Navigation Controls (Mouse, Keyboard, Mobile)

Prerequisites

• A Nira account on any plan (Individual, Professional, or Enterprise)

• At least one uploaded asset in Ready status

• A supported browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge)

How Nira's Viewer Works

Nira uses pixel streaming — your 3D scene is rendered on Nira's servers and streamed to your browser as a low-latency video feed. Your browser sends back your mouse, keyboard, and touch inputs. This means navigation performance is consistent regardless of model complexity or your device's hardware. A 200-million-triangle model navigates just as smoothly as a 1-million-triangle model.

ℹ️ Note: Because Nira streams rendered frames rather than sending geometry to your browser, navigation responsiveness depends on your internet connection, not your GPU. If navigation feels sluggish, check your network bandwidth first — see Diagnosing Connectivity & Performance Issues.

Mouse Controls (Desktop)

These are the default controls for navigating with a standard mouse:

💡 Tip: Always click on the surface of your model to set a pivot point before orbiting. Without a pivot point set, the camera orbits around the center of the scene, which can feel disorienting on large or off-center models. If orbit starts behaving unexpectedly, single-click on a surface to reset the pivot.

Middle Mouse Button

If your mouse has a middle button (scroll wheel click):

This provides the same panning behavior as right-click + drag.

Trackpad Controls (Laptop)

For MacBook trackpads and similar multi-touch trackpads:

ℹ️ Note: On trackpads, the right-click pan shortcut (Spacebar + click + drag) is particularly useful if two-finger drag is conflicting with your system's gestures. Check your OS settings if pan behaves unexpectedly — some operating systems intercept multi-finger gestures before they reach the browser.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Nira provides keyboard shortcuts for common viewing actions. These work in both View Mode and Edit Mode unless noted otherwise.

[SCREENSHOT: Keyboard shortcut overlay or reference card showing all navigation keys]

💡 Tip: Use the numbered orthographic views (1–6) when you need precise alignment for measurements or screenshots. These snap the camera to exact perpendicular angles relative to the model's coordinate system.

Flycam Mode

Flycam provides first-person, free-flight navigation through your 3D scene — similar to walking or flying through the model. This is especially useful for:

• Navigating interior spaces (buildings, tunnels, pipes)

• Exploring dense point clouds from within

• Moving through large-scale site models at ground level

Activating Flycam

1. Open an asset in the viewer

2. Locate the Flycam toggle in the navigation toolbar

3. Click to activate Flycam mode

Flycam Controls

💡 Tip: Use the scroll wheel to adjust your movement speed. Start slow when navigating tight spaces — it's easy to overshoot at higher speeds. You can also use the speed slider in the Flycam panel.

⚠️ Warning: Flycam movement speed resets when you switch back to orbit mode. If you've customized your speed for a particular scene, note the setting before switching modes.

When to Use Flycam vs. Orbit

Mobile Touch Gestures

Nira works on phones and tablets through the same browser-based viewer. Touch controls are available on iOS (Safari, Chrome) and Android (Chrome).

ℹ️ Note: Flycam mode behaves slightly differently in mobile. One finger up and down navigates forward, left and right finger drag rotates camera. Think of it as a joystick.

💡 Tip: When sharing assets with mobile users, set a Starting View that frames the most important part of the model. Mobile users may find it harder to navigate to specific areas, so a good starting position saves them time.

Mobile Performance Considerations

Because Nira uses pixel streaming, mobile performance depends on your network connection rather than your device's processing power. A shared link will perform similarly on an iPhone SE and a flagship device.

However, be aware of these mobile-specific behaviors:

• Bandwidth on cellular: Mobile data connections can introduce latency. Wi-Fi generally provides a smoother experience

• Touch target size: On smaller screens, clicking precise surface locations for pivot points can be difficult. Zoom in first, then tap

• Browser chrome: Mobile browsers show/hide navigation bars when scrolling, which can interfere with drag gestures near the top and bottom of the screen. Use fullscreen mode (tap the fullscreen button in the Nira viewer) for the best experience

Teleport Navigation

Teleport instantly repositions the camera to a location on the model's surface. This is the fastest way to jump between areas of interest on large assets.

How to teleport:

1. Double-click (desktop) or double-tap (mobile) on any visible surface

2. The camera moves to a position close to and facing the clicked point

3. The orbit pivot point updates to the new location automatically

💡 Tip: Teleport works on meshes, point clouds, and 3DGS models. For point clouds with sparse areas, teleport may not register if you click on empty space between points — zoom in closer and click directly on visible points.

Troubleshooting

"Orbit feels disoriented — the model spins in unexpected directions."

Cause: The orbit pivot point is not set on the model's surface, so the camera is orbiting around a point in empty space.

Fix:

1. Click (or tap) directly on a visible surface of your model to set the pivot

2. If the model is far from the screen center, press F to frame the asset first, then set a new pivot

3. On trackpads, ensure you're single-clicking on the surface, not accidentally triggering a two-finger gesture

"Zoom doesn't get close enough to the model."

Cause: The camera's near clipping plane may be preventing you from zooming closer, or the pivot point is set far from the area you want to inspect.

Fix:

1. Click on the surface near the area you want to inspect to set a closer pivot point

2. Try teleporting (double-click) to the area of interest — this often gets you closer than scroll zoom

3. If using a point cloud, ensure you're zooming toward actual point data, not empty space

"Navigation is laggy or stuttering."

Cause: Almost always a network issue — Nira streams rendered frames, so navigation quality tracks your internet bandwidth.

Fix:

1. Check if someone on your network is uploading or downloading large files (this is the most common cause)

2. Try a different browser (Firefox, Edge, Chrome)

3. Try a different network (switch from Wi-Fi to cellular, or vice versa)

4. Close other tabs or applications consuming bandwidth

5. If the issue persists across networks and devices, contact Nira support — it may be a server-side issue

See Diagnosing Connectivity & Performance Issues for a detailed walkthrough.

"Keyboard shortcuts aren't responding."

Cause: The viewer may not have focus, or another UI element (like a callout editor or search box) is capturing keyboard input.

Fix:

1. Click anywhere inside the 3D viewport to give it focus

2. Close any open callout editor windows or dialog boxes

3. Ensure you're not focused on a text input field (the browser captures keypresses for text editing)

Technical Notes

• Orbit mode is the default navigation mode when you open any asset

• Pivot point persists during your session but resets when you reload the page or switch assets

• Flycam speed is independent of model scale — you may need different speed settings for a building model vs. a small object scan

• Navigation controls work identically whether you're in View Mode or Edit Mode — the mode only affects whether you can modify callouts, measurements, and settings

• For orthomosaic assets, the 3D viewer navigation applies to the 3D view. Switch to the 2D orthomosaic viewer using the 2D button for a top-down map-style pan-and-zoom interface

• Navigation controls are the same for all data types (meshes, point clouds, 3DGS, orthomosaics in 3D view)