Navigation

This article is about moving: stepping from one spot to the next inside a 360 photo, lifting out to see the whole level, and finding your way back. Choosing the building, level and date is in Building, level and date - choosing the capture.

Ways of looking

SiteView shows a capture in two camera modes, first-person and aerial. Drone captures have two views of their own. Which ones you get depends on the capture you opened.

First-person mode - inside the photo

SiteView opens in first-person mode: you stand at one spot inside a 360 photo.

1. A pano bubble - a photo taken nearby; click it to step there. The bigger the bubble, the closer it is.
2. The floor plan inset - the blue dot is you, the cone is where you face.
3. Aerial mode - leaves the photo and shows the level from above.

Aerial mode - the whole level

Aerial mode lifts you out of the photo and shows the level as a 3D map. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, right-drag to pan.

Two things change on the gizmo: Orthographic View appears, which looks straight down without perspective (click again for Perspective View), and SmartFilter appears. The floor plan inset swaps for the 360 photo of the spot you were standing on.

To drop back into the photo, click First-person mode on the gizmo.

1. The dollhouse - the level as a 3D point cloud. Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom, right-drag to pan.
2. The inset shows the 360 photo - in aerial mode the inset swaps from plan to photo; the corner button enlarges it.
3. First-person mode - goes back into the photo.

1. Perspective View - the button now offers the normal 3D view again.
2. No perspective - near and far walls keep the same size, so lengths read true across the screen.

View Mode - what first-person draws

First-person mode can draw the spot three ways. Right-click and pick one under View Mode:

Your choice stays when you move to another capture. All three are always available, even on a capture with no 360 photo; 360 Tour then shows an empty state.

The five views at a glance

Point cloud or textured mesh is a Rendering Style in Settings. Drone views are in Drone captures - the site from above.

Finding your way

Three things help you keep your bearings in any mode: the gizmo, the floor plan inset and the right-click menu.

The gizmo

The gizmo is the cluster at the top right of the viewport. Its ring shows which way you are facing, and the buttons around it change with the mode:

The floor plan inset

In first-person mode, the inset at the bottom left shows the level you are on, where you are standing, and every waypoint on it. Click a waypoint to stand there.

1. Click the expand button at the bottom left of the inset. The plan fills the lower part of the viewer.
2. Use the toolbar under it to change the map style, zoom in or out, or fit the plan.
3. Click the shrink button to put it back.

In aerial mode the inset shows the 360 photo instead, so you can keep an eye on the spot while you look at the whole level.

1. The expanded plan - the plan over the map, with every pano on this level.
2. Shrink - puts the plan back in the corner.
3. Map style, zoom in, zoom out, fit - change the base map, zoom, or fit the plan to the panel.

Right-click in the viewport

Right-clicking is the fastest way to switch how you look at a place and to turn layers on and off without opening Settings.

The layer switches here, in Settings and on the keyboard all change the same thing.

1. Navigate Back / Forward - step back to the photo you came from, or forward again.
2. View Mode - 360° Tour, 3D Map or Combined.
3. Layers - each with its shortcut on the right.

Right-click in aerial mode and drone captures

The menu offers what exists in the view you are in:

1. Backface Culling and Axis Plane - aerial only: hide surfaces facing away from you, and show the X/Y/Z planes.
2. Reference Plans - pick which plan is drawn under the dollhouse, or hide it.

Changes from 4.0

Two 4.0 articles are retired here. Navigation in Plan Viewer and Viewing Point Clouds in SiteView described surfaces that are no longer modes of their own:

Both are covered in Settings and SmartFilter - what is drawn.