Shadows in the Station – A VR Noir Game

Welcome to the 1920s, on a cold night in the harsh London winter. An atrocious crime has been committed on the train back to the capital, and all passengers seem suspicious. And you, in the purest Agatha Christie detective novel style, will have to solve it.

This is the premise of our new "demo," an excuse to present to you the latest great addition to VTPro's features, 3D model support for VR on devices like Quest or Pico (available in the Beta version of the program and soon in the official one). Something eagerly awaited by everyone and that you will finally be able to enjoy. Additionally, the appearance of Apple Vision Pro seems to have brought back the use of these devices, which are gradually gaining ground among users. The undeniable "wow" effect they produce expands VTPro's potential in VR significantly, as being able to display three-dimensional content opens up a host of new use cases where the immersive experience is even greater.

In this example, being able to move and interact with the model in this way adds a level of realism to the experience much greater than that offered on desktop or mobile. Of course, there are many other use cases where this potential is especially beneficial, such as e-learning, virtual tourism, virtual staging, real estate, etc.

In this case, we decided to experiment with gamification, creating a small and modest version of what could be a complete 3D game. With the tools provided by the program, we can easily build and develop all the narrative, interactivity, and gameplay necessary. Something unthinkable until recently, where the possibility of creating such a game was limited to large teams with complex programs. We have come to make this easier, and with VTPro's intuitive options and some handling in a 3D program, anyone could do something similar.

And while it is VTPro that allows us to "bring together" all the necessary pieces to create such a game, we found it useful to explain here or document the complete process we followed for the development of this project. We won't focus on the VTPro part, as we haven't actually used new features or anything that hasn't been explained before, but on the rest of the applications that facilitated the creation of the material that brings the game to life, such as the story itself, the 3D models and their animations, backgrounds and images, voiceovers, and videos.

As you know, in recent months, a lot of applications have appeared that, thanks to the development of AI, greatly facilitate the creation of all this material. So here we will reveal the ones we have used. We believe it can be helpful to anyone who wants to tackle a similar project.

Story:

We started with the basis of everything, the "story". From the beginning, we were clear that we wanted to develop a game in which the journey through the scenario was the main objective, as it is one of the potentials of VR, being able to explore and observe with great realism the details of a space. For this reason, the dynamics of being a detective who has to analyze the scene in search of clues was directly our first idea. This led us to the masterful references of the genre such as Agatha Christie or the Sherlock Holmes novels. And as the aesthetic of the game, we thought it was very appropriate to give it that classic film noir aesthetic, set in the 1920s.

From here, we used our first application to help us in the process, the most obvious one, ChatGPT. We asked it to invent possible stories for us with the references of the writers we had in mind, where the main plot was that of a crime that had occurred, and where a detective could reconstruct the story based on clues found in the scene. As a starting point, it was very useful to give us ideas and to start narrowing down the story a bit, even providing suggestions for possible clues we could use. Although when it came to specifying the details, characters, situations, and especially the dialogues that the detective would say, we had to do it almost exclusively manually to give it the nuances and exact tone we wanted. But in general, as an assistant, it was very useful and greatly facilitated the creation process of this initial phase.

3D Models:

The next phase was to prepare the 3D models for the scenarios, characters, and objects. Creating the models ourselves from scratch would have involved excessive time that we did not have, so we went directly to look for them in 3D markets like Sketchfab or CGTrader. Many of them had CC Attribution licenses, so they can be downloaded and used for free (of course with their corresponding attribution). And then some more specific ones like the Station or certain characters had to be purchased. 

3D Adjustments:

We used the free software Blender to combine the elements, touch up the necessary parts, reduce polygons (see below), bake shadows, etc. So within the station model, we inserted the characters, the "clue" objects that are shown when clicking on the hotspots, the animation of the arriving train, and other elements. And the same for the rest of the scenarios (the interior of the train and the station room). 

Animations:

For the animation of the characters, also with the idea of ​​streamlining the process, we turned to Mixamo, a web application by Adobe, also free. With it, you can upload any model, and very quickly and easily, it will create the "rig" or "bones" to be able to animate it. It also has a wide catalog of pre-defined animations, which you can assign to your model with just one click. Then you can download it and import it into your scenario already with the animation created.

Images:

All the images in the game, from the initial loading screen to the portraits of the characters, objects, or frames of the final video, were created using image generation AIs, mostly with Midjourney, which is our favorite. Although with some images that required the inclusion of text, we had better results with DALL-E 3 through Bing.

Dialogues or Voiceovers:

Finally, since the main purpose of the game was to enjoy it in VR with Quest-type glasses, we decided that the entire development of the story should be conveyed through audio narrations, as the use of visual texts could be discouraged in this environment, where reading can be uncomfortable. To achieve this, we used the protagonist's voice-over, embodying his character, to gradually unveil the story through his thoughts and the clues we gather. To create these audio cues, we used ElevenLabs, another web application, where narration is generated based on a given text, allowing you to choose from a series of pre-trained voices or create your own.

Atmosphere and Sound Effects:

For greater immersion in the story, sound and music play a crucial role, so we knew it was an aspect that needed special attention. The main song, which already at the beginning evokes that old "film noir" touch, was purchased from a royalty-free bank. Meanwhile, the rest of the sound effects (train station, safe, telephone, etc.) were sourced from FreeSound.org.

Final Video:

The final video sequence, narrating the explanation of the story, was created using a Video Editor. Despite being a 180º video, it wasn't a complex edit. We simply created a square composition and placed the video inside it, in the center, occupying only a portion of the composition. This allowed us to achieve a 180º video with the image projected in the center and the rest in black, which in VR gives the effect of watching an old movie in a cinema. The images were also generated with Midjourney.

Assembly in VTPro:

As we mentioned at the beginning, building the tour in our software was relatively simple, and everything we did can be seen explained in the video tutorials we already have on our YouTube channel, especially the latest ones dedicated to 3D. Therefore, we won't elaborate on this part.

Basically, it involves importing the 3D models and making some lighting adjustments (although most elements are baked) and importing environmental panoramas. We also hid all the "clue objects" from the 3D model (such as the document or the photo of the suitcases, the large matchbox, etc.). With an action at the start of the model, we also played the character animations in a loop.

Finally, we added hotspots with actions to show the "clues" and play the detective's audio. And in some cases, these hotspots hide and show others. For example, we made it so that when you "pick up" an object, the "closed lock" hotspot in a room is hidden and shows the "open lock" version that already has the action to access it. And although it wasn't our case, for more complex projects, where for example more than one thing has to be done for something to be unlocked, you can always resort to our e-learning option, where by assigning scores to the elements, you can then add the action "trigger upon target" so that after achieving X points, something new happens. This, along with the use of various "Scores," enables countless possibilities and dynamics that can be applied to this type of project. And remember that not only hotspots can have actions, but also the objects of the 3D model, such as the "portraits" of the suspects, which, when clicked, activate and tell their story.

As you can see, in this version, we have also added a new fog effect for 3D models. This greatly enhances the feeling of atmosphere and realism in our experiences. For our demo, it was a crucial detail to achieve that feeling of cold, mystery, and intrigue.

Considerations:

We must take into account that VR devices like Quest or Pico, in terms of processor and memory resources, are somewhat similar to what could be a medium/high-end mobile phone. And we have already talked previously about the processing demand involved in rendering 3D models with real-time calculations of lights, reflections, textures, animations, etc… Therefore, to ensure adequate performance and a smooth experience, without lags or choppy movements, we strongly recommend optimizing the 3D models and your VTPro project, considering all the advice we provided in this previous post.

Additionally, there are a couple of details that also need to be considered and will greatly help in the smoothness of 3D visualization. It involves deactivating, in all objects of the model where it is not necessary, the "Use hand cursor" option and "collisions".

In our case (this will vary depending on each project), it was also useful to separate the action into different "scenarios"; the station, the interior of the train, and the room are different models and "media". Thus, the computational weight is distributed, and when visualized, only the individual content of each one needs to be processed. The other alternative would have been a single model of the station with the interior of the train and the room included, which would have the advantage of not having to wait for the load when moving from one model to another, but on the other hand, it would not be as fluid, as it would have all the information of the three scenarios in memory, simultaneously.

Also, keep in mind that the version of the tour that will be played on VR devices will be the same as for mobiles, so in the settings of the models, you can also check the option "Reduce Textures for Mobile". As well as any other option within the program that is exclusive to mobiles, will also affect VR.

Similarly, the skin presented on these devices will be the mobile one, so you can differentiate which elements will be shown on desktop or on mobile + VR devices. Therefore, do not forget to add your "enter VR mode" button in this mobile version of the skin. Although remember that once entered into this VR mode, the skin elements will not be displayed. However, on mobile devices, this VR button will not be displayed, it will be hidden automatically, to avoid the use of Cardboard, since without controllers, navigation through 3D models in this way would be very problematic.

Some conclusions:

The truth is that the experience of enjoying the game with Quest or Pico VR has nothing to do with visualizing it on a computer or mobile screen. The feeling of immersion and enjoyment is infinitely greater, so we encourage you to try it.

Regarding the limitations of the demo being for VR, well, yes, they are there. You may still miss having a skin screen where you can see collected objects, time, life, etc. Or the use of subtitles, and some other details. These are features that will come with time. But overall, we believe that with this demo, it is shown that easily and with few resources, stories can be told and complete interactive experiences can be created in new ways. Get your creativity going, and we look forward to seeing your proposals soon.

Simplify and Optimize the Publication of your Virtual Tours for VR

In response to the growing popularity of virtual reality devices, 3DVista has implemented significant improvements in tour publishing options. We introduce a new mode that allows you to publish your tours for specific VR devices such as Quest, Pico, and HTC, directly viewable in the 3DVista VR apps.

The key innovation lies in the ability to select the desired VR device during publishing. This generates a folder with files optimized exclusively for viewing on that particular device. In comparison to the old way, where tours were published for all devices (VR, desktop, mobile), this new feature significantly reduces the number of generated files, eliminating the ones that would not be used.

Each device now benefits from its own optimization process for both images and videos. This customization ensures a drastic reduction in the space required to store tours, sometimes even up to ten times less. Furthermore, we leverage the latest features of devices like the Quest 3 to their fullest potential.

After publishing your tour, you only need to copy the generated folder to your device and play it using our free 3DVista VR app, available on the app stores for Quest, Pico, and HTC. This allows you to view your tours without the need for an internet connection.

For more details on our VR applications, visit our posts with detailed information about our applications for Quest, Pico, and HTC.

3DVista VR App for Meta Quest

3DVista VR App for Pico

3DVista VR App for HTC

Boost Collaboration with 3DVista Notes in Your Virtual Tours

Are you ready to take your virtual tours to the next level of interaction and collaboration? 3DVista introduces "Notes," an optional service designed to enhance your projects like never before. In this post, we'll explain what 3DVista Notes is and the significant advantages it brings to your immersive experiences.

What is 3DVista Notes?

3DVista Notes is an innovative platform that allows specific users to create notes and messages within their virtual tours. It's a valuable tool for collaborative projects where centralizing and documenting all interactions, ideas, and processes is essential. With 3DVista Notes, your audience can add context and depth to their tour experience by providing comments, making suggestions, and discussing elements directly within the virtual environment.

Advantages of Using 3DVista Notes in Your Virtual Tours:

1. Instant Communication: Go beyond mere virtual tour viewing. Allow your audience to actively participate by adding their notes and comments directly to the tour.
2. Structured Conversations: Each note is structured as a conversation thread. This chat-like interface streamlines communication and keeps the conversation organized and easy to follow.
3. Permission Control: You have the power to categorize users and their notes. Users can only create, access, and comment on notes that match their specific categories, ensuring a clean and well-organized tour experience.
4. Notifications: Users receive automatic email notifications when a new note is created or updated within their assigned categories. This ensures timely responses and participation.
5. Multimedia Integration: Enrich your notes and comments with multimedia, including photos, videos, audio, links, and documents. This allows users to provide detailed explanations or specify the issues they are addressing.
6. Problem Resolution: Users who create notes can mark them as resolved, clearly indicating that the issue has been addressed and resolved. Resolved notes remain visible but are no longer open to further comments.

Effortless Team Management

With 3DVista Notes, you can easily manage your teams. Register users you want to contribute to your tours and assign them specific categories. This way, each categorized note will only be visible to and notify designated users, simplifying collaboration and ensuring clarity.

Use Cases

3DVista Notes is versatile and can be applied in numerous scenarios:

1. Remote Teamwork: Use virtual tours to collaboratively comment on design details or discuss improvements with your team before implementing changes.
2. Customer Feedback: Provide clients with a live link to your tour, allowing them to provide real-time feedback and avoiding endless email exchanges.
3. Construction Management: Use virtual tours as digital twins to efficiently manage construction projects. Incorporate notes in the visual context for a clear and efficient process.
4. E-Learning: Enhance your e-learning experiences by allowing students to actively engage with the content. Students can ask questions, provide feedback, and expand information directly within the virtual tour.

Ready to Dive into 3DVista Notes? Discover the full potential of this tool and learn to use it effectively with our comprehensive tutorial. Follow each step as we explore all aspects, from user management to note creation and administration in your tours. Start optimizing your projects, facilitating collaboration, and providing a richer and more interactive experience for your audience.

Experience the future of collaboration in immersive experiences with 3DVista Notes. The next level of interactivity and engagement is just a click away.

Visit our 3DVista Notes page for more information.

The Importance of Optimizing 3D Models

Ensuring the proper display of your tours with 3D models so they are fluid, smooth, and fast is of paramount importance. For this reason, optimizing your 3D models has become an essential component, especially in projects where the complexity and detail of the elements are particularly high. In situations like these, where scenes are intricate and detailed, it's crucial to ensure they display quickly and efficiently. Otherwise, we run the risk of compromising the user's experience due to performance issues, resulting in slow or choppy visualizations that don't do justice to the effort invested.

The key lies in striking the perfect balance: enhancing visual quality without overloading the device's resources. If you wonder how to achieve this, our latest video tutorial is the resource you need.

In this tutorial, we explain both the process of optimizing and reducing the polygons of your models in 3D modeling software to make them lighter, as well as the adjustments that can be made in VT Pro to boost performance (Settings, Environment, Lights, Animations, Effects, and Skin tricks).

We provide you with the tools to ensure your 3D models display correctly, minimizing issues for your most complex scenes. Don't miss out and elevate the quality and performance of your 3D creations!

We announce a new feature that will increase the creative possibilities of your Virtual Tours.

3DVista presents the new way of visualizing 3D models

As you already know, for some time now, 3D models can be displayed in VTPro in two different ways: Orbital mode, recommended for unique objects where the camera revolves around them, always keeping them in the center of the scene (for characters, objects, etc.); and Fly-Over mode, where we can move freely through the model and explore it as if we were flying over it, especially useful for large-scale models such as terrains, landscapes, exteriors of houses, or urbanizations…

Now we have added a third mode that completes the previous list and covers the third most common type in 3D visualization, First Person view. This view places you from a character's point of view, and you see what they would see, as if the camera were their eyes. This way, you can advance and navigate through a space as if you were really doing it in reality, moving freely through the scene and looking to the sides as if you were turning your head. The height of the view will always be the distance defined to the ground, so if you advance up a ramp or stairs, you will also go up with them. This is the most realistic way to make the viewer feel that they are truly immersed in this virtual space.

The possibilities of this new way of displaying 3D are enormous. Imagine being able to tour a house from the inside and move completely freely through it, reaching any corner and looking in any direction. Or visualize a part of the city that you have generated in 3D through photogrammetry and move through it as if you were really there. It also opens up the possibility for first-person games, in which you advance and interact with the scene, being able to activate elements that show or hide parts of the model, turn lights on or off, execute animations or score by clicking on certain objects.

In this tutorial we explain step by step how to manage and configure the new mode:

As always when introducing a new feature in our software, we have prepared various examples to illustrate the incredible capabilities of the First-Person View in VT Pro. We have developed two virtual tours using this new function, so that you can explore and experience firsthand the power of this tool and help you imagine how you might incorporate it into your own projects.

The examples we present to you have been created in very different contexts and sectors to demonstrate the versatility of the new feature. Although we have specifically selected these scenarios for the examples, the functionality of the First-Person View can be applied to a multitude of other industries and uses. Therefore, regardless of your field of work, you can be sure that this new function will bring additional value to your creations.

We would like to emphasize that these tours are mere initial and simple examples. Their purpose is to show the basic functionality and encourage you to start using this new feature. But we are sure that you, as the creative professionals that you are, can expand and exceed expectations, creating even more powerful, intricate, and creative experiences with this new tool.

For now, here are some simple examples of virtual tours we have prepared with this new feature. But don't worry, we are working on more examples and will share them with you in the future to continue providing you with inspiration and ideas for your own projects. We hope you are as excited as we are and encourage you to explore and try out this incredible new function!

Navigation

To facilitate the navigation experience through the model, we have added various movement options, so that each user can use the one that is most comfortable for them.

We have kept the camera rotation to look to one side or another as in navigation through panoramas, as that standard that users are already accustomed to. Simply by clicking and moving the mouse while holding it down, you can "look" to the sides.

Among the options for "moving around", we have the following:

• Joystick Mode: If you click on any point and hold it for a few seconds, a virtual joystick will appear on the screen. Without releasing it, moving the mouse will allow you to move forward, backward, left, or right (or any of the diagonals). The more exaggerated the mouse movement, the faster you will advance. This mode is also the only one available for touch devices (tablets and mobiles), as it is the only one that does not require a mouse or keyboard.

• Keyboard: Those more familiar with video games will find this their most natural way to move. With the keys A, W, S, D, you can move to the left, forward, backward, and to the right. The Q key is for going down and the E key is for going up. With the arrow keys, you can rotate the camera to look in any direction (without moving).

You can also control the speed of these movements and rotations:

Slow mode: Press and hold the Shift key + any of the previous movement or rotation keys.
Fast mode: Press twice and hold any of the movement or rotation keys.

Interactive areas will be recognizable because the white central point will change to orange when you are over one of them, as a Rollover effect. To press and activate, use the space bar.

• Double-click to move: As a method of fast movement in large spaces. Click twice in a row on any surface and you will automatically move to that point.

Settings

This camera mode, given its peculiarities, has some specific options that should be explained:

We are very excited to introduce the biggest upgrade since the launch of VT PRO over a decade ago:

3DVista Virtual Tours now support 3D models!

3DVista has always been at the forefront of the industry, bringing some unique features that we like to believe have made the difference between our software and others. Today's announcement brings yet another, if not the biggest, milestone to the table. Finally, we can announce that our tours are now in 3D. With the latest VT PRO upgrade you will be able to add and use 3D models in GLB and GLTF format and offer your visitors an experience as realistic as it gets.

We have worked very hard to create a 3D model editor as complete and powerful as possible. It was never just about importing an object and turning it around, but about being able to create an interactive space inside and out – integrating it with the options you already know from VT PRO. Therefore, every feature that VT PRO already had and that you know from your 360º media can now also be applied to 3d models: Interactive hotspots on the model, actions that control the model from skin elements, seamless integration with the rest of the media to allow "walking" through the space etc.

But that's not all… We also added an editor that lets you control the environment of the model (whether 360º or fixed background), the lights and shadows it casts, animations, textures and much more.

We prepared the following two demos that encompass a large part of the new possibilities that are offered, in order to give you an idea of the options you now have. Together with their respective video tutorials you'll be able to see step by step how these tours have been built. Click on them to open. (We will be adding new demos and more specific tutorials progressively).

Unlocking the Power of Digital Twins

The use of 3D models in virtual tours is often referred to as "digital twin" technology. By incorporating detailed, accurate 3D models of real-world objects and environments into virtual tours, users are able to experience a level of realism and interactivity that was previously impossible. This has wide-ranging benefits across a variety of industries, from architecture and real estate to manufacturing and education.

One of the key advantages of using 3D models in virtual tours is the ability to showcase properties, products, or other assets in a much more realistic and compelling way. For example, architects can create virtual tours of their designs that allow clients to explore and experience the buildings as if they were already built. Or create alternative variants so that the user can customize to suit them. Real estate agents can create virtual tours that give prospective buyers an accurate sense of the layout, features, and finishes of a home before they ever set foot inside. And manufacturers can create virtual tours that allow customers to explore their products and see all the details, such as materials and internal components, before making a purchase.

Another advantage of 3D models in virtual tours is the ability to create interactive and immersive experiences that engage users on a deeper level. For example, educators can create virtual tours of scientific or historical sites that allow students to explore, learn, and interact with the environment in a way that traditional textbooks or lectures cannot match. And researchers can create virtual tours of archaeological sites that allow them to study and analyze the data in a more intuitive and efficient way.

Obtaining 3D models for virtual tours is becoming easier and more accessible than ever before. The GLB format, which stands for GL Transmission Format, is a file format for 3D models that is based on the glTF standard and is supported by a wide range of 3D modeling and animation software. With the growing popularity of 3D scanning, photogrammetry and CAD (computer-aided design) tools, it is now possible to create detailed, accurate 3D models of real-world objects and environments with relative ease.

3DVista is excited to introduce this powerful new feature to our VT Pro software, and we believe it has the potential to revolutionise the way we use virtual tours in a variety of industries. Whether you're an architect, real estate agent, educator, marketing/advertising agency, multimedia artist, industry managers, for researchers, etc., the ability to seamlessly incorporate 3D models into your virtual experiences will help you to showcase your work, communicate your ideas, and engage your audience in new and exciting ways.

If you're interested in exploring the full capabilities of this feature, don’t hesitate to contact us, we’ll gladly assist you in creating the perfect virtual tour for you.

As you already know, you have the option to upload your tours directly to your device and use the 3DVista VR app to view them offline. You can see how to use this method here.

However, there is a workaround that will allow you to view your tours offline on Meta Quest, using Progressive Web Apps (PWA). This method is very simple and consists of downloading the tour directly from the web version.

In this video tutorial you can see the necessary steps. Although we use an Oculus Go in the example, the process would be the same for your Quest devices.

In summary, these are the steps you should follow:

In VTPro, publish your tour with the following settings:

• Enable the option "Download message for Offline Playing".
• Disable the "Video to Adaptive" option (recommended)

On Quest devices:

• Open your tour in the Meta Quest Web Browser.
• Make sure you use https:// rather than http:// in the tour's URL.
• Don't forget to bookmark the page before downloading it. Always run it from the bookmark list.
• Make sure you access the tour with the full URL of the html file (/index.htm or /index.html) and do not rename the html file after publishing it to VT Pro.
• Download the tour using the top option on the tour.

That's it, your tour will have been saved and you can watch it offline whenever you want. Access the tour from your bookmarks and once it's loaded, click on the VR button to enter that mode and enjoy the experience in a totally immersive way. 

As you already know, you have the option to upload your tours directly to your device and use the 3DVista VR app to view them offline. You can see how to use this method here.

However, there is a workaround that will allow you to view your tours offline on Pico devices, using Progressive Web Apps (PWA). This method is very simple and consists of downloading the tour directly from the web version.

In this video tutorial you can see the necessary steps. Although we use an Oculus Go in the example, the process would be the same for your Pico devices.

In summary, these are the steps you should follow:

In VTPro, publish your tour with the following settings:

• Enable the option "Download message for Offline Playing".
• Disable the "Video to Adaptive" option (recommended)

On Pico devices:

• Open your tour in the Pico Web Browser.
• Make sure you use https:// rather than http:// in the tour's URL.
• Don't forget to bookmark the page before downloading it. Always run it from the bookmark list.
• Make sure you access the tour with the full URL of the html file (/index.htm or /index.html) and do not rename the html file after publishing it to VT Pro.
• Download the tour using the top option on the tour.

That's it, your tour will have been saved and you can watch it offline whenever you want. Access the tour from your bookmarks and once it's loaded, click on the VR button to enter that mode and enjoy the experience in a totally immersive way. 

Lease, rent and sell Homes – easier and faster

There's probably no need to dive deep into the explanation of the value that virtual staging has in construction and real estate. The numbers speak for themselves and considering that the purchase of a home is an emotional act, you'll want to fill it with life. After all, an empty house is not a home. A fully immersive virtually staged 360º tour lets you show it in not only its best light, but also in multiple designs that the visitor can choose from.  It allows prospective buyers to walk through the place, change the design and make it "theirs".  Have them explore the space on their own terms on your website or digitally take them by the hand using 3DVista's free Live Guided Tours (in-tour video calls with the realtor). 

Visual Configurators – online and in 360º

Beyond just offering the houses on your website for a walk-through, let potential buyers play around with the different design options that you're offering. Present your virtual tours on your website as an interactive configurator, with which they can play around, save and share their drafts with others and even place a direct order with you.

How to do it

OPTION 1: The old-school way
Creating a tour with virtual staging capabilities for the visitor has been possible in 3DVista VT PRO for a while now. In a nutshell, you'd import different panoramas of the same space with different design options and load one or the other depending on the selection that your audience made in real-time when browsing your tour. Have a look at this tutorial to see what we mean:

Option 2: Projected Image Hotspot – the new Virtual Staging
The more options you offer for one room, the more complicated the combinations of panoramas you had to render and import could get. So to make things easier (and tours less "heavy"), we just launched a completely new hotspot type just for Virtual Staging: The Projected Image Hotspot. This hotspot allows you to import small parts (e.g. the kitchen counter) of your equirectangular panorama and overlay and integrate it smoothly into the spherically displayed 360º panorama or room in VT PRO. You no longer need to import a separate panorama for each combination. Instead, you work with ONE base panorama (or room) and overlay as many elements and designs as you want. Depending on the selection of your audience, one or the other design will be displayed, allowing the user to switch through different floors, wall colors or furniture with a simple click. Have a look:

Want to try it?

Not a 3DVista user yet? Try our free 30-day trial (no credit card required) of the desktop software VT PRO to design and create your own virtual tours. You don't have any 360º content to work with yet? No problem. Just download our demo tours and use them in the software to play around with.

 The most important additions are:

• New Hotspot Editor in 360º
  The new hotspot editor lets you work in the actual spherical environment, which means you place your hotspots in the exact same view as your audience will see the tour later. You can work in "Free Mode" directly inside your panorama (or 360º video) or use the new "Transform Settings" Panel on the right hand side to define specific size and position values for absolute precision. The new "3-Axis Mode" lets you twist, turn and deform your hotspot icons so that they perfectly blend into the perspective of your scenery. You can rotate Text, Video and Image hotspots in 3D so that they look like they are actually physically in the room.
  Video hotspots can now be previewed in real time inside the hotspot editor without the need to go through the "preview tour" or even publishing process. Even Chroma/Blending Settings of Video hotspots can be previewed in real time inside the workshop. Unlike before, Video Hotspots can now also be used inside Adaptive HDR and Live Panoramas.
  The polygon hotspot has been optimized with the option to subsequently add or delete points (use the Ctrl/Command key) or to invert the selection.

• New Hotspot Type: Projected Image
  This is a new additional hotspot type for panoramas, which you can find and select on the top right (complementing the existing "Polygon", "Text", "Image" and "Video" hotspot types. The "Projected Image" hotspot, as the name suggests, will be projected onto the panorama with absolute precision, maintaining deformations and perspectives inside the panorama. This makes it the perfect hotspot type for virtual staging.

• New Hotspot Type Nr. 2: Webframe
  The new Webframe Hotspot is for both Panoramas and 360º Videos. In Free Mode you can perfectly integrate it into the frame of a TV and make it play any external content, such as a YouTube video or show a website.

• Revolution of the "Text" Hotspot
  

  Text Hotspots can now also be used in 360º videos. Whether in 360º videos or in panoramas, you can move and tilt Text Hotspots in any axis making them blend into the scene seamlessly. You can define border color, opacity, radius and size or add background color and background opacity.

• Share this exact configuration (Virtual Staging)
  Imagine you create a virtual staging tour where your audience can mix and match materials, floors, wall colors and furniture. Wouldn't it be nice if they could share their exact configuration with others? Well, they can. You as the tour creator merely need to add a social sharing button to your tour with the option to "show current visible hotspots" and their URL will contain all the necessary information to open that exact selection.

• Now on iOS, too: Play several video and audio files simultaneously
  This was previously limited by iOS, which meant you could only play one video or audio file at a time. We found a way to match the Android, Mac and Windows experience letting your audience experience the tour on iOS in all its glory as well.

The full change log (bear with us…)

• New Hotspot Spherical Editor for Panoramas and 360 Video.
• New Hotspot Type for Panoramas: Projected Image hotspot. The hotspot will be projected with total precision over the panoramas complementing the existing Floating and Sticker modes. Ideal for Virtual Staging. Only for hotspots with equirectangular projection.
• New Webframe Hotspot for Panoramas and 360 Video.
• New "Transform Settings" panel in the Hotspot tab.
• Added 3D rotation to Text/Image/Video hotspots.
• Added Video Hotspot preview in the spherical view clicking on the hotspot in real time.
• Added "3 Axis Mode" and "Free Mode" to the "Transform Settings" panel.
• Added Ctrl/Command key to Polygon hotspots to add a new point.
• Added "Invert" option in the Polygon hotspot for Panoramas.
• Added vertical/horizontal align in Text Hotspots.
• Added Border Color, Opacity, Radius and Size in Text Hotspots.
• Added Background Color and Background Opacity in Text hotspots.
• Added Video Hotspot to Adaptive HDR/Live Panoramas.
• Added "Transparent" option in the Webframe Hotspot. There is a limitation if the option is enabled: The webframe will be visible on top of any other elements, including lens flare, snow or popup images.
• Added Hotspot rotation by time in 360 Videos.
• Added Text Hotspot to 360 Video.
• Added horizontal/vertical align and scale mode for Image Hotspots in 360 Video.
• Added "Volume" option in Video and 360 Video.
• Added new "Take Screenshot" action.
• Added "Include Notch Area in Mobile" option in the Skin Editor.
• Added new "Optimize for Quest 2 / Pico Neo 3" and "Optimize for old VR devices" options in the Publish popup. Old projects will require clearing the project cache to publish with the new optimizations.
• Added "Enable on Mobile" option when the "Visible on RollOver" option is enabled in hotspots.
• Added "show-overlays-name=NAMES" (or "son=NAME" as shortcut) and "hide-overlays-name=NAMES" (or "hon=NAMES" as shortcut) url parameters to show/hide hotspots according to their names.
• Added a Locked icon in the hotspot list to lock the hotspot in the editor.
• Added a zoom effect on roll over the Thumbnails left list in the editor. Also, you can use the current selected panorama in the Hotspots tab to move the view clicking in the thumbnail.
• Added Ukranian language (thanks to Nicholas).
• Applied Chroma/Blending settings in the Video Hotspot in real time.
• Highly improved the publication speed for Polygon hotspots.
• Supported PSB file format for Panoramas.
• Allowed to play several videos and audios simultaneously on iOS.
• Allowed to select floor plans in the "Show/Hide for Media" action in components.
• Removed the "Perspective" Polygon hotspot.
• Fixed a problem where the hotspots could be moved using the zoom in the editor several times.

Want to try it?

This is an update available to all 3DVista users. Even if you don't currently have a valid Upgrade plan (what's that?) you will be able to use the new Hotspot Editor with all functions that you previously also had access to. If you want to take full advantage of newly implemented functions in that new Hotspot editor, we do recommend you get the 1-Year Upgrade if you don't currently have it. This will give you permanent access to these new additions and any other new features and functions that will be added throughout those 12 months of your Upgrade plan (you'll keep those even if you don't get a new Upgrade Plan after expiry).

Not a 3DVista user yet? Try our free 30-day trial (no credit card required) of the desktop software VT PRO to design and create your own virtual tours. You don't have any 360º content to work with yet? No problem. Just download our demo tours and use them in the software to play around with.