3D terms, explained simply

Short definitions of the words you will meet when generating, texturing and exporting 3D models. Each one links to a guide or tool that goes deeper.

A

Albedo (base colour): The colour of a surface with no lighting, shadows or reflections baked in. In PBR it is the starting point every other map modifies. PBR maps explained
Ambient occlusion (AO): A greyscale map or effect that darkens creases and contact points where ambient light would have trouble reaching, adding a sense of depth. PBR maps explained
AR Quick Look: Apple’s built-in AR viewer on iPhone and iPad. It opens USDZ files and places them in the room at real size. AR workflow
Auto-rigging: Automatically placing a skeleton inside a character mesh and calculating skin weights, so it can be posed and animated without manual rigging. Rigging & animation

Baking: Transferring information from one model or setup to textures, for example capturing the detail of a high-poly mesh into a normal map for a low-poly one. Remesh & retopology
Blend shapes (morph targets): Stored variations of a mesh’s vertex positions that can be mixed together, commonly used for facial expressions and lip sync.

Decimation: Reducing a mesh’s polygon count by collapsing edges while keeping the overall shape. Fast, but ignores edge flow, so it suits static models. Try live decimation
Draco: An open-source geometry compression format for glTF. It shrinks vertex data a lot but needs a decoder in the viewer. Reducing GLB size
Draw call: A command from the CPU telling the GPU to render a batch of geometry. Each separate mesh and material usually adds at least one, which affects performance. Polygon budgets

Edge loop: A continuous ring of connected edges across a quad mesh. Loops around joints and facial features let a model bend and animate cleanly. Quads vs triangles
Emissive: A material channel for surfaces that appear to give off light, like screens or lamps. They stay bright in dark scenes but do not necessarily light their surroundings. PBR maps explained

FBX: A widely used interchange format for meshes, materials, skeletons and animation, read by Unity, Unreal Engine, Maya, 3ds Max and Blender. Export formats

glTF and GLB: An open 3D format from the Khronos Group designed for efficient delivery. glTF is JSON that can reference separate files; GLB packs everything into one binary file. Open a GLB in the viewer
GPU instancing: Drawing many copies of the same mesh in one call. In glTF it is stored with EXT_mesh_gpu_instancing, which keeps repeated objects small and fast. See it on a chess set

Image to 3D: Generating a 3D model from one or a few images, with the AI inferring parts that are not visible. Image to 3D

KTX2 / Basis: A texture container whose Basis Universal data stays compressed on the GPU, saving video memory as well as download size. Texture compression

LOD (level of detail): Several versions of one model at decreasing polygon counts. The engine swaps to lighter versions as the object gets smaller on screen. Generate LOD chains

Manifold (watertight): A mesh where every edge is shared by exactly two faces, forming a closed surface with a clear inside and outside. Required for reliable 3D printing. 3D printing workflow
Mesh: The geometry of a 3D model: vertices connected by edges into faces, usually triangles or quads.
Meshopt: A glTF compression extension (EXT_meshopt_compression) that is fast to decode and works well alongside gzip or Brotli. Reducing GLB size
Metallic: A PBR map marking which parts of a surface are metal. Metals reflect light in their own colour; non-metals reflect it as white highlights. PBR maps explained

N-gon: A face with more than four sides. Acceptable on flat, static areas but causes shading and subdivision problems on curved or deforming surfaces. Quads vs triangles
Normal map: An RGB texture that stores surface directions, making flat geometry respond to light as if it had bumps, grooves and scratches. PBR maps explained

OBJ: A simple, long-established text format for static meshes, with materials in a separate MTL file. No skeletons or animation. Export formats

PBR (physically based rendering): A rendering approach that describes surfaces with physical properties such as colour, roughness and metalness, so materials look correct under any lighting. AI PBR texturing
Photogrammetry: Reconstructing a real object in 3D by measuring matching points across many overlapping photographs. Photogrammetry vs AI
Polycount: The number of polygons, usually counted as triangles, in a model. A key factor in real-time performance and file size. Polygon budgets

Quad: A four-sided face. Quad-based meshes subdivide predictably and support clean edge loops, which is why artists prefer them for editing and animation. Quads vs triangles

Retopology: Rebuilding a mesh with new, cleaner topology that follows the original shape, typically as evenly spaced quads with good edge flow. Remesh & retopology
Rigging: Giving a model a skeleton of bones and controls so it can be posed and animated. Rigging & animation
Roughness: A greyscale PBR map controlling how sharp or blurry reflections are, from mirror-smooth (0) to fully matte (1). Try the material demo

Scene Viewer: Google’s AR viewer on Android. It opens GLB files and places them in the room using ARCore. AR workflow
Skin weights: Values that define how strongly each bone moves each vertex. Smooth weights make joints bend naturally instead of creasing. Rigging & animation
STL: A geometry-only format used by 3D printing slicers. It stores triangles with no colour, materials or units. 3D printing workflow
Subdivision surface: A technique that smooths a mesh by repeatedly splitting its faces. Works best on all-quad topology.

Texel density: How many texture pixels cover a given area of a model’s surface. Keeping it consistent stops some parts looking sharp and others blurry. UV unwrapping explained
Text to 3D: Generating a 3D model from a written description using an AI model. Text to 3D
Texture atlas: One texture that holds the maps for several parts or objects, so they can share a material and render in fewer draw calls. Why nine materials cost more
Topology: How a mesh’s vertices, edges and faces are connected. Two meshes can share a shape but behave very differently when edited or animated. Quads vs triangles
Transmission: A glTF material extension (KHR_materials_transmission) for glass-like surfaces that let light pass through and refract what is behind them. See it on a lantern

USDZ: A packaged form of Pixar’s Universal Scene Description used by Apple for AR Quick Look on iPhone and iPad. AR & VR workflow
UV map: The 2D layout that tells a renderer which part of a texture belongs on each face of a 3D model. UV unwrapping explained

Vertex: A point in 3D space. Vertices are connected by edges to form the faces of a mesh.

Wireframe: A view that draws only a model’s edges, used to inspect topology and polygon density. View a wireframe

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