You can navigate in Orbit Mode and First Person Mode.
- Orbit Mode (default): rotate around a fixed camera point
- First Person: walk through space and look around
Clicking Settings in the bottom-right corner of the Sketchfab viewer shows the available Navigation options for the model. They depend on the 3D Settings.
For more details on switching between them, see Interface and Options. For VR mode, see Virtual Reality.
Orbit Mode
- Move camera: 1 finger drag or Left Mouse Button
- Pan: 2-finger drag or Right Mouse Button or SHIFT+ Left Mouse Button
- Zoom on object: Double-tap or Double-click on object
- Zoom out: Double-tap or Double-click on background
- Zoom: Pinch in/out or Mousewheel or CTRL + Left Mouse Button
Double-clicking the background will re-center the model and set the camera pivot point to the middle of its bounding box.
Double-clicking anywhere on the model sets the camera pivot point to that spot. It also works for individual Annotation views.
For Pro (and above) members, you can adjust and reset the pivot for a model by activating Camera Limits and moving the viewer cursor where you want the pivot to be. When your new pivot is set, click Save View in the top-left corner of the viewer.
First Person
- Move: ↑,←,↓,→ (or W,A,S,D)
- Look around: 1-finger drag or Left Mouse Button
- Adjust speed: Mousewheel
Rendering Settings
- Default: 1
- Shadeless: 2
- MatCap: 3
- Wireframe: 5
The available options depend on how the model was saved by the author. For example, if a model is saved in Shadeless mode, Lit and MatCap will not be available. This improves viewer load times because it does not need to download unnecessary components (e.g. tangent information used for shading).
Lighting
- Rotate all lighting: 3-finger drag (on mobile) or ALT + Left Mouse Button
- Rotate environment only: ALT + SHIFT + Left Mouse Button
- Rotate real-time lights only: ALT + CONTROL + Left Mouse Button
Lights attached to the camera will not rotate.
See Lighting.
Annotations
- Previous: J or PageUp
- Next: K or PageDown
See Annotations.
Animations
- Previous frame: B or CTRL+B or SHIFT+B
- Next frame: N or CTRL+N or SHIFT+N
- Go to time/frame : ENTER
See Animation.
Other input hardware
Gamepads are not currently supported.
Leap Motion is not currently supported.
Comments
46 comments
Hi, I'm using the cardboard viewer for Andriod and trying to walk around the model. I've a game pad in 'keyboard' mode so it types WASD when pressing the D-pad, but the model doesn't move. How do I navigate through the model in cardboard mode?
Thanks,
Andrew
@fulbyUK - Hi Andrew. Cardboard mode works best for orbiting a model with head-tracking. Switching to First Person mode should make WASD navigation work, but I don't think you'll be able to look around without a mouse.
Hi James, thanks for the reply. The orbit mode tracks well but I've a model of a house I want to walk through. I've just tried a bluetooth mouse+keyboard and the mouse pans the view when using the url without embed=cardboard but wasd still didn't work. I checked the same url on my PC and wasd works there. I'm not sure what the problem is, will try again later to see if it improves.
Hmm ok. Cardboard mode is going to be a bit tricky for navigating inside a model. First-Person mode needs some improvements in general, too. We'll improve these things in the future!
Please can I log my interest in being able to move around whilst wearing a cardboard viewer! I have a bluetooth Moga controller so can map the movement keys. Please let me know if this is something you are working on at the moment, thanks
@jamespbutler1979 - your interest has been logged, thanks for the feedback!
Definitely!!! I'm so disappointed this isn't already possible. I've just come across Google cardboard recently and am desperate to find a viewer of rendered models where you can view and move around the model. ( I'm a lighting designer - this would be a super cool way to sell a lighting concept to a client ... ). Shame there seems to have been no update on this since July? ... Please consider adding this ability to Iphone browser ... (!). Thanks.
@t1m_hanson - Thanks for the feedback. It's definitely on our roadmap!
Can I use my SpacePilot Pro to rotate in Sketchfab?
@acsvalves - Basic rotation, pan, and zoom should work, but not the more advanced 3D navigation features of the SpacePilot.
Nothing works so far. No rotation, pan, or zoom.
I just tested with a SpaceNavigator on OS X 10.9.5: basic inputs worked, but it was too sensitive and a bit hard to navigate - maybe that can be fixed in mouse settings. I'm afraid I don't have a full SpacePilot to test.
@James: Can use the SpacePilot Pro a little now. Trying to adjust the controls.
Great, if you find some good control settings, I would love to see them.
As others mentioned the most interesting thing for some of us is using the model in VR on the Google Goggles. So any improvements there would be very helpful. I have found that I can attach a mouse to my phone using the a converter on mini usb port. So that does help some but not enough so far.
Is it possible to disable elements? I.e. restrict interactions to ONLY Y rotation?
@nhamer1
You can disable UI elements (like the info bar and controls) with a Business account: https://help.sketchfab.com/hc/en-us/articles/203509907-Share-Models#embed-options
We don't have any features to restrict camera, rotation, etc. yet, but it's a common request that we hope to implement in the future. I'll add your '+1'.
Ok great - thanks for the quick reply!
I would also be interested in limiting the rotation to one axis, as well as preventing the user from panning on the model.
Thanks @vkovec, I've added your +1 :)
Thank you :)
Hi James, quick one. On cardboard the majority of viewers have a magnetic button or a touchscreen level. Could we have an option so that if the user touches the screen it cycles through the annotations? This would solve a lot of these issues for me!
Thank you, and keep up the great work
Hi Alwaysstella - We're working hard on improving VR + Annotations. Stay tuned! :)
I feel like I've done it before but I can't figure out how to control the camera's default position/distance from the model. Can I please get a tip? :)
@jasonvongermeten - Just go to 3D Settings, put the model where you want it, and click Save View :)
Ah! thanks so much :D
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