VoxelDraft
Browser-based voxel editor with animation and export
I started VoxelDraft because making a small voxel model often felt heavier than the model itself.
Many tools are powerful, but they ask people to install an application, learn a full 3D workflow, or create an account before placing the first cube. I wanted the opposite experience: open a page, start building immediately, and export something useful when finished.
The first version was a basic editor built with React, TypeScript, Three.js, and React Three Fiber. Getting cubes onto a canvas was the easy part. The real work started when I added editing features people expect from a practical tool: layers, paint and fill operations, selection, unlimited undo/redo, mobile controls, project storage, and several export formats.
One design decision helped the project stay manageable: the editable voxel data is the source of truth, while the Three.js scene is only a visual projection of that data. This made it possible to add layer visibility, history, animation, and export without treating rendered objects as the project file.
Animation became the next challenge. VoxelDraft now supports preset animation and a timeline-based workflow, with GIF export generated in the browser. Keeping the original model unchanged while previewing and rendering frames was important; otherwise, stopping an animation could accidentally leave the model in a transformed state.
I also kept the main editor free to use without registration. That choice removes friction, but it means onboarding has to happen inside the interface rather than through an email sequence. The product needs to explain itself through sensible defaults, templates, tooltips, and immediate visual feedback.
What exists today:
• Browser-based voxel editing
• Layers, selection, painting, fill, and undo/redo
• Animation presets and a timeline editor
• GIF and common 3D/project export formats
• Mobile-friendly controls
• No installation or account required to start
The product is live at https://voxeldraft.com/
I would especially value feedback from people building creative tools: Which part of the first-use experience is still unclear? Which export format matters most for your workflow? And would you use animation presets, or prefer building every keyframe manually?
1 Comment
The interesting decision here is making the browser experience the advantage, not just a technical choice.
The biggest opportunity may be owning a specific moment where people want voxels quickly — prototyping game assets, teaching 3D concepts, or creating shareable models — rather than competing with full 3D editors.