The GLTF online editor provides a built-in model viewer that can load and preview glTF/glb files. Users can quickly view and edit 3D models directly in the browser without installing any plug-ins.
Its functional features are as follows:
1. Open the GLTF model
Users can drag the GLB/GLTF model into the GLTF editor or choose to open a local GLB/GLTF model file. While previewing the model, the user can also view the mesh information of the model in the left panel.
2. GLTF model material modification
The material properties of a model can be defined through various maps and parameters, which are used to control the appearance, reflection properties and lighting effects of the model. Here are some common model material properties:
- Texture: Texture refers to the technique of mapping images onto the surface of a model to achieve detail and texture effects. Common map types include color maps, normal maps, highlight maps, environment maps, etc. Color maps are used to define the basic color of a model's surface. Normal maps are used to simulate the detail and bumpiness of surfaces. The specular map is used to define the specular highlight reflection part of the model surface to enhance the lighting effect. Environment maps are used to simulate ambient lighting and reflections.
- Emissive Texture: Emissive texture defines the part of the model surface that emits its own light. By assigning self-illumination maps to certain areas of the model, you can make it appear luminous when rendering, such as fluorescent materials or luminous texture effects.
- Opacity Texture: Opacity texture is used to control the transparency of the model surface. Through the transparency map, you can achieve the effect of partial transparency or translucency of the model, such as glass, water surface or plant leaves, etc.
- Bump/Normal Texture: Bump map simulates bump details by changing the normal normal direction of the model surface. This map gives surfaces more detail and a sense of depth without changing the geometry of the model.
- Ambient Occlusion Texture: Ambient Occlusion Texture is used to simulate the effect of light obstruction in the environment. It can enhance the bump and shadow effects of your model to make it look more realistic.
- Displacement Map: Displacement map simulates changes in details and geometry by changing the position of model vertices. Unlike bump maps, displacement maps can realistically change the geometry of a model.
- Roughness Texture: Roughness map is used to control the smoothness of the model surface. By adjusting the values of the roughness map, you can achieve a smooth or rough appearance on the surface of your model.
- Metallic Texture: Metallic texture is used to define the metallic properties of the model surface. By adjusting the values of the metal map, you can specify which parts are metallic and which are non-metallic.
- Lighting Texture: Lighting texture is used to predefine the lighting effects of the model. By applying lightmaps to your model, you can simulate the appearance under various lighting conditions when rendering.
In addition, in terms of material properties, there are some parameters that have nothing to do with textures, such as roughness (Roughness) and metallicity (Metallicity). These parameters are used to directly control the lighting properties of the model's surface. The roughness parameter represents the roughness of the model surface, ranging from completely smooth to very rough. The metallicity parameter represents the metallic property of the model surface, with values ranging from completely non-metallic to completely metallic.
In addition to textures and parameters, other attributes of the model include Vertex Colors, Faces, Blending, etc. Vertex color can specify a color for each vertex of the model, which is used for detail shading and enhancement of shading effects. Faces refer to the polygonal faces of the model, which constitute the geometry of the model. Mixing refers to mixing multiple models or multiple materials together during the rendering process to achieve transition and fusion effects between different models.
The combination of these material properties and parameters can be used to create a variety of different material effects, giving the model a rich and realistic appearance and lighting effects when rendered.
The GLTF editor can perform various conventional types of attribute modifications on the model's mesh, as shown in the figure:
3. GLTF model displacement, rotation, and size modification
Through the transformation panel on the right, you can modify the position, rotation angle, and size of the model, as shown in the following figure:
and truck-sized apples
4. Modification of GLTF model node attributes
The basic attributes bar can display the basic attributes of the model mesh. The basic attributes include: model type, model name, number of vertices, number of triangles, visibility and other attributes. The model name and visibility properties can be modified.
Modify the basic properties of the model
5. GLTF model origin reset
Model Origin is an important concept in the three-dimensional model coordinate system. It represents the origin or starting point of the model's local coordinate system. In three-dimensional computer graphics, the model origin plays a positioning and reference role in the local coordinate system of the model.
The model origin is usually located at the geometric center of the model or at a specific reference point, depending on the modeling software and the designer's choice. Generally speaking, when a model is created, the model origin is set to the geometric center of the model by default. This makes it easier to perform operations such as rotation, scaling, and translation, since these transformation operations will be performed based on the model origin.
The location of the model origin is very important for the correct display and handling of the model. When a model is loaded into a rendering engine or 3D application, the model origin is used as the basis for calculating the model's position and attitude in the world coordinate system. The correct position and orientation of the model in the scene can be determined by coordinates relative to the model's origin.
In some 3D file formats (such as glTF), the position and orientation of the model origin can be described by matrix or transformation information. This information includes transformation matrices such as translation, rotation, and scaling, as well as the transformation relationship with the global coordinate system.
In summary, the model origin is an important concept in 3D models, used to locate and reference the local coordinate system of the model. It plays a benchmark and reference role in three-dimensional computer graphics and is critical for correctly displaying and processing models.
In the GLTF editor, users can easily set the model origin, as shown below: When importing the gantry crane, we can see that there is a large position deviation between the origin of the gantry crane and the coordinate origin:
6. GLTF model material merging
Model material merging (Material Merging) refers to merging materials used in multiple models into one or a few shared materials. This process can be performed in 3D computer graphics to optimize the model's rendering performance and reduce memory footprint.
The following are some effects of model material merging:
- Reduce the number of batch renderings: When a model uses a large number of independent materials, the rendering engine needs to perform a draw call for each material, which will lead to an increase in the number of batch renderings. By merging model materials, multiple draw calls can be combined into one or a few, thereby reducing rendering overhead and improving rendering performance.
- Reduce rendering state switching: During the rendering process, when using different materials, the rendering engine needs to switch rendering states, such as texture binding, shader parameters, etc. These state switches also bring additional overhead. By merging model materials, the number of state switches can be reduced, thereby improving rendering efficiency.
- Optimize memory usage: Each material object contains some data, such as texture, color, normal map, etc. When a model uses a large number of independent materials, it will take up more memory space. By merging model materials, duplicate material data can be reduced, thereby reducing memory consumption.
- Simplified material management and maintenance: When a model has many independent materials, the management and maintenance of materials will become complicated. By merging model materials, the number of materials can be reduced, simplifying the material management and maintenance process.
It should be noted that merging model materials may also bring some limitations and impacts. For example, if different parts of the model require different shaders or material properties, merging materials may result in the loss of these details. Therefore, when merging model materials, you need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages according to the specific situation and ensure that the final effect meets the expected requirements.
Next, we will introduce how to use the GLTF editor to merge model materials.
7. Quick operation of GLTF model
In addition to the above functions, in order to improve the user experience and facilitate model editing, the GLTF editor also provides quick functions such as undo, restore, copy model, delete model and focus.
Original link: GLTF online editor (mvrlink.com)