Coordinate systems

Understanding coordinate space is essential for pivots and animations.

Imported model-local space

pivot.point is stored in the original model's local coordinate system, before Model Lab's pivot offset and outer model transform.

Pivot-root space

model.position, model.rotation, and model.scale are applied to the pivot root. Rotation values are degrees in exported JSON and public component props.

World space

Camera position, camera target, helper positions, and renderer output exist in world space.

Pivot hierarchy

model-lab-pivot-root
  position / rotation / scale
  └─ model-lab-content-root
       position = -pivot.point
       └─ imported glTF scene

This hierarchy means the point stored as pivot.point is moved to the pivot root's origin. Rotation and scale then happen around that point.

Converting a picked world point

Use worldPointToModelLocal() when a raycast gives a world-space intersection:

const localPoint = worldPointToModelLocal(
  worldIntersection,
  modelContentRoot,
)

Degrees and radians

The public configuration uses degrees for readability. Internally, Model Lab converts to radians when setting Three.js Euler rotations.