing WebGL2 renderer, not a new WebGPU backend. Temporal adds bounded progressive accumulation and camera-motion reprojection.

Export Animation#

Open Export Animation from the menu, Scene Settings, or beside Preview journey in Camera Animation. The camera-panel shortcut selects Camera Animation and fills in the journey duration (up to 60 seconds). Choose 360° Turntable, Camera Animation, or Model Animation · glTF. Video is selected by default. MP4/MOV and H.264/HEVC availability depends on the browser. Select a canvas, standard video, portrait, square or custom resolution, FPS, duration and optional 2× supersampling. The budget remains 4096 pixels per side, 16 megapixels including supersampling, 1–60 seconds, and 512 MB for in-memory output.

Turntables start from the current view or a defined azimuth and rotate 1–1440 degrees in either direction. Camera journeys use saved views, individual transition durations, holds, Bézier smoothing, motion and loop settings. The HDRi rotation track uses the same deterministic time in preview and export. Model export uses the selected embedded clip and playback speed. Duration trims the animation or repeats it when its loop option is enabled. Shutter motion blur and audio are not included.

Choose PNG frames for a numbered image sequence. Where supported, choose an output folder; a new timestamped subfolder prevents overwriting existing frames. Other browsers download a ZIP to extract into your chosen folder. Cancel stops further work; frames already written to a directory remain there. The editor camera and model pose are restored after completion, cancellation or failure. File names contain animation type, dimensions, FPS and output settings.

Camera Animation panel#

Open Camera Animation through Panels. Frame the subject and choose Save Current View. Save at least two views to enable Preview journey. Click a saved row to select it; Shift selects a range and Ctrl/Command toggles individual views. Drag a selected row to move the selected views together, or use Move view up and Move view down. The red toolbar button deletes the selected views. Row actions go to, update, rename or delete one saved view. Reordering stops playback so the new journey is predictable.

Timing, motion and HDRi rotation sit beside the inset view list in a landscape panel; the toolbar and preview/export controls remain accessible while scrolling. Go to view restores the saved pose; selecting a row alone does not move the camera. Use the secondary Export Animation button beside Preview journey to export this journey. See journey timing and HDRi rotation for Match animation versus Custom duration.

Finite grid at world origin#

Preferences → Grid controls the Render Preview guide. Defaults are Show floor grid On, minor spacing 1, 10 cells from center to edge, major lines every 5, grid axes On, and use 3DM grid settings On. With no visible objects, these defaults make a grid 20 scene units wide. Spacing stays fixed while zooming. The finite grid fades at its boundary and suppresses dense distant lines. It does not follow the camera or Dynamic Ground; its center stays at world (0, 0, 0).

Dynamic grid cell count is On by default. Choose 50%, 75%, 100%, 125%, 150% or 200%, with 125% as the default. It uses the largest dimension of the combined visible object bounds, allows for objects offset from the world origin, and rounds upward to whole cells (coarser steps for large counts). Hidden objects and Dynamic Ground do not enlarge it. The manual count remains the empty-scene fallback; turn dynamic sizing off to use a fixed extent.

When supported settings exist in a Rhino 3DM, its document spacing, major interval and grid-axis visibility take precedence if Use grid settings from 3DM is enabled. Spacing follows the model's import scale. Dynamic sizing still controls extent when enabled; otherwise the file's cell count is used. Disable the 3DM option to use your device defaults. Unsupported, absent or corrupt metadata falls back to Preferences. Viewport construction-plane origins/orientations, grid snapping and visibility flags are not imported. This setting does not move the world's coordinate origin.

The Persp/Ortho and display-mode dropdowns share a vertically centered row. View and projection remain separate from Wireframe, Shaded, Rendered and Faces inspection modes.

Scene background#

Open Scene Settings → Background and choose Scene Background. Default Background uses the studio backdrop. Transparent displays a checkerboard as an editing aid; the checkerboard is excluded from transparent exports. Show Light Stack displays the environment lighting the scene. Color opens the shared color picker. Gradient opens Gradient Creator. Choose Template offers the included images or Upload Template… for PNG, JPG, SVG or WebP, up to 20 MB. SVG files must be self-contained and cannot include scripts or external resources. Image Color Profile selects sRGB or Linear.

Background Intensity changes only the visible background, leaving scene and gem lighting intact. It is hidden for Transparent. With Show Light Stack, Light Stack Intensity → Automatic preserves the stack's current brightness; Manual reveals the background-only multiplier. Default Background, Color, Gradient and templates always expose that multiplier.

Show Scene Background in Render Preview toggles the selected background. Turning it off returns to the studio backdrop while retaining your choice. Tone Mapping's background controls and LUT's background option still apply. Dynamic Ground is a scene surface: a large opaque ground can cover the background. Use Shadow Only when you want the backdrop visible beneath a contact shadow.

Create a gradient#

1. Choose Gradient, then Edit Gradient….
2. Select Linear, Radial, Angle, Reflected or Diamond. Adjust Angle and Scale; drag the preview to position the center, use its arrow keys, or enter Position X and Position Y.
3. Start from a preset or edit color stops. Add Stop or double-click the stop track, drag stops or use their arrow keys, and adjust Stop Color, Stop Position, Stop Opacity and Midpoint. Keep between 2 and 16 stops.
4. Use Reverse, Smooth Interpolation, Undo and Redo to refine the draft. My Gradient → Save stores a named gradient on this browser, up to 40 saved gradients.
5. Apply Gradient commits the gradient to the project; Cancel discards the draft. Project gradients travel in .lumen; the saved preset library remains device-local.

The same editor component is reusable by application features. This release connects it to scene backgrounds; it does not add gradient material textures.

Temporal anti-aliasing#

Choose Scene Settings → Anti-aliasing → Temporal for progressive refinement of silhouettes, gemstone roughness and screen-space reflections. Progressive Frames offers 8, 16, 32 or 64 samples; the default is 32. Subpixel Jitter starts on. Motion Feedback defaults to 0.88 and Sharpness to 0.20. Higher sample counts take longer to settle; the renderer rests after convergence.

Camera motion uses depth-tested history and color clipping. Geometry edits, animated/deformed objects, lighting and guide visibility changes reset history. There is no object velocity buffer or temporal upscaling. Fast disocclusions can still show temporary artifacts. Choose SMAA when you prefer spatial-only filtering.

Gem Roughness on Motion scales the material's internal roughness during orbit; zero is the default and keeps moving facets crisp. Gem Environment Mip on Motion optionally softens moving environment highlights, default zero. Authored internal roughness returns after movement stops. Temporal mode advances a continuous noise sequence to refine that roughness.

Preview and animation captures accumulate the selected frame count when Temporal is enabled, so they can take longer to generate. Export supersampling is independent. See preview performance.

Background and gradient libraries#

Choose Template includes Silver Sweep, Soft Studio, Warm Pearl and Graphite Halo. A gold selection border identifies the active template. Your own uploaded image remains available when you try a built-in template.

Edit Gradient… opens a compact three-tab editor. Gradient contains the preview, stops and positioning controls. Presets groups starting designs under Neutral Studio, Dark Studio, Warm Tones and Gemstone Accents. Selecting a preset keeps the tab in place; switch to Gradient to refine it. My Gradient saves named gradients on this browser/device (up to 40) and lets you reuse, rename, update or delete them. Update and Remove show a notification with Undo. Saving to the library does not apply the draft to the scene: use Apply Gradient or Cancel.

The dialog stays anchored at the top while its height follows the selected tab. The tabs span the full width and only the panel content scrolls. Gradient Type includes visual icons; Reverse and Smooth Interpolation use inline switches. Saved-gradient selection outlines stay separate from the rename, update and delete controls.

Gradient Creator now uses the available window height instead of a fixed content cap. Its top stays anchored, tabs remain accessible and long content scrolls inside the active tab. Gradient Type and its icon dropdown share one row, with the dropdown sized for its choices.

Transparent catchers can show progressively blurred reflections and shadows without an opaque floor. Create a Catcher · shadows & reflections material and assign it to your ground mesh; see scene materials for its controls and screen-space limitations.