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How to work with your imported 3D Model on Sphere XG

Learn more on how to work with your uploaded 3D models inside the Sphere XG Viewer as well as the corresponding interface.

Anna-Azize Adami avatar
Written by Anna-Azize Adami
Updated over a week ago

If your project contains a 3D model, you can open the 3D model by clicking the 3D Model tab. Most standard file types are supported, for example .nwd, .dwf, .ifc.

View of a 3D Model in the FARO Sphere XG Viewer

If you have more than one 3D model, you can select the model you want from the dropdown list.

Tree view of the 3D model.

Select, show and hide objects: 

  • If you select an object in the tree view, it is also highlighted in the model view and vice versa.

  • If you want to select a parent object of an object in the model view, right-click it, then select Select parent.

  • Hide objects: Click the icon behind the object in the tree view or right-click the object in the model view and select Hide. If you want to hide a group of objects, select the parent object in the tree view and hide it.

  • To copy the coordinates of an object to the clipboard, right-click it in the model view, then select the coordinates entry.

Toggle View buttons: 

  • Depending on the objects in your project, you can toggle the view between these objects by clicking the corresponding button. In the example above, you can toggle between the 360° image, the point cloud and the 3D model.

  • By clicking icon you can create an overlay between the point cloud and the 3D model.

  • You can then vary the opacity of one or the other via the view-specific toolbar, i.e. clicking the icon and then reducing or increasing the opacity with the sliders. For further information, see also Make a Sheet Black and White.

You can see an example of an overlay in Capture Tab: 3D View.

Mini view: Shows a 2D view of your project.

  • The light blue triangle pointing away from the way point, Flash scan or 360° image is your current perspective.

  • If you hover the mouse pointer over the mini view, the size is increased.

  • You can change to the full-screen view by clicking icon .

  • You can hide the mini view by clicking icon .

Split screen: If you click button , the screen is divided vertically. You can now use the buttons described in point to display one object per side. The split screen view now provides the following icons to help you "walk" through the project:

Lock orientation: Locks the two views regarding their orientation, i.e. if you turn around in one view, the other view will follow.

Follow to selected way point: If you click a way point in one view to go to this way point, Flash scan or 360° image, the other view will follow.

Save 360° image orientation: Open a 360° image in one view and a point cloud in the other, then click this button.

You can find an example of a split view in Capture Tab: Walk Mode.


If you want to read this article in a different language currently not available in this Help Center, please refer to the Sphere XG User Manuel here under .

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