FrameRef Official Documentation

Importing Media

Populating your board should be a frictionless experience. FrameRef supports a wide array of file formats and import methods.

Supported File Formats

FrameRef is a universal media aggregator. We currently support:

• Static Images: JPG, PNG, WEBP, BMP, TIFF, and HEIC.
• Animated Media: GIF, MP4, and WEBM.
• 3D Models: OBJ, FBX, and GLTF/GLB (with full texture support).
• Documents: Multi-page PDF documents and SVG vector files.

Methods of Import

We have eliminated cumbersome import menus. Instead, use these rapid methods:

1. Universal Drag and Drop: Select hundreds of files from your Windows Explorer or macOS Finder and drag them directly onto the canvas. FrameRef will instantly ingest them and intelligently auto-arrange them into a clean grid.

2. Direct Clipboard Paste: See an inspiring image on a website like ArtStation or Pinterest? Right-click and copy the image (or take a screenshot using Win + Shift + S), switch to FrameRef, and press Ctrl + V. The image will instantly appear at your cursor's location.

3. The PureRef Importer: If you are migrating from older software, you do not need to start from scratch. We have built a native parser for legacy formats. Simply drag an old .pur file into the FrameRef window, and our engine will extract the images and reconstruct your exact layout within seconds.

Canvas Navigation

Navigating an infinite whiteboard requires precise, customizable controls tailored to your specific hardware setup.

Moving Around the Canvas

Whether you are using a standard mouse, an Apple Magic Trackpad, or a professional Wacom Cintiq tablet, FrameRef adapts to your input method.

• Panning (Mouse): Press and hold the Middle Mouse Button (scroll wheel) and drag to pan the camera across the infinite canvas. Alternatively, hold the Spacebar and drag with the Left Mouse Button.
• Panning (Trackpad): Use a fluid two-finger swipe in any direction to glide across your mood board.
• Zooming: Scroll up to zoom in, and scroll down to zoom out. The zoom algorithm is cursor-targeted, meaning the camera will naturally dive toward exactly where your mouse pointer is resting, making navigation highly intuitive.

Focus and Organization

When dealing with hundreds of references, finding what you need is crucial.

Double-Click to Focus: Double-clicking any image, video, or 3D model will instantly zoom the camera to fit that specific asset perfectly within your screen. Double-clicking the empty background will zoom out to show your entire collection.

Smart Auto-Pack: If your canvas becomes messy, select multiple items by dragging a selection box around them, then press Ctrl + P. FrameRef's proprietary packing algorithm will instantly organize the scattered assets into a perfectly aligned, mathematically optimal grid, saving you hours of manual dragging.

Native 3D Model Viewer

FrameRef bridges the gap between 2D concept art and 3D production with a fully integrated, hardware-accelerated 3D viewport.

Why a 3D Viewer?

Traditionally, a 3D modeler or game developer would have to keep resource-heavy software like Maya, ZBrush, or Blender open purely to look at a reference model or inspect topology. This drains vital GPU VRAM and interrupts the creative flow. We built a lightweight, native 3D engine directly into the whiteboard.

Inspecting Geometry

You can drag and drop standard industry formats—such as OBJ, FBX, and GLTF—directly onto your mood board alongside your static images. Once imported, the asset behaves like a window into a 3D space.

• Rotation & Scale: Click on the 3D model to activate the widget. Hold Alt and Left-Click drag to tumble and rotate the model 360 degrees. Use the scroll wheel while hovering over the model to zoom the virtual camera in and out.
• Topology & Wireframe: In the properties panel, you can toggle "Wireframe Mode" to overlay the geometric grid. This is an essential tool for character artists studying edge flow or hard-surface modelers analyzing bevel structures.
• Lighting Controls: Adjust the basic directional light to see how shadows cast across the geometry, helping you understand the form and volume of the reference piece without needing complex rendering setups.

Drawing & Redlining

Turn your passive reference board into an active workspace for feedback, sketching, and direct annotation.

The Custom Brush Engine

A reference board is often used for communication within a studio. Art directors need to provide feedback on level designs, and concept artists need to sketch over blockouts. FrameRef features a deeply integrated drawing toolset that respects professional hardware.

Our brush engine natively supports Windows Ink and macOS tablet protocols. This means full pressure sensitivity for Wacom tablets, Huion displays, and iPad Sidecar setups. Press harder to create a thick, bold stroke; ease off for a delicate taper.

Redlining Workflows

The primary use case for our drawing tools is rapid redlining. You can lock an image or a 3D model to the canvas to prevent it from moving, select the pen tool (Hotkey: P), pick a vibrant red or neon green color, and draw directly over the asset.

Because the strokes are vector-based, they remain razor-sharp regardless of how far you zoom into the infinite canvas. Use the text node tool (Hotkey: T) to drop floating sticky notes next to your sketches, ensuring that your team understands exactly what needs to be changed or iterated upon.

Video Scrubbing & Animation

Advanced tools built specifically for animators, motion designers, and VFX artists dealing with time-based media.

Native Timeline Scrubbing Plus

Game development is about motion. When you drag an MP4, WEBM, or high-quality GIF onto the FrameRef canvas, it doesn't just play on a dumb loop. Hovering your cursor over the video reveals our custom media player interface.

You can grab the playhead and scrub through the footage with zero latency. For precise analysis of a character's jump arc or the anticipation of an explosion, use the ← and → arrow keys to step through the video exactly one frame at a time. This frame-by-frame precision eliminates the need for external media players.

Upcoming Animation Features (Roadmap)

As outlined in our public roadmap, we are aggressively expanding our animation toolset. Soon, animators will have access to A-B looping (setting specific in-and-out points to loop a distinct action) and advanced onion skinning, allowing you to overlay adjacent frames of a video with reduced opacity to study motion arcs flawlessly.

Live Multiplayer & Cloud Sync Pro

Collaborate with your entire game studio in real-time, backed by enterprise-grade end-to-end encryption.

Real-Time Collaboration

The modern creative process is distributed globally. With our upcoming Live Multiplayer architecture, you can turn any local FrameRef board into a collaborative session. By clicking the "Share" button, you generate a secure invite link for your team.

Once joined, you will see your colleagues' cursors moving across the infinite canvas in real-time. If an art director adds a new reference image or draws a redline note, it instantly appears on everyone's screen. This synchronicity is crucial for remote kickoff meetings, level design reviews, and collaborative mood boarding.

End-to-End Encrypted Cloud Sync

Cloud Sync allows you to transition seamlessly between your desktop workstation at the studio and your laptop at home. Your massive reference libraries sync automatically in the background, ensuring you always have access to your latest creative assets without manually transferring heavy files.

Themes & The Retro UI

Customize your workspace aesthetics to reduce eye strain and match your personal creative environment.

Why Theming Matters

Creative professionals often spend over eight hours a day staring at their reference monitors. A harsh, overly bright interface can cause severe eye fatigue. FrameRef includes a robust theming engine that allows you to completely overhaul the application's visual aesthetics.

Available Visual Styles

• Light Mode (Default): A highly refined, modern aesthetic that provides high contrast and a clean canvas feel.
• Dark Slate: A sleek dark mode that reduces brightness, perfect for color-accurate work.
• OLED Black: Drops the background to pure hex #000000. Ideal for late-night crunch sessions and minimizing light emission on secondary monitors.
• The Retro UI Theme: A nostalgic throwback to 90s computing. This theme replaces modern blur effects with chunky borders, solid grays, and pixelated typography, proving that professional software can still be fun.

You can also toggle the background grid visibility, adjust canvas opacity, and change the accent colors of your UI buttons to perfectly match your operating system preferences.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Mastering the keyboard shortcuts is the key to operating FrameRef at blazing speeds. Below is the comprehensive list of default hotkeys.

Note: All shortcuts can be fully customized in the Preferences menu.