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XO3D Studio · Guide

The Product CGI Glossary.

61 terms used in product CGI production, defined clearly for buyers, brand teams and agencies commissioning visual content.

CGI production has a specific vocabulary. Studios use these terms in briefs, proposals and production updates. This glossary defines each term clearly so every conversation starts from the same page. Terms are organised alphabetically. Each definition is written for a marketing professional, not a technical specialist.

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G-Lab keyboard CGI showing the keycaps, lettering and material detail
G-Lab keyboard, product CGI by XO3D.

The studio behind this guide

Who is defining these terms

These definitions come out of XO3D's own production pipeline rather than a generic glossary. We are a director-led product CGI studio working with tech, industrial and premium consumer brands, and every term here is one we use with clients on live briefs. If you are reading this to write a brief, or to check whether a supplier's answer holds up, that is what it is for.

How XO3D compares to the other five supplier models
Product CGI terminology banner, XO3D glossary
61 product CGI terms, defined for brand and marketing teams commissioning visual content.

A

#Animatic
A timed, moving version of a storyboard, a rough animation showing exact camera choreography, product movement, and edit timing before final rendering begins. Used to obtain client approval of creative decisions before production costs are committed. See how an animatic is used.
What you are deciding: Whether the movement and timing tell the story before anything is finished. Judge the order of shots, the pace and what the viewer understands, not the materials or lighting, which come later.
#AR Model (Augmented Reality Model)
A 3D model file that, when viewed through a smartphone camera, overlays the product onto the real physical environment at correct scale. Delivered as USDZ for iOS devices and GLB for Android. Used in e-commerce for "view in your space" product experiences.
#Asset
Any deliverable produced during CGI production, a 3D model file, a rendered still image, an animation file, a sound design stem. "The 3D asset" typically refers to the complete 3D model, materials, and lighting setup from which all deliverables are produced. Follow the production lifecycle.

B

#Bake / Baking
The pre-computation of lighting, shadows, ambient occlusion, or texture detail into a static texture map for performance. Used to lock calibrated lighting into models intended for web, AR, or real-time delivery where live computation would be too expensive.

C

#CAD File
Computer-Aided Design file: the engineering source data from which 3D CGI models are built. Common formats include STEP (.stp), IGES (.igs), SolidWorks (.sldprt), Rhino (.3dm), and Fusion 360. Clean CAD data is the ideal starting point for accurate product CGI. Prepare CAD for CGI.
What you are deciding: Which revision of the CAD you are supplying, and which parts are still uncertain. Name any part that may change, so it can be flagged rather than built as final.
#Callout
A label that names a part or feature in a still or film, usually joined to the component by a leader line. Exploded views and technical sequences use callouts when the audience needs named parts rather than a general reveal. Exploded view and cutaway animation.
#Camera Choreography
The deliberate directorial planning of how the camera moves through a product film, every angle, movement, speed change, and cut. At XO3D, camera choreography is treated as an editorial instrument: each movement is a deliberate creative decision that tells the viewer something about the product. Camera shots and movements.
#CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery)
Pictures and film made with 3D software instead of a camera. CGI is the umbrella term; product CGI, 3D rendering and 3D animation all sit under it. What CGI stands for.
#Colour Grade / Grade
The post-production process of adjusting the colour balance, contrast, saturation, and tone of rendered images or film to achieve a consistent, intentional visual look. Grading gives a product film its emotional register, warm, cool, clinical, aspirational, and ensures consistency across all deliverables.
#Colourway
One colour and finish option of a product. In CGI, colourways are produced by changing the materials on the same approved model, so every option is shown with matching light and angle. Animated colourways.
#Component Hierarchy
The parent and child structure of the parts in a CAD assembly or 3D model. Anything that moves, separates or animates on its own needs its own place in the hierarchy. Exported CAD often arrives flattened into one object, and the structure then has to be rebuilt before anything can move. Hierarchy in an exploded view.
#Compositing
Combining multiple visual elements, a product render, a background environment, reflections, shadows, into a single final image. Compositing is used to place CGI products into lifestyle environments and to add environmental elements that are more efficiently produced in 2D than in 3D.
#Creative Direction
The overarching visual and emotional vision for a CGI project, the answer to "what should the viewer feel about this product?" Creative direction governs all subsequent decisions: camera, lighting, materials, editing, sound. At XO3D, every project has a named Creative Director responsible for this vision.

D

#Digital Model
A three-dimensional representation of a product, building or system held as data in software. A CAD model and the visual model a studio builds for the camera are both digital models; a digital twin differs because it stays connected to the physical product through data. Digital model, CAD model or digital twin.
#Displacement Map
A texture that adds genuine geometric detail to a 3D surface, fine surface textures, knurling, fabric weave, machined patterns, without requiring that detail to be modelled into the mesh geometry. Used to add micro-surface detail that would be impractical to model directly.

E

#Explode Line
In an exploded view, the line or path a part travels along as it separates from the assembly. Clear explode lines follow the direction each part assembles on and do not cross, so the viewer can read how the product goes back together. How exploded views work.
#Exploded View
An animation or still image showing a product's components separated and spaced apart from their assembled positions, revealing the internal structure and assembly sequence. Used in technical sales materials, investor presentations, and product documentation. Exploded view guide.
What you are deciding: Which relationship between components the viewer needs to understand. Choose the parts that carry the message; separating every part is rarely clearer than separating the right ones.
Exploded still of a Squire lock, with the internal components lifted away from the body
An exploded still from the Squire lock work with Curious Agency. The parts lift away from the body so the internal locking components can be read. The order of separation came from Squire engineering data. See the Squire project.

F

#Frame Rate
The number of individual frames rendered per second in an animation. 24fps is the cinematic standard. 30fps is common for digital marketing. 60fps is used for slow-motion sequences or high-fluidity product films. Frame rate is fixed at the start of production because it affects render budget directly.

G

#GLB / GLTF
GL Transmission Format, an open-standard 3D file format designed for web and AR use. GLB is the binary version. Used for Shopify's native 3D product viewer and for supported Android AR routes such as Google's Scene Viewer, which loads glTF or GLB files on devices that support it. XO3D delivers GLB files as standard for any interactive or AR product brief.
#Greycard (Grey Card)
An untextured, uniformly grey render of the model, used for review before materials and lighting are added. Greycards let a team check geometry, part movement, timing and framing on their own. At XO3D, grey cards go to your team for approval before the work moves on. Greycard review in exploded work.

H

#HDRI (High Dynamic Range Image)
A 360° photographic environment image used to provide realistic, physically consistent lighting in CGI scenes. An HDRI captures the full range of light in a real environment and projects it onto the 3D scene. XO3D builds custom lighting rigs per project rather than relying on HDRI environments alone.
#Hero Shot
The single frame or short shot that presents a product at its best, usually the first image a buyer sees on a launch page or listing. In a product film, the hero shot is often a full or three-quarter view that shows the whole product clearly. Designing a hero shot.

I

#IES Light Profile
A file format containing the photometric data of a real-world light fixture, its exact light distribution, intensity falloff, and beam angle. Used in product CGI when accurate replication of a specific physical luminaire is required, such as showroom lighting or theatrical product reveals.

K

#Keyframing
The animation technique of defining the position, rotation, and properties of objects at specific moments in time, with the software interpolating smooth movement between those points. The foundation of all 3D animation production.
#Keyshot
A physically based rendering application widely used for product visualisation. XO3D uses KeyShot for packshots only; Redshift is the studio's primary renderer.

L

#Look Development (Look Dev)
The production phase in which materials, lighting, and environmental context are built and refined until they accurately represent the intended visual result, before final rendering begins. The stage at which visual quality is determined. XO3D always shares Look Dev references with clients for approval before committing to final render. See a look-development review.
What you are deciding: Whether the finish, the lighting and the reference they are matched to are agreed. Approve the look here, against the product or a sample, so final rendering builds on a settled standard.
AUAR MicroFactory shot in its grey pass, with untextured robot cell and containerGrey pass
The same AUAR MicroFactory shot in the final render, with materials, colour and lightFinal
The same AUAR MicroFactory shot in its grey pass and in the final render. The grey pass settles camera and staging; look development adds the materials, colour and light, such as the green AUAR container. See the AUAR project.

M

#Macro Shot
An extreme close-up that fills the frame with one small detail, such as an edge, seam, connector or texture. In product films, macro shots show material, finish and engineering tolerance up close. Shot sizes in product films.
#Master Asset
One product modelled from CAD, drawings or concept data to full production standard, with look development signed off on the actual product. Films, stills, social formats and interactive views are then produced from that one approved asset. Master Asset Build.
#Material / Shader
In CGI, a material (or shader) defines how a surface interacts with light, its colour, reflectance, roughness, metallic properties, transparency, and subsurface scattering. Materials are the digital equivalent of physical surface finishes. At XO3D, every material is matched to physical reference. A library material can be a starting point, but it is checked and adjusted against that reference rather than used unchanged.
#Mechanism Animation
An animation showing how a product's internal mechanism operates, hinges articulating, components assembling, springs compressing, flows moving through a system. Requires engineering accuracy: the mechanism must animate to the correct operational sequence as well as look visually compelling.
#Mesh / Geometry
The 3D geometric structure of a model, the network of polygons that defines its shape. "Clean mesh" refers to well-structured geometry that renders correctly and is suitable for animation. Poor mesh quality produces visual artefacts in renders and limitations in what can be animated.

N

#Normal Map
A texture that encodes surface detail as RGB-stored vectors, simulating bumps, grooves, and fine relief without adding geometry. Combined with displacement maps, it produces the appearance of complex surface detail without modelling every small surface feature. Industry-standard for tactile materials like brushed metal, woven fabric and knurled controls.

O

#OBJ File (.obj)
A widely supported open 3D model format containing geometry, UV coordinates, and material references. Older and simpler than glTF, but still common as an interchange format between modelling software. Accepted alongside STEP as a starting source format when CAD data isn't available.
#Orbit
A camera move that circles the product, keeping it in frame while the viewpoint changes. An orbit lets the viewer read the shape of a product from every side. Camera movements in a product film.

P

#Packshot
A product image on a pure white or transparent background, showing the product in isolation without any environmental context. The standard format for e-commerce product listings, retail catalogues, and press kit assets. In CGI, packshots are produced by rendering against a white ground plane with controlled ambient light.
#PBR (Physically Based Rendering)
A rendering methodology that calculates how light interacts with surfaces based on their actual physical properties, reflectance, roughness, metallic content, rather than simplified artistic approximations. PBR produces imagery that looks consistent under any lighting condition because the material properties are physically accurate. The standard approach for premium product CGI.
#Polygon Count
The number of geometric faces that make up a 3D model. High polygon count models contain more geometric detail and produce more accurate renders but require more processing time. Web and AR models use lower polygon counts to ensure acceptable file size and load performance. XO3D optimises polygon count separately for render, web, and AR deliverables.
#Post-Production
The production phase after rendering is complete, colour grading, compositing, sound design integration, format export, and final delivery preparation. Post-production has a significant effect on final visual quality.
#Product CGI
CGI applied to one product: an accurate 3D model, usually built from CAD, rendered into photoreal stills, films and interactive views, often before the product exists. It covers the whole production, from model and look development to finishing. What is product CGI.
#Product Truth
The standard that the product on screen is the product you are shipping: CAD-sourced geometry, materials developed against product references, colour held to a specified value, and checks against a physical sample where one is supplied. Product truth.
#Push-In
A camera move towards the product that narrows the frame onto one feature or detail. A push-in directs attention, often leading from a full view into a close-up. Camera movements in a product film.

Q

#Quad Topology
A clean 3D mesh constructed primarily from four-sided polygons (quads) rather than triangles. Quad topology animates and deforms cleanly, subdivides predictably, and is the production-ready standard at XO3D for any model destined for animation or surface refinement.

R

#Ray Tracing
The rendering technique that simulates the physical path of light rays through a scene, calculating reflections, refractions, shadows, and global illumination by tracing millions of individual light rays per frame. Ray tracing produces the most physically accurate and visually convincing CGI renders. Redshift and KeyShot both use ray tracing.
#Redshift
A GPU render engine for physically based rendering of stills and animation. Redshift is XO3D's primary renderer.
#Render Farm
A network of computers working in parallel to process CGI render jobs. Render farms dramatically reduce render times for complex scenes and high-frame-count animations by distributing work across many processors simultaneously. Not the same as a product CGI studio, a render farm processes files but does not provide creative direction or production management. Studio or render farm?.
#Rendering (3D Rendering)
The stage that turns a 3D scene, meaning the model, materials, lighting and camera, into a finished image or film frame. Rendering is one stage of product CGI, not the whole production. 3D product rendering.
What you are deciding: Which outputs the render stage has to deliver: stills, film or both, and in which formats and aspect ratios. That list sets what is rendered, so agree it before rendering starts.
#Revision Round
A structured feedback cycle in which the client reviews a production deliverable and submits consolidated feedback for the studio to implement. XO3D includes three revision rounds on stills projects and four on anything including video. Revisions are managed through Frame.io (video) or annotated PDFs (stills) to ensure feedback is precise and traceable. Give useful review feedback.
What you are deciding: Whether a note corrects the agreed direction or changes it. A correction refines the approved stage; a new direction reopens an earlier one, so consolidate the notes and say which kind each one is.

S

#Social Format Suite
A set of format variants of the same CGI content produced for different social media platforms: 16:9 (YouTube, website), 9:16 (Reels, Stories, TikTok), 1:1 (Instagram feed), 4:5 (Facebook feed optimised). Produced from the same 3D render at the appropriate crop and composition for each platform.
What you are deciding: Which placements the work is for, and how each frame should be composed. A crop that works at 16:9 can lose the product at 9:16, so confirm the placements before the camera is set.
#Sound Design
The creation or selection of audio, music, product sound effects, environmental sounds, and silence, for a product CGI film. Sound design is treated as a production element at XO3D, agreed in pre-production alongside the visual direction. Bespoke sound design is recommended over stock music for any work where audio quality reflects directly on the brand. Hear it in the Gandour wafer film.
#Specular Highlight
The bright spot of reflected light on a shiny or semi-shiny surface, the point where a light source reflects most directly toward the viewer. The behaviour of specular highlights (how sharp, how bright, how they move as the viewing angle changes) is one of the strongest signals of material quality in product CGI and one of the primary tells of poorly reconstructed materials.
#STEP File (.stp / .step)
Standard for the Exchange of Product model data, one of the most common CAD exchange formats used to transfer 3D geometry between different engineering software applications. STEP files are the most common starting point for product CGI built from engineering data and are accepted by XO3D as a primary source file format.
#Storyboard
A sequence of drawn or digitally composed frames showing the planned camera positions, product positions, and key moments of a CGI film, produced before any 3D production begins. The storyboard is the primary creative approval document for product films and is reviewed and approved by the client before animatic production begins.
AUAR MicroFactory storyboard printout pinned to a studio wall, with shots annotated
A storyboard printout for the AUAR MicroFactory film, pinned to the studio wall during pre-production. Each panel plans a shot, and the hero and detail shots are annotated so the sequence can be agreed before production. See the AUAR project.
#Subsurface Scattering (SSS)
The optical phenomenon where light penetrates a translucent material, scatters within it, and exits at a different point, producing a soft, glowing quality. Visible in skin, marble, wax, certain plastics, natural cane, and many food and drink products. Accurately simulating SSS is technically demanding and is one of the distinguishing marks of precise material reconstruction.

T

#Texture Map
A 2D image applied to a 3D surface to add colour, pattern, or surface detail. Different types of texture maps serve different purposes: diffuse maps add colour, normal maps add apparent surface relief without changing geometry, roughness maps vary how reflective different areas of a surface appear.
#Turntable
A 360-degree rotation of a product, delivered as a film loop or as a sequence of rendered frames the viewer can drag to turn. A turntable shows form from every side; it is not the same as a full interactive 3D viewer. The AUAR turntable.

U

#USDZ
Universal Scene Description Zip, Apple's format for AR content on iOS devices. When a USDZ file is linked from a webpage, iOS Safari displays an "AR" button that opens the product model in Apple's AR Quick Look viewer. XO3D delivers USDZ files alongside GLB for all AR product brief deliverables.
#UV Mapping / UV Unwrap
The process of flattening a 3D model's surface into a 2D map so that textures can be applied accurately without distortion. Clean UV mapping ensures that surface textures, label artwork, material patterns, engraved text, sit correctly on the product surface without stretching or misalignment.

V

#VFX (Visual Effects)
Computer-generated elements combined with live-action footage, for example rendered water droplets or a CGI product composited into filmed photography. Most product CGI is rendered entirely in 3D; VFX starts from filmed footage. VFX house or product CGI studio.
#Viewport
The 3D software window showing the scene in real time during production, typically showing the model in a simplified, unrendered view for performance reasons. A "viewport screenshot" showing work-in-progress is often used in pre-production reviews and behind-the-scenes process content.

W

#Wireframe
A representation of a 3D model showing only the edges of its geometry, without surfaces or materials. Used during model review to verify topology quality, polygon distribution, and edge flow. A 'wireframe over render' overlay is a standard pre-production sign-off asset at XO3D.

Z

#Z-Depth Pass
A grayscale render pass encoding the distance from camera to each pixel. Used in compositing to drive depth-of-field blur, atmospheric fog, and depth-based colour correction in post-production. Output as an EXR or 32-bit TIFF to preserve precision.

FAQ

Glossary questions.

Is this glossary specific to XO3D's workflow or industry-standard?
Both. The terms here are used across the product CGI industry, they are not XO3D-specific. Where XO3D's specific approach to a term differs from the general industry default (for example, XO3D matching every material to physical reference rather than using a preset unchanged), that is noted in the definition. Otherwise, these definitions reflect standard industry usage.
What's the difference between CGI and VFX?
Visual effects (VFX) refers to the integration of computer-generated elements with live-action footage, compositing CGI spaceships into a real film, for example. Product CGI typically produces standalone rendered imagery without live-action footage involved, though product CGI composited into lifestyle photography is common. The terms are often used interchangeably in casual usage but refer to distinct disciplines in professional production contexts.

Missing a term?

Tell us what to add.

This glossary covers the terms most commonly encountered in product CGI production. If you encounter a term not listed here, send it to us, we'll add a definition. The goal is a complete reference for anyone commissioning product CGI.

About the studio

XO3D is a director-led product CGI studio. Founded by Thomas Howcroft in 2017 and incorporated as XO3D Ltd (UK Companies House 11876020) in 2019, when Alex Mann joined as co-founder. Based at the Business and Technology Centre in Stevenage, UK, with representation at 244 Fifth Avenue, New York. We work with tech, industrial and premium consumer brands on product films, launch stills and interactive experiences.

That makes us the right choice for launch-critical work where the visual standard has to be high and the product may not exist yet.

It makes us the wrong choice for three things, and it is worth establishing that now rather than later.

  • Hundreds of routine SKUs to a fixed template. Continuous template-based output is a different brief from launch-critical creative direction. Choose a production workflow designed for that volume.
  • A website that requires a specific configurator platform. Use that platform where your website requires it, and agree who supplies the models and who integrates the software. A custom configurator is another route: XO3D can build it and hand it over for you to host.
  • The campaign idea itself. If what you need is the strategy, the audience work and the media plan, start with an agency. We are frequently the production partner behind one.
How XO3D compares to the other five supplier models