Creating and Editing

SamG · April 26, 2022, 4:37am

This topic covers all the fundamentals of editing your 3D models and creating the steps of a presentation.

To begin creating a Jig, you need to add 3D models or objects in your presentation. You can do this in two ways:

Add from library
Import your own 3D files

There are many ways to import 3D content, which are covered on this seperate thread.

When your model has loaded in the JigSpace App, you are ready to go.

Using size and scale

The scale of your objects is an important consideration when building your scenes. Increasing the size of an object can help draw attention to that object.

To scale:

Select your Object , or Sub-object
Tap the Scale button on the toolbar.
You can then scale your object uniformly by pressing on the yellow box and dragging away from it.

Alternatively you can press either the Red,Green or Blue arrows and then dragging to stretch your object.

It is best practice to keep your models scaled to fit the workspace.

If you find your imported model is too big, use the scale tool to reduce your models size.

Scale can be a great way to add movement across the Steps of a Jig and emphasize a model in a scene.

By making an object invisible and small in the previous Step, the transition draws the eye to the new focus in the next Step.

Rotating objects and sub-objects

The Rotation Tool is located on the Toolbar and can be used to rotate your objects.

To rotate an object:

Tap to select the object.
Tap Rotation on the toolbar.
Press and hold down on one of the arrows on the rotation tool.
Drag away from the rotation tool.

Rotation can also be used in Sub-Object Mode, allowing you to rotate individual pieces of your model independently. This can help to add more dynamic animations when you transition between steps.

To enter Sub-Object Mode:

Tap on your object and check the toolbar.
If the Object Mode button is visible, tap it to enter Sub-Object Mode .

Selection types and grouping objects

Multi-Select

The ability to multi-select can save many hours of work, manipulating multiple objects rather than one by one.

To do this, select an object you want to group and then press the Add to Selection button.
This opens the Selection toolbar.
While in this selection mode, any object you tap will be added to your selection.

Selected objects will have a highlighted outline.

If you accidentally select the wrong object, don’t worry, you can deselect it by tapping the same object again.

To finish, tap the Confirm Selection button.

Select All

If you need to select all the objects in a scene.

First select an object and then tap the Add to Selection button.
In the selection toolbar tap the Select All button.

Select using Lasso

To select objects using the Lasso tool.

First to select any preferable object and tap Add to Selection to open the selection toolbar.
Then tap on the Lasso button.

Once the Lasso tool is selected, press down and drag an outline around the objects you want to select.

To finish selection, tap on the Confirm Selection button.

You can cancel the Lasso selection by tapping anywhere on the scene.

Deselect using Lasso

To deselect objects using the Lasso tool

Tap on the Deselect button
Then drag an outline around the objects you want to deselect.

A deselected object will lose its highlighted outline to show it isn’t selected anymore.

To finish, click on the Confirm Selection button.

Locking into Group

If you need some of your objects to stay as one group while making your presentation:

Select the objects you want grouped and then press the Lock Group button.

The group will Lock and all objects that have been joined in the group will have a purple outline when selected. This group will now behave like one single object.

To finish, click on the Confirm Selection button.

Be aware: Currently your grouped objects only stay as one while working on your presentation.

Add or remove objects from locked group

Sometimes you might need to add or remove objects from a locked group. To add an object:

Select your group and then Add to Selection
Then tap on the objects you want to add to your selection.
Tap Lock Group to add them to the group.

To deselect objects from the group:

Go to the selection toolbar by pressing Add to Selection
Tap the Group Locked to unlock the group.
While the group is unlocked you can tap to deselect objects in the scene.
Once you have the right selection you can then tap Lock Group , to re-lock the group.
To finish, tap the Confirm Selection button.

Using steps to create a Jig presentation

Think of steps as the individual units in your Jig presentation that you can fill with content, similar to slides in a PowerPoint presentation.

You should consider how many steps it takes to demo your product or present your concept. This will range from 5-20 most of the time, though we have seen Jigs with over 100 steps in them for complex manufacturing or training user guides.

Adding a step

To Add a step, tap on the button.

You’ll notice you now have multiple steps in the thumbnail preview at the top of your screen.

Duplicating a step

You may notice, when you press that it makes a duplicate of the selected step.

This can be very useful if you want to duplicate any step. As an example, if you have 3 steps, you can tap on step 2 and then the button . You’ve now duplicated step 2 to step 4.

Moving a step

At times you may also want to re order your steps. To do this, simply tap and hold the step you’d like to move.

After a second you’ll notice the steps jiggle and an will appear in the top right corner.

As you keep your finger on the step, slide your finger either left or right until you see the step image jump to the new location.

Removing a step

As you build out your presentation you might want to remove a step you’ve previously added.

To Remove a step, tap and hold one of your steps.

After a second you’ll notice the steps jiggle and an will appear in the top right corner.

Release your finger and then tap the on the step you want to remove.

If you change your mind after appears you can tap away from the steps, this will cancel the action.

Move an object to create animation between steps

Adding movement to objects is a straightforward way to animate your Jig.

To move an object:

Select the object and then select the Transform button.
Pressing and dragging on one of the 3 movement arrows to reposition your object.

You can add movement to Objects as well as Sub-objects. This can allow you to move a model around you scene while customizing individual components at the same time.

If your model is highlighted blue and the tool bar displays the Object Mode button, you’re in object mode and can move your model around the scene.
If your object is highlighted green, (or in the case of grouped sub-objects, purple) and the toolbar displays the Sub-object Mode button, you’re in sub-object mode and can move the individual components of your model.

The effect of the transitions across Steps, simply due to moving your object, can create a realistic reflection of how your models behave and are utilized in the real world.

This can be informative when trying to discuss and explore complex machines, as it allows you to see how they work.

Transitions between steps

The transitions between Steps are an important part of building and animating your Jig. A good transition can tell a story by itself.

Focus attention with transitions

The most common transitions, that the Jig Space team use, are:

Changing the Colour of an object to attract an attention.
Labeling an Object or Sub-object with Always show on a Step - to clarify what part you are talking about.

Transparent transitions

Adding transparency to reveal hidden parts of an object or making objects Invisible changes the focus from one object to another.

Rotating across steps

Use the Move and Rotate actions to help show what direction parts should move.

We recommend setting up your movement transitions before adding in transparency so you can see what your doing more easily.

When making your objects transparent we recommend selecting them in Object Mode rather than Sub-Object Mode as this will save you a lot of time selecting everything one at a time.

Scaling transitions

You can scale an object in a transition to focus more attention on a specific part(s) of the Jig, especially small parts of sub-objects.

Transition between last and first step

The transition between final step and first step is what many people usually forget to consider.

Views of Jigs can move freely back and forward and easily loop from the last step back to the first.

To avoid messy transitions you can copy the last Step of your Jig, and bring it to the first Step, to step through and review the transition between them. Here you can use whatever tools you need to smooth out their transition.

After you finish your updates don’t forget to replace and delete the unedited Step you copied.

These clean transitions will give your Jig a more presentable and professional look.

Pro tip: based on the Jig Space team’s experience, too much movement between Steps can look a little bit messy visually. So we sometimes spread out transitions between a few Steps.

Autoplay

Set your Jig to advance through each step automatically when in the viewing mode by tapping on the and toggling on autoplay.

You can set the time delay for each step in seconds and choose to loop your presentation or not.

This is great for sales and customer experience centres, 3D instructions or making videos from your Jigs.

Ensure you have the latest version of JigSpace to use this version:

Labels and Instructions

Labels can be useful for highlighting the focus of a Step. You could add in the object’s name or the features you’re discussing in the Jig.

To add a Label select the object or sub-object you want to discuss, then tap the Label

button in the toolbar. Tap on the empty label box and add in the suitable information.

Note: You can only Label an object in Object Mode if there are no Sub-objects

Once a label is assigned, when the object is tapped in either the workshop for editing or in AR Presentation mode, the label will appear for 2 seconds.

If you want the label to be visible permanently on this step you can tap the ‘Always show’ tick box. To turn this feature off just re-tap the tick box.

Drill Rig Labels Smaller

This object’s Label information will only be added on the current Step.

If you want your object to always have this Label, hold down on the Label icon in the toolbar until the replicate tool pops up and then select the Across All Steps icon to add the label to all the Steps in your Jig.

Adding text instructions to Jigs

To add text to a step in a Jig, tap on the Instructions Panel at the bottom of the screen. This will bring up the keyboard, and allow you to to fill in information about your Jig and the focus of this Step.

Adding text to Steps can be both instructive and informative. Transforming a series of Steps featuring 3D objects, into an in depth exploration of what your models are and how they work.

Formatting Text

You can add HTML markup to your text instructions or labels to add emphasis or stylise your Jigs further.

To do this, wrap key words, phrases, or the whole text in one or more of the following tags.

You can also add links to websites in Jig instructions or labels by using the tag.

Lastly, you can combine several tags together, such as bold and color, or add the <br> tag to start a new line of text, which is a simple way to break up content and make it easier to read.

Copy and paste text to Jigs

If you have information you need to copy from a document onto your Jig, feel free to copy and paste it to make authoring your Jig a breeze.

Duplicating and deleting

Duplicating models

To load an object into a scene you usually have to select it from the library or load your own from the Add Object menu. However you may also want the added properties of colour, materials, scale and rotation that you’ve added to your chosen model.

In order to get an exact duplicate of this object you can press the Duplicate button in the toolbar, and then tap anywhere on the screen to place it down. The duplicate object will have the same properties.

This can be a great way to quickly populate your scene.

To add these duplicates across all of your Steps, select the Across All Steps button from the replicate flower when it appears.

Deleting Objects

If you want to delete an object from a Step select the object and tap on the Delete button on the bottom of the toolbar.

This will remove your object from your current Step, but it will still be present in the other Steps of your Jig.

If you want to remove an object permanently from all Steps, press and hold down on the Delete button until the replicate flower appears and then tap on the Across All Steps button.

Deleting Sub-objects

You can also perform the same actions for a Sub-object. This will let you delete a part of your model without affecting the whole. If your objects outline is green and the Sub-object Mode icon is shown on the toolbar, you’re in sub-object mode. If your outline is blue and the Object Mode icon is on the toolbar, simply tap the icon to switch over to sub-object mode.

If you have deleted an object accidentally you can undo the mistake with the Undo button on the left menu. It is also possible to replace the step with one that still possesses the object, and delete the one without it.

Frequently Used Controls

When working on your Jig sometimes you might need to undo your previous action, or even a number of actions. If you want to undo or redo an action you can tap on the Undo or Redo arrows found in the bottom left corner of the menu.

Undo Button

The Undo button is one of the most popular ways to easily fix a mistake by undoing your last action in your Jig.

You should remember at this moment there are some actions you will not be able to undo, but there is almost always another way to accomplish what you want, for example:

If you add a new step, you will not be able to undo this action. But you can delete the step instead by holding down on it and then pressing the cross when it appears.
Adding a new Object - select the object and hold down on the Delete button to open the Replicate Flower. Then select Across All Steps to delete it from your Jig.
Adding Texture - in Colour open the texture tab and tap to Delete the texture you want to remove.
Adding different Materials in Colour to your object cannot be undone, but in most cases you just need to re-select the Standard Material.

You might even find another example. But we want to reassure you we are working to fix them as soon as we can, to provide you with the best experience possible.

Undo/Redo Experimentation

Undo and Redo buttons can also be helpful for exploring different positions or colours with your objects. Allowing you to scroll back and forward through your actions as you experiment.

Camera Perspectives

The View button allows you to quickly jump through different perspectives.

It updates the camera from Front, Left, Top and Three-Quarter views.

This can be helpful when you want to move and rotate an object more precisely, ensuring that your objects are correctly aligned to each other.

After importing 3D objects it can also be helpful to look at your model from different perspectives to check it before you start building your Jig.

Any changes that are required to the object are best discovered early so they can be updated, before any formatting or steps added to the Jig.

Keyboard shortcuts

The Windows and MacOS desktop version of JigSpace have keyboard shortcuts to speed up the Jig editing process.

Shift + Click — multi-select objects
Cmd + Z — Undo
Cmd + Shift + Z — Redo
Space + Drag Mouse or Middle mouse button + Drag Mouse — Pan
Tab — Toggle between object and sub-object mode
Delete — Deletes selected object or sub-object
Ctrl + S — Save
W — Move
E — Rotate
R — Scale
Shift W/E/R — To Move, Rotate and Scale by increments.

Saving and Publishing

It is important to add or update your Jig’s information when you are ready to save and share.

To do this tap on the Information icon on the side menu. Once this is open there are several options you can fill in.

Adding Titles and Tags

At the top you can add the Name/Title of the Jig. Simply tap and fill in the box using the keyboard.

Next you can add tags.

Tap on the ‘tags’ box to fill.

Try to keep tags as simple words (like the model name, model version, the department they’re for, its progress status (ie. Drillrig,V3,Marketing,Complete) will help make your Jig easier to find when using the search bar in the Jig menu.

Adding Descriptions

Add a description to summarise the Jig contents or give instructions to the people you are sharing it with.

This information will be visible when you tap on your Jig in the Jig Menu, so try to be detailed and clear about what the Jig is exploring.

Adding Thumbnails

Add a Thumbnail by tapping on the Thumbnail button.

This will open up the Thumbnail menu. The Thumbnail is the image that will be displayed on the Jig Menu as a visual indication of what this Jig is about.

For taking the thumbnail picture you might want to go through to the most visually interesting step. Tap on the screen, pinch your fingers or zoom to position and scale the camera’s view.

There are several choices for the background colour and you can change the backgrounds brightness using the slider to the left.

We recommend that you choose a colour and brightness that contrast well with your scene so it’s easy to read visually.

When you are satisfied with the thumbnail tap on the camera icon. This will capture the image of your thumbnail.

Don’t forget to save the thumbnail by pressing ‘Save’ in the details panel.

You can also save the Thumbnail by saving the Jig when prompted before quitting the application.

Custom background colour in 3D viewer

Sometimes a 3D model appears better on a different coloured background, especially when you are not viewing it in augmented reality.

In 3D mode, you can now change from the default white colour background to better show off your Jig or use brand colours.

To change the colour of your Jig background:

Tap the button in the workshop of the app
Scroll down to Presentation
Tap the background colour (defaults to white) and select a new colour
Preview in 3D by tapping
Save by tapping

SamG · June 5, 2023, 2:22am