Learn the Motif Design project interface

Get to know the Motif Design workspace: what's on the left, what's on the right, the tools along the bottom, and the canvas in the middle where you do your work.

The canvas

The canvas is the main area in the middle of the screen. What it shows depends on what you have open in the left panel:

• A view, like the default 3D view, a floor plan, or a section. You're looking at the live model, and anything you draw or change here updates the model.

• A sheet, where you lay out views, title blocks, text, and images for your drawing set.

When you first open a model, the canvas shows its default 3D view.

Get around the canvas

• Zoom: scroll.

• Orbit: right-click and drag.

• Look around: hold Alt and right-click and drag.

• Walk through: use W A S D to move, and Q and E to go down and up.

💡 Anything you add to the model shows up in every view. Some things, like annotation lines, belong to one view only. See 📄 Model elements vs. view annotations for full details.

The left panel

The left panel is where you find what's in your model. Switch between its three tabs from the icons in the left toolbar.

Content

The Content Library lists everything you can place in your model, as a tree: walls, doors, windows, furniture, title blocks, and more. Open it from the button directly below the Motif logo.

• Motif Standard Library holds the standard assets that come with every model.

• External source lists other models from your project that you've added, along with all the assets inside them.

  • Click + at the top to add a model from your project. See 📄 Link another model into your model for full details.

• Select an asset and click Place to put it in your model.

Views

The Views tab, the camera icon, lists every view in your model. Click a view to open it on the canvas, or add new ones: floor plans, 3D views, sections, and elevations.

See 📄 Create floor plans, sections, and 3D views for full details.

Sheets

The Sheets tab lists your drawing sheets. Add a sheet, pick a size, then drag views onto it, or right-click the sheet and choose Add view. You can also add text and images.

See 📄 Build sheets and export a PDFfor full details.

The right panel

Motif AI agent

Click the sparkle icon in the top right to open the agent. Ask it about your model, or ask it to make changes for you, like creating levels, drawing walls from a floor plan image, or setting up views.

See 📄 Working with AI agents in Motif Design for full details.

Properties

The Properties panel shows the settings for whatever you're working on:

• Model properties appear when you select something in the model, like a wall, a door, or a linked model. Change its dimensions, level, or other settings here. Revit and Rhino content also shows the parameters that came across with it.

• View properties appear when nothing is selected. Set the view's scale, crop, and Visibility overrides to show or hide categories in that view.

💡 Can't find a view setting? Click an empty spot on the canvas to clear your selection, and the view properties appear.

History

History shows every change to the model in plain language: what changed, who changed it, and when. That includes changes the agent makes. Use it to review recent work, or open an earlier version of the model.

The bottom toolbar

The toolbar along the bottom of the screen has two modes. Switch between them with the toggle at the bottom right.

Always on tools

• Snaps: choose what your cursor snaps to as you draw, like endpoints, edges, and centers.

• Grid: show or hide the drawing grid.

• Measure: check distances in the model.

Modeling tools

Use these to build the model. What you make here shows up in every view.

• Create: draw model elements like walls, floors, ceilings, and levels.

• Place: pick an asset, like a door or a chair, and place it. You can type to search. This is the same list you see in the Content Library.

• Model line: draw lines that belong to the model and show up in every view. Use them as construction lines, or turn them into walls.

Annotating tools

Use these to mark up the view you're in. What you make here shows up in that view only.

• Text: add text annotation to the current view

• Dimension: add linear or angular dimensions between references

• Annotation line: draw lines, such as sketch lines or callout leaders to the current view

The view cube

The view cube shows which way you're facing in a 3D view. Click a face, edge, or corner of the cube to jump to that standard view, like top, front, or a corner axonometric.

Undo and redo

Use the undo and redo buttons, or Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y, to step back through your changes.

• Undo is yours alone. It only undoes your own changes, never a collaborator's, even when you're working in the same model at the same time.

• Undo resets when you refresh. To go back further, use History.

Need help? Reach out to us at community.motif.io