Documentation

Contents

About Virtofy

Welcome

Welcome to the Virtofy documentation. The documentation is not yet complete, as Virtofy is in BETA .

Platforms

Virtofy is available for Windows, Meta VR and Android devices. Mac and iOS support is on our roadmap .

System Requirements

Android

Android 6.0 ‘Marshmallow’ (API level 23), 250 MB free disk space.

Meta

Quest

Windows

DirectX 11 compatible graphics card, 4GB RAM, 1 GB free disk space, Windows 7 SP1 64 bit.

Versions

The desktop (Windows) version of Virtofy includes the In-App-Editor . Mobile devices (Android, Meta) do not have the In-App-Editor . The app is called Virtofy-Viewer on these devices.

A detailed change log of the latest changes can be seen here .

How to send Feedback

How to send feedback

Feedback is very important for us. Please see the video above to check how to send feedback to us within the Virtofy app.

Besides that, you can send us your feedback via email, or use the Forum for further discussions.

Virtofy BETA

Sign up

As Virtofy is currently in BETA you have to sign up for the BETA program first. We will check your request and will inform you once we have you signed up.

Download

Once you are signed up for the BETA program, you can use the BETA download page to get the version you want.

Installation

For Windows, you will get a standard installation program. For Android and Meta devices, we will use the corresponding store backend to make it as easy and secure as possible for you.

Licensing

We are working on this documentation part. Please stay tuned.

Account

Registration

Registration
Registration

To create a new account, click “Register” on the footer menu on the login screen and, type in your email address and a password with at least 8 characters, one upper and one lower case letter and a number. Click register. After that, you will receive an email with further instructions.

NOTE: If you are using the Virtofy BETA version, you must register your account with the same email address you have signed up for the Virtofy BETA.


Login

Login
Login

Enter your email address and password you have used in your registration process and click on the login button to login into your account.

Keep me logged in

This will remember your last login data.

SECURITY: You have to enter your password again if you have not logged in for more then 30 days.


Reset password

Reset password
Reset password

To reset your password if you are not logged in, switch to the “Reset password” panel on the login screen and type in your email address. Click the “Reset password” button to receive an email with further instructions.


Delete account

Delete
Delete

You can delete your account without the need to be logged in. Click on the main menu button (see: 1 in the delete screenshot) and then on “Delete account”. Fill in your email address and password and click on delete to receive an account deletion confirmation email with further instructions.

CAUTION: You will lose all tour data and all paid plan subscriptions if you confirm your account deletion in the received confirmation email. This cannot be undone!


Account settings

Settings
Settings

You can open the account settings if you are logged in. Click on the account settings button (the button uses your profile image) to open the account settings panel (see: 1 in the settings screenshot).

Profile

Profile
Profile

Name, Image and Avatar management

Please check the profile setup section below for more details.

Address book

You can add email addresses (Virtofy account) to your address book. When using the tour sharing or meeting funcs you can select an email address (Virtofy account) to use. The email address of a Virtofy account is automatically added to your address book when this user attends a hosted meeting by you.

Ignore list

All Virtofy accounts on this list will be ignored for shared or invited (meeting) tours. You will no longer see any tour of these users.

Plans

Plans
Plans

Show all plan and subscription infos of your account. Click here to compare all plan features and prices.

Settings

Reset Password

Send email instructions for resetting the account password.

Delete account

Fill in your email address and password and click on delete to receive an account deletion confirmation email with further instructions.

CAUTION: You will lose all tour data and all paid plan subscriptions if you confirm your account deletion in the received confirmation email. This cannot be undone!

Privacy

Privacy
Privacy

Privacy and GDPR compliance is a very important topic. You can setup your privacy settings on this screen. Please check our GDPR page for more details.

Profile setup

Profile
Profile

The profile must be setup when logging in for the first time. You can change the propfile all the time in the account settings area.

Name

The name will be shared with other users during a meeting or when sharing a tour.

Profile image

The profile image will be displayed as a small icon for your profile. It will always be used as a 2D representation next to your user name. The initials of your user name will be used if you do not select a custom profile image.

NOTE: Please stick to our terms and conditions when uploading a profile image.

Avatar setup

Avatar
Avatar

Whenever you attend a Virtofy meeting, you are represented by an avatar. You can pick one of our predefined avatars, select your own creation or you can use the online configurator (powered by Ready Player Me ).

Use predefined avatars

Click on the browse button to select from some predefined avatars (see: 1 in avatar screenshot).

Custom avatar

Custom
Custom

Click on the custom button to show the custom selection dialog (see: 2 in avatar screenshot).

NOTE: Please stick to our terms & conditions when uploading an avatar model.

When using a custom avatar, the following specifications do apply:

  • Fileformat: .glb
  • Maximum triangle count: Mobile devices: 15k, Desktop: 25k
  • Blendshape names for lips: mouthOpen and mouthSmile
  • Blendshape names for eyes: eyesClosed
  • Maximum texture size: 1024
  • Maximum unique materials: 3
  • Draco Compression is not supported
  • Only half body configurations for ready player me avatars are supported
  • Scale: Normal proportions should be used based on a 1 meter basis

NOTE: If an avatar is too complex for a certain device, the default avatar will be used instead.

Use default avatars

Click on the reset button to use the default avatar (see: 3 in avatar screenshot).

Tour

Tour
Tour

A tour includes all the scene data like 3D models, audio, image, or video data. You can experience the tour alone, or with other users in a meeting. A tour can be created with the in-app editor or with the virtofy for unity plugin.

Complexity

Wireframe
Wireframe (~150k triangles)

Mobile devices like tablets, smartphones and standalone VR headsets do not have as much computing power as a desktop computer. Due to that, you have to keep an eye on the maximum triangle (polygon) count in the scene (see: wireframe screenshot). If the triangle count is above a certain threshold for a given hardware platform, Virtofy will show a warning that the experience for this tour may be uncomfortable.

DeviceMax. recommended triangles
Quest1200k
Quest2700k
Quest Pro900k
Pico Neo 4700k
Android / iOS700k
Desktop (Windows, Mac)5mio

Tour management

We are working on this documentation part. Please stay tuned.

Tour details

We are working on this documentation part. Please stay tuned.

Tour start

Import

Export

Ownership transfer

Preview

Tour interactions

We are working on this documentation part. Please stay tuned.

360-screenshot

Input

We are working on this documentation part. Please stay tuned.

VR

Windows Shortcuts

KeyFunction
F1Open virtofy FAQ in browser
F2Create screenshot
F5 (Tour management)Reload tour list
F5 (In-App Editor)Toggle play mode
F5 + Shift (In-App Editor)Toggle play mode, and uses current camera position
CTRL + F4Quit
F11Toggle fullscreen
ESCClose active dialog or screen, stop VR mode

Tour navigation

Movement modes

Camera mode
Camera mode

Movement with none VR devices are based on two different camera modes: Orbital Camera and Free Camera. The mode can be switched in the main toolbar (see: 1 in the camera mode screenshot). When using a VR device, no camera mode is available, as the user’s head movement is used.


Movement on desktop

Movement with mouse and keyboard
InputOrbit CameraFree Camera
Hold left, right/ mouse button and move the mouseRotates around theRotate camera
Left mouse button double click-Move camera to click position
Context menu, move to button-Move camera to context menu position
Hold middle mouse button and moveDrag the cameraDrag the camera
Mouse wheel up, downZoom in, outMove the camera forward, backward
WASD, Cursor keys-Move the camera
Dot, Comma, Page-Up, Page-Down-Rotate the camera

Movement with touch

InputOrbit CameraFree Camera
Single touch moveRotates around theRotate camera
Double touch tab-Move camera to click position
Context menu, move to button-Move camera to context menu position
Hold middle mouse button and moveDrag the cameraDrag the camera
Pinch/Zoom touch gestureZoom in, outMove the camera forward, backward

Movement in VR

Virtofy is designed to use just one VR controller.

InputCamera
Move headMove camera
Hold controller analog stick forward and release (hold 90° up will abort action)Teleport camera to position
Context menu, teleport to buttonTeleport camera to context menu position
Tick controller analog stick left or rightRotate camera by 25°
Tick controller analog stick backStep back
Hold controller trigger button and move controllerMove camera

Context menu

Context menu
Context menu

The context menu has various options based on the current situation.

How to open the context menu

  • Desktop: Right mouse click
  • Touch: Hold single touch for 2 seconds at the same point
  • VR: Holder trigger button while pointing the laser on a surface

Move or teleport here

If the context menu is opened on a position where the user can be moved to, then this option will be available (see: 1 in the context menu).

Place point of interest (POI) here

If the context menu is opened on a position where a POI can be placed, then this option will be available (see: 2 in the context menu). The POI can be placed in an offline tour, or if the user is the presenter in a meeting.

Remove point of interest (POI)

This option is only available if a POI was placed before. It will remove the POI.

Close

Closes the context menu.


Point of view (POV)

POV selection

The user can teleport directly to the given POV via the list panel or by clicking on the POV markers in the scene. You can enable soft blending for the POV change in the app settings.

Meeting

Meeting
Meeting

Meetings are an essential part of virtofy as it they are used to present tours to other users. Each user is represented as an avatar in the tour, and as profile image on the UI. You can toggle the 3D avatar visibility in the app settings.


Setup meeting

Setup meeting
Setup meeting

You can setup a meeting when starting a tour and click on the “setup meeting” button (see: 1 in setup meeting screenshot) or by clicking “+” (see: 2 in setup meeting screenshot) and then on the “setup meeting” button in the manage tour screen.

NOTE: The tour owner can decide if other users are allowed to setup a meeting for the given tour.

NOTE: If a user joins a meeting, the user will download all needed tour data to the device. Once the user has left the meeting, the downloaded tour data will be deleted from the device.

There are two different meeting types: virtofy users and invite code.

Private meeting

Private meeting setup
Private meeting setup

Only users with a Virtofy account can join private meetings. Click on “start meeting” to start the meeting. Please check the trouble shooting section about ports if you encounter any problems.

Started private meeting
Started private meeting

Once the meeting is started you can type in an email address and click on add (see: 1 in Started private meeting) to invite a new user, or you use the address book (see: 2 in Started private meeting). Removing an invited user can be done with the remove button (see: 3 in Started private meeting). Virtofy will send an invitation email including all necessary information to all invited users when clicking on “OK”. You can change the invitation list all the time.

Stop meeting

Stops the meeting.

Private meeting invite
Private meeting invite

The manage tour screen will show the private meeting in the meeting tab. The user can join by clicking on the tour image and then clicking on the “join” button.

Public meeting

Public meeting setup
Public meeting setup

When starting a public meeting, you will get a code, password and link (which combines code and password). You can share this with everyone you want. Anybody who has the public meeting credentials can request the meeting host to join the public meeting. It is up to the meeting host to decide if the user is allowed to join, or not.

Copy to clipboard

The copy to clipboard buttons will copy the corresponding text to the clipboard (see: 1 in public meeting setup screenshot).

Open in mail app

This will open your default mail program with a join link in it, which can be forwarded to other users (see: 2 in public meeting setup screenshot).

The join link can be shared with other users. When clicking the link on mobile devices, the Virtofy app will be opened and the meeting will be joined if the Virtofy app is installed. Otherwise, a website is opened with all needed details on how to download and install the app. On Windows systems the link always opens a website with all the needed information to join the meeting or to download the Virtofy app.

Known Issue: Public meeting links do not work on meta quest compatible VR headsets, as the integrated web browser does not support opening an app via a link.

Auto allow users to join

If enabled, you will not get a request dialog if a user wants to join the public meeting.

Stop meeting

Stops the meeting.

Join public meeting

Public meeting join
Public meeting join

A Virtofy user can enter the public meeting credentials via the main menu after clicking on “+” and then clicking on “join meeting”.

When using the “join meeting” button on the login screen, the user can join the public meeting as a “guest”.


User info

User information
User information

You can get detailed information of a certain user by clicking on the profile image on the UI, or on the name panel of the avatar.

Promote as presenter

Promotes the user as presenter.

Revoke as presenter

Revokes the user to be the presenter.

Force to leave

This will force the user to leave this meeting.

In-App Editor

Introduction

In-App Editor
In-App Editor

With the in-app editor you can create your own tours in the desktop version of Virtofy. The in-app editor is created with an easy to use workflow in mind. Usability goes over complexity. Highly complex tours can be created with the Virtofy for Unity plugin.

2D Image compression

2D files will be compressed in a way that they will use less diskspace and memory, which will result in much faster loading times.

INFO: Each device type (Windows and Android) needs a compatible version of the compressed 2D file.

3D Model loading

When selecting a 3D model from your harddrive, Virtofy will load and process the file locally and convert it into an internal format which cannot be read by any standard sofware but Virtofy.

3D Model compression (LOD)

INFO: The slide show above shows different triangle counts per LOD: 160k, 80k, 30k.

To improve the app performance the in-app editor can create a so-called level of detail (LOD) version of certain parts of the given 3D model file. This can improve the performance of the app drastically, especially on android and VR devices.

INFO: LOD generation is currently experimental and can take some time to generate. You can toggle it on in the editor settings.

3D Model optimization

To improve the app performance even further, the in-app editor will optimize the 3D models in a way that certain materials are combined together.

Locking

A tour will be locked for other users if it is loaded in the in-app editor.

Saving

When clicking on save, all missing files which need to be compressed will be created. After that, the changed tour data will be uploaded to the cloud.


View types

View types
View types

A tour has one of three different view types. The view type can be changed at any time in the in-app editor.

FeatureFixed sizeMiniature sizeReal life size
POVsFixedCustomizableCustomizable
3D model scaleFixedCustomizableCustomizable
User scaleFixedFlexible per POV on tableFlexible per POV
CreationIn-App EditorIn-App EditorIn-App Editor and Virtofy for Unity plugin
Best used forRapid prototyping, Engineering, MachineryArchitecture, Landscaping, Very large scenesAutomotive, Game design, Interior design

Fixed Size

Fixed size

If you want to quickly import and preview your 3D model without worrying about sizes and measures, choose this view type.

Note: This view type is not recommendable when the correct size of the 3D model is important.

Miniature size

Miniature size

In the miniature size view, your 3D model will be displayed on a table and you can let users enter your 3D model via teleportation. You can add POVs on certain positions if you want.

Note: Keep an eye on the size of the 3D model, to have a correct scale ratio.

Real life Size

Real life size

Real size will take your 3D model without any special functions.

Presets

Presets

You can select from various view type presets which will change the surroundings in the scene and give another look to your tour. Custom always gives you complete freedom to configure your surroundings based on the provided in-app editor scene settings.


Tour creation

Creation
Creation

Click on the add button on the manage tour screen (see: 1 in the settings screenshot) and then on “Create tour”.

Wizard
Wizard

The wizard will guide you through the needed steps for the tour creation.


Scene setup

Settings
Settings

The available options depend on the selected view type and preset. Most options are available when using a custom preset.

View type

View type
View type

View type

Here you can selected the view type and preset.

Allow overview

This option is only available with the “Real Life Size” view type. If enabled, the user will get the “Place at overview” button in the main toolbar. This is useful if you want, that the user can see the selected 3D model from outside.

3D Model

3D Model
3D Model

File

Select a 3D model to import. Click here to see all supported file formats.

Scale factor

Scales the 3D model by the given factor. This is not possible when using the fixed size view type.

TIPP: Some 3D programs do export models with too large or too small dimensions. You can check the real world dimensions below the scale factor edit field. This can help you to find the right scale factor for your needs.

Rotation

Rotates the 3D model around the given axis.

Floating

Adjusts the height position of the 3D model.

Sky

Sky
Sky

The sky setup allows you to control the background of the scene.

Sky type

Select the sky type.

Color

Use just a single color to tint the sky.

Sky color

Tint color for the sky.

Cutom image

Custom image
Custom image

Use a custom 2D image (panorama or skycube) as sky background.

File

The 2D image file which should be used for the background. The 2D image must meet one of the following criteria to be displayed correctly. The width height ratio must be 2:1 (panorma), 4:1 (stereo-panorma) or 6:1 (cube).

X Rotation

Controls the rotation on the X axis.

Y Rotation

Controls the rotation on the Y axis.

Z Rotation

Controls the rotation on the Z axis.

Default sky

Default sky
Default sky

Default sky with sun.

Sky / ground color

Gives the top and ground color. The final colors in the 3D view are calculated based on the colors given here and the sun’s position (day and night cycle).

Sun size

Gives the sun size

Gradient

Use a color gradient as sky background.

Sky / ground color

Start (sky) and end (ground) color for the gradient.

Horizon color

Horizon color
Horizon color

Use 3 color values in a gradient style.

Sky / equator / ground color

Start (sky), middle (equator) and end (ground) color for the gradient.

Ambient

Ambient
Ambient

The ambient colors will be used to colorize the scene and have a direct influence on the shading of all surfaces.

Source

Determines the source of the ambient color values.

Color

Color
Color

The color ambient source is the simplest one. It just uses one color.

Ambient color

Use the single color for the ambient color calculation.

Gradient

Gradient
Gradient

The gradient ambient source uses three colors for calculating the ambient color.

Sky / equator / ground color

Top (sky), middle (equator) and bottom (ground) colors of the gradient.

Sky

Sky
Sky

The sky ambient source uses color values based on the sky setup.

Intensity

Sets the intensity of the sky ambient color values.

Sun

Sun
Sun

The sun is the primary light source in the scene. When using the default sky, the sun will be displayed in the sky.

Color

Sets the light color of the sun.

Intensity

Sets the intensity of the sun.

Rotation

Sets the horizontal rotation of the sun.

Heights

Sets the height position of the sun. You can simulate a day and night cycle when using the default sky.

Shadow

Shadow
Shadow

The shadow setup gives you full control over how the shadows will be displayed.

INFO: Shadows are disabled by default on mobile VR devices to achieve better performance. The user can disable all shadows in the app settings.

Strength

The strength of the shadow (0%=Invisible, 100%=Opaque).

Softness

Sets the softness of the border edges of the shadows (0%=Hard, 100%=Soft).

Ground

Ground
Ground

The ground is used like an large infinite plane.

Ground type

Set the ground type.

Custom image

Custom image
Custom image

The custom image ground type allows you to change the appearance of the ground completely.

Color

The ground will be tinted by this color.

Image

2D Image to be used for the ground.

Single / Tiled

The single mode will display the 2D image only once as ground. The tiled mode will repeat the 2D image several times.

Size (Single)

Sets the size of the single 2D image in the scene.

Rotation (Single)

Rotates the single 2D image in the scene.

Tiles per m2 (Tiled)

Set how many tiles should be displayed per m2.

Roughness

Sets the “roughness” of the ground material.

Metallic

Sets the “metalness” of the ground material.

Light spot

If enabled, the ground material will have a light spot.

Reflections

If enabled, the ground material will receive reflections.

Fading

If enabled, the ground material will fade out.

Fading distance (Tiled)

The ground material will fade out completely after this distance.

Default

Default
Default

Use the default ground.

No ground

No ground
No ground

Does not use any ground.

Audio

Audio
Audio

Set the audio track which will be played when starting the tour.

Background audio

The file which will be played. Click here to see all supported file formats.

Loop

If enabled, the audio track will be looped.

Settings

Settings
Settings

Special settings for the scene can be adjusted here.

Reset

Reset
Reset

This will reset all selected items to the initial values of the selected view type preset.


Points of view (POV)

Add

POV list and POV add
List and add

You can add a POV on the table when using the miniature size view type or at any position when using the real life size view type. Click right in the world to open a context menu which shows you the option to add a POV. The POV will be visible in the 3D view and in the POV list.

The created povs can later be used in the tour to navigate around quickly.

TIP: When adding a new POV the camera will auto focus the newly added POV. You can change that behaviour in the editor settings. CAUTION: Avoid floating POVs or POVs which do intersect with geometry as these can cause discomfort for users in VR. The POV settings area will show a warning in such cases.

Settings

POV settings
Settings

Change name

Change the name of the POV (see: 1 in the settings screenshot).

Change selected POV

When clicking on the left or right arrow (see: 9, 10 in the settings screenshot), the selected pov will be switched.

TIP: When switching to another POV the camera will auto focus on the new POV. You can change that behaviour in the editor settings.

Preview

The preview shows the view of the POV. Clicking on the preview image will give you a full screen preview of the current POV.

Set as start POV

If the tour is started the user will be placed at this POV (see: 2 in the settings screenshot). The preview image of this POV is used, if no custom preview image is selected in the tour settings.

Move POV to camera

Place the POV at the current camera position and uses the horizontal rotation (no up down) (see: 3 in the settings screenshot).

Place POV on ground

Place the POV on the ground below (see: 4 in the settings screenshot).

Move camera to POV

Focus the camera on the POV (see: 5 in the settings screenshot).

Duplicate POV

Duplicate the POV (see: 6 in the settings screenshot).

Delete POV

Delete the POV (see: 7 in the settings screenshot).

Angle

Change the horizontal angle of the POV.

TIP: You can enable a 3D gizmo rotation in the 3D View in the editor settings.

Scale

POV scale tiny and large
Tiny and large scale

The default POV scale is 1.75 meters which is based on average human size. The scale can be used to simulate a very tiny or large user size. Users using a VR headset will be scaled based on a factor (used size divided by 1.75 meters). You can reset the scale with the reset scale button (see: 8 in the settings screenshot).

Gizmo

Gizmo

The gizmo is a 3D axis object which will appear in the 3D view when selecting a POV. Grab one of the axis to move the POV in this direction. When dragging the large circle at the bottom, the POV can be dragged on the floor level in two axes. Use the sphere at the bottom to place the POV on the ground. If you enable rotation for the gizmo in the editor settings, you can also rotate the POV by rotating the circle around the POV.


Points of action (POA)

Add

POA list and POA add
List and add

You can add a POA on the table when using the miniature size view type, at any position when using the real life size view type or on a 3D model if you are using the fixed size view type. Click right in the world to open a context menu which shows you the option to add a POA. The POA will be visible in the 3D view and in the POA list.

To finish the adding process, you have to select a content type (Audio, Image, Material, Material set, Text, Video).

Settings

POA image settings
Settings

Change name

Change the name of the POA (see: 1 in the settings screenshot).

Place POA on ground

Place the POA on the ground below (see: 2 in the settings screenshot).

Move camera to POA

Focus the camera on the POA (see: 3 in the settings screenshot).

Duplicate POA

Duplicate the POA (see: 4 in the settings screenshot).

Delete POA

Delete the POA (see: 5 in the settings screenshot).

Add item

Add an item to the POA (see: 6 in the settings screenshot).

Delete item

Delete the selected POA item (see: 7 in the settings screenshot).

TIP: If a POA does not have any item, it will not be shown in the tour.

Gizmo

Gizmo

The gizmo is a 3D axis object which will appear in the 3D view when selecting a POA. Grab one of the axis to move the POA in this direction. When dragging the large block at the center, the POA can be dragged on the floor level in two axes. Use the sphere at the bottom to place the POA on the ground.


Materials

Variation properties
Variation properties

When importing 3D models, Virtofy will convert all materials to a GLTF 2.0 compatible format.

You can select a material by clicking on a surface in the 3D view or by clicking on an item in the material list (see: 2 in variation properties screenshot).

Names

Material names must be unique. If a material name in the source 3D model is not unique, it’s name will get a sequential number 0..999 added to the end.

If the source 3D model file does not have any material names in it, an automatic name will be generated: material 001..999.

The material name can be changed in the material inspector (see: 1 in variation properties screenshot).

TIP: Use short material names, to make reading easier.

Variations

Each material can have multiple variations which will be used to show different colors or surface structures. Duplicating or deleting a variation can be done with the buttons above the variation list. The material will use the properties in the selected variation. The last selected variation will become the default variation and is selected when starting the tour.

Name

Name of the variation.

Color

Set the main color for the material and tints the object with the given color.

Image

If the 3D model has UV mapping you can set an image for a material which is applied to such geometry.

Rendering

Material rendering
Material rendering

Render modes

Virtofy automatically determines if a material will be rendered opaque or transparent. Opaque rendering is used if the color alpha value is 100% and an image without alpha pixels is used (jpg or png with all pixels at 100% alpha). Otherwise, transparent rendering is used.

Double sided rendering

The double sided rendering feature of a material is automatically disabled if the following file formats are used: fbx, glb, gltf, dae. All other formats have this feature enabled as these file formats can have inverted geometry and this setting will help to display the 3D model in a correct way.

Double sided rendering will help to prevent “holes” in 3D models.

Lighting

If lighting is enabled, the material uses physical based rendering (PBR). Otherwise (unlit), only the image and color will be used without any shading.

Known issue: Due to technical limitations, shadow receiving is disabled for unlit materials which are using a transparent image.

Lightspot

If enabled, the material will be rendered with a light spot.

Reflections

If enabled, the material will be rendered with world reflections.

Workflow

Due to the diverse variety of 3D applications available today, there are two different workflows established regarding material composition. These are Metallic and Specular workflows.

Metallic workflow

This workflow uses the “metalness” setup for configuration.

Roughness:

Sets the roughness of the material.

Metallic:

Sets the metallic of the material.

Specular workflow

This workflow uses the “sepecularity” setup for configuration and has the most flexibility.

Specular color:

Set the specular color which will be added to the base color of the material.

Glossiness:

Sets the glossiness of the material.

Advanced

Advanced settings
Advanced settings

With advanced settings, you can bring the rendering details of a material to a very high level.

Important: Normal, occlusion and metallic images are loaded in linear color space. All other images are loaded in gamma space (sRGB). This is due to the GLTF 2.0 specification.

Emission image

Emits color at the given areas (0%=no emission, 100%=full emission).

Emission color

Emission color of the material will be multiplied with the emission image if set.

Metallic image

The metallic image definition is based on the GLTF 2.0 specification shown here. The red channel in the image contains the metallic-ness of the material and the green channel contains the roughness of the material. The blue and alpha channels are ignored.

CAUTION: Some programs (like unity) want to have the smoothness (roughness) value in the alpha channel of the image.

Normal image

Uses to fake structure of an object without using geometry via normal mapping (tangent space).

Occlusion

The red channel determines how to darken certain areas (0%=no occlusion, 100%=full occlusion).

Settings

Reset

This will reset all properties of the material to its initial value.


Material sets

Material sets
Material sets

A material set is a selection of variations for some materials. When selecting a material set, all materials will use the marked variations in the material set. If no variation for a material was selected, this material keep its previous variation. With this feature you can preconfigure certain material variation combinations and can switch these easily.

Default set

The default set is a material set which cannot be removed or changed directly. It contains all materials with all its default variations.

Add a material set

Add material set
Add material set

Use the plus button in the material set list to add a new material set.

Settings

Material set Settings
Material set Settings

When creating a new material set, no variations are selected. If a material has no selection variation, it will be displayed as a dark gray checkboard in the 3D view. A preview image with all selected variations will be created automatically when changing the variation selection.

Change name

Change the name of the material set (see: 1 in material set settings screenshot).

Duplicate

Duplicate the material set.

Delete

Delete the material set.

Select variations

Open the variation selection panel.

Clear variation selection

Clears all selected variations.

Variation selection

Variation selection
Variation selection

Clicking on the Do not set variation of any material will not set any variation for this material. It will be displayed as a dark checkboard in the 3D view. Click on another variation to use it in the current material set.


Tour settings

The tour settings are used to set all main properties of the tour.

General

Tour general settings
General settings

All visible meta data given here will be seen on the tour detail screen.

Preview image

The preview image will be used to show the tour on the manage tour overview screen. The start POV of the scene is used if no custom image is selected.

Title

The title of the tour.

Description

Description text of the tour. Will be shown on the tour detail screen.

Attachments

Tour attachment settings
Attachment settings

You can add attachments to a tour which can be downloaded by the users on the detail screen. The following file formats are allowed: .csv, .doc, .docx, .jpeg, .jpg, .json, .mov, .mp4, .ods, .odt, .pdf, .png, .txt, .xls, .xlsx, .xml, .zip,.

To delete an attachment, just click on the delete button next to the item.

Sharing

Tour sharing settings
Sharing settings

The tour sharing allows you to control which users are allowed to see your tour.

Sharing enabled:

If enabled, the sharing will be used, and all users mentioned in the sharing list, and all users which have used the current shar link can see the tour on their manage tour screen. All other settings, like the share link and notification, will be used based on their setup. If sharing is disabled, the tour will only be visible to the tour owner. This gives you a one click option to enable/disable the tour visibility for other users.

Sharing list:

You can add users to the list via the address book or by manually typing the email addresses into the list. If you want to paste multiple email addresses, the following separators for the emails are used: | ; , space new line.

Use the delete button to remove entries from the list.

There is a plan limit for the maximum read permissions you can use for your tour.

Tour sharing link settings
Share link settings

The share link is a link which you can send to other users. If clicked on that link, the user can see this tour on his manage tour screen. This gives great flexibility as you can easily send around the link for this tour.

If enabled, you will get a share link for this tour. The in-app editor must save the tour first when enabling this. The share link will be removed and all users which have this tour on their manage tour screen will be removed when disabling the link. When enabling the share link again, a new share link will be generated and the old share links will no longer work.

Actions

You can copy the share link or open your mail program when clicking on the toolbar buttons.

If the share link support is enabled for a tour, you can share the link information on the detail screen of the tour. Click on more, and then on share link. This shows a share link information dialog.

Known issue: Share links do not work on meta quest compatible VR headsets, as the integrated web browser does not support opening an app via a link.

Extended sharing settings

Tour extended sharing settings
Extended sharing settings

These settings give extra control over possible tour options for users who can see this tour.

Allow duplicate

If enabled, each user who can see the tour via a share link, or with the share list, is allowed to duplicate this tour. The user will be the owner of the duplicated tour. This can be useful if you want to share some tours which other users could change, like for education purposes.

Allow meeting

If enabled, each user who can see the tour via a share link, or with the share list, is allowed to start a meeting with this tour. This can be useful if you want your shared users to be able to present your tour to other clients and customers.

Notification on start

If enabled, you will get an email notification, if any shared users will start your shared tour. This user must have agreed on that in the GDPR settings.

Cloud

Tour cloud settings
Cloud settings

This shows an overview of the used and available space for the tour.

Tour preview

Preview
Preview

To preview the tour, just click on the play button (see: 1 in the preview screenshot) and the in-app editor will switch from the “editing”, to the “preview” mode. After pressing the “play” button, the button will be changed to a “stop” button and can be used to switch back to the “editing” mode. The “preview” mode simulates are normal tour where you can all regular stuff (expect meeting setup).

App settings

We are working on this documentation part. Please stay tuned.

Virtofy for Unity

We are working on this documentation part. Please stay tuned.

VR on Desktop PC

VR Desktop Setup:

  • Only one VR headset can be connected to the PC at a time.
  • Please close Steam/SteamVR on your PC before starting.
  • If you want to use Steam/SteamVR on your PC, please install it beforehand and create an appropriate account (Download: Steam )
  • Start the Meta Quest Link app on your PC (Download: Meta Quest Link ) and log in if necessary.
  • Connect your Meta Quest headset to your PC via cable or Wi-Fi.
  • Put on the Quest headset and confirm the “Quest Link Dialog” with “Activate”.
  • You will then see a gray plane on the headset and a gray toolbar on the lower half of the screen.
  • Launch Virtofy Viewer or Virtofy Studio on your PC (Download: Virtofy ).
  • In Virtofy on the PC, click on the VR headset icon in the upper right corner to start VR mode.
  • If a dialog box appears, select “Meta Quest Link”.
  • You should now see Virtofy on your PC screen and on the Meta Quest VR headset via Meta Quest Link.

VR desktop Steam VR:

With Meta VR-Headset

  • Start the Meta Quest Link app on your PC (Download: Meta Quest Link ) and log in if necessary.
  • Connect your Meta Quest headset to your PC via cable or Wi-Fi.
  • Put on the Quest headset and confirm the “Quest Link Dialog” with “Activate”.
  • You will then see a gray landscape on the headset and a gray toolbar on the lower half of the screen.
  • Launch Virtofy Viewer or Virtofy Studio on your PC (Download: Virtofy ).
  • In Virtofy on the PC, click on the “Main Menu” icon in the upper right corner, then on “App Settings”.
  • In the “VR” tab, set “Auto Select VR headset” to off.
  • In Virtofy on the PC, click on the VR headset icon in the upper right corner to start VR mode.
  • If a dialog box appears, select “Steam-VR”.
  • You should now see Virtofy on your PC screen and on the Meta Quest VR headset via Steam-VR.

With Pico4 VR-Headset:

  • Install and start the “Streaming Assistant” on your Pico VR headset.
  • Install and start the Pico “Streaming Assistant” on your PC (Download: Pico Streaming Assistant ). Important: Note that you may need to start the “Streaming Assistant” as an administrator.
  • Connect the Pico VR headset to your PC via cable or Wi-Fi.
  • Your PC should now be listed in the “Streaming Assistant” app on your Pico VR headset, press “Connect” there.
  • Steam and SteamVR will now start on your PC, log in there if necessary.
  • Once SteamVR is started, you should see a notification at the bottom of the screen indicating that the Pico VR headset has been detected.
  • Launch Virtofy Viewer or Virtofy Studio on your PC (Download: Virtofy ). Important: You must start Virtofy with the same user with which you started the “Streaming Assistant” on the PC (possibly as an administrator).
  • In Virtofy on the PC, click on the VR headset icon in the upper right corner to start VR mode.
  • If a dialog box appears, select “Meta Quest Link”.
  • You should now see Virtofy on your PC screen and on the Meta Quest VR headset.

With HTC Vive or compatible VR headsets:

  • Launch Virtofy Viewer or Virtofy Studio on your PC (Download: Virtofy ).
  • In Virtofy on the PC, click on the VR headset icon in the upper right corner to start VR mode.
  • If a dialog box appears, select “Steam-VR”.
  • You should now see Virtofy on your PC screen and on the Meta Quest VR headset.

Troubleshooting

We are working on this documentation part. Please stay tuned.

Additional software

Visual cpp redistributable install

BETA

The Google Play Store app does not refresh the Virtofy Viewer app

Under some cirumstances the Google Play Store app does not refresh it’s cache to show you the update for the Virtofy Viewer app. You can fix this as follows (on your android device): “go to Device Settings -> Apps -> All” and click on the “Google Play Store App” entry. Scroll down and click on “Clear Cache”. Open the “Google Play Store App” again via the link from the Virtofy download section, you should see now an “Update” button now.

Networking

Proxy server

Ports

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Questions about VR

What is Virtual Reality?

VR is a computer generated environment, that can be experienced with a VR headset. To interact, you can use gestures and VR motion controllers. Applications of virtual reality can include entertainment, business and educational purposes. Other types of VR style technology include augmented reality and mixed reality.

Are there age restrictions?

We do not recommend to use VR for children younger than 12 years. The minimum distance between their eyes (interpupillary distance) is not developed enough yet to have an effective 3D depth effect.

Are there any safety precautions?

In case you have any health problems, please first consult your doctor regarding the safety of using VR with your condition. In case you feel dizziness or motion sickness during your VR experience, we recommend taking a little break.

Questions about Virtofy

What is Virtofy?

Virtofy is a Virtual Presentation System - flexible and easy to use for everybody.

Who is Virtofy for?

Agencies, Designers, Planners, Industry Clients, Educational institutions. Possibly also for you. Try our free version to find out!

Can anyone use Virtofy?

Yes. We created Virtofy as easy to use as possible to make it accessible for a wide range of users. It offers a seamless user experience, whether you are on desktop, a mobile device or in VR.

What do I need for a Virtofy account? Is it free?

You can use the trial version . After the trial period the account will be switched to the free version.

Does Virtofy work offline?

Virtofy needs an active internet connection. However, when you create your Virtofy tours in Unity 3D, you can also work offline.

Who created virtofy?

Virtofy is made by eachTick GmbH which has its headquarter in the wonderful city of Cologne in Germany. The core development team knows each other for over +10 years and has a lot of experience in app, game and VR development.

Content Creation

Which programs and file formats can I use to create contents?

Use the software you like, as long as you follow our guidelines for supported file-formats . The Virtofy tours themselves are created either with the Virtofy In-App Editor for quick & direct solutions or with our Unity 3D plugin for complex virtual presentations.

Can you create a Virtofy tour for us?

Yes, just drop us a line, what you want and we will create a special offer for you.

How long should a Virtofy tour in VR be approximately?

One Virtofy tour in VR should not be longer than 10-15 minutes. This duration we found to work best for presenting in VR, especially with people who are not used to the technology.

Are there things which are not allowed in Virtofy?

Virtofy is not allowed to be used for contents like pornography, violence, weapons, drugs, promoting violence or hate towards an existing group, race, nation or religion.

For more information on this, please read the license agreement on the license page .

How to Support the Developers

Why we need test data

You want to make sure your data works well with Virtofy? Then you can help us by providing test data! This allows us to provide a smooth workflow and user experience for you.

What data and further information we need

If you want to provide test data to us, please follow these guidelines:

  • 3D file formats: FBX, DAE, GLTF, IFC (provide as many formats as possible)
  • Image file formats: jpg, png
  • Please tell us the name of the 3D program you used to create the data
  • If possible, send us example pictures of how the 3D file looks in your program, so that we can compare and check if the data is displayed correctly in Virtofy

How to send the data

Please send us the required information including a link where we can download your test data. You can provide the data via your preferred way of uploading (Google Drive, Wetransfer, Dropbox, FTP).

Questions & Feedback

Thank you for your help! Our team will get personally in touch with you regarding your data. If you have any questions, please contact us .

Security

Who can access my Virtofy tour?

Only people that you add to the sharing list of your Virtofy tour can start the tour on their own. If you want to invite other users into an active online tour, you can do that directly from within the tour. The users you invite don’t need to be on your sharing list to participate.

Can other users access my uploaded source files?

No, only you as tour owner can access your original source files. When you import them, they are converted for a secure and performant experience. Everybody who starts your tour will only see the converted data. They will never have acess to the original source files. Only if you forward the actual tour ownership to another account, they would be able to acess the source files of your tour.

How is my data protected?

Our cloud service is hosted in Germany and Finland.

Plans and Payment

What is the difference between the free Virtofy version and the paid versions?

Find out more in our detailed comparison of features and plans .

Do you offer special plans, e.g. for schools, universities etc?

If you are a bigger company, a university or similar and need more than 10 seats, just contact us and and tell us what your requirements are.

Can I mix several plans for one account?

No, this is not possible.