wgpu – minimal editable wire

Quick start

• Orbit: RMB-drag • Pan: LMB-drag empty space • Zoom: wheel (Ctrl = finer)
• Select: LMB click vertex/edge (toggle). LMB click empty space = clear.
• Lasso (additive): hold Ctrl=verts / Alt=edges / Ctrl+Alt=both, then LMB-drag → release LMB.
• Move selection: start LMB-drag on selected geometry (moves on the dominant plane).
• Tools: Line C • Rotate R • Scale V • Revolve L • Bend S • Circle/Arc O • Bevel B
• Undo: Backspace • Redo: Shift+Backspace

Controls

Mouse

• Orbit: RMB-drag
• Pan: LMB-drag empty space
• Zoom: wheel (Ctrl = finer; perspective changes distance, ortho changes zoom size)
• Select: LMB click toggles vertex/edge; empty click clears
• Move: LMB-drag starting on selected geometry (after a few pixels)
• Lasso: Ctrl/Alt/Ctrl+Alt + LMB-drag, release to finish; RMB cancels

Core keys

• V: Scale tool (when a selection exists) • otherwise overlay cycle: Off → Thin → Thick → Off
• 9/0 grid spacing −/+ (min 0.1)
• D duplicate exact selection (selected vertices + selected edges; selected edges duplicate their endpoints)
• Delete delete selection • if nothing selected: clear all
• Space toggle ground clamp (blocks downward moves below y = 0)

Move & snapping

Dominant plane

• Moves (drag + nudges) are constrained to a plane chosen from camera direction:
• XY if view is mostly along ±Z • XZ if mostly along ±Y • YZ if mostly along ±X
• HUD shows the dominant plane label and highlights its axes.

Drag snapping

• No modifiers: fine stable micro-step
• Shift: snap to 1.0 units
• Ctrl+Shift: snap to current grid spacing

Vertex snap & weld

• While dragging: near a non-selected vertex, movement can snap so the dragged anchor aligns.
• If you move a single vertex and release exactly onto another vertex position, it auto-welds (merges).

Nudging

• Arrows: nudge on dominant plane
• Shift+Arrows: nudge by 1.0
• Ctrl+Shift+Arrows: nudge by grid spacing
• Ctrl+Arrows: fine nudge

Tools

Line tool — create & divide (C)

• Anchors: selected vertices become anchors; else uses hovered vertex; else (0,0,0) in current object.
• Preview endpoint: computed on dominant plane; snaps to vertices / axes / grid.
• Commit: LMB click (press+release without dragging).
• Single-anchor chain: after a click, anchor moves to last endpoint (polyline drawing).
• Segments (creation): 1/2 −/+ segments; Shift = ±5; Shift+Ctrl = ±10.
• Multi-line mode (multi-anchor): press C again to toggle Star ↔ Parallel.
• Mirror (single-anchor): M toggle mirrored line creation.
• Snapping modifiers inside Line: none=fine • Ctrl=1.0 steps • Shift=grid spacing.
• Edit vertices while active: LMB-drag a nearby vertex to move on dominant plane (mirrors if counterpart exists at exact mirrored position). Release to commit; Esc cancels.
• Divide selected edges: select edges → 1/2 enters divide preview with n ≥ 2 → Enter or LMB click empty space applies → Esc/RMB cancels.
• Esc exits Line tool (also reverts vertex-edit preview).

Rotate tool (R)

• Requires a valid selection (typically ≥2 vertices, or any selected edges). Pivot starts at selected-vertex centroid.
• Stage 1 (pivot): LMB-drag pivot on dominant plane; snaps to nearby vertices; RMB cancels pivot drag; O snaps pivot to world origin; press R again for Stage 2.
• Stage 2 (axis + angle): X/Y/Z choose world axis. Type degrees (supports / and *, e.g. 360/8). Backspace edits typed angle (not undo). Enter apply; Esc cancel.

Scale tool — scale around a pivot (V)

• Requires: a valid selection (≥1 vertex). Pivot starts at the selected-vertex centroid in world space.
• Stage 1 (pivot): LMB-drag the pivot gizmo on the dominant plane. Pivot snaps to nearby vertices (within a few pixels); hold Shift to snap pivot to the world grid on the dominant plane. O snaps pivot to world origin. Press V again to enter Stage 2. Esc / RMB click (no drag) cancels.
• RMB while pivot-dragging cancels the pivot drag and restores the pivot to where the drag started (without exiting the tool).
• Stage 2 (scale %): type a percentage (e.g. 50 = half size, 200 = double). Backspace edits the typed number. R resets preview to 100%.
• Interactive scaling: LMB-drag horizontally to scale. Hold Ctrl for fine control. Hold Shift to snap to 5% steps.
• Apply / exit: Enter or release LMB. Cancel: Esc / RMB click (no drag) / V (in Stage 2).
• Scaling is computed in world space around the pivot, then each vertex is transformed back into its owning object’s local space.

Revolve / lathe (L)

• Requires ≥1 selected vertex and selection must be within a single object.
• Defaults: pivot = selection centroid; axis = perpendicular to dominant plane (XY→Z, XZ→Y, YZ→X).
• [/] steps −/+ (Shift=±5, Shift+Ctrl=±10)
• -/= angle −/+ (1° default; Ctrl=5°; Shift=15°)
• X/Y/Z snap axis to world X/Y/Z
• N seam closed/open (wrap only for full 360°; partial turns add an end ring and don’t wrap)
• H toggle ring edges (connect rings along sweep)
• P toggle profile edge copying (edges among selected vertices; uses loose edges whose endpoints are selected)
• K snap pivot to vertex under cursor • E snap pivot to closest point on edge under cursor + set axis from that edge
• Enter apply (selects newly created vertices) • Esc cancel

Bend tool (S)

• Bends a single loose edge into a curved chain (replaces it with multiple segments).
• Edge selection: select exactly one loose edge (recommended). Endpoints must be in the same object.
• Start / cycle modes: press S to start; press S again to cycle: Quad-handle → Quad-mid → Cubic → Arc → exit.
• Shape: move the mouse to position the control/bulge point on the dominant plane; it can snap to vertices or closest points on edges (same object).
• Segments: type digits to set segments (0–1024); Backspace edits. (0 effectively cancels on apply.)
• Apply: LMB click (press+release without dragging) • Cancel: RMB click or Esc
• Modifiers:
  • Shift: constrain control point to the perpendicular bisector line of the chord
  • Ctrl: angle-lock in 45° steps (in-plane)
  • Cubic: Alt selects handle (H2) when editing handles; Shift switches to midpoint-bulge cubic
  • Arc: D toggle diameter entry (digits + .), M toggle major arc, Alt flips side
• While Bend is active, normal left-click selection is suppressed (mouse is for shaping/committing).

Circle / Arc tool — create circles & arcs (O)

• Cycle: press O to cycle Circle → Oval → Off.
• Anchor:
  • If you have selected vertices: anchor = their centroid (and the new geometry is created in that object).
  • If exactly one vertex is selected: anchor = that vertex position (also used to choose the object).
  • If nothing is selected: anchor = point under the cursor on the ground plane (y = 0) when available, otherwise camera target fallback; current object is used.
• Preview target (where the mouse points): snaps to vertices/edges of the same object (within a few pixels). If nothing is close, it falls back to a point on the view plane through the anchor.
• Base radius from mouse: derived from distance anchor→target, with snapping:
  • No modifiers: fine steps
  • Ctrl: 1.0 steps
  • Shift: snap to current grid spacing
• Typed diameter: type digits and . to set a fixed diameter while the tool is active; Backspace edits the typed value.
• Circle vs oval:
  • Circle mode: major and minor radii stay equal.
  • Oval mode: major and minor radii can differ.
• Editing with the mouse:
  • LMB-drag an axis line to scale that axis.
  • LMB-drag an axis end to rotate the frame.
  • LMB-drag empty space to pan the camera (after a small threshold).
  • RMB-drag orbits; in ortho it becomes the momentary “peek orbit” and snaps back on release.
• Keyboard size adjustment:
  • ArrowUp/ArrowDown: adjust major radius
  • ArrowLeft/ArrowRight: adjust minor radius in Oval mode
  • Displayed diameter change per arrow press: none = 0.001, Ctrl = 0.01, Shift = 0.1, Ctrl+Shift = 1.0
• Segments: press S to toggle segment editing; type digits (3–4096). While segment-edit is active, Backspace edits the segment input.
• Arc modes: press A to cycle OFF → Normal → Inverse → Centerline → OFF.
  • When arc mode is ON: type degrees (0–360) to set arc angle; Backspace edits the arc input.
  • Normal: sweeps forward from the start direction.
  • Inverse: sweeps backward (negative sweep).
  • Centerline: arc is centered around the start direction (symmetric).
  • 360° behaves like a full closed circle.
• Roll axis (orientation): X/Y/Z toggles the roll reference axis; pressing the same key again returns to Auto. This stabilizes “which way is up” around the radius direction.
• Ground clamp interaction: if Space ground clamp is enabled, circles/arcs are constrained to stay above y = 0.
• Commit: Enter.
• Cancel: RMB click (no drag), Esc, or continue cycling with O until the tool turns off.
• HUD label shows: current mode (CIRCLE/OVAL), diameters, arc degrees + mode (N/I/C), segment count, and roll axis (A/X/Y/Z).

Bevel / chamfer vertices (B)

• Purpose: chamfers selected vertices by cutting back along each connected loose edge (same object), then connecting the cut points around the corner (a closed loop for 3+ incident edges; a single segment for 2-edge corners).
• Start: select one or more vertices, then press B to enter Bevel preview.
• Adjust amount: move the mouse — the bevel distance t increases with cursor distance from where you started the tool.
• Snapping while adjusting:
  • No modifiers: very fine steps
  • Alt: snap to 0.001 units
  • Ctrl: snap to 0.1 units
• Limits: t is clamped so cuts don’t pass a neighboring vertex; if two selected corners share an edge, their cuts can meet at the midpoint.
• Apply: LMB click or Enter
• Cancel: RMB, Esc, or press B again
• Notes: corners with fewer than 2 same-object edge neighbors are ignored. A small numeric label near the first corner shows the current t.

Orthographic views & reference pictures

• Shift+O toggle Perspective ↔ Ortho Front
• In ortho: X=Right • Shift+X=Left • Y=Top • Z=Front • Shift+Z=Back
• Drop an image file onto the window/canvas (while in ortho) to load a semi-transparent reference picture for the current ortho view.
• Ctrl+B lock/unlock picture to world space:
  • Unlocked: screen-space quad (by default, newly loaded images are reset to fill the viewport)
  • Locked: corners pinned in world space (stays anchored as you pan/zoom)
  • Unlocking after being locked keeps the current on-screen quad shape/placement (it doesn’t automatically re-fill the viewport).
• Key sharing: if Rotate/Revolve/Circle is active, X/Y/Z control the tool (axis/roll) instead of view switching.
• Tip: Circle uses O (no Shift). Ortho toggle uses Shift+O.

Undo/redo & macros

• Most edits (move/delete/duplicate/create line/rotate/revolve/bend/circle/import/etc.) are recorded as commands.
• Backspace undo • Redo: Shift+Backspace

Macro recorder

• F8 start/stop recording
• F9 play last macro
• Shift+F8 clear last macro + stop recording

OBJ import/export

Web build (wasm32)

• Export: click ⬇ (top-right) to download wire.obj
• Import: click ⬆ to upload an OBJ

Parsing rules

• Reads v as vertices
• Reads l as polyline edges
• Reads f faces and converts them into boundary edges (including closing edge)
• Duplicate edges are deduplicated

Tips & troubleshooting

If moving feels wrong

• Moves are constrained to the dominant plane (camera-dependent).
• Orbit a bit (RMB) to change which plane becomes dominant (XY/XZ/YZ).
• Use snapping modifiers: Shift (1.0) / Ctrl+Shift (grid).

If the app feels stuck

• RMB cancels an active drag/pan/preview immediately.
• Esc cancels most tool modes (Line/Rotate/Revolve/Bend/Circle/Divide).

When keys do the “wrong thing”

• X/Y/Z are shared by tools and Ortho switching.
• V is context-sensitive: with a selection it starts Scale; with no selection it can be used for overlay cycling. Rule of thumb: the currently active tool (or active selection tool-mode) wins.
• Rule of thumb: the currently active tool wins.

Performance

• Thick overlays can be expensive — use V to cycle to Thin/Off (when Scale isn’t active / no selection, depending on context).
• Very large meshes may auto-switch to thin overlay during camera movement.