Category: “How-To”
Add a Logo to a Tour
Learn to use the Master Node to apply the same patch to all tour nodes.
Add a Polygon Hotspot
Polygon hotspots require you to draw a shape as opposed to creating a single point of interactivity.
Add a Video Pop-up
A video hotspot in conjunction with the Skin Editor can be used to pop up videos from a URL, Vimeo or YouTube and an external file.
Add an Information Pop-up Box
This process adds an *Info* type point hotspot that will pop up information text with a title and description. An icon for the text box can also be added. The hotspot and the info icon in the skin are connected via a hotspot template and a Skin-ID.
Add PDF Pop-up
Use a Point Hotspot to open a PDF file inside the project.
Adding a Logo to the Context Menu
Learn how to use the HTML image tag to add a custom logo to the context menu.
Adding Levels
If a tour includes multiple levels of a building, you can publish all levels to Google Street View and Google will link them with an elevator control.
Adding Point Hotspots
Point Hotspots are points of interactivity of varying types in a VR tour and are added directly to the panorama in the Viewer.
Adding Transitions
Use common transitions like cross dissolve and dip to color to transition between panoramas in a tour.
Adding User Data
Adding User Data is a crucial step in the workflow, especially for organization. Information added here, like Title, Description, and Copyright can be used in the skin and the HTML template.
Animated Hotspots
Learn how to create an animated point hotspot in the Skin Editor using a skin variable with a Timer.
Animating a Single Panorama
Learn how to create a basic animation from a single panorama.
Animating a Tour
Learn how to create an animated tour.
Before and After Tours Using Multiple View States
Learn how to create a Pano2VR project that can switch between night and day scenes or before and after scenes or even the changing seasons.
Building a Panoramic Tour
Learn the basic workflow for building a tour in Pano2VR.
Building a Tour with a Ricoh Theta
Learn how to use a number of features that make building a virtual tour with the Ricoh Theta 360 quite straight forward.
Clips, Sequences, and Keyframes
Clips, Sequences, and Keyframes are all the elements that we use to create animations.
Collection of Components Tutorials
Use the Skin Editor to create and design interactive overlays.
Connecting Polygon Hotspots to the Skin
Polygon Hotspots don’t connect directly to the skin, like point hotspots with the hotspot template. But, they can be connected using the Hotspot Proxy ID. Connecting to the skin will let you do much more with the polygon hotspots, like changing the polygon’s color when the mouse rolls over it, style the text, pop up images, and more. Here, we’ll explain how to toggle the color of multiple polygon hotspots when a mouse enters it.
Connecting to a Skin
When outputting the project as a Web Output (rather than a video format), you can have an animation to control skin elements using additional tracks.
Converting Images
After you have brought your images into Pano2VR, you can choose to convert them into a different format for faster loading with tiled TIFFs for gigapixel images and large projects, or to convert to a different image type, or even to convert the image to cube faces.
Create a 360º Video Tour
360 video tours can be created by adding videos to the Tour Browser and linking them together with point hotspots or polygon hotspots.
Create Multiple States with Patches and 3D Distorted Hotspot Images
Learn how to create multiple states with a Mouse Over effect. We do this by converting an image patch into a point hotspot.
Create Skins for Configurations
Using the thumbnail menu component as an example, Hopki explains how you can show and hide the tooltips of the menu using skin configuration.
Create Tooltips
Tooltips are the bit of text that appears when a mouse enters an element or area that uses them. They are widely used for node type hotspots and show the title of the next node or as information pop-up texts. They can also be used to simply show information.
Creating a Desktop Application
Here’s a tip that helps tremendously with these situations. It utilizes a JavaScript platform, called NW.js and just using a bit of code, you can turn your project into a stand-alone player that will work on all system platforms. Don’t worry, it’s painless.
Creating a Droplet
A droplet is a small application that can be used to batch convert your panoramic images using the same settings without creating new projects for each image.
Creating a Support Package
The Support Package is available for you to collect all the project files our support team would need to help you. Learn how to create a pared-down version of your large project as a support package.
Creating Components
Components are predefined skin elements that can be saved to the Components Toolbox and then reused in skins and shared.
Creating Skins
Use the Skin Editor to create and design interactive overlays for your virtual tours.
Custom Hotspot Images
Each hotspot can have its own image. The custom hotspot image can be added in the skin to affect all hotspots using hotspot templates. Or you can add a custom image to individual hotspots.
Direct Node Access
Direct node access (DNA) allows you to link directly to a node by using it’s internal node ID.
Drag and Drop Tricks
Learn all time-saving tricks in Pano2VR by dragging and dropping.
Drupal Plugin
We provide a package format to make it easy for you to embed your panoramas on your CMS site or blog. Below are the instructions for Drupal.
Edit the Master Node
The master node allows you to add the same information to all nodes.
Editing Keyframes
Keyframes are used to control or animate the difference between two values on a timeline. In the Animation Editor, you can add keyframe values to Pan, Tilt, Field of View, Projections and Variables. There are 2 ways of creating keyframes to choose from: Keyframes and Magic Keyframes.
Embedded Video
Learn how to embed videos into panoramas which allows for a seamless integration of live-action video in a still panorama.
Exporting for VR
Pano2VR projects can be viewed in a head mounted display or VR headset through WebXR, Cardboard, or VRTourviewer.
Garden Gnome Package Template
Edit this Garden Gnome Package HTML template to create a custom GGPKG output or select for Droplet use.
Generate an Alternative Sound File
Alternative audio files can be converted from within the Sound Mode's properties.
Generate an Alternative Video File
An alternative video file can be converted from within the Video Mode's properties.
Generating Alternative Files
Not all browsers will playback all media files. Therefore, we've added a file converter to the sounds and videos modes.
Getting Started with Pano2VR
Get the most out of Pano2VR by going over the documents in this section which introduce you to Pano2VR's workflow.
Google Street View Basic Workflow
To upload a tour to Google Street View from Pano2VR, open the Google Street View Panel and connect your Google account. You'll then have access to all your images and tours. Here's the basic workflow for uploading a small tour to Google Street View.
Hide Elements When Player is Active
Learn to use a logic block to hide elements when the player is active (when interacting with the panorama or skin). You use a timer that has a logic block by default.
Installing Pano2VR
Pano2VR can be installed on Windows and macOS.
Introduction to Using Variables
Variables are powerful tools that help simplify automation within a skin.
Joomla Plugin
We provide a package format to make it easy for you to embed your panoramas on your CMS site or blog. Below are the instructions for Joomla.
Link to a Website
Point Hotspots can be used to direct a user to an external URL (any file or webpage that exists outside of the project). The most basic of these is to link to a webpage/website.
Linking Polygon Hotspots to Nodes
Learn how to use Polygon Hotspots to link nodes.
Linking to Websites
Polygon hotspots can be used to direct a user to an external URL (any file or webpage that exists outside of the project). The most basic of these is to link to a webpage/website.
Logic Blocks
When building a skin, sometimes you need a little more control over how elements react to user input or other events. Logic Blocks will, for example, allow you to target a specific element to scale to a specific size depending on the player's width, creating a responsive skin.
Mapping Keys to the Skin
You can map keyboard keys to actions in the Skin Editor. This allows a user to use either the mouse or the keyboard to control and interact with the panorama or tour.
Maps
Learn how to add maps and floor plans to tours.
Pano2VR Basic Workflow
Learn the basic tour workflow for Pano2VR.
Pano2VR Tutorials
Below is a list of numerous video tutorials intended to help you get the most out of Pano2VR.
Pinning Images
Learn how to pin images to the panorama with correct distortion.
Replace the Nadir with a Mirrorball
If you want to quickly replace a tripod, you can use a mirrorball at the nadir to hide it.
Scale an Element Based on Player Width
You can use logic blocks to create a responsive skin (where the skin elements scale to the player's width). This will require a logic block with multiple expressions.
Setting Up a Google Maps API Key
In order to use Google Maps in the Tour Map, or to add Place IDs for Street View, or to add a Google Map in the skin, you will need a Google Maps API key. Google requires this key for anyone wishing to use/embed their Maps JavaScript API (Google Maps).
Skin Actions Examples
Here you'll find a few examples of common actions. You can assign actions to any element in the skin editor.
The Color Tool
The Color Tool, found in the Skin Editor, lets you quickly change the colors of a skin or a selection of elements.
Tips
Pano2VR tips and tricks.
Tracking Hotspots
Animate Point Hotspots to track objects in a video panorama.
Using Action Filters
Action filters let you define conditions for the execution of actions assigned to an element.
Using Auto Tags in the Skin
Auto Tags are added to each input panorama automatically. Learn how to address these tags in the skin.
Using CMS Plugins
The Garden Gnome Package (GGPKG) is a package that can be used for content management systems and lets you easily embed your projects into your website.
Using the Integrated Web Server
The integrated web server default settings are set to be used when viewing the output within an HTML page. It was included to allow local viewing of the web output (something most browsers do not allow for security reasons).
WordPress Plugin
We provide a package format (GGPKG) to make it easy for you to embed your panoramas on your CMS site or blog. Below are the instructions for WordPress.
Working with 360º Video
Pano2VR has supported 360º video since 2007 but since then it's gotten much easier to work with. Sometimes your clients ask for a bit more than just a few still panorama images. You can integrate the videos in a tour or create a full 360º video tour.
Working with Large Images and Projects
Pano2VR can handle very large tours and very large images (gigapixels) very well. There are just a few tweaks you will need to do to make the process easier.