Top bar - Design mode

The Design mode provides all the settings to build, edit and control objects, lights, cameras and 2D elements.

This is the default mode you get when Vectary Studio opens. It includes primary features needed to start designing: Object controls and Menu Settings. All of the objects and their parts are shown in their rendered form right away, as real-time rendering in always on.

The upper bar displays buttons for switching between modes: Design, Animate, Interact

Design mode: Start here, build a scene, create or import 3D assets, adjust materials and add graphic elements for interactions.
Interact mode: set up interactions with triggers, conditions and actions.
Animate Mode: create animations where you can adjust individual keyframes, and actions on a timeline.

Design mode tools

The horizontal tools bar can be found in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, next to the main menu.

Hover over any category icon to see a dropdown list of available tools.

Selections tools

Selecting objects is one of the main and most frequent actions. It is possible to select objects both on the scene and on the left bar. We recommend using hotkeys to speed up the workflow.

💡

If the object is inside a group or a modifier, when you try to select the object, the group or the modifier will be selected instead of the object. To select only the object, you have to double-click, and then you will drop to the level below. Sometimes the object is in several folders, and every time you double-click, you will go down a level until you reach the object. We would recommend a shortcut: hold down the Ctrl/Cmd key, and then select the object right away.

💡

Locked objects in the scene cannot be selected. But if the locked object is in a group with an unlocked object, the group will be selected as well. The locked object can also be selected on the left bar.

Select

Esc

This is the tool that is used in Studio by default, when no other tool is selected. In this mode, you select objects one by one.

To select several objects with it, hold down Shift (if you select on the scene) or Ctrl/Cmd if you select from the left bar. On the left bar, you can select objects in from and to mode by holding down the Shift key.

Marquee

M

Selection with a rectangular area.

Lasso

L

Selection with Lasso.

👉 You don't have to finish the selection, it connects to the starting point automatically when you finish the selection.

Paint Select

P

Selects all objects that the line touches.

Select All

Ctrl+A

Selection of all objects except for the locked ones.

Invert Selection

Selects everything except what is currently selected. This is useful when you want to select most of the objects in the scene, in which case it is easier to select a smaller part first and then apply the invert selection.

Primitives and 3D Text

Primitives are basic customizable forms.

Available to you: Box, Sphere, Cone, Cylinder, Tube, Torus, Plane, Polyhedron, 3D Text.

To quickly change the shape of the primitive, use the purple control points.

On the right bar, you can change the number of segments (or polygons, or faces). The segments are important. The more segments something has, the more it can change its shape. A simple analogy: the spine — the more vertebrae in the spine, the more flexible it is.

3D Text

In Vectary it's very easy to work with 3D text. You can even paste the text into a scene from the buffer. Just copy the text somewhere and press Ctrl+V in the Studio and the 3D text will appear on the scene.

🔥 You can use hundreds of fonts from the library or download your own in .otf format.

You have all the same text settings at your disposal as in any text editor. The only difference is that the font size is adjusted using the Gizmo.

There are three additional settings that might be unfamiliar:

Quality — the higher the value, the more polygons, making the text more detailed and smooth tip: value can be set manually above 100%

Depth — to adjust the depth of the text

Contour offset — makes the letters wider in outline

Light sources

💡

1. Note that by default all light sources do not create shadows. This will have to be enabled in the right panel for each light source. 2. You can set an intensity value greater than 100 by entering the desired value.

Point Light — light spreads equally in all directions, as from a normal incandescent lamp.

Spot light — light is emitted in the form of a cone from a single point. You can adjust the size of the spot and its softness.

Directional Light — light is emitted from a source that is infinitely far away. It is not possible to bring the source of the light closer or farther away, but you can control the direction of the light. All the shadows cast by this light source will be parallel, ideal for simulating sunlight.

Rectangle Light — light is emitted from a rectangular plane on one side. Change the width and the height of the rectangle, ideal for creating a very long and thin light source.

Read more:

Lighting and Environments

Modifiers

Modifiers are very useful and fun to use.

They can: multiply an object, mirror it, smooth it out, subtract the geometry of one object from another, and many other functions.

You can apply them in any number and in any order. Apply them to a single object, or you can apply them to several objects at once.

A modifier can be turned off at any time (when hovering a check mark icon appears). A modifier can also be removed at any level. Right-click and select Ungroup. It is easier to use Ctrl+Shift+G, as it is a fairly common operation.

The beauty of using a modifier is that the object itself remains unchanged.

👉

Each modifier has its own settings in the right bar.

Array Linear — to multiply the object along a line.

Array Radial — to multiply the object along a circle.

Array Grid — to multiply the object along to the shape of the grid.

Array Object — Multiply the object along the surface of another object.

Subdivide — Smooth out the geometry of the object. The higher the level, the more smooth it appears, but the number of polygons increases exponentially.

Bevel — Create bevels. Specify which edges will be involved.

Randomize — Distributes objects randomly throughout the scene, changing not only the position, but also the scale and rotation.

Symmetry — Mirror an object. Change the symmetry plane or manually set where exactly the mirrored object will be located.

Boolean: Union, Subtract, Intersect

👉

A modifier can be used with multiple objects. The bottom object in the list is the main object. All other objects above participate in the operation with the main object. Drag the object to the very bottom and it becomes the main object.

👉

Next to each object there is the button used for selecting the type of operation for that object: Union, Subtract or Intersect.

Enable the Separate by material option so that each of the objects involved in the operation retains its material. This is especially impressive when combined with the Subtract operation:

Union — combine several objects into a single one. This union differs from the merge, as the intersecting geometry will be removed creating a complete mesh.

Subtract — Subtract the geometry of one object from another. Several objects can be subtracted from one object. The object from which the subtraction is performed should be at the bottom of the list.

Intersect — to obtain a geometry that is the intersection of two or more objects.

The video below shows the result of converting Boolean to geometry. Each part of the object will remain a separate object after conversion:

Deformers

Deformers work on exactly the same principle as modifiers. The difference is that they actually change the shape of the object.

When applied to an object, put the object in a group first, to create its own deformer effect. Apply them in any number or order. Apply them to a single object, or apply them to several objects at once.

Their function can be turned off at any time (check mark icon appears when hovering). The deformer can be removed at any level. Right-click and select Ungroup. It is easier to use Ctrl+Shift+G, as it is a fairly common operation.

The beauty of using a deformers is that the object itself remains unchanged as long as you don't convert the modifier to geometry.

👉

The more segments (faces/polygons) an object has, the more it will be deformed. A simple analogy: the spine — the more vertebrae in the spine, the more flexible it is.

👉

Edit the deformer's area of action, and change its position and size. Use several identical deformers that will be applied to different parts of the object or to the same part, but in different directions. It is also possible to change the type of application of the deformer. e.g. to apply the deformation only within the box.

Bend — for bending.

Twist — For shape twisting.

Taper — Create a tapered shape.

Skew — Skew the object, preserving the axes of the upper and lower planes.

Stretch — Stretching the shape.

Spherify — Give the object a spherical form, as if to inflate it.

Noise — Used for disorderly curvature.

Simplify — This deformer is different from the others. It is used to reduce the number of polygons. If the object has a large number of polygons, use it to reduce the number of polygons without destroying the geometry. Try to find the intensity value at which Simplify does not destroy the geometry. If the object has a complex mesh and a lot of polygons, the browser can't handle the miscalculation and generates an error.

Setup

Here you can find all other tools outside of the categories mentioned above:

Group Ctrl + G

Use groups to organize a clear and convenient structure. Place all the objects, regardless of the amount into a group.

Ungroup

Ctrl+Shift+G

This operation allows you to dissolve a group at any level without removing its children.

This function is used often, and it is not only needed to remove a group. This action is primarily used to dissolve modifiers/deformers.

⚠️ When you delete a group, you also delete its children.

Camera — read about it here:
Camera

Backdrop — adds an object to the scene that replaces both the floor and the background at the same time. It has several settings: Angle, Offset, and number of Segments, which determine the smoothing of the angle.

Smooth normals — to make objects look more natural, by default the normals look smooth. This anti-aliasing has no effect on the geometry of the object. It only creates an impression of smoothing by changing the information about how the light is reflected. If you need to see every edge clearly (for example, if you want to create a crystal) set it to 0. If, on the contrary, you don't want to see facets, increase the value until you like the result. However, setting it too high will look unnatural.

Interactive elements

Read about it here:

Variants

Floating UI

Hotspot

Switching to Edit mode

To start working with object mesh geometry, switch to Edit mode. You can only work with one object at a time. How to enter Edit mode:

double-click on the object
select the object and press Enter
select the object and right-click → Convert to geometry
select the object and Shift + 2

If you press Shift + 2 without selecting an object, it will take you directly to Edit mode and a new object will automatically be created. Nothing will be visible on the canvas, but in the left bar, a new object named Buffer Object will appear. Start creating object geometry from scratch with the Edit mode tools.

Convert to geometry (Baking)

When the system asks you, "Convert object to geometry?" This means you are trying to open a parametric object in edit mode.

Before converting the object is in the so-called parametric state, meaning that it can be modified using parameters. If the object is already geometric, the system will automatically open the Edit mode.

By adding a primitive to the scene, its shape can be changed using the purple dots or various parameters on the right bar - these changes are parametric. Changing the shape of an object with a deformer is also an example of parametric modeling.

The convenience of parametric modeling is that you can easily change the shape of an object at any stage of the design process. But, to change the object geometry, you must convert the object into a geometric mesh first. This operation is called geometry baking.

💡

If a deformer or several deformers are applied to the object, you can bake the object either at the level of the object itself or at the level of any of the deformers.

⚠️

After baking, it is no longer possible to change the object parametrically.

Baking can literally be thought of as baking dough in the oven. The object is the dough. The deformer/modifier is the baking mold.

As long as you haven't put the dough in the oven, you can do whatever you want, transfer from one mold to another and so on. Once you decide to bake it, there is no going back. 🙂 Thankfully, in Vectary, unlike in real life, you can always press Ctrl + Z, and that will cancel the baking.

👉

Note that baked objects can be distinguished from all other objects by the unique icon in the panel on the left, next to the object name:

On this page

Top bar - Design mode
Design mode tools
Menu
Selections tools
Primitives and 3D Text
3D Text
Light sources
Modifiers
Deformers
Setup
Interactive elements
Switching to Edit mode
Convert to geometry (Baking)