partforge 0.127.0 → 0.129.0

package/docs/AUTHORING-PARTS.md

@@ -259,10 +259,32 @@ Rules (all lint-enforced):
 - Couple motions through `derive` (animate one master param; derive the rest),
   not by tracking dependent params separately.
 - `camera` cues use the seven canonical angles (`iso front back top bottom
-  left right`). One mechanism per animation: an animation-level name (an intro
-  cue at t=0), an animation-level `[[t, angle], …]` list, or per-step names.
+  left right`) or any view-cube orientation — an edge or corner named
+  vertical, then depth, then side (`top-front-left`, `top-back-right`,
+  `front-left`, `bottom-back-right`, …; `top-front-right` is `iso`). One
+  mechanism per animation: an animation-level name (an intro cue at t=0), an
+  animation-level `[[t, angle], …]` list, or per-step names.
   Cues fire during play only — scrubbing never moves the camera — and a user
   orbit disarms the remaining cues for that run.
+- **A camera move takes as long as its cue asks**: a per-step `camera` sweeps
+  across that step's whole `duration`, and a listed cue sweeps until the next
+  cue (or the end). The move that settles the camera BEFORE playback starts —
+  the first cue, or the governing one when play resumes mid-timeline — is
+  always a short swing, because params wait for it. So a slow orbit timed to a
+  motion is a camera-only opening step (the starting angle) followed by the
+  moving step carrying the destination angle.
+- **To turn the view, move the camera — never rotate the part.** A "spin"
+  param that rotates the geometry for a turntable effect looks right in CAD
+  mode but is wrong in realistic mode: the floor, shadow and backdrop stay put
+  in the world, so the part visibly slides around on them. Use cues instead:
+
+  ```js
+  steps: [
+    { label: "Start", camera: "top-front-left", duration: 0.3 },       // establishing angle
+    { label: "Open lid", camera: "iso", duration: 1.5,                  // orbits to iso over 1.5 s
+      tracks: { lidOpen: [[0, 0], [1, 100]] } },
+  ]
+  ```
 - Playback drives params through the real param pipeline: a **pose-only**
   param (feeds only rigid placement — see "Caching & determinism" below) plays
   at frame rate; anything else rebuilds best-effort at worker cadence. `lint`

package/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "partforge",
-  "version": "0.127.0",
+  "version": "0.129.0",
   "description": "Turn a declarative part definition into a parametric-CAD web app (three.js + Manifold/Replicad). Requires a Vite-based consumer.",
   "type": "module",
   "license": "MIT",

package/src/framework/animation-controls.js

@@ -495,6 +495,9 @@ export function attachAnimationControls(viewer, part, {
   }
   function apply(r) {
     if (!r || !current) return;
+    // A playing frame always draws, whatever it changed: the viewer renders on
+    // demand, and playback must never stall waiting for something to ask.
+    viewer.requestRender?.();
     try {
       // Params go through applyValues (the slider path) only when the animation
       // actually drives some: an opacity-only frame must neither snapshot nor
@@ -510,7 +513,10 @@ export function attachAnimationControls(viewer, part, {
       for (const [n, v] of Object.entries(r.opacity ?? {})) viewer.setSubPartOpacity?.(n, v);
       if (r.cue) {
         viewer.tweenCameraTo(r.cue.view, {
-          duration: tweenDuration,
+          // An intro gates playback, so it is always the short tween; a cue
+          // crossed mid-timeline sweeps for as long as the cue asks (its step,
+          // or until the next cue) — see normalizeAnimation.
+          duration: reducedMotion ? 0 : r.status === "intro" ? tweenDuration : (r.cue.sweep ?? tweenDuration),
           // An intro cue gates playback until the tween settles; mid-timeline
           // cues overlap playback and need no completion signal.
           onComplete: r.status === "intro" ? () => guarded(() => playback.introDone()) : undefined,

package/src/framework/animation.js

@@ -62,10 +62,22 @@ export function normalizeAnimation(name, spec) {
   const totalDuration = steps.reduce((sum, s) => sum + s.duration, 0) || 1;
   let acc = 0;
   const stepStarts = steps.map((s) => { const t = acc / totalDuration; acc += s.duration; return t; });
+  // Each cue carries `sweep`: how many seconds its camera move takes when
+  // playback crosses it. A per-step cue sweeps across its own step, and a
+  // cue-list entry until the next cue (or the end), so a slow orbit can be timed
+  // to the motion it frames. An intro cue — the one play() settles on before
+  // params move — ignores it and uses the driver's short fixed tween, since it
+  // gates playback and a long one would read as a stall.
   let cues;
-  if (typeof spec.camera === "string") cues = [{ t: 0, view: spec.camera }];
-  else if (Array.isArray(spec.camera)) cues = spec.camera.map(([t, view]) => ({ t, view }));
-  else cues = steps.flatMap((s, i) => (s.camera ? [{ t: stepStarts[i], view: s.camera }] : []));
+  // A lone angle name is only ever an intro, so it has no sweep of its own.
+  if (typeof spec.camera === "string") cues = [{ t: 0, view: spec.camera, sweep: null }];
+  else if (Array.isArray(spec.camera)) {
+    cues = spec.camera.map(([t, view], i, all) => ({
+      t, view, sweep: ((all[i + 1]?.[0] ?? 1) - t) * totalDuration,
+    }));
+  } else {
+    cues = steps.flatMap((s, i) => (s.camera ? [{ t: stepStarts[i], view: s.camera, sweep: s.duration }] : []));
+  }
   // Keys with at least one usable keyframe list in any step, for one field
   // ("tracks" or "opacity"). Shares usableKeyframes with segmentsFor — the
   // single rule both must agree on (see the comment on usableKeyframes).
@@ -200,6 +212,7 @@ export function createPlayback(anim) {
   let firedCueT = -1;     // cues with t <= firedCueT already fired this run
   let pendingCueT = null; // cue handed to an in-flight intro tween, not yet settled
   let stopAt = null;      // stepNext/playStep pause playback on reaching this t
+  let sweepingCue = null; // the cue tick() last fired, whose camera sweep may still be moving
 
   const snapshot = (cue = null) => ({ t, status, ...evaluate(anim, t), cue });
 
@@ -227,8 +240,24 @@ export function createPlayback(anim) {
     stopAt = null;
     return begin();
   }
+  // A stop mid-sweep cancels the camera where it is. Un-fire that cue so the
+  // next play() re-honors it (as an intro) instead of resuming with the camera
+  // stranded partway; a sweep that has already landed stays fired, so an
+  // ordinary pause/resume costs no extra tween.
+  // Only a cue crossed DURING playback sweeps; an intro lands its pose fully
+  // before params move, so it is never abandoned here.
+  function abandonSweep() {
+    const c = sweepingCue;
+    sweepingCue = null;
+    if (c && t < c.t + c.sweep / anim.totalDuration) {
+      let prev = -1;
+      for (const o of anim.cues) if (o.t < c.t) prev = o.t;
+      firedCueT = prev;
+    }
+  }
+
   function pause() {
-    if (status === "playing" || status === "intro") status = "paused";
+    if (status === "playing" || status === "intro") { status = "paused"; abandonSweep(); }
     pendingCueT = null; // an unsettled intro cue is abandoned, so resume re-issues it
     return snapshot();
   }
@@ -246,6 +275,7 @@ export function createPlayback(anim) {
     stopAt = null;
     firedCueT = -1; // a later play() re-honors the cue governing the new position
     pendingCueT = null;
+    sweepingCue = null;
     return snapshot();
   }
   function playStep(i) {
@@ -254,6 +284,7 @@ export function createPlayback(anim) {
     stopAt = idx + 1 < anim.steps.length ? anim.stepStarts[idx + 1] : 1;
     firedCueT = -1;
     pendingCueT = null;
+    sweepingCue = null;
     return begin();
   }
   function stepNext() {
@@ -264,11 +295,11 @@ export function createPlayback(anim) {
     return playStep(Math.max(0, stepIndexAt(anim, t) - 1));
   }
   function reset() {
-    t = 0; status = "idle"; stopAt = null; firedCueT = -1; pendingCueT = null; armed = true;
+    t = 0; status = "idle"; stopAt = null; firedCueT = -1; pendingCueT = null; armed = true; sweepingCue = null;
     return snapshot();
   }
   function disarmCues() { armed = false; }
-  function userEdited() { if (status === "playing" || status === "intro") status = "paused"; }
+  function userEdited() { if (status === "playing" || status === "intro") { status = "paused"; abandonSweep(); } }
 
   function tick(dt) {
     if (status !== "playing" || !(dt > 0)) return null;
@@ -277,17 +308,21 @@ export function createPlayback(anim) {
     // animation, so the two rarely coexist — but when they do, an explicit
     // "play this step" must still stop where it was told to, rather than being
     // swallowed by the wrap and running forever.
+    let stoppedAtBoundary = false;
     if (stopAt != null && t >= stopAt) {
-      t = stopAt; stopAt = null; status = "paused";
+      t = stopAt; stopAt = null; status = "paused"; stoppedAtBoundary = true;
     } else if (anim.loop) {
       if (t >= 1) t -= Math.floor(t);
     } else if (t >= 1) {
       t = 1; status = "done";
     }
     let cue = null;
-    if (armed) {
+    // Stopping on a step boundary does not start the next step's camera move:
+    // that cue belongs to the step that has not played yet, and would otherwise
+    // sweep on while playback sits paused. Playing that step intros to it.
+    if (armed && !stoppedAtBoundary) {
       for (const c of anim.cues) if (c.t <= t && c.t > firedCueT) cue = c;
-      if (cue) firedCueT = cue.t;
+      if (cue) { firedCueT = cue.t; sweepingCue = cue; }
     }
     return snapshot(cue);
   }

package/src/framework/cutaway.js

@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ export function createCutaway({
   edgeColor,
   schedule = defaultSchedule,
   now,
+  // The viewer draws on demand; the idle fade lands on a timer, with nothing
+  // else to ask for the frame that shows it.
+  requestRender = () => {},
 }) {
   // Reassignable: a projection swap (perspective <-> ortho) hands the cutaway
   // a new camera after construction, and the gizmo must follow it too.
@@ -191,7 +194,7 @@ export function createCutaway({
     gizmo.setActiveAppearance(true);
     const scheduled = schedule(() => {
       cancelIdle = null;
-      if (enabled && !disposed) gizmo.setActiveAppearance(false);
+      if (enabled && !disposed) { gizmo.setActiveAppearance(false); requestRender(); }
     }, IDLE_DELAY_MS);
     cancelIdle = typeof scheduled === "function"
       ? scheduled

package/src/framework/lint/rules-animations.js

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 // letting the author wonder why nothing plays.
 import { err, note } from "./finding.js";
 import { EASINGS } from "../animation.js";
-import { CANONICAL_VIEWS } from "../view-angles.js";
+import { CANONICAL_VIEWS, CAMERA_CUE_VIEWS } from "../view-angles.js";
 import { probeSubPartPose } from "../pose-probe-core.js";
 import { resolveDerived } from "../derive.js";
 import { desugar } from "../panel/legacy.js";
@@ -372,7 +372,9 @@ export const ANIMATION_RULES = [
     id: "animation-camera-invalid",
     run: ({ part }) => {
       const out = [];
-      const badName = (v) => typeof v !== "string" || !CANONICAL_VIEWS.includes(v);
+      const badName = (v) => typeof v !== "string" || !CAMERA_CUE_VIEWS.includes(v);
+      // The seven canonical names plus the view cube's corners and edges.
+      const angles = `${CANONICAL_VIEWS.join(", ")}, or a view-cube orientation such as top-front-left or top-back-right`;
       for (const { name, a, base } of animEntries(part)) {
         const stepCameras = Array.isArray(a.steps)
           ? a.steps.map((s, i) => [s?.camera, i]).filter(([c]) => c !== undefined && c !== null)
@@ -386,8 +388,8 @@ export const ANIMATION_RULES = [
         for (const [cam, i] of stepCameras) {
           if (badName(cam)) {
             out.push(err("animation-camera-invalid",
-              `animation "${name}" step ${i} camera "${cam}" is not a canonical angle`,
-              `Camera cues use the canonical angles: ${CANONICAL_VIEWS.join(", ")}.`,
+              `animation "${name}" step ${i} camera "${cam}" is not a camera angle`,
+              `Camera cues use ${angles}.`,
               `${base}.steps[${i}].camera`));
           }
         }
@@ -397,8 +399,8 @@ export const ANIMATION_RULES = [
         if (typeof a.camera === "string") {
           if (badName(a.camera)) {
             out.push(err("animation-camera-invalid",
-              `animation "${name}" camera "${a.camera}" is not a canonical angle`,
-              `Camera cues use the canonical angles: ${CANONICAL_VIEWS.join(", ")}.`,
+              `animation "${name}" camera "${a.camera}" is not a camera angle`,
+              `Camera cues use ${angles}.`,
               `${base}.camera`));
           }
         } else if (Array.isArray(a.camera)) {
@@ -409,7 +411,7 @@ export const ANIMATION_RULES = [
           if (!wellFormed || !sorted) {
             out.push(err("animation-camera-invalid",
               `animation "${name}" has an invalid camera cue list`,
-              `Cues are \`[[t, angle], …]\` with t strictly ascending in 0..1 and angles from: ${CANONICAL_VIEWS.join(", ")}.`,
+              `Cues are \`[[t, angle], …]\` with t strictly ascending in 0..1 and angles from: ${angles}.`,
               `${base}.camera`));
           }
         } else {

package/src/framework/materials/environments.js

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export const DEFAULT_ENVIRONMENT_ID = "studio";
 
 export const ENVIRONMENTS = {
   studio: {
-    id: "studio", label: "Studio", exposure: 0.8,
+    id: "studio", label: "Studio", exposure: 0.64,
     hdr: "env-studio.jpg",
     // Paper 001's fibre relief (normal + roughness) does the work: its colour
     // map is nearly flat, so without them the sweep read as soft blotches up
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ export const ENVIRONMENTS = {
     blurriness: 0.3,
   },
   workshop: {
-    id: "workshop", label: "Workshop", exposure: 0.88,
+    id: "workshop", label: "Workshop", exposure: 0.7,
     hdr: "env-workshop.jpg",
     // Unfinished maple: Poly Haven "Oak Veneer 01" lightened and desaturated
     // at bake time, with its normal map at a gentle strength and NO roughness
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ export const ENVIRONMENTS = {
     },
   },
   "print-bed": {
-    id: "print-bed", label: "Print bed", exposure: 0.42,
+    id: "print-bed", label: "Print bed", exposure: 0.34,
     // The studio photo re-baked with --contrast: a darker, harsher room, like
     // the inside of a printer's enclosure.
     hdr: "env-print-bed.jpg",
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export const ENVIRONMENTS = {
     },
   },
   outdoor: {
-    id: "outdoor", label: "Outdoor", exposure: 0.72,
+    id: "outdoor", label: "Outdoor", exposure: 0.58,
     hdr: "env-outdoor.jpg",
     // Tinted to a warm mid-grey: the overcast sky lights an untinted concrete
     // map near-white and blue. Exposed-aggregate concrete with its own normal

package/src/framework/measure/dim3-scene.js

@@ -99,6 +99,10 @@ export function defaultPaintLabel({ text, palette }) {
 }
 
 export function createDimScene(viewer, { paintLabel = defaultPaintLabel } = {}) {
+  // Dims are scene objects edited in place, not through a viewer call, so they
+  // ask for the frame themselves (the viewer draws on demand). tick() needs no
+  // request: it only follows the camera, and a camera move is already a frame.
+  const redraw = () => viewer.requestRender?.();
   const group = new THREE.Group();
   group.name = "pf-dims";
   let attached = false;
@@ -238,6 +242,7 @@ export function createDimScene(viewer, { paintLabel = defaultPaintLabel } = {})
 
   function update(drawings) {
     if (!ensureAttached()) return;
+    redraw();
     disposeChildren();
     for (const d of drawings) {
       const key = matFor(d.tier);
@@ -423,6 +428,7 @@ export function createDimScene(viewer, { paintLabel = defaultPaintLabel } = {})
   function setTheme(mode) {
     if (!DIM_THEME[mode] || mode === theme) return;
     theme = mode;
+    redraw();
     lineMats.static.color.set(DIM_THEME[theme].static);
     lineMats.strong.color.set(DIM_THEME[theme].strong);
     fillMats.static.color.set(DIM_THEME[theme].static);
@@ -434,9 +440,10 @@ export function createDimScene(viewer, { paintLabel = defaultPaintLabel } = {})
     }
   }
 
-  function clear() { disposeChildren(); }
+  function clear() { disposeChildren(); redraw(); }
 
   function dispose() {
+    redraw();
     disposeChildren();
     unregisterCapture();
     if (attached) group.parent?.remove(group);

package/src/framework/selection/feature-highlight.js

@@ -61,8 +61,13 @@ export function createFeatureHighlight(viewer) {
     overlay.visible = true;
   }
 
+  // The overlay is edited in place, not through a viewer call, so it asks for
+  // the frame itself (the viewer draws on demand).
+  const redraw = () => viewer.requestRender?.();
+
   return {
     show(hit) {
+      redraw();
       if (!hit.feature) { mount(hit.mesh.geometry, hit.mesh); return; }
       const cached = subsets.get(hit.subPart);
       let byId = cached?.geo === hit.mesh.geometry ? cached.byId : null;
@@ -75,7 +80,7 @@ export function createFeatureHighlight(viewer) {
       if (!g) { g = featureSubset(hit.mesh.geometry, hit.feature.id); byId.set(hit.feature.id, g); }
       mount(g, hit.mesh);
     },
-    clear() { overlay.visible = false; },
+    clear() { overlay.visible = false; redraw(); },
     dispose() {
       // Every step isolated: a throw disposing one cached subset (or
       // unregistering from cutaway) must not skip the rest — same discipline

package/src/framework/view-angles.js

@@ -81,6 +81,13 @@ function buildOrientations() {
 export const ORIENTATIONS = buildOrientations();
 export const ORIENTATION_IDS = Object.keys(ORIENTATIONS);
 
+// Every angle an animation camera cue may name: the seven canonical names first,
+// then the view cube's other orientations (so "top-front-left" is iso seen from
+// the other front corner). cameraPoseForView resolves all of them; this list is
+// what lint holds cues to. Kept apart from CANONICAL_VIEWS for the reason the
+// comment on ORIENTATIONS gives.
+export const CAMERA_CUE_VIEWS = [...new Set([...CANONICAL_VIEWS, ...ORIENTATION_IDS])];
+
 const norm = (v) => {
   const l = Math.hypot(v[0], v[1], v[2]) || 1;
   return [v[0] / l, v[1] / l, v[2] / l];

package/src/framework/viewer.js

@@ -232,6 +232,31 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
   const controls = new OrbitControls(activeCamera, renderer.domElement);
   controls.enableDamping = true;
 
+  // --- render on demand -------------------------------------------------------
+  // The loop ticks every animation frame (controls, tweens, frame listeners —
+  // playback, measure, the view cube all run there), but only DRAWS when
+  // something asked for it: a still view costs no GPU work. A frame is asked
+  // for by: any call through the returned viewer API (wrapped at the bottom of
+  // this function — a regen, a pose, a mode switch, a capture), the controls
+  // moving the camera (their damping included), a camera tween, input on the
+  // stage, and the internal async landings (a texture, a contact shadow, a
+  // resize, a marker timing out). Modules that edit the scene graph directly
+  // rather than through the API (measure's dims, the hover highlight, the
+  // animation driver) call viewer.requestRender() themselves.
+  //
+  // `graceMs` keeps drawing for a while after the request: input and API calls
+  // have follow-ups that land a frame or two later (hover.js picks in its own
+  // requestAnimationFrame; a regen's measure dims rebuild on the next tick).
+  const INPUT_GRACE_MS = 400;
+  const API_GRACE_MS = 150;
+  let renderRequested = true; // the first frame
+  let renderUntil = 0;
+  function requestRender(graceMs = 0) {
+    renderRequested = true;
+    if (graceMs > 0) renderUntil = Math.max(renderUntil, performance.now() + graceMs);
+  }
+  controls.addEventListener("change", () => requestRender());
+
   // --- lights + grid --------------------------------------------------------
   const liveLights = addViewerLights(scene);
   // 1 cm grid (mm units): 300 mm wide, 30 divisions -> 10 mm (1 cm) squares.
@@ -523,6 +548,7 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
     domElement: renderer.domElement,
     getBounds: getVisibleWorldBounds,
     edgeColor: THEME.dark.line,
+    requestRender: () => requestRender(),
   });
   for (const name of names) {
     cutaway.setSubpart(name, subMesh[name], subLines[name]);
@@ -589,7 +615,7 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
       const settled = new Promise((resolve) => { settle = resolve; });
       pendingTextures.add(settled);
       settled.then(() => pendingTextures.delete(settled));
-      t = textureLoader.load(assetUrl(file), () => settle(), undefined, () => settle());
+      t = textureLoader.load(assetUrl(file), () => { settle(); requestRender(); }, undefined, () => settle());
       t.anisotropy = Math.min(8, renderer.capabilities?.getMaxAnisotropy?.() ?? 1);
       textureCache.set(file, t);
     }
@@ -760,6 +786,7 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
     try {
       const plane = cutaway.getPlane?.(_shadowClipPlane) ?? null;
       realisticRig.shadow.render(scene, castersNow(), { ...opts, clippingPlanes: plane ? [plane] : null });
+      requestRender();
     } catch (e) {
       console.warn("partforge: contact shadow failed", e);
     }
@@ -796,6 +823,7 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
   // contact shadow: low-res while the plane is dragged, full once it settles —
   // the same schedule as a moving sub-part.
   cutaway.onChange?.(() => { if (realisticRig) shadowMovedAt = performance.now(); });
+  cutaway.onChange?.(() => requestRender());
 
   const livePixelRatio = (mode) =>
     Math.min(devicePixelRatio, mode === "realistic" && isCoarsePointer() ? 1.5 : 2);
@@ -1725,6 +1753,7 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
     lineMaterial.resolution.set(w, h); // fat lines need the viewport size for px width
     for (const m of fadeLineMats.values()) m.resolution.set(w, h); // clones need it too
     cutaway.setViewportSize(w, h, renderer.getPixelRatio());
+    requestRender(); // a resize clears the drawing buffer
   }
   const ro = new ResizeObserver(resize);
   ro.observe(container);
@@ -2254,11 +2283,12 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
   function renderFrame(time) {
     const dt = lastFrameTime == null ? 0 : Math.min(0.1, (time - lastFrameTime) / 1000);
     lastFrameTime = time;
-    controls.update();
+    controls.update(); // fires "change" (→ requestRender) while the camera moves, damping included
     const tw = camTween.update(dt);
     if (tw) {
       activeCamera.position.fromArray(tw.position);
       controls.target.fromArray(tw.target);
+      requestRender();
     }
     checkAutoProjection();
     // Per-listener guard, because three re-arms requestAnimationFrame only AFTER
@@ -2269,6 +2299,9 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
       try { cb(dt); } catch (e) { console.warn("partforge: frame listener failed", e); }
     }
     updateMovingShadow(); // after the listeners, so it sees this frame's poses
+    // Nothing asked for a frame: the canvas keeps showing the last one.
+    if (!renderRequested && performance.now() >= renderUntil) return;
+    renderRequested = false;
     // After the frame listeners, before anything reads the camera to draw with:
     // a playback frame may have moved sub-parts or the camera itself, and both
     // change where the planes belong.
@@ -2336,6 +2369,20 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
   // recoverable (three's own listener re-uploads on restore); the subscribers
   // let an embedder surface it instead of showing a dead rectangle.
   const contextLostListeners = new Set();
+  // Input on the stage: hover highlights, measure dims, cutaway gizmo hover and
+  // drag all react to it, some a frame or two later — draw through the grace.
+  const INPUT_EVENTS = ["pointermove", "pointerdown", "pointerup", "pointerleave", "pointercancel", "wheel"];
+  const onStageInput = () => requestRender(INPUT_GRACE_MS);
+  for (const type of INPUT_EVENTS) container.addEventListener(type, onStageInput, { capture: true, passive: true });
+  const onKeyInput = () => requestRender(INPUT_GRACE_MS);
+  window.addEventListener("keydown", onKeyInput, { capture: true, passive: true });
+  window.addEventListener("keyup", onKeyInput, { capture: true, passive: true });
+  // A restored context has re-uploaded everything but drawn nothing, and a
+  // returning tab may have had its drawing buffer discarded.
+  const onRedrawNeeded = () => requestRender();
+  renderer.domElement.addEventListener("webglcontextrestored", onRedrawNeeded);
+  document.addEventListener("visibilitychange", onRedrawNeeded);
+
   const onContextLostEvent = (event) => {
     event.preventDefault();
     for (const listener of [...contextLostListeners]) listener();
@@ -2453,6 +2500,7 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
   }
 
   function dropFlashDot(dot) {
+    requestRender();
     scene.remove(dot);
     dot.material.dispose(); // the geometry is shared and freed in dispose()
     flashDots.delete(dot);
@@ -2532,6 +2580,11 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
     // context left to lose, and a surviving listener would keep the embedder's
     // closure (and whatever it captured) alive.
     renderer.domElement.removeEventListener("webglcontextlost", onContextLostEvent);
+    for (const type of INPUT_EVENTS) container.removeEventListener(type, onStageInput, { capture: true });
+    window.removeEventListener("keydown", onKeyInput, { capture: true });
+    window.removeEventListener("keyup", onKeyInput, { capture: true });
+    renderer.domElement.removeEventListener("webglcontextrestored", onRedrawNeeded);
+    document.removeEventListener("visibilitychange", onRedrawNeeded);
     contextLostListeners.clear();
     controls.removeEventListener("start", onControlsStart);
     cameraStartListeners.clear();
@@ -2586,7 +2639,8 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
     renderer.domElement.remove();
   }
 
-  return {
+  return withRenderRequests({
+    requestRender,
     showAssembly,
     hideAssembly,
     setSubGeometry,
@@ -2666,5 +2720,25 @@ export function createViewer(container, part) {
     invalidatePrintFrames,
     whenRealisticReady,
     dispose,
-  };
+  }, () => requestRender(API_GRACE_MS));
+}
+
+// Every API method that can change what is drawn asks for a frame when called,
+// and again when a returned promise settles (a mode switch lands async). Pure
+// reads, subscriptions and hot per-frame queries are left unwrapped — a frame
+// listener polling getCutawayPlane() must not keep the loop drawing forever.
+// Getters (viewer.camera) and non-functions pass through untouched.
+const NO_RENDER_REQUEST = /^(get|is|has|on|__)|^(requestRender|projectPoint|subTriangles|cutawaySupported|cutawayEnabled|whenRealisticReady|dispose)$/;
+export function withRenderRequests(api, request) {
+  for (const [key, desc] of Object.entries(Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptors(api))) {
+    if (typeof desc.value !== "function" || NO_RENDER_REQUEST.test(key)) continue;
+    const fn = desc.value;
+    api[key] = function (...args) {
+      request();
+      const out = fn.apply(this, args);
+      if (out && typeof out.then === "function") out.then(request, request);
+      return out;
+    };
+  }
+  return api;
 }

package/src/testing/render.js

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { writeFileSync, mkdirSync } from "node:fs";
 import { join, resolve, sep } from "node:path";
 import { safeName } from "../framework/safe-name.js";
+import { ORIENTATIONS } from "../framework/view-angles.js";
 import { buildView } from "../framework/oracle/build.js";
 import { bounds } from "../framework/oracle/mesh.js";
 
@@ -23,6 +24,17 @@ export const RENDER_ANGLES = {
 };
 export const RENDER_VIEWS = Object.keys(RENDER_ANGLES);
 
+// The view cube's other orientations (animation camera cues may name them, and
+// a still defaults to its cue's angle), mapped from the viewer's Y-up world
+// back into model space: world (x, y, z) -> model (x, -z, y).
+export function renderAngle(name) {
+  if (Object.hasOwn(RENDER_ANGLES, name)) return RENDER_ANGLES[name];
+  const o = Object.hasOwn(ORIENTATIONS, name) ? ORIENTATIONS[name] : null;
+  if (!o) return null;
+  const toModel = ([x, y, z]) => [x, -z, y];
+  return { dir: toModel(o.dir), up: toModel(o.up) };
+}
+
 const sub = (a, b) => [a[0] - b[0], a[1] - b[1], a[2] - b[2]];
 const cross = (a, b) => [a[1] * b[2] - a[2] * b[1], a[2] * b[0] - a[0] * b[2], a[0] * b[1] - a[1] * b[0]];
 const dot = (a, b) => a[0] * b[0] + a[1] * b[1] + a[2] * b[2];
@@ -93,8 +105,8 @@ export async function renderViews(kernel, part, view = Object.keys(part.views)[0
   const written = [];
 
   for (const angle of views) {
-    const a = RENDER_ANGLES[angle];
-    if (!a) throw new Error(`unknown angle "${angle}" (use: ${RENDER_VIEWS.join(", ")})`);
+    const a = renderAngle(angle);
+    if (!a) throw new Error(`unknown angle "${angle}" (use: ${RENDER_VIEWS.join(", ")}, or a view-cube orientation such as top-front-left)`);
     // orthographic camera basis: zc toward camera, xc right, yc up
     const zc = norm(a.dir), xc = norm(cross(a.up, zc)), yc = cross(zc, xc);
     // Key direction (toward the light), placed over the viewer's shoulder — up and to

package/types/part.d.ts

@@ -556,11 +556,22 @@ export type Keyframes = Array<[number, number]>;
 export type CanonicalView = "iso" | "front" | "back" | "left" | "right" | "top" | "bottom";
 
 /**
- * A camera cue angle. `partforge lint` rejects anything outside the canonical
- * seven (`animation-camera-invalid`), so the type says so too. Cues fire during
- * play only; scrubbing never moves the camera.
+ * The view cube's other orientations: its edges and corners, named vertical,
+ * then depth, then side. `"top-front-right"` is the same camera as `"iso"`.
  */
-export type CameraCue = CanonicalView;
+export type ViewCubeOrientation =
+  | "top-front" | "top-back" | "top-left" | "top-right"
+  | "bottom-front" | "bottom-back" | "bottom-left" | "bottom-right"
+  | "front-left" | "front-right" | "back-left" | "back-right"
+  | "top-front-left" | "top-front-right" | "top-back-left" | "top-back-right"
+  | "bottom-front-left" | "bottom-front-right" | "bottom-back-left" | "bottom-back-right";
+
+/**
+ * A camera cue angle: one of the canonical seven or a view-cube orientation.
+ * `partforge lint` rejects anything else (`animation-camera-invalid`). Cues fire
+ * during play only; scrubbing never moves the camera.
+ */
+export type CameraCue = CanonicalView | ViewCubeOrientation;
 
 /** One step of a multi-step animation. Steps play in order; prev/next navigate them. */
 export interface AnimationStep {
@@ -586,7 +597,12 @@ export interface AnimationStep {
    * never affects params, export, measure, or verify.
    */
   opacity?: Record<string, Keyframes>;
-  /** Swing the camera to this angle when the step begins. */
+  /**
+   * Swing the camera to this angle, starting when the step begins and taking
+   * the step's whole duration — so a slow orbit can be timed to the motion it
+   * frames. (Starting playback at this step instead makes a short move there
+   * before anything else runs.)
+   */
   camera?: CameraCue;
 }
 
@@ -604,7 +620,8 @@ export interface AnimationSpecCommon {
   loop?: boolean;
   /**
    * One mechanism per animation: an angle (an intro cue at t=0), a
-   * `[[t, angle], …]` cue list, or per-step `camera` names.
+   * `[[t, angle], …]` cue list, or per-step `camera` names. A listed cue's
+   * camera move lasts until the next cue (or the end of the animation).
    */
   camera?: CameraCue | Array<[number, CameraCue]>;
   /**