Poly is a 3D workspace for building scenes, shaping models, painting surfaces, and bringing objects to life with animation. Start with a few shapes or an imported model, then develop the same saved scene as your idea grows.

Scenes now save between visits. You can reopen a scene from Poly's explorer, and accepted changes can reach other people working in that scene. Check the save feedback before leaving, especially after importing, sculpting, or painting.

From an Idea to a Scene

Open Poly from Apps in the space area where the work belongs. Its explorer shows the area's scenes and folders. Creating or changing a scene requires Poly, Designer Pack, or Engineer Pack access; viewing also depends on the scene's space and area permissions.

A new scene starts empty. The grid and axes help you place objects, but are not part of the model. Creating the file does not publish a public article.

Poly brings several connected workflows together:

Poly is centered on the form, appearance, and movement of a scene. Blueprints, the technical-design app, is currently marked Coming Soon.

Find Your Way Around

The viewport shows your work. Scene gives you its hierarchy, and Inspector shows properties for the selected object or the scene environment. Tool panels open beside the viewport so you can keep the result in view while making changes.

The editing posture determines which actions appear. Object selection moves complete objects; Face, Edge, and Node selection work on their components. Sculpt, Animate, and Paint open more specialized tools. Animate also opens a timeline below the viewport.

Use Scene to select and organize objects while keeping the composition in view.

Start with Build and Export a Poly Scene for a small, complete project. Scene Organization and Views explains selection, groups, camera navigation, and the difference between hiding and locking.

Develop the Form

Move, Rotate, and Scale give you direct control over placement. Snapping and numeric values help when spacing matters. Model tools such as Extrude, Inset, and Bevel reshape components, while Subdivide adds geometry for finer work.

Modifiers let you explore a shape without immediately replacing its starting mesh. Sculpting serves a different purpose: Draw, Smooth, Grab, and Flatten reshape existing geometry, while Add and Excavate change solid volume. Volume sculpting replaces the existing UV layout, so finish those structural changes before investing in detailed texture work.

Read Modeling and Sculpting to choose an approach and understand when an operation changes the underlying mesh.

Give the Scene a Surface and a Mood

Materials control appearance. UV maps control where a texture lands on the model. Paint connects an eligible surface to Canvas so you can draw in a flat editor or directly on the model, with immediate visual feedback.

Lighting and the scene environment help you judge those choices together. Compare Solid for shape, Material for surfaces, and Rendered Preview for a cleaner presentation. A change that looks good from one angle may still need adjustment from another.

Materials, UV Maps, and Painting follows this relationship from a plain shape to a textured object. Lighting and Cameras covers framing and presentation. Animation and Rigging explains how actions and joints add movement.

Keep and Share the Result

Your saved Poly scene remains the editable project. A GLB or glTF export is a handoff to another application, with a report of content the export includes or omits. A PNG captures a view, rather than an editable model.

Collaborators can receive accepted edits and see shared pointer and selection awareness. Compatible changes can be combined, but conflicting edits still need attention. Your History is personal to the editing session; it is not a shared version browser.

Common Questions

Can I come back to my work later?

Yes. Reopen the saved scene from Poly's explorer. Wait for Saved before treating the latest changes as available on another device.

Can I rename a scene?

Yes, use the document controls. Individual object Rename remains unavailable; that does not prevent renaming the scene file.

Is everything in an imported character editable?

No. Imported rigs and their source animation remain protected. Poly supports separate pose adjustments, but does not convert an imported skeleton into a fully editable native rig.

Can I use a phone or Quest?

Phones use compact panels for inspection and lighter editing. Larger screens offer the full workspace. Quest supports spatial viewing and selected editing workflows, but does not expose every flat-screen modeling or Canvas painting tool.