The toolbar provides access to a collection of tools you can use to modify and manipulate assets in the viewport.
When you open Twinmotion for the first time, by default the toolbar is in minimal mode and shows only the most commonly used tools.
You can expand and collapse the toolbar by clicking the Open and Close icons.
Tools in the Toolbar
The following table provides a brief description of the tools in the toolbar.
| Tool | Shortcut | Icon | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Real time / Path tracer | R |  | Switches between Real time and Path tracer rendering modes. By default, Real time is selected. The Path tracer is currently supported on Windows computers only. | |
Material picker | T |  | Selects materials on objects, and opens them in the Properties panel where you can view and edit their properties. When you select a material in the scene, the icons described in the following rows appear next to the Material picker. | |
Material multidrop | N / A |  | Applies materials to multiple objects. | |
Replace material | N / A |  | Replaces material on all objects that use identical materials. By default, this option is selected. | |
Apply to object | N / A |  | Applies material to one object. | |
Apply to selection | N / A |  | Applies material to all selected objects in the scene. | |
From object UV | N / A |  | Applies materials to objects using the object’s UV map projection. By default, this option is selected. | |
Cubic UVs | N / A |  | Applies materials to objects using a cubic UV map projection. | |
Cylindrical UVs | N / A |  | Applies materials to objects using a cylindrical UV map projection. | |
Spherical UVs | N / A |  | Applies materials to objects using a spherical UV map projection. | |
Orbit point | Double-click in the scene with the right mouse button. |  | Defines the point around which the viewport orbits. To use this option and display the icon on the toolbar, in the Preferences panel under Settings > Navigation, select Around a point in the Orbit mode dropdown menu. You can also select a point by clicking the Orbit point icon in the toolbar and then clicking a point in the scene. | |
Open and Close | N / A |  | Shows or hides the other tools in the toolbar. | |
Translate | 7 |  | Moves selected objects. | |
Rotate | 8 |  | Moves and rotates selected objects. | |
Scale | 9 |  | Scales selected objects. | |
Toggle local / world axis | Z |  | Switches the gizmo between world space and local space. For more information, see the Toggle Local / World Axis section below. | |
Pivot edit | N / A |  | Changes the position of the pivot point on objects, either manually or automatically. For more information, see Pivot Edit. | |
Pivot edit menu | N / A |  | Opens a menu where you can select one of the pivot actions described below. | |
Reset all pivot transforms | N / A |  | Resets all pivot point position and rotation transforms to their initial values. | |
Reset pivot position | N / A |  | Resets the position of the pivot point to its initial value. | |
Reset pivot rotation | N / A |  | Resets the rotation of the pivot point to its initial value. | |
Center pivot | N / A |  | Positions the pivot point at the center of selected objects, which is the center of the invisible bounding box that surrounds the objects. | |
Center pivot down | N / A |  | Positions the pivot point at the bottom and center of selected objects. | |
Align to world | N / A |  | Aligns the pivot point of the selection to the Z-axis in world space. | |
Move with collision | N / A |  | Enables or disables collision detection on objects. For more information, see Move with Collision. | |
Gravity | Shift + x |  | Applies the force of gravity to objects. For more information, see Gravity. |
Physics-based Asset Placement Tools (Early Access)
The Toolbar features two physics-based tools—Move with collision and Gravity—that provide rigid-body physics simulation in real-time for objects in the viewport. With these tools, you can make objects fall, bounce, and collide with each other in a manner that reflects motion and physics in real life. You can accurately move and place objects next to each other without any overlap, and scatter groups of objects randomly in a scene. Objects react in a natural, physics-based manner with the objects surrounding them, and the surfaces on which they are placed.
When Move with collision and Gravity are enabled, an invisible convex bounding box that uses simple collision is created and wrapped around each selected object (including the Starting ground) affected by physics. When these objects are manipulated, they detect and collide with the bounding boxes of other objects, and cannot be moved or rotated beyond these bounding boxes. This prevents objects from intersecting or overlapping each other.
Move with Collision
The Move with collision tool controls how objects interact with one another when they collide, and when they are placed next to each other.
When Move with collision is not enabled, objects can overlap and intersect with other objects and surfaces.
Using the Transform tool when Move with collision is not enabled.
When Move with collision is enabled, objects collide with each other’s bounding boxes and with surfaces in a realistic manner.
Using the Transform tool when Move with collision is enabled.
The Move with collision tool can be used with the Translate, Rotate, and Scale tools. When collision is enabled, the icons of these tools are different, to indicate that Move with collision is enabled.
When collision is enabled, the function of the Scale tool changes. Instead of scaling objects, you can use it to move groups of objects closer and farther away from each other.
Gravity
When the Gravity tool is enabled, objects in the viewport are affected by the force of gravity. For example, if you move an object or a group of objects above a surface, you can enable Gravity and make the objects tumble and fall on the surface in a realistic manner.
Each object is subject to the rules of gravity according to its own shape and weight. When using the Gravity tool, collision detection is activated. Objects detect the bounding boxes of other objects and collide with each other. You can use this feature to scatter multiple objects all at once, or place objects randomly and in different positions in a scene.
Gravity enabled on a group of objects.
Limitations
The physics-based assets placement tools (Move with collision and Gravity) are still at an early stage of development and have some limitations. These are subject to change but currently include:
The tools can only be used with geometries that have simple 3D meshes. Collision and gravity do not have an effect on point cloud files and the following Twinmotion assets in the Library: Lights, Vehicles, Trees, Landscapes, Tools, Sounds, Doors, Particles, Decals, Animated humans, and Animals.
The tools have an effect on objects that are selected in a Scene graph container, but do not have an effect when the container itself is selected.
For collisions and gravity to work in real time in the viewport, the bounding boxes that surround objects use simple collision shapes that do not always wrap the objects in a completely accurate way. Because of this, the contact points between objects can sometimes be imprecise.
When using the tools with objects that have a high-poly mesh count, Twinmotion may freeze momentarily due to the complexity of the calculations.
When moving an object on a surface while Move with collision is enabled, the simple bounding boxes around each item come into contact. This can sometimes make the object lag behind the Gizmo. To correct this, elevate the object a few millimeters from the surface to increase the distance between both bounding boxes.
Pivot Edit
With the Pivot edit tool, you can change the position of the pivot point on the gizmo manually, or automatically by using the options in the Pivot edit menu.
When an object in the viewport is selected, a gizmo appears on the object.
The center of the gizmo represents the pivot point of the selected object or group of objects. The pivot point is the position from which objects are moved, rotated, and scaled.
Object rotating around a pivot point.
In most cases, when you place an object from the Library in a scene, the pivot point of the gizmo is located in the center and near the bottom of the object, and you do not need to change its location. However, there are some cases where you might want to change the location of the pivot point. For example, if you want to rotate an object from another pivot point on the object. In the example below, the pivot point is repositioned manually on the bottom right corner of the object, which rotates from this new pivot point location.
Object rotating around a pivot point placed on the bottom right corner.
Another reason for changing the pivot point is if the gizmo is located far away from the object itself, making it difficult to manipulate the object. This can happen when you place objects in the viewport that are not from the Twinmotion Library. You can correct this using the Pivot edit tool by manually moving the pivot point closer to the object, or by automatically positioning the pivot point at the center, or at the center and bottom of the object.
You can change the position and rotation of the pivot point on one object only, or on a group of selected objects. If you change the pivot point, you can reset it to its original position and / or location.
In some cases, you may need to modify or correct the orientation of the local X, Y, or Z axis of an object. You can do this directly in Twinmotion, instead of correcting it in your design application and reimporting the object into Twinmotion. To do this, click the Pivot edit tool to display the rotation handles on the gizmo, and with the Toggle Local / World Axis tool in local space mode, adjust the orientation of the object’s local axis using the rotation handles.
Toggle Local / World Axis
With the Toggle local / world axis tool, you can toggle between local axis and world axis to transform objects according to either the local or world reference coordinate systems. The local reference coordinate system is known as local space, and the world reference coordinate system is known as world space.
By default, objects in Twinmotion are moved, rotated, and scaled in world space (world axis). The gizmo uses the X, Y, and Z axes of the world reference coordinate system to transform objects.
When you switch to local space (local axis), the gizmo uses the axes of the selected object instead, meaning the object can be moved, rotated, and scaled according to the position of its own axes.
The images below show the position of the axes for the same object in world space and in local space.
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The axes of the gizmo on an object in world space. | The axes of the Gizmo on an object in local space. |