Skip to help content

Getting Started

Import a model, choose a look, and render your first image.

Updated

This walkthrough takes you from a model file to a saved render project and PNG image.

Saving projects, rendering images, and adding material layers require a valid HardCuts Render license. If prompted, use Import License File... or Activate Pasted License in the license dialog. The accepted license is stored locally for later starts.

Import a model

  1. Open HardCuts Render.
  2. Choose File > Import Model... and select an OBJ or STL file. You can also drop either format into the viewport.
  3. Select the model in the Scene panel.

If the model is already open in HardCuts, choose File > Open in HardCuts Render there instead. See HardCuts Handoff.

Set up the presentation

  1. Choose View > Instant Look, or press Ctrl+Shift+L.
  2. HardCuts Render frames the visible models and applies a camera, studio, ground, ambient occlusion, and post-processing setup.
  3. Orbit with the middle mouse button, pan with Shift + middle mouse, and zoom with the mouse wheel.

Instant Look rebuilds the presentation settings and preserves the materials. Use it near the beginning of the setup, or use Edit > Undo if you prefer your previous presentation.

Choose a material

  1. Open Studio Library > Materials.
  2. With the model selected, double-click a material preset.
  3. Open Properties > Material Layers to check which layer received the material.
  4. Adjust Base Color, Roughness, or Metallic as needed.

Presets target the active material layer. A Fill Layer covers the surface; a Paint Layer shows its material where it has been painted. See Material Layers and Painting.

Save an image

  1. Open Render Settings > Output.
  2. Choose a Resolution, such as 1920 × 1080.
  3. Check the composition inside the output frame in the viewport.
  4. Click Render Image and choose a PNG destination.

Enable Transparent background when you need an image with alpha. A visible ground surface is still geometry; hide it if you want only the model.

Save the editable project

Choose File > Save Render Project, or press Ctrl+S, and save a .hcrender file. The project lets you return to the scene setup; the PNG is the finished image.

Continue with Lighting and Environments or Post Processing.