> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.intangible.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.intangible.ai/build/working-with-objects.md). # Working with objects Click, swap, color, lock, frame, delete – the contextual menu that handles most per-object actions in Build mode. Click any object in the viewport and the contextual menu opens above it. Most of what you'd do to a single object lives in that menu: swap its model, change its color, edit transforms, attach details, lock it, frame it, delete it. ## Watch {% embed url="" %} ![Build mode with a greyboxed SUV selected on a highway. The contextual menu floats below the object: from the left, a swap-model cube, a color swatch, a transform control, a details control, and a three-dot more-options menu; then a divider; then the move gizmo, the snapping magnet with its mode dropdown, and the parent tool](https://1179478100-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FSWrjIqlgVAblx6vHGJiM%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-c601c2dff61120ccd07a4d2f01e4db9bdc9989d8%2Fcontextual-menu-01.png?alt=media) ## What it does In a typical 3D pipeline you'd dig through right-click menus or property inspectors to act on an object. Intangible collapses the most common per-object actions into one contextual toolbar that opens on click and closes on deselect. It's the canonical reach point for everything that doesn't require a full panel. ## How to use it Click the object. The menu appears. From left to right, the contents are: 1. **Swap model.** Opens the [Swap Model](#swap-model) dialog scoped to similar assets (e.g. swapping a Lambo opens "Vehicles > Land Vehicles" with hierarchical category breadcrumbs). 2. **Color / material swatches.** A row of round swatches showing available color variants. Not all assets have swatches – most library assets ship in gray. Imported objects don't expose swatches. 3. **Transform.** Opens the Transform popover with numeric Position (X, Y, Z) and Rotation (X, Y, Z) fields. Use when dragging the gizmo is too coarse. It also switches the viewport handle to the classic gizmo with axis arrows. 4. **Details.** Opens the [Details panel](/build/object-details.md) on the left side of the workspace – Name, Description, Reference images. 5. **More options.** Three-dot menu with secondary actions. See [More options menu](#more-options-menu). 6. **Gizmo coordinate space.** Small toggle popover with **Global** and **Local** options – the same toggle the keyboard shortcut `T` triggers. 7. **Snapping.** A magnet button plus a mode dropdown in the properties bar. The dropdown picks what snapping does – **Surface** snaps position to surfaces, **Surface + parent** snaps and also parents the object to whatever it lands on, **off** disables it. Selecting a mode turns snapping on; the magnet button then toggles that mode on or off. See [Snapping modes](#snapping-modes). Parenting lives in the bottom toolbar, not in this menu – see [Parenting](#parenting) below. ## Parenting Parenting makes one object follow another. The child keeps its own offset from the parent; move the parent and the child rides along. Use it to attach a prop to a vehicle, a camera to a rig, or to group set dressing that should travel together. ![The parent tool in the bottom toolbar with its Set Parent tooltip, waiting for a click on the target object](https://1179478100-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FSWrjIqlgVAblx6vHGJiM%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-1a4de935b16630139d64f828418a0ed2c95b4ee0%2Fparent-tool-01.jpg?alt=media) Parenting is an explicit mode, entered from the parent tool in the bottom toolbar: 1. Select the object (or objects) that should be the child. 2. Click the **Parent** tool. The app waits for your next click. Clicks in parent mode don't change the selection. 3. Click the object that should be the parent. The relationship applies and the mode exits. To clear a parent, enter parent mode and click the floor or the backdrop. The object returns to the floor. ![Selecting an object, entering parent mode from the bottom toolbar, and clicking the parent target to apply the relationship](https://1179478100-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FSWrjIqlgVAblx6vHGJiM%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-13a44e84a63e801c723ec057e3a58c3175a6d210%2Fparent-tool-demo.gif?alt=media) Candidates highlight as you hover in parent mode, so you can see what you are about to attach to before you commit. Hovering the floor highlights the ground, which is how you clear a parent rather than set one. ![Parent mode highlighting the candidate under the cursor before the click lands](https://1179478100-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FSWrjIqlgVAblx6vHGJiM%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-9f3f020a1111f6bbd9cdd9cf276a322e6b097844%2Fparent-tool-mode-01.gif?alt=media) The mode also exits on `Esc` or when you switch editor modes. You can't parent an object to itself or to one of its own children – the tool blocks cycles. Parenting is independent of snapping: snapping an object to a surface doesn't parent it unless the snapping mode is set to **Surface + parent** – see below. ## Snapping modes The snapping dropdown next to the magnet button has three modes: ![The snapping mode dropdown open next to the magnet button, showing the Surface and Surface + parent options](https://1179478100-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FSWrjIqlgVAblx6vHGJiM%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-432cc1433dc791c3c43a61579b831958f478abae%2Fsnapping-modes-02.jpg?alt=media) | Mode | What it does | | -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Surface** | Snaps the object's position to surfaces it intersects. Position only – no parent relationship is created. | | **Surface + parent** | Snaps position and parents the object to the surface it lands on. | | **Off** | No snapping. | Selecting a mode from the dropdown turns snapping on; the magnet button then toggles that mode on or off without losing your choice. When you drag an asset in from the library, snap-and-parent is active for that drag, then snapping resets to off. One spline-specific behavior: when snapping is on, splines snap to surfaces only – they never parent, regardless of mode. ## More options menu The three-dot icon in the contextual menu opens secondary actions: | Action | What it does | | --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Save as Set | Group this object with the current selection into a reusable set. See [Sets](/build/sets.md). | | Lock | Protect the object from viewport selection and transforms until unlocked. See [Locking objects](#locking-objects). | | Frame | Camera moves to fill the frame with the object. Same as pressing `F`. | | Delete | Remove the object from the scene. Doesn't go to a recycle bin – be sure. | | Edit Populator Target | Adjust how this object interacts with an active populator – masks, surface climbing, exclusion zones. See [Populators](/overview/concepts/populators.md). | | Add LoRA | Attach a fine-tuned LoRA to this object. See [LoRAs](/build/loras.md). | ![More options popover open over a selected Lambo, showing Save as Set / Lock / Frame / Delete / Edit Populator Target / Add LoRA actions](https://1179478100-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FSWrjIqlgVAblx6vHGJiM%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-73592b09a9c2ebc36c5c75eda0cf4610f0f78fdb%2Fmore-options-01.png?alt=media) ## Locking objects The floor, the terrain, the building shell, the hero product once it's placed. A scene accumulates objects that are finished, and every stray click that grabs one instead of the thing behind it is a small tax on the rest of the session. Lock them. Two routes to the same state. Use the lock action on the object's row in the [Scene Outliner](/build/scene-outliner.md), or select the object and choose **Lock** from the **More options** menu in the properties bar. A lock icon marks the object once it's locked. A locked object stops responding to the viewport. It won't highlight on hover, it won't select on click, and it can't be dragged, rotated, or scaled. Clicks pass through it to whatever sits behind, which is the point: locking the floor means you can marquee-select the props standing on it without dragging the floor along. What stays available: * **Selecting it in the Scene Outliner.** The lock covers the viewport, not the outliner. Select the row to reach the object's properties. * **Editing its name and description.** Both feed the auto-prompt, so a locked object is still fully briefable. Locking a building shell doesn't stop you telling the visualizer what it's made of. * **Snapping other objects onto it.** Surface snapping treats a locked object as a valid surface. Drop a chair onto a locked floor and it lands correctly, with the floor still protected. Unlock from the same place you locked it. {% hint style="info" %} Lock the floor first. It's the object most likely to be grabbed by accident and the one you least often need to move, and locking it makes every subsequent selection in the scene more predictable. {% endhint %} ## Swap Model The Swap Model dialog opens scoped to the asset's category. The header carries a breadcrumb (e.g. **Vehicles > Land Vehicles**) plus a search bar and a grid of compatible thumbnails. ![Swap Model dialog open with the Vehicles > Land Vehicles breadcrumb, a search bar, and a thumbnail grid of compatible vehicles (truck, sports car, forklift, semi-truck)](https://1179478100-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FSWrjIqlgVAblx6vHGJiM%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-ebd3978bbe398180b6528a2ac2866a974063ce81%2Fswap-model-01.png?alt=media) Click a swap target; the new asset inherits position and rotation. The dialog opens scoped to the asset's category, but you can search across all categories using the search bar – swapping a car for a tree is possible if you search for it. {% hint style="warning" %} **Swapping a model doesn't clear its image reference.** If the original object had image reference attached, that reference stays on the new object after the swap. A car with Porsche image reference swapped to an ambulance will render as an ambulance that looks like a Porsche. Remove or replace the image reference after swapping if that's not what you want. {% endhint %} ## Selecting multiple objects The default click is single-selection. Marquee select is in the toolbar – click the marquee icon, then drag a box to select every object the box touches. The marquee button deactivates after each use; click it again for each new marquee selection. See [Selection and grouping](/build/selection-and-grouping.md) for group-level actions. ## Copying and duplicating Twenty copies of the same crate is twenty placements. Duplicate the one you already positioned instead of placing a twenty-first crate by hand. `Ctrl D` / `⌘ D` duplicates the selected object. `Ctrl C` / `⌘ C` and `Ctrl V` / `⌘ V` copy and paste it. See [Keyboard shortcuts](/overview/reference/keyboard-shortcuts.md) for the rest of the Edit set. With an image on the clipboard rather than a copied object, the same paste attaches that image to the selection as a reference – see [Image reference](/overview/concepts/image-reference.md#4-paste-from-the-clipboard). On Windows, hold `Alt` and drag the classic gizmo without leaving the viewport: it duplicates the selected object as you drag. The classic gizmo is the one with axis arrows, not the simplified smart gizmo objects get by default – `Tab` toggles between the two with a selection active. To duplicate from a row rather than the viewport, right-click the object in the [Scene Outliner](/build/scene-outliner.md) and choose **Duplicate**. The copy inherits the original's parent and lands at a position offset. Copy and paste reach past whole objects. Transforms, colors, prompts, keyframes, and components can all be copied and pasted, so a value you set once gets reused instead of retyped, and input fields carry a copy control for the value they hold. ## Physics Give an object the physics attribute and it stops being scenery. It falls, it collides, and it reacts when something pushes it. 1. **Select the object.** 2. **Open the object menu.** It carries Save as Set, Lock, Frame, Move Camera Inside, Apply Physics, Delete, and Add LoRA. 3. **Choose Apply Physics.** The object simulates in Build from that point. Walking through the scene in [Game Mode](/build/game-mode.md) is the fastest way to see it react. ## Limits and known issues {% hint style="warning" %} **All assets are gray by default.** Library assets and imported models alike arrive without color or texture. Use color swatches if available on the specific asset, or attach [image reference](/overview/concepts/image-reference.md) to apply surface treatment at render time. Imported models are stripped of their source materials on import and don't preserve textures from the original file. {% endhint %} * **Delete is immediate.** No confirmation, no undo beyond `Cmd+Z`. If you delete something you wanted to keep, undo right away. * **Swap stays inside the asset's category.** The Swap Model dialog opens scoped to the asset's category breadcrumb (e.g. Vehicles > Land Vehicles). Swapping across categories isn't a path the dialog offers. * **Alt-drag duplicate is only confirmed on Windows.** [Keyboard shortcuts](/overview/reference/keyboard-shortcuts.md) doesn't list Alt-drag at all, and no macOS equivalent is confirmed. On a Mac, duplicate with `⌘ D` instead, and tell us if Alt-drag works for you – see [Help and feedback](/overview/get-started/help-and-feedback.md). ## Related * [Asset library](/build/asset-library.md) * [Transform](/build/transform.md) * [Object details](/build/object-details.md) * [Selection and grouping](/build/selection-and-grouping.md) * [Sets](/build/sets.md) * [Scene Outliner](/build/scene-outliner.md) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. 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