New here? Take a look at the Quick start guide.

You will learn how to:


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Put the data online


Depending on what type of data you have your workflow may differ. 


Whether you have a photoset to be processed, and you plan to process it in the cloud, all you need to do is publish the project on processing completion and you will be able to work with processing results online. 


If you have a locally processed project, you may upload it into the cloud via Metashape Pro and then publish it. Alternatively you may create an empty project in the cloud, export desired processing results as files in formats that are supported in the cloud and upload them into this project. Uploaded files will be automatically published and available for viewing and sharing online.  


The last workflow is intended for those who have some ready to use geospatial data - all you need to do is create an empty project with a proper name and upload those files into it. Uploaded files will be automatically published and available for viewing and sharing online.


All workflows mentioned above are described in detail in a Quick start guide article, so if you are not yet familiar with the basics we recommend you to read this article. 

Navigate in a 3D scene

Mouse control


When working on a PC or laptop, basic navigation in the 3D scene is available with the mouse.


  • Left click and drag to move move the camera;
  • Right click and drag or left click and drag when pressing CTRL key to rotate the camera;
  • Scroll wheel to zoom in or out.

Touch control


When working on touchscreen device, basic navigation in the 3D scene is available with touch actions :

  • Touch the screen with one finger and move fingertip without loosing the contact to move move the camera ;
  • Touch the screen with two fingers and move them in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction to rotate the camera;
  • Touch the screen with two fingers and move them apart to zoom in;
  • Touch the screen with two fingers and bring them closer together to zoom out.

Keyboard control


First person navigation may be helpful when inspecting a location digital tween or object's interior. The first-person navigation mode on the keyboard is available by default when viewing the project.


Key bindings are described below:


  • W - move forward
  • S - move backward
  • A - move left
  • D - move right
  • Q - move up
  • E - move down
  • Left SHIFT - accelerate
  • Arrow Up - look up
  • Arrow Down - look down
  • Arrow Left - look left
  • Arrow Right - look right

Control object visibility


Visibility of the object can be turned on and off by clicking the Eye button next to the object's name in the Workspace pane on the left.


Workspace objects visibility settings persist between sessions and are applied to how the project looks be default to the owner, users who have access via link and users who have access to embedded project.



Workspace objects visibility state is saved between the sessions. The state of the Workspace objects set by the project owner affects the way the project looks to those with whom the project has been shared with.


Control object limit box

In order to clip the Tiled Model or the Point Cloud with limit box:

  1. Select the object in the Workspace pane on the left
  2. Open the object properties pane on the right
  3. Click on the togglenext to the Limit box parameter in the Style block
  4. In a 3D scene click on the limit box face you need to adjust and drag to the desired position, parts of the object that are from the opposite side of the face will be clipped.


Change the view mode


Two view modes are available: 

  • Earth view mode - allowing to view both 3D data and 2D data along with global terrain and base map.
  • Model view mode - allowing to view 3D data.

To change the view mode click the Scene Settings button and select one of available view modes.


Selected view mode persists between sessions of working with the project and applied to how the project looks by default to the owner, users who have access via link and users who have access to embedded project.

 

Change the base map


To change the base map, click the Scene Settings button and select one of available base maps.


Selected base map persist between sessions of working with the project and applied to how the project looks be default to the owner, users who have access via link and users who have access to embedded project.  


Change scene coordinate system


To change the scene coordinate system left-click on the Scene Settings button in the top right corner of the window and select one of the coordinate systems that  is used in the project from the corresponding drop-down menu.


Selected scene coordinate system  persist between sessions of working with the project and affect how the coordinates are displayed in a bottom pane and in the properties pane of Point primitives to the owner, users who have access via link and users who have access to embedded projects.  

Change scene units system


To change the scene units system left-click on the Scene Settings button in the top right corner of the window and select one of units system that is used in the project from the corresponding drop-down menu.


Selected scene units persist between sessions of working with the project and affect how the coordinates are displayed in a bottom pane  and measurements are displayed in Point / Polyline / Polygon primitives to the owner, users who have access via link and users who have access to embedded projects.  


When changing the scene coordinate system the scene unit system is changed accordingly.

Change 3D data quality


To change the rendering quality of 3D data in 3D scene, click the Scene Settings button and select one of available quality modes.


3D scene quality setting allows you to select one of three available modes: best performance, balance between performance and quality. The setting affects the Tiled Models and Point Clouds.


Selected 3D quality setting is not persistent between sessions of working with the project, but instead is automatically adjusted to the device capabilities.



Change default point of view


To save the current point of view as a default point of view click the Scene Settings button and then click on the Save point of view button. 


Saved point of view persists between sessions of working with the project and applied to how the project looks by default to the owner, users who have access via link and users who have access to embedded project. 


When saving a new point of view as default a screenshot of a scene is automatically generated and used as a project preview.


Compare data

Currently Raster Maps, Point Clouds, Tiled Models and 3D Models are supported in compare mode while Digital Elevation Models and Vector Layers are not.


A Compare tool allows the user to visually compare data in one project or data between two projects using interactive clipping plane that splits the 3D scene onto two configurable workspaces where different data can be displayed. 


To activate the tool click on its icon in the top right corner of the window. Workspace pane on the left will be vertically separated in two parts corresponding to two parts on the screen. 


When the visibility of the object is turned on in both parts of the Workspace pane, it will be displayed in a 3D scene on both sides of the slider .


When the visibility of the object is turned on only in the top part of the Workspace pane, it will be displayed in a 3D scene only on the left of the slider.


When the visibility of the object is turned on only in the bottom part of the Workspace pane, it will be displayed in a 3D scene only on the right of the slider.


To move the slider click on it with the left mouse button and drag.


To change the project that is displayed on the right or on the left of the slider in Site, click on the drop down menu on the the left or on the right side of the page header respectively and select the survey date. 


To exit the compare mode click on the cross button in the top right corner of the header.


Measure & annotate your projects


For a detailed tutorial on how to measure & annotate your project please refer to "How to measure & annotate your projects" article.

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