Camera, Environment & Post Processing

Prerequisites

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

• At least one uploaded asset in Ready status

• Edit Mode access to change camera and environment settings

Accessing Camera & Environment Settings

1. Open your asset in the Nira viewer

2. Click Edit Mode to enable editing

3. Open the View Options panel (gear icon in the right toolbar)

4. Navigate to the Environment section

[SCREENSHOT: View Options panel open to the Environment section showing lighting, background, and camera controls]

Camera Settings

Projection Mode

Nira supports two camera projection modes:

Switch between modes in the View Options panel or by using the keyboard shortcuts for orthographic views (keys 1–6).

💡 Tip: Use orthographic projection when taking screenshots for engineering documentation or technical reports. Perspective distortion can make measurements appear inconsistent in screenshots, even though Nira's measurement tools always calculate true 3D distances regardless of projection mode.

Field of View

The field of view (FOV) slider controls how wide the camera's viewing angle is in perspective mode:

• Narrow FOV (lower values): Telephoto-like view. Reduces perspective distortion, flattens depth. Good for inspecting surfaces without geometric distortion.

• Wide FOV (higher values): Wide-angle view. Shows more of the scene but introduces barrel-like distortion at edges. Good for interior spaces where you need to see as much as possible.

ℹ️ Note: Field of view only applies in perspective projection mode. In orthographic mode, use zoom to control how much of the scene is visible.

Near and Far Clipping Planes

Clipping planes define the minimum and maximum distances from the camera that geometry is rendered:

• Near plane: Objects closer than this distance are invisible. If you can't zoom in close enough, the near plane may be too far from the camera.

• Far plane: Objects farther than this distance are invisible. If distant parts of your model disappear, the far plane may be too close.

Nira automatically adjusts clipping planes for most models, but you may need to manually adjust them for scenes with extreme scale differences (e.g., a small object inside a very large point cloud).

⚠️ Warning: Setting the near clipping plane very close to zero can cause z-fighting — a flickering visual artifact where overlapping surfaces compete for rendering priority. If you see flickering on flat surfaces, increase the near plane distance slightly.

Environment Settings

Lighting

Toggle virtual lighting on or off. This affects how the model's surface interacts with simulated light sources.

When to enable lighting:

• CAD models with PBR (Physically Based Rendering) materials

• Architectural models designed for interactive lighting

• Low-poly models that rely on normals for surface detail

When to disable lighting:

• Photogrammetry models (lighting is baked into textures)

• Point clouds (points don't interact well with directional lighting)

• 3DGS assets (view-dependent appearance already encodes lighting)

• Sculpt models (similar to photogrammetry — baked appearance)

💡 Tip: If you're unsure, start with lighting off for photogrammetry and survey data. Only enable it for CAD or PBR assets. The vast majority of Nira assets are photogrammetry-based and look best without virtual lighting.

See also: View Settings — Render Modes for detailed lighting recommendations by data type.

Light Direction

When lighting is enabled, you can adjust the direction of the primary light source. Click and drag on the light direction control to change the angle.

This is useful for:

• Revealing surface detail on CAD models by angling light across surfaces

• Creating specific shadow patterns for presentation purposes

• Highlighting geometry defects (cracks, deformations) that are only visible with raking light

Background Color

Set the viewport background color to match your presentation needs:

• Dark backgrounds (default black) provide the best contrast for most models

• Light backgrounds (white, gray) work better for models with dark surfaces or when matching corporate presentation templates

• Custom colors can be set for branding purposes

ℹ️ Note: The background color you set in View Options is what all viewers will see (once saved). If you're preparing an asset for a client presentation, consider what background best represents the model. For assets embedded via iframe, the background is visible until the stream loads, so choose a color that pairs well with your webpage.

Skybox / Environment Map

Nira provides built-in environment options that affect:

• The ambient lighting color and intensity

• The reflection colors on PBR surfaces (metallic, glossy models)

• The general ambiance of the viewport

Select from available environment presets in the View Options → Environment section.

ℹ️ Note: Custom HDRI environment maps are not currently supported. The built-in presets cover common lighting scenarios (studio, outdoor, neutral). If you need specific environment lighting, contact Nira support to discuss your requirements.

Post-Processing Effects

Post-processing effects are applied after the 3D scene is rendered, adjusting the final image quality.

Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO)

SSAO adds soft shadows in crevices, corners, and areas where surfaces meet. This enhances depth perception without requiring complex lighting setups.

• Enable for CAD models, architectural visualization, and any model where depth perception helps comprehension

• Disable for photogrammetry models where baked shadows already provide depth cues (SSAO can make already-shadowed areas appear too dark)

Anti-Aliasing

Anti-aliasing smooths jagged edges on geometry. Generally leave this enabled for the best visual quality. Disabling it may slightly improve streaming performance on very slow connections.

Exposure / Brightness

Adjust the overall brightness of the rendered view. Useful when:

• Your model's textures are underexposed (too dark) or overexposed (too bright)

• You're viewing in different ambient light conditions (e.g., presenting on a projector vs. a monitor)

• You need to enhance visibility of specific features for inspection

Saving Environment Settings

Like all view settings, environment and camera changes must be explicitly saved:

1. Make your adjustments

2. Click Save (or Save | Revert)

3. Choose whether to save to Base Settings or a View Variant

💡 Tip: Save lighting, background, and camera settings to the Base Settings when they should apply universally. Use View Variants when different audiences need different visual presentations of the same model — for example, a "Dark Background" variant for the client and a "Light Background" variant for printed reports.

Common Presentation Setups

For Client Delivery (Photogrammetry)

• Lighting: Off

• Background: Black or Dark gray

• SSAO: Off

• Projection: Perspective

• Set a clear Starting View framing the full asset

For Engineering Review (CAD/BIM)

• Lighting: On

• Background: Light gray or White

• SSAO: On

• Projection: Orthographic for measurements, Perspective for context

• Consider creating View Variants for each discipline's review needs

For Point Cloud Inspection

• Lighting: Off

• Background: Black (provides best contrast for colored points)

• SSAO: Off (doesn't work well with point data)

• Projection: Perspective for navigation, Orthographic for plan views

• Adjust point size for optimal density visualization

Troubleshooting

"The model looks too bright / too dark after changing settings."

Cause: Exposure, lighting, and environment settings interact — changing one can amplify the others.

Fix:

1. Start by resetting to defaults (Revert in the Save | Revert dialog)

2. Enable or disable lighting first (biggest visual impact)

3. Adjust exposure only after lighting is set

4. Check SSAO — it adds shadows that may compound with a dark environment

"Reflective surfaces look flat or wrong."

Cause: The environment map is contributing incorrect or insufficient reflection data, or lighting is disabled for a PBR model.

Fix:

1. Ensure Lighting is enabled for PBR/CAD models

2. Try a different environment preset

3. Check that your model was uploaded with PBR materials (roughness, metalness textures)

"Background color doesn't change for viewers."

Cause: You changed the setting but didn't save.

Fix: Click Save after changing the background. Unsaved changes are local to your session only and are lost on page refresh.

Technical Notes

• Camera settings (projection, FOV, clipping) apply per-session unless saved as part of a View Variant

• Environment settings saved to Base Settings are applied before any View Variant overrides

• Post-processing effects have minimal impact on streaming bandwidth — they're computed server-side before the video is encoded

• For embedded assets (iframe), the environment loads after the initial connection, so there may be a brief moment of the background color before the full environment renders

• Orthographic projection disables perspective-based depth cues, which can make 3D navigation feel unusual if you're not accustomed to it — this is normal behavior