Webview Help

[Taproot]

I've been using a lot of trial and error to figure out Webview.  It's time for some help!

 

How do you set the initial starting view for the export?  I've tried setting it via a saved view, camera, etc.  The webview start location defaults to the same spot ... off kilter and near the floor.  There must be a setting or logic that I'm missing - maybe both?

 

I have about 375,000 faces in the model.  In the browser, it does OK, but my ios device reloads the link after a short time citing an error.  Is there a functional limit to the size of a file that a mobile device can handle?

 

Navigating takes practice.  In the first person walkthrough mode - on the browser, it's really difficult to reorient yourself. The building we are modeling is round with curved hallways, so adjusting trajectory is common.  Changing orientation seems really sluggish with the mouse in between moving forward, back, etc.  What is the best way to change your orientation?  Navigating on ios in 360 mode doesn't appear to work.  Looking down at my feet, no amount of tapping on the walk icon, pause, or + or - results in a result other than ... lots of tapping.  I've tried this on both an iphone and ipad to no avail.  Orientation on the touchscreen is much easier, so if the walking feature were to work, I can see how this would likely be the preferred platform for navigation.

 

Walking through on an iphone in first person mode, the Safari bottom bar pops up and won't hide.  Since it overlaps the user controls, it makes navigating pretty near impossible.  Is there a way to disable it while viewing a webview file?

 

Is there a way to set up multiple saved views for the webview export?  It defaults to front, left, bottom, etc.  I'd love to be able to reset these to:  Lobby Perspective, Stair Perspective, etc... That would save user frustration in trying to get from point A to B to C, etc.  I suspect the answer is to export copies of the same model from different starting points ... assuming that you can of course consciously set the starting point.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Edited June 22, 2017 by Taproot

[Itchy]

I think the key to the starting point is a perspective view.

[Gytis]

11 hours ago, Taproot said:

How do you set the initial starting view for the export?  I've tried setting it via a saved view, camera, etc.  The webview start location defaults to the same spot ... off kilter and near the floor.  There must be a setting or logic that I'm missing - maybe both?

Unfortunately I have no answers for you.  I can only confirm that I experience the webview start location as wonky.  In one file it will work as expected, taking its cue from the perspective view I set up.  In another file, the start location would be slightly under the floor and "off-kilter."  I experimented with over a dozen different perspective views, including a distant birds-eye and its converse, and the start location would be nearly the same, and never usable for a client.

[Kevin McAllister]

I've had trouble with the start point too and mentioned it in another thread. Given the signatures here, I wonder if its a Mac only issue.

 

I've had many of your other issues too. There was some help from one of the engineers in another thread but it comes across as an unfinished feature like Marionette. No documentation and no real road map or answers available.

 

Kevin

 

[Taproot]

Thanks for the feedback (and confirmation).  It's taken some time, but I'm slowly unraveling how to make the features work.  Since there doesn't really appear to be any meaningful tutorials on this, I think I'll follow up with an "Idiot's Guide to Webview."

 

I finally figured out how to make the desired perspective export.  The bug is avoided by:

1. Make sure that you are in "Object Center" mode.  That reduces distortion when orbiting the model.
2. Deselect "Cropped" from the View Menu > Perspective > Cropped.  Note:  That if you have a "saved view", it will usually reset you to "cropped."  You will have to manually disable it prior to exporting. 

 

 

 

 

 

IDIOT'S GUIDE TO WEBVIEW

 

 

Starting with a Desktop Browser.

 

Opening screen:

 

 

Clicking on the house (home) icon will return you to this view.  It’s good if you get stuck or disoriented.

 

 

The “Default Views” Button will give you standard orthagonal views of the model (not that useful).  Better would be to have a series of user specified starting points so that one can quickly jump to different pre-selected perspective views.

The “First Person Setting” allows you to set the viewer’s eye level when walking through the model.  I like 5’-0” as a standard setting.

“About” just tells you how complex the model is and the remaining time the model will be hosted on the company server.  By hosting the files on your own server, this will become irrelevant.

 

 

Clicking on the “Eyeball” you’ll have the option of “Orbit” or “First Person.” 

Orbit allows you to fly over, around and through the model.  It’s the astral projection of the VR world … no boundaries.

• Once you have selected orbit, click and drag your mouse over the window.  Left to right rotates the model horizontally, up and down rotates it vertically (or any angle in between).
• Use the zoom wheel on your mouse to zoom in and out.

If you click on the Eyeball and then select “First Person,” you’ll be transported somewhere to begin your walkthrough.  If you actually want to pick where you start the walkthrough from:

• Click on the eyeball, hold and drag … you’ll see an icon of a person.  Where you drop the figure (release the mouse) is where your walkthrough will begin. 
• It took me a while to figure this out.  The figure must be placed on a surface for it to work.  So, make sure that you have a floor slab in your model.  Otherwise, the first person mode won't engage.
• Note, the beginning point is not the feet of the figure, but the cursor point at which you click.

Once you have entered the first person mode, navigation shifts primarily to the keyboard.

• Use the cursor keys to move forward, back, left or right.  You can also use “A,W,S,D” for this function if your keyboard lacks cursor keys.
• If you need to change your orientation, then click and drag with the mouse.  It is slow, so you’ll likely need to click and drag multiple times.
• In this mode, you will not be able to walk through solid objects.  That is why primary access doors are left open in 3D.  You will be able to go up stairs, and down them again.

 

The “360” feature does not work on the desktop.  This is a motion based viewer designed for mobile devices.

 

Navigating with a Mobile Browser.

 

(My system is mac based, so I’ve tried this on an iPad and an iPhone)

 

The mobile version looks promising, but it isn't ready for use.

It can only handle simple models.  My current project is too large to display.

I have a lot more patience than I expect my clients to have and many of the features simply don’t work.

 

For simple models, the navigation is more intuitive than the desktop.

• Orbiting works well with standard finger drags for rotation and pinching for zoom.
• The walkthrough mode appears to be broken … finger drags work for panning around, but the directional buttons don’t work.
• The 360 mode appears to be highly intuitive as tilting and turning the screen changes your view of the model in real time.  However, looking at your feet to engage the walking feature doesn’t engage.  “+,-, Walk and Pause” don’t activate.  Therefore, while you can look around, you can't actually go anywhere.
• The view window often sizes itself so that the button controls are cropped off the screen and unavailable.  
• On the iPhone, the bottom bar will pop up in Safari (bookmarks, sharing, etc) and won’t go away.

 

There are enough interface issues where I’ve finally given up trying to make the software run on a mobile device.

 

If the VW staff has comments (or solutions) to any of the above - please chime in.

 

p.s. the "Vectorworks" branding on the Webview window is tacky.  Published output to my website or a client's website isn't about marketing the software.  It should be about creating a polished and professional experience. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 23, 2017 by Taproot

[Gytis]

Nice work, Taproot.

 

A parallel discussion in the General Forum.  Alan Woodwell points out that the Perspective crop can also be disabled in Document Preferences.

https://forum.vectorworks.net/index.php?/topic/50189-export-web-view-set-up/

[Taproot]

Thanks Gytis, 

 

I don't know how I missed that on my forum search ... but it's really useful to see others working through the same issues.