Quickstart guide
Use this guide to get started with F3D.
Learn how to run F3D, open files, configure basic scene constructions, interact with them, and play animations.
Prerequisites
Install F3D first. See the download page for the latest release package supported by your system.
Run F3D
After installing F3D, open a file in one of these ways:
- Open a file directly from your file manager.
- Open F3D directly, then drag and drop a file into the F3D window.
- Run F3D from the terminal with a set of command-line options.
- Configure F3D as a thumbnailer for supported file formats with certain file managers.
To run F3D from the terminal, open your file with:
f3d /path/to/file.ext
Optionally, save the rendering into an image file:
f3d /path/to/file.ext --output=/path/to/img.png
If you need help, specify the --help option:
f3d --help
On Linux, you can also open the manual page:
man f3d
After opening your file in F3D, press F1 to open the Cheatsheet.
See the supported file formats page for the full list of file formats that F3D can open.
Construct scenes
The supported file formats page lists certain formats as full scene formats (.gltf/.glb, .3ds, .wrl, .obj, .fbx, .dae, .off, .x, .3mf, .usd). These files contain geometry as well as scene information such as lights, cameras, actors, and texture properties. By default, F3D loads this information from the file and displays it. For file formats that are not full scene, F3D creates a default scene.
For default scene formats, certain default values are set automatically:
- texture-*: ""
- line-width: 1.0
- point-size: 10.0
- opacity: 1.0
- color: 0.65, 0.65, 0.65
- emissive-factor: 1.0, 1.0, 1.0
- normal-scale: 1.0
- metallic: 0.0
- roughness: 0.3
- base-ior: 1.5
- camera-orthographic: false
- unlit: false
Corresponding command-line options override these defaults, either from command-line options or from the configuration file.
Interact with your scene
After loading your scene in F3D, interact with it using your mouse and hotkeys.
Moving the camera
- Click and drag with the left mouse button to rotate around the focal point of the camera.
- Click and drag vertically with the right mouse button OR move the mouse wheel to zoom in/out.
- Click and drag with the middle mouse button to translate the camera.
Other shortcuts
- Press Enter to reset the camera.
- Press Space to play animation, if any.
- Press G to toggle the horizontal grid.
- Press F1 to display the Cheatsheet.
For more information, see the Interactions page.
Play animations
F3D can play animations for any supported files that contain them.
With your file loaded in F3D, press the W hotkey to cycle through available animations. Then press Space to play your selected animation.
Alternatively, use the command-line to play animations. Use the --animation-indices command-line option to specify which animation to play. To play all animations at once, use --animation-indices=-1.
For more information, see the Animations page.