3D terms in plain words

A component on a web page that shows a 3D model and lets visitors rotate and zoom it. Either ready-made, like model-viewer, or custom — for configurators.

A draft version of the video: the motion without final materials and light. It's where you approve what moves and how — after the final render, any change to the motion means redoing it.

A 3D model placed over the phone camera image — the product stands in the room at full size. On a website it works without an app, through the viewers built into iPhone and Android.

Transferring detail into textures — shadows, fine relief and lighting from a detailed model are "baked" into an image for a lighter one. The model looks richer than its mesh allows.

A model from engineering software, with exact surfaces and dimensions. The best source of geometry for visualization; before rendering it's converted to polygons.

The point the camera looks at the product from — front, three-quarter, top. The list of angles goes into the brief: it decides how many shots are made.

A render of the model with no materials, usually gray. It shows only the shape, so silhouette, proportions and details are approved on it — before any work on color.

An image where part of the housing is cut away to show the inside. Unlike an exploded view, the parts stay in place.

How many pixels fall on an inch of paper in print. DPI means nothing for a screen; a catalog needs 300 DPI at the final size.

A way to compress geometry in GLB. It makes the file noticeably smaller, but the phone has to unpack the model before showing it.

A single job for the GPU to draw part of a scene. Every part with its own material is a separate call; hundreds of them slow down even a powerful phone.

An image where the product's parts are moved apart along the assembly axes. It shows what the product is made of and how it goes together — something a photo can't capture.

An exchange format between 3D programs and game engines. It carries animation and the part hierarchy well; materials don't always transfer exactly.

A model prepared for a game engine — within a triangle and material budget, with UVs, textures and levels of detail.

glTF is the open standard for 3D on the web; GLB is its single-file version with geometry, materials, textures and animation. The main format for 3D on a website and AR on Android.

How shiny a surface is, from matte to mirror-like. It's specified separately from color: the same RAL looks different in a matte and a glossy finish.

A panorama of an environment with a wide range of brightness. It lights a 3D scene, and glossy surfaces reflect a real setting — a studio, a street, an interior.

A product image with captions, callouts and benefit icons. For marketplaces it's built from renders of a single model.

A texture format that stays compressed even in GPU memory. JPEG and PNG are unpacked there in full, which is why textures for the web and AR are converted to KTX2.

Several versions of one model, from the full one down to almost a silhouette. The engine switches between them by distance to the camera, so a scene with hundreds of objects stays fast.

The model's surface made of polygons — vertices, edges and faces. Mesh density decides how smooth the shape is and how much the file weighs.

A way to compress and reorder geometry in GLB — a smaller file that the phone unpacks quickly. Often used together with KTX2.

An open web component by Google for showing a 3D model on a page. A single tag gives rotation, zoom, a poster and an AR button.

The directions the model's faces point in; they determine how the surface reflects light. Broken normals cause dark patches and jagged highlights.

An old, simple 3D format — geometry, basic materials in a separate .mtl file, textures as separate files. Opens in almost any program.

A color catalog for print and design, with a number for each color. A number plus a physical sample is more precise than any description in words.

A material described by physical properties — color, roughness, metalness. That's why it looks believable under any light and carries over consistently between programs and engines.

A flat face; a 3D model's surface is built from them, and engines split polygons into triangles. The more there are, the smoother the shape and the heavier the model.

An image from the same angle shown in place of the 3D model while it loads. The page is never empty, even on a slow connection.

A catalog of standard colors for metal, plastic and facades, with a number for each color, such as RAL 9016. The most reliable way to specify a product's color.

A model in real units — meters. Without it, a house in AR ends up the size of a box, and an armchair the size of a house.

An example shown to the artist — an image, a video or someone else's work, with a note on what exactly you like about it: the light, the angle, the background.

The first model of a series, on which detail, materials and lighting are approved. The rest are matched to it, so the series looks consistent.

An image the computer calculates from a 3D scene — the model, materials, light and camera. A well-tuned render on a neutral background looks like a studio photo.

The 3D program's working file with lights, cameras and materials. Unlike an export, every layer in it can be edited separately — which is why it's the most valuable file for further work.

A CAD format with exact surfaces and no textures. Used by manufacturing and as a source for visualization; for a website it's converted to GLB.

A sequence of key frames for a future video, with captions. It's approved before animating — rearranging frames on paper is easier than in a finished video.

Converting exact CAD surfaces into a mesh of triangles. A fine mesh is smooth but heavy; a coarse one is light, but the facets show.

An image applied to a model — color, pattern, roughness, relief. In web models, textures usually take up the most memory.

How the mesh edges run across the model's surface. Clean topology lets a model smooth cleanly, deform properly in animation and simplify without holes.

An image with nothing around the product, so it can be placed on any backdrop. JPEG can't store transparency, so it takes a PNG; the shadow comes as a separate semi-transparent layer.

Apple's format for augmented reality. It lets a model open in AR straight from the browser on iPhone and iPad.

Laying the model's surface out flat, like a sewing pattern. Textures, labels and logos are placed on the model through it.

The standard for 3D graphics in the browser. Through it the GPU redraws the model for every frame — that's why you can rotate it.