Imgui Gizmo

The Defoldmine
1

ImGui Gizmo Demo (Defold)

Small demo project for testing ImGui Gizmo in Defold: object picking, transforms via gizmo, and a mini camera view manipulator.

Features

  • Camera view gizmo.
  • Object gizmo (translate/rotate/scale).
  • Grid rendering.

Screenshot

2025-12-23_15-54-13
2025-12-23_15-54-131508×1071 284 KB

Controls

  • Click an object to select it.
  • The left panel lets you change gizmo mode and edit TRS values manually.
  • Enable Snap for stepped changes.

Example

Lua header usage (API + constants) and a minimal per-frame call:


function init(self)
    imgui_gizmo.set_context()
    ...
end

function update(self, dt)
    -- At least one ImGui call is required each frame to trigger NewFrame().
    imgui.get_frame_height()
    imgui_gizmo.set_rect(0, 0, self.display_width, self.display_height)
    imgui_gizmo.set_drawlist_foreground()
    local manipulated = imgui_gizmo.manipulate(
        self.view,
        self.projection,
        imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_SCALEU,
        imgui_gizmo.MODE_LOCAL,
        self.matrix
    )
    if manipulated then
        -- handle updated matrix here
    end
end

Notes

  • The Lua header in imgui_gizmo/imgui_gizmo_header.lua is the API entry point (constants and bindings).
  • You must call at least one ImGui function every frame so the extension can trigger NewFrame(). A no-op like imgui.get_frame_height() is sufficient.
  • Call imgui_gizmo.set_context() before using any gizmo functions. Call this once during initialization in your main collection

Key Files

  • main/gizmo_demo.script — demo logic and ImGui Gizmo usage.
  • imgui_gizmo/imgui_gizmo_header.lua — ImGui Gizmo API (constants + bindings).

Setup

You can use ImGui Gizmo in your own project by adding ImGui and this project as Defold library dependencies.
Open your game.project file and in the dependencies field under project add:

https://github.com/britzl/extension-imgui/archive/master.zip
https://github.com/d954mas/defold-imgui-gizmo/archive/master.zip

Or point to ZIP files of specific releases.

Call imgui_gizmo.set_context() once during initialization before any gizmo use.

You need least one ImGui call is required each frame to trigger NewFrame() in ImGui extension.
imgui.get_frame_height()

API


---@meta

---@class imgui_gizmo
imgui_gizmo = {}

---Set ImGui context for ImGuizmo. Call once after imgui init.
function imgui_gizmo.set_context() end

---Set drawlist for ImGuizmo (default current window).
function imgui_gizmo.set_drawlist() end

---Set drawlist to ImGui foreground.
function imgui_gizmo.set_drawlist_foreground() end

---Set drawlist to ImGui background.
function imgui_gizmo.set_drawlist_background() end

---Set rect for gizmo drawing.
---@param x number
---@param y number
---@param width number
---@param height number
function imgui_gizmo.set_rect(x, y, width, height) end

---Use orthographic projection.
---@param value boolean
function imgui_gizmo.set_orthographic(value) end

---Enable or disable gizmo.
---@param value boolean
function imgui_gizmo.enable(value) end

---Return true if mouse is over gizmo.
---@return boolean
function imgui_gizmo.is_over() end

---Return true if mouse is over specific operation.
---@param operation number
---@return boolean
function imgui_gizmo.is_over_operation(operation) end

---Return true if mouse is over position within radius.
---@param position vector3
---@param radius number
---@return boolean
function imgui_gizmo.is_over_position(position, radius) end

---Return true if gizmo is used.
---@return boolean
function imgui_gizmo.is_using() end

---Return true if view gizmo is used.
---@return boolean
function imgui_gizmo.is_using_view_manipulate() end

---Return true if any gizmo is used.
---@return boolean
function imgui_gizmo.is_using_any() end

---Set gizmo size in clip space.
---@param value number
function imgui_gizmo.set_gizmo_size_clip_space(value) end

---Allow axis flip.
---@param value boolean
function imgui_gizmo.allow_axis_flip(value) end

---Set axis visibility limit.
---@param value number
function imgui_gizmo.set_axis_limit(value) end

---Hide axes by mask.
---@param x boolean
---@param y boolean
---@param z boolean
function imgui_gizmo.set_axis_mask(x, y, z) end

---Set plane visibility limit.
---@param value number
function imgui_gizmo.set_plane_limit(value) end

---Manipulate transform matrix.
---@param view matrix4
---@param projection matrix4
---@param operation number
---@param mode number
---@param matrix matrix4
---@param snap vector3|number|nil
---@param local_bounds table|nil
---@param bounds_snap vector3|number|nil
---@return boolean
---@return matrix4|nil
function imgui_gizmo.manipulate(view, projection, operation, mode, matrix, snap, local_bounds, bounds_snap) end

---Decompose matrix to translation, rotation (degrees), scale.
---@param matrix matrix4
---@return vector3
---@return vector3
---@return vector3
function imgui_gizmo.decompose_matrix(matrix) end

---Recompose matrix from translation, rotation (degrees), scale.
---@param translation vector3
---@param rotation vector3
---@param scale vector3
---@return matrix4
function imgui_gizmo.recompose_matrix(translation, rotation, scale) end

---Draw grid.
---@param view matrix4
---@param projection matrix4
---@param matrix matrix4
---@param grid_size number
function imgui_gizmo.draw_grid(view, projection, matrix, grid_size) end

---Draw cubes from matrices array.
---@param view matrix4
---@param projection matrix4
---@param matrices table
function imgui_gizmo.draw_cubes(view, projection, matrices) end

---View manipulate (camera gizmo).
---@param view matrix4
---@param length number
---@param position vector3
---@param size vector3
---@param background_color number
function imgui_gizmo.view_manipulate(view, length, position, size, background_color) end

---View manipulate with projection and matrix.
---@param view matrix4
---@param projection matrix4
---@param operation number
---@param mode number
---@param matrix matrix4
---@param length number
---@param position vector3
---@param size vector3
---@param background_color number
function imgui_gizmo.view_manipulate(view, projection, operation, mode, matrix, length, position, size, background_color) end

---Get style table.
---@return table
function imgui_gizmo.get_style() end

---Set style from table.
---@param style table
function imgui_gizmo.set_style(style) end

---Get style color by index.
---@param index number
---@return vector4
function imgui_gizmo.get_style_color(index) end

---Set style color by index.
---@param index number
---@param color vector4|table
function imgui_gizmo.set_style_color(index, color) end

---Convert Euler degrees to quaternion.
---@param euler vector3
---@return quat
function imgui_gizmo.quat_from_euler(euler) end

---Convert basis vectors to quaternion.
---@param right vector3
---@param up vector3
---@param forward vector3
---@return quat
function imgui_gizmo.quat_from_basis(right, up, forward) end

---Look-at quaternion from position.
---@param position vector3
---@param target vector3
---@param up vector3
---@return quat
function imgui_gizmo.quat_look_at(position, target, up) end

imgui_gizmo.MODE_LOCAL = 0
imgui_gizmo.MODE_WORLD = 1

imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_TRANSLATE = 7
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_ROTATE = 120
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_SCALE = 896
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_SCALEU = 14336
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_UNIVERSAL = 15359
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_TRANSLATE_X = 1
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_TRANSLATE_Y = 2
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_TRANSLATE_Z = 4
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_ROTATE_X = 8
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_ROTATE_Y = 16
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_ROTATE_Z = 32
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_ROTATE_SCREEN = 64
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_SCALE_X = 128
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_SCALE_Y = 256
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_SCALE_Z = 512
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_BOUNDS = 1024
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_SCALE_XU = 2048
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_SCALE_YU = 4096
imgui_gizmo.OPERATION_SCALE_ZU = 8192

imgui_gizmo.COLOR_DIRECTION_X = 0
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_DIRECTION_Y = 1
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_DIRECTION_Z = 2
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_PLANE_X = 3
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_PLANE_Y = 4
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_PLANE_Z = 5
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_SELECTION = 6
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_INACTIVE = 7
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_TRANSLATION_LINE = 8
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_SCALE_LINE = 9
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_ROTATION_USING_BORDER = 10
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_ROTATION_USING_FILL = 11
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_HATCHED_AXIS_LINES = 12
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_TEXT = 13
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_TEXT_SHADOW = 14
imgui_gizmo.COLOR_COUNT = 15

Background

Based on the Defold “basic 3D” template and uses 3D physics.

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Advent Calendar 2025 by d954mas
Advent Calendar 2025 by d954mas