The 3D Handbook
Part 1 — Foundations
Chapter

Space, scale and files

Read these pages in order, or jump to the one you need.

  1. Units, scale and axesTopicWhat one unit means in each 3D tool, which way is up, why FBX exports arrive 100 times too big or lying on their side, and the real-world sizes that keep a game world believable.
  2. Coordinate systems and handednessKey termWhich axis points up and whether the axes are left- or right-handed in each 3D tool and engine (Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini, Unreal, Unity, Godot, glTF, USD), and how exporters convert between them.
  3. Pivot point (origin)Key termThe point an object is positioned, rotated and scaled around; where you put it decides how easily the asset snaps, sits and moves in the engine.
  4. 3D file formatsReferenceWhich 3D file formats move assets between tools and engines, what each is good and bad at, and which to use for a game pipeline.
  5. glTFKey termThe open, royalty-free 3D format from the Khronos Group. What .gltf and .glb files contain, how the metallic-roughness material maps to your textures, what extensions add, and how Blender, Godot, Unreal and Unity handle it.
  6. Texture file formatsReferencePNG, TGA, JPEG, TIFF, PSD, EXR, HDR, WebP, DDS and KTX2 compared for game work; bit depth, alpha, compression, which engines import what, and the difference between source formats and GPU-ready formats.
  7. USD for environment artistsTopicWhat OpenUSD is, how its layers, references, variants and payloads let several artists work on one scene without overwriting each other, and how Houdini, Unreal, Blender and Omniverse support it today.
  8. Export checklistGuideA sourced pre-export checklist for sending FBX or glTF assets to Unreal, Unity and Godot; scale, axes, transforms, pivots, normals, tangents, UV channels, naming, collision, LODs and a test import.