3D and video in slides

3D models#

Drop a binary GLB onto the slide, or import a 3D fluxplot saved from Python. Keep its .fluxplot.json beside the GLB to retain named mesh parts, colorbars, legends, value fields and shape states. Models use the same 3D view and Appearance controls as models in the Figure workspace. From file shows the mesh’s colours; Uniform uses one chosen fill.

Double-click a model to orbit. Enter accepts the view and Escape cancels it. In Design, this changes the original camera. In Edit after step N, it writes that step’s Change endpoint; the original view stays available. Picking a Become destination temporarily blocks orbit and tells you why, so a drag cannot accidentally change both actions.

Select a model and choose Turntable to add a full, constant-speed turn. It is an ordinary Change effect: edit its duration or combine it with a Shape change. If the step already has a Change for that model, Turntable joins it and sets its timing to 6 seconds, linear, and Flux tells you when that re-times it. Complete turns remain complete turns, even when the starting and ending views look identical. Zoom changes smoothly in proportion, and projection changes at the endpoint.

For a scene with shape states, use the Shape sliders or Frame scrubber at the desired editing destination. To reveal a named mesh or furniture part independently, select it in X-ray and use Animate selected. Orbit, shape, colours and part visibility travel with the slide and use the same playback in Present and portable HTML.

Ghost and Become with models#

Ghost creates independent views that share the same mesh.

While you pick a Become destination, the pick bar shows Vertex morph for a compatible pair and Crossfade otherwise, and the Animation inspector’s Destination row repeats it; hover either for the reason. A vertex morph needs the same mesh structure: matching mesh pieces, triangles and vertex order. Export both shapes together, or use fluxplot’s shared-topology workflow. A crossfade is a valid result, not an animation issue.

• Hand-off keeps both objects and reveals the destination when the source lands. Consume replaces the source’s content and removes the destination in one undoable edit.
• A mesh part cannot start a Become, because it has no outline to fly; use the whole model, or its labels and axes.
• A Become into a mesh part crossfades in place: the source fades out while the part fades in over the effect’s duration, so the part never pops in at landing.
• A model cannot become one of its own parts; use Appear on the part instead.
• To replace a model’s mesh in the same frame, choose Model from gallery… in the Animation inspector (or From gallery… on the pick bar); Keep own content drops that choice.

Exports and missing files#

HTML and MP4 preserve the moving model. PDF and PowerPoint export a Design-view still, shown and placed where each build step leaves it, with only the parts and labels that step shows (a part that appears later is absent from earlier pages); PowerPoint does not contain an editable 3D object. Command-line exports and a portable HTML deck’s stills follow the same rule. If a GLB is missing, Flux shows a placeholder and refuses to save an incomplete deck: restore the named file or remove the model. A WebGL fallback is a still or placeholder with an issue, not a simulated animation.

A whole-slide preset embeds a copy of each model file, so the slide works in another project. The preset picker shows a saved preview. Metadata from a newer or mismatched fluxplot version is kept but stays inactive. In the rare case that inserting the preset would silently activate such metadata, Flux refuses and asks for a matching re-export; the saved preset is unchanged.

Video clips#

Keep .mp4 and .mov files in plots/_videos. Open Plots & videos in the Slides workspace (or press Alt+G), choose a clip by its poster thumbnail, and import it onto the current slide. Drag, resize, rotate, group, and duplicate it with the same tools used for images. The inspector includes Muted and Loop options. Imported clips keep their originals; the deck stores a compatible MP4 playback copy and a poster frame. Longer imports show progress and can be cancelled.

A clip starts on its poster frame. Appear reveals it, and Start video begins playback. These are separate actions: put Appear on step 1 and Start video on step 2 to show the poster first, then start the clip on the next advance. They can also share a step. Playback continues while the presenter waits between steps. Pause video holds the current frame; Stop video returns to the poster. Start video always restarts from the beginning. The command’s start offset controls when it runs within its step.

Preview and Present support pausing video after a step’s animations finish. Leaving a slide, blanking the presentation, or hiding the player pauses its media. Portable HTML includes the clips and audio; a browser that requires a gesture for sound shows a Play video button. Continuous MP4 export includes moving clip frames and mixes unmuted audio. The last active clip finishes before the final hold; looping clips end with the export’s configured timeline. Video clips belong to the Slides workspace; Figure canvases hold static content only.