Navigation in BIMx

[Marton Kiss]

Exploring the building on a mobile or desktop device is designed to be easy and intuitive. The best way to learn these methods is to try them out.

The first part introduces the default navigation controls and then the customization options, focusing on mobile devices. The web and desktop applications are also mentioned briefly — more details are in the User Guide. Check this article to learn about other BIMx settings.

Default navigation

Pan

Use two fingers to Pan, so slide two fingers across the screen to move the building. You can freely go through the walls and other elements when you Pan.

Zoom

On the screen, pinch two fingers together, then apart again, to Zoom in and out. You can freely go through the walls when you Zoom.

Rotate

Slide one finger across the screen to turn in place if you are inside the invisible bounding box of the 3D model.

Orbit

If you are outside, use one finger to Orbit the model as a whole. (Slide across the screen to turn the building.)

BIMx automatically switches between Rotate and Orbit navigation modes when you pass through the 3D model’s bounding box. This is called Adaptive rotation:

Fit in Window (Building)

Double tap or double click the background to fit the entire building on the screen.
On desktop, you can also use keyboard shortcut 1 or the Views quick-menu.

Fit to View (Element)

Open the element context menu with a long tap, or single tap and blue dot on mobile. Right click or long click on web and desktop. Select the Fit to view option to navigate close to the element and fit it into the window.

Go to

Double tap or double click on any element's surface to smoothly zoom in and see it up close.
Hint: You can stop the zoom animation anytime with a tap or click. This enables an easy and precise jump to another position without any zoom gesture!

Home View

Open the Favorites palette and ckick the house icon to revert the view to the original position. On web and desktop, you can also use the keyboard shortcut 3 or the Views quick-menu.

Walk Through Doors

An additional Go through function appears in the element context menu of doors. Selecting it starts an animation through the door and sets camera into horizontal position at human height.

Walk Around

You can activate the joystick from the lower left corner to enable walk mode. It turns on gravity with collision detection so you can walk through doors but not walls or other elements.
The default walk mode in BIMx Mobile is two-handed, recommended in landscape device orientation.

• Move the joystick in any direction to move. Adjust speed by distance from the centre of the joystick.
• Drag with your other hand to rotate the camera. Of course, you can move and rotate simultaneously. 

In BIMx Web and Desktop, gravity (with collision detection) and the joystick are available separately (since most desktop devices don't have a touchscreen); see the User Guide. 

Customization Options

BIMx offers several controls to customize 3D navigation to your preference:

Adaptive Rotation Toggle

To deactivate the automatic switch between Rotate and Orbit navigation modes, turn off the Adaptive rotation toggle.

It reveals the manual Orbit button at the bottom of the screen on mobile, and in the Navigation quick-menu on web and desktop.

• Active (blue): Orbit navigation is enabled regardless of the camera position. 
• Inactive (grey): Rotate navigation is enabled.

Invert Horizontal and Vertical Axis

These toggles control camera rotation direction in Rotate mode. By default, the invert axis toggles are on. This means that as you move your finger or cursor, the camera rotates in the opposite direction.

If you turn the toggles off, the camera moves in the same direction as your input.

Flip Interface 

By default, the joystick is on the left side, and the function buttons (Cut model, Open 2D) are on the right. Use the toggle to mirror the interface. This feature is mobile only.

One-handed Walk Mode

By default off, which means two-handed Walk mode: move the camera with the joystick (forward, backward and sideways) and rotate with your other hand anywhere on the screen. Enable the One-handed joystick toggle to also rotate the camera with the joystick – recommended on portrait smartphones. This feature is mobile only.

Note: This one-handed control was the only option in BIMx Mobile until switching the default to the global standard two-handed Walk mode navigation in 2024 October.

Eye height in Walk mode

Use this slider to adjust the camera height in walk mode from 1,00m to 1,99m (from 3,28ft to 6,53ft).