Help centre · Getting started

Navigating the model

Orbit, pan and zoom with a mouse, trackpad or touch, jump to standard views, fly, and walk through your building.

Stori3D moves the camera the way SketchUp does, so if you know SketchUp your hands already know what to do. You can orbit at any time, even halfway through drawing a wall, and the tool carries on afterwards.

Orbit, pan and zoom with a mouse

Orbit: drag with the middle button (the wheel). The point you press on stays put, marked by an orange dot.
Pan: hold Shift and drag with the middle button. Dragging with the right button pans too.
Zoom: turn the wheel. It zooms towards the point under the pointer, so you can get close to small details.
Centre the view: double-click the middle button on a point.

The left button always belongs to the active tool.

On a Mac with a one-button mouse, hold Ctrl and ⌘ and drag to orbit, and add Shift to pan.

Use a trackpad

Go to Settings → Navigation and set Device to Trackpad. A two-finger swipe then orbits, Shift with a swipe pans, and a pinch zooms. You can choose what the two-finger swipe does, and each move has its own invert and sensitivity settings.

Use the Orbit, Pan and Zoom tools

If you'd rather use the left button, pick a camera tool: O for Orbit, H for Pan and Z for Zoom, or find them in the View menu. With Zoom, drag up to zoom in and down to zoom out. Press Esc when you're done.

Fit the model on screen

Zoom extents (Shift+Z, or the button in the toolbar) fits the whole model and keeps the direction you're looking.
Zoom window (Shift+W): drag a rectangle round what you want to fill the view.
Zoom selection fits whatever you've selected.
Previous view and Next view in the View menu step back and forward through where the camera has been.

Jump to a standard view

View → Standard views has Top, Bottom, Front (south), Back (north), Left (west), Right (east) and Iso. The keys are Alt+1 to Alt+7 (Option on a Mac), in that order. The Top view (plan) button in the toolbar looks straight down.

To switch between perspective and orthographic (parallel) views, use the perspective button in the toolbar.

Use two-point perspective

In the View menu, under Camera, turn on Two-point perspective. The camera stays level, so verticals stay vertical. The same menu sets the Field of view, from 30° to 90° (50° by default).

Fly

Hold the right mouse button and use W A S D to move and Q and E to go down and up, looking around with the mouse. Shift is faster and Alt slower. The arrow keys fly too, when no tool is using them.

Walk through your building

Click Walk through (the walking-person button) in the toolbar, then click any floor to stand there. If the roof is in the way, cut it off with a section first.

Move the mouse to look around.
W A S D or the arrow keys walk, Shift runs, Space jumps and C crouches.
E opens or closes the door or window in front of you.
Walls, closed doors, glass and furniture block you, and you climb stairs.

Press Esc to pause, where you can change Walking speed, Eye height and Field of view, then Resume or Exit walk. Walking never changes your model. Walking needs a keyboard, so it isn't offered on touch-only devices.

Phones and tablets

On a touch screen, navigation works as in SketchUp for iPad:

One finger orbits, even while a tool is active.
Two fingers pan, and pinching zooms.
A quick pinch inwards zooms extents.
A two-finger tap undoes and a three-finger tap redoes.
A long press opens the context menu.

A pen, such as an Apple Pencil, works the tools directly while your fingers move the camera. On a phone, the bar along the bottom opens Projects, Scene, Library, Properties and More. Tap the measurements box to bring up a number pad.

For tours, VR and AR, see Tours, VR and AR.

Still stuck? Contact us, or ask in the app: Help → Contact support.