What it is for

Let a client or colleague visit your project as if they were on site, without them having to read plans. You prepare viewpoints, the visitor moves freely or follows your path, and project variants can be compared in one click thanks to configurations.

Plans: all of them, including Designer (free). The tour, saved views and virtual reality are available in all plans.

Before you start

  • A model imported into 4Reality (see the Import a CAD model chapter, or Import a point cloud).
  • Materials and lighting adjusted, so the tour makes a good first impression.
  • An idea of the 2 or 3 angles that matter to your visitor: arriving at the project, the overview, the important detail.

Steps

  1. Open your project and position yourself at the first viewpoint to show.
  2. Save this viewpoint: in the control bar at the bottom, click Saved view and give the view a name to save it. To load a saved view, click the arrow to the right of Saved view: the list of your views appears, click the one you want and you are teleported to that viewpoint (in 4Reality, you visit in first person).
  3. Repeat for each viewpoint in your path.
  4. If your project has variants, prepare them with the configurations system: another colour, an added option, an element open or closed. During the tour, you will switch from one to the other in one click.
  5. Test the complete path once, as if you were the visitor: smooth navigation, no viewpoint that is hard to reach.
  6. During the presentation, let the visitor hold the mouse and explore. Keep your viewpoints to bring them back to the important places.
  7. For maximum effect, launch the tour in virtual reality, in one click. VR has been tested with the Meta Quest 2 and 3 in Link mode (headset connected to the PC); other headsets have not been tested.
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Control bar: the Saved view list, at the bottom right

Do not confuse with Camera view: that function installs a fixed camera in the model, useful for renderings. The camera stays in place while you move around, unlike a saved view, which transports you.

Expected result

Your visitor understands the volumes, distances and heights of your project with no interpretation effort. They ask their questions about what they see, and misunderstandings are settled during the tour rather than at delivery.

Common problems

  • Navigation is choppy: the model is heavy. Simplify the invisible parts of the source model before import, and close the applications that monopolize the graphics card during the presentation.
  • The visitor gets lost: too much freedom without landmarks. Return to your saved views to reframe the tour.
  • The variants confuse the visitor: only prepare the options that are really under discussion, two or three at most.

See also

  • Configurations: present variants of the same project
  • Saved views and orthographic view
  • Present in virtual reality
  • Blog article: Let a non-technical client visit a project

Previous topic: Import a point cloud (LAS, LAZ, E57)