How to use the Virtual Tour feature

What is Virtual Tour?

Virtual Tour can offer an immersive experience of your design. Clients can conveniently visit the virtual space on a PC/mobile device through the D5 Showreel link you share, thus gaining an immersive view of your architectural/interior designs.

Two types of projects for [Virtual Tour]

D5 supports two types of Virtual Tour:

1. Basic Tour: composited directly by the browser, not containing spatial information, only supporting basic panorama browsing and location switching

2. Space Tour: must be uploaded after creating the project in the client, containing spatial information and supporting advanced features such as 3D displacement, spatial hotspot, measurement, etc.

Space Tour

Create a space tour project

1. First, log in to your Teams account. Click on the 'Tour' icon at the top right corner to access the project list on the right sidebar. Hit '+' at the top right to initiate a new project.

2. Then, click 'Edit' to start editing the virtual tour from the current environment.

Edit a space tour project

1. Please note that upon entering the virtual tour editing mode,

• Adjustments to models, materials, and environments will be disabled.

• The perspective view and the Fly mode will be auto-activated. You can navigate the scene using the shortcut keys AWSDQE.

• Effects including Auto Exposure, Depth of Field, Bloom, Vignetting, and Chromatic Aberration will be switched off.

1. You can click on 'Add Position' to add a view point. The starting viewpoint will be auto-set once you add the first camera position.

1. Since each camera has a point on the ground that's vertically aligned with it as its counterpart, you can switch between the physical position and the ground position as you like.

• Ground position (Default)

• Physical position

Right-click to switch between the physical position and the ground position

1. Once you've established all the viewpoints, select 'Done' to transition into preview mode, where the camera automatically reverts to the starting viewpoint.

1. When the preview mode is activated, you can click in the scene to navigate through the different viewpoints. Please note that only set viewpoints are accessible in a virtual tour.

Render the Virtual Tour

1. With all steps completed, you can export your virtual tour by clicking on the ''Render'' icon.

2. Specify the storage path, select your desired resolution, and click ''Render''.

3. When the rendering is completed, you will get a local web folder containing panoramas, JS files and other resources.

You can preview the virtual tour on a web page by choosing 'Open in browser' followed by 'Open in local server'.

3D Dollhouse

In version 2.8.1.0731 and later, the virtual tours rendered in D5 support 3D Dollhouse mode by default, without any additional setup required.

In the panorama gallery, users can switch to the 3D panorama view via a button.

Demo: DEMO_3D Dollhouse

For [Space Tour] rendered in D5 Renderer Client after version 2.10, its 3d dollhouse file will take a new sampling effect. The latest version of the 3d dollhouse file:

1. Optimized the severe wire drawing animation effect when switching between two panorama points

2. Compressed the file size and improved the performance when accessing on mobile and web.

Previous Effect↓

New Effect↓

-How to use Dollhouse Pinpointing:

1.Using a sphere as an example, to ensure complete reconstruction of the sphere, all the geometric information of the sphere must be captured in the panorama. The minimum number of required points is 2:

1 at the front of the sphere

1 at the back of the sphere

When creating the Dollhouse, all the geometric information of the points is consolidated. With the two points mentioned above, the complete sphere can be reconstructed.

2.Using a top-down view of a single floor plan with 3 rooms as an example:

By placing a single point in the left room, the visibility and coverage captured would be:

By placing a single point in the upper room, the visibility and coverage captured would be:

With only these two points, a portion of the bottom-right room remains uncovered:

For a full coverage, an additional point is required within the bottom-right room.

One point in per room is often sufficient to adequately capture a room's geometry. However, in scenarios with more complex room layouts or objects, additional points may be necessary, to ensure a higher fidelity and completeness in the final result.

How to share the virtual tours

D5 offers two ways to share virtual tours:

• Share Online

• Share EXE files

Share via D5 Showreel

1. Navigate to the 'Export' menu and select 'Publish to D5 Cloud'.

2. You'll be guided to associate your virtual tour with a cloud project. At this juncture, you can either link it to a new project or integrate it with one that's already in progress.

1. After uploading is completed, you can open the cloud project.

1. On the D5 Showreel platform, you can find the uploaded virtual tour in the corresponding cloud project.

• A cloud project could contain multiple virtual tours.

• You can share virtual tours by link or QR code.

Each upload to a D5 cloud project creates a new tour file, preserving your past work.

1. In the Showreel platform, you can find your uploaded roaming panorama files in the corresponding cloud project.

• Multiple roaming panorama files can be uploaded in one cloud project.

• Users can copy the sharing link or generate a QRCode poster to send to their clients or share on social media.

Note: Every time the client publishes to the D5 Cloud, a new roaming file will be generated, without overwriting the previous one.

• Long link: the url of the panorama itself when opened in the browser.

• Short link: In the share button of the panorama, click [ Share Link ], it will support to generate a short link. If you use this short link to share with others, you can still open the panorama. However, since the shortchain is configured with the Open Graph parameter, it can show a preview image and project profile when sharing on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, WeChat, etc.).

Share via EXE files

1. Rendered virtual tours can be converted into standalone exe files for secure and offline viewing.

2. Both Mac and Windows compatible exe files can be created.

1. Check the desired formats and click Export to create a zip archive in the specified storage folder.

2. After unzipping the package, it contains a Resource folder and an executable file (D5VirtualTour).

3. Click on the executable file, select the Resource folder in the same directory, and a local virtual tour web page will pop up.

Basic Tour

Create a [Basic Tour] project and upload panoramas

1. Under the [Tour] tab in the cloud project, click to create a ‘Basic Tour’.

1. After completing the naming of the project name and clicking Create to confirm, an empty panorama sequence will be created and the user needs to manually upload the panoramas in the browser (panorama files output in D5 or other renderers).

1. After successful uploading, the system will automatically convert the spherical image into a format that can be viewed with a 720° rotation, and support for uploading multiple images.

Edit a basic tour project

Most of the editing operations of [Basic Tour] are the same as those of [Space Tour], and the differences between the two are as follows ↓:

1. [Basic Tour] supports adding panoramas to the gallery, [Space Tour] does not support adding panoramas to the gallery.

2. [Basic Tour] does not support depth information, the normal cursor cannot be displayed by the mouse.

3. [Basic Tour] does not support to enable 3D shift.

4. [Basic Tour] does not support the setting of ground camera and flight camera.

5. [Basic Tour] 's hotspots added under a certain panorama location are only visible under that location.

Panorama Editor

1. After uploading a virtual tour to D5 Showreel, you can make further editings to the virtual tour using D5 Panorama Editor.

2. Any member of the team can upload a virtual tour file to the corresponding cloud project. Please note that virtual tour cannot be edited by different members simultaneously. When one person is editing the virtual tour, the project will be locked.

Global Settings

Global settings affect the presentation of all panoramas in a virtual tour.

1. Project information:

The project information contains the 'project name' and 'project introduction'. When visiting the virtual tour, viewers can check its detailed info in the upper left corner. For now, links cannot be added into the project introduction.

1. Rotation setting:

When auto-rotation is enabled, you can set the 'Starting Delay' and 'Speed'.

1. Music setting:

When 'Autoplay' is enabled, the virtual tour link you share will automatically play music upon opening. The tracks we provide on D5 Panorama Editor all have commercial licenses.

1. Opening setting

When opening animation is enabled, an animation will automatically play when entering the first viewpoint of the virtual tour.

Camera Settings

Camera settings control the display of a single panorama. Different panoramas within a virtual tour can have independent camera settings.

1. Field of View (FOV) Range:

Controls the adjustable FOV range and initial default values for the panorama.

1. Rotatable direction:

Users have control to disable rotation of the panorama in a certain direction.

Hot Spot Setting

In Hotspot Settings, users can add customized hotspots to the scene, and the following types of hotspots are currently supported.

1. Scene Hotspots:

Binds a panorama scene in the current roaming panorama sequence. Clicking on a hotspot of this type will jump to another panorama.

1. Multimedia

Multimedia hotspots support editing a paragraph of rich text, and users can add images, videos and hyperlinks. Clicking on this type of hotspot will open a display popup window containing the rich text.

Share Settings

In the share settings, the user sets access permissions for a panorama's sharing link.

1. Enable sharing

When you turn off shared links, users can no longer access your designs from shared links. Normal access is available after re-enabling.

1. External access restriction

• By default, all people who own the link can access

• It Support setting a 4-digit access password

1. Share expiration date

• No expiration date by default

• After setting the expiration date, non-external sharing of panorama links will be closed automatically after the expiration date.

1. Enable watermark

• No watermark by default

• When enabled, it supports setting text watermark to protect your work.

Floor Plan Navigation

In Floor Plan Navigation, users can upload a png or jpg floor plan as a navigation map, and add a panoramic view to the floor plan to locate the location.

1. Click on upload, select the image in jpg or png format and upload it

1. After uploading and clicking on preview, the flat floor plan navigation will appear in the top left corner of the panoramic view

1. Click Edit Floor Plan to enter the floor plan editing status.

• After selecting a panorama, double-click on the corresponding position in the map on the left to add a camera to the map.

• The direction of the camera will follow the rotation of the corresponding panorama and rotate accordingly.

1. If the default camera orientation does not match the actual orientation of the current panorama, you can click on the corresponding camera and a rotation component will appear. Using the Rotation component, you can unilaterally adjust the orientation of the camera without changing the current orientation of the panorama.

1. After adding a camera and saving the project, you can see the camera you just added in the map in the official preview link of the panorama, and support switching to the corresponding panorama by clicking on the camera in the floor plan map.

1. If your project is a multi-storey building, you can create floor plan navigation layers, and in the panorama link, the being shared person can switch between floors by toggling the different floors with a drop-down selector in the map navigation component.

Panoramas of Multiple Statuses

It supports users in uploading two different panoramas in the same location to achieve the effect of switching.

1. Users need to render two panoramas with different effects in the same location in the client (as shown in the images below, one before the lights are turned on and one after).

1. After uploading a panorama as a base state, click 'Edit multiple statuses' to open the upload pop up window.

1. After uploading another panorama, system will automatically create a state switcher for this location, allowing the user to switch between different displays.

Panorama Comment

1. Feature Description

Panorama Comment feature allows D5 account users to make real-time comments on online shared tour files, enhancing communication and collaboration within teams and with external customers.

1. Feature Use

2.1 Enable comment feature

Enable 'Allow Comment' in Global Settings of Panorama Editor (enabled by default).

When the comment function is enabled, a comment icon will appear in the upper right corner. Click to open the comment section.

2.2 Post comment

Users need to log in to their D5 accounts before they can post comments. Anonymous comments by visitors are not supported.

Comments support the following attachment types:

• Text: Maximum 500 characters

• Images: Maximum 20MB, supports screenshot pasting

• Anchors:

- Space Tour: Anchors record XYZ coordinates and stay visible within range when transitioning between scenes.

- Basic Tour: Anchors record XY coordinates and are only visible when the corresponding scene is selected.

1. Record the current scene when commenting. Switch between viewing comments for the current scene or all scenes in the tab bar above the comment section.

2. Supports @team members (only available for members within the team).

2.3 Reply comment

Click on a comment to go to the reply page where you can reply to it.

Replies to comments do not support adding anchors.

2.4 Anchor interaction

When clicking on an anchor in the panoramic on the left, the corresponding comment will be automatically selected and navigated to the reply page.

When clicking on the comment content, if the anchor is not in the current scene, the view will automatically switch to the scene where the anchor is located and navigate to the corresponding position.

2.5 Comment deletion permissions

Commenters can delete their own comments.

Project owners can delete all comments within their projects.

Team administrators can delete all comments across all projects.

1. Comment integration and management

Panoramic image comments are interconnected with cloud project comments. All panoramic image comments will be summarized and displayed in the 'Comment' tab of the cloud project, organized chronologically, without showing anchors.

Comments displayed in cloud projects support jumping back to the original virtual tour file.

Users commenting from external accounts will be marked as ‘external’ for distinction.

1. Email notification

Team members who are @-mentioned in comments will receive email notifications.