3dCMS Knowledge Base
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Effects & Atmosphere

Background, fog & grid

Set the backdrop color, add atmospheric fog, and control the reference grid — the scene-wide environment settings.

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Beyond lighting, a few scene-wide settings shape the atmosphere. Find them in Settings ▸ Environment.

SettingWhat it does
Environment colorThe solid background color. (In Live lighting the procedural sky covers it; you'll see this color in Studio mode.)
Fog colorThe tint of the fog.
Fog typeLinear (fades between a near and far distance) or Exponential (a density value). Fog adds depth and hides the horizon.

The grid and the ground

A reference grid is drawn at y ≈ 0 to help you judge scale and placement. Toggle it under Settings ▸ Selection + Visual Feedback ▸ Show grid. There's no solid ground plane by default — if you want a real floor (to catch shadows or stand objects on), add a Plane primitive.

Reflections

Both lighting modes load a neutral studio HDRI as the scene's reflection environment, so metallic and glossy materials have something believable to reflect. In Studio mode its strength is the Environment intensity value; in Live mode it dims automatically at night.

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