Nubble documentation

How to use Nubble: navigation, selection, transform tools, mesh editing, materials, exporting and keyboard shortcuts.

The full manual ships with the application. Until the browsable version is published here, this page carries the chapter list, the keyboard shortcuts and a first edit walkthrough.

Documentation sections

Each chapter covers one part of the application, in the order you are likely to meet it.

Chapter Covers State
Getting started Install it, open the window, make a first edit. Running Nubble The window layout Your first edit In the current build
Selection Component modes, loops, rings, linked and region selection. Vertex, edge, face Loops and rings Box, circle, lasso In the current build
Transform tools Modal move, rotate and scale, constraints and typed values. Constraints Snapping The object gizmo In the current build
Mesh editing The operators, the modifier stack and the scene graph. Operators Modifiers Parenting In the current build
Materials Material parameters, texture slots and viewport shading. Material parameters Alpha modes Texture slots In the current build
Exporting What Nubble reads and writes, and what it repairs on the way in. Import report Export options Project files In the current build
Keyboard shortcuts Every binding, grouped by context. Navigation Selection Transforms In development

Keyboard shortcuts

Nubble follows the conventions most 3D modeling tools share, so muscle memory carries over. An extract of the reference:

Navigation

Middle mouse drag Orbit the view
Shift + middle drag Pan the view
Scroll wheel Zoom
NumPad 1 / 3 / 7 Front, right and top views
NumPad 5 Toggle orthographic
. / Home Frame the selection, or everything

Selection

Tab Toggle edit mode
1 / 2 / 3 Vertex, edge or face mode
Alt + click Select an edge loop
Ctrl + Alt + click Select an edge ring
A / Alt + A Select all, or none
B / C / Q Box, circle or lasso select

Editing

G / R / S Move, rotate or scale
X / Y / Z Constrain to an axis
E / I Extrude, inset
Ctrl + B Bevel
Ctrl + R Loop cut
Ctrl + Z Undo

The complete binding list, including x-ray, edge rings, linked selection and the modifier stack, ships with the application's manual.

Five steps from an empty scene

  1. Add a cube

    Add > Cube from the menu, or the Add button in the toolbar.

  2. Make it active

    Click the cube in the viewport.

  3. Enter edit mode

    Press Tab, then 2 for edge mode.

  4. Select a loop

    Alt + click an edge to select the whole loop.

  5. Cut or extrude

    Ctrl + R for a loop cut, or E to extrude. Ctrl + Z undoes.

File formats

  • Reads: OBJ, glTF, GLB, FBX, PLY, STL, DAE, 3DS and more.
  • Writes: OBJ with an MTL sidecar, PLY, STL, glTF and GLB.
  • Projects: a single .nubble file holding meshes, materials, textures, the scene graph and editor state.

If an import looks wrong

Read the import report: it lists what loaded, what was skipped and what Nubble repaired on the way in. The last session's log is at %APPDATA%\Nubble\nubble.log.

Get Nubble for Windows

Download the current build, or read the documentation first.

Download details Read the documentation