How-to: Customize Joint Visualization

LinkForge provides semantic visual feedback in the viewport to help you verify robot kinematics instantly.

1. The XYZ Frame

When a joint is created, LinkForge renders a small coordinate frame at the joint origin:

  • Red: X-Axis

  • Green: Y-Axis

  • Blue: Z-Axis

2. Global Visualization Settings

Joint visualization is globally managed in Blender Preferences:

  1. Open Blender Preferences (Edit > Preferences).

  2. Go to the Add-ons (or Extensions) tab and find LinkForge.

  3. Locate the Joint Visualization section.

Unified Sizing

The Joint Size slider is a master control for your viewport clarity:

  • Empty Arrows: Adjusts the physical size of the standard Blender joint markers.

  • Enhanced Overlay: Simultaneously scales the length of the high-visibility GPU arrows.

Enhanced GPU Overlay (RViz-style)

For a more professional look similar to ROS tools, you can enable a thick, arrowed overlay.

  1. Check Enhanced Visualization (RViz-style) in the preferences.

  2. This adds thicker red/green/blue arrows with cone tips that remain visible even when the robot geometry is obscured.

  3. The size is automatically matched to your Joint Size setting for a consistent look.

3. Cleaning the View

To hide all LinkForge markers for a final render or clean view:

  • Use the standard Blender Hide Extras toggle in the Viewport Overlays menu (top right of the 3D View).

  • Since LinkForge joints are standard Empty objects, hiding β€œExtras” will hide all joint, link, and sensor markers instantly.