QUESTION
How do I view, manage, or share a 360° panorama using Chief Architect?
ANSWER
360° renderings can be exported from within the Chief Architect software, and then viewed, managed, and shared by utilizing the tools available in your Chief Architect Account.
To export a 360° panorama to the Chief Architect Cloud
360° panoramas must first be saved to the Chief Architect Cloud before they can be shared or embedded.
- Access the plan you would like to export a 360° panorama from, navigate to 3D> Create Perspective View> Full Camera
, and click and drag to create a camera view.
For best results, position the camera as near as you can to the center of the scene before exporting.
- Once the view is setup to your liking and is using the preferred rendering technique, select File> Export> Export 360 Panorama
.
- In the Export 360 Panorama File dialog that opens, check the Save to Chief Architect Cloud box, select the Create New or Replace Existing radio button, supply a Name and an optional Description, then click OK.
If you selected the Replace Existing option, you must click the Browse button and choose an existing panorama to replace/overwrite.

You can also specify the Width and Height, in pixels, as well as choose to save the panorama to disk or save it as a backdrop. To learn more, please access your program's Help documentation.
- If you're not already logged in, the Chief Architect Account dialog will display. Login to the online account that is associated with your Chief Architect license.
- The upload will start, followed by an Information message confirming that the upload was successful. Your 360° panorama can now be viewed and managed within your Chief Architect Account.
To export a 360° CPU ray trace rendering to the Chief Architect Cloud*
*CPU ray tracing has been deprecated and is no longer available in X17 and newer versions. If you're using X17 or a newer version, utilize GPU ray tracing and follow the steps above.
- From the menu select 3D> Create Perspective View> Full Camera
, then click and drag to place the camera.
For best results, position the camera as near as you can to the center of the scene before exporting.
- From the menu, select 3D> CPU Ray Trace
.
- In the CPU Ray Trace Current View dialog that opens, click the Edit button.
- On the General panel of the CPU Ray Trace Options dialog. check the Generate as 360° Panorama box, specify the Dimensions and Resolution of the image, as well as any other ray trace options that are desired, then click OK.

- Click Ray Trace to start the CPU Ray Trace engine.
- When the ray trace has reached the desired result, select File> Stop Ray Trace
from the menu, then navigate to File> Export 360 Panoramic Ray Trace to Cloud
.
- If you're not already logged in, the Chief Architect Account dialog will display. Login to the online account that is associated with your Chief Architect license.
- In the Export 360 Panorama File dialog that opens next, select the Create New or Replace Existing radio button, supply a Name and an optional Description, then click OK.
If you selected the Replace Existing option, you must click the Browse button and choose an existing panorama to replace/overwrite.
- The upload will start, followed by an Information message confirming that the upload was successful. Your 360° ray trace rendering can now be viewed and managed within your Chief Architect Account.
To view, manage, or share a 360° panorama
- Sign in to your Chief Architect Account using a web browser, then click on Manage 360° Panoramas.
You may notice an "Upload Panorama" button here; this allows you to upload 360° panorama files that may have been saved to your local computer, directly to the Chief Architect Cloud.
- Click the View button next to your 360° panorama to view it in your web browser.
- If at anytime you want to remove or deactivate a 360° panorama from your account, check the box next to the Name of the model, then click Deactivate Panoramas. Click Yes to confirm the deactivation and removal of the panorama.
- Panoramas are private by default. A panorama needs to be made public before it can be shared or embedded. Click the Make Public button to enable sharing.

To make a 360° panorama private, click on the Make Private button. Any users that had access to the panorama lose access immediately and any open instances of the panorama will be closed.
- Once the panorama is made public, click the Share button to bring up the different sharing options.
-
Direct Link
Click the Direct Link tab to directly share your Panorama. Copy the link and paste it to wherever you're sharing it.

-
E-mail
Select the E-mail tab. Click the Send E-mail button to open the default mail application on your computer (Outlook, Microsoft Mail, macOS Mail, etc.). Click the copy button if your primary e-mail is a web-based e-mail (Gmail.com, Outlook.com, Yahoo.com, etc.). This will copy the text to your clipboard. Go to your web based e-mail client and start a new e-mail. Then paste the text to add it to your new e-mail.

-
Embed
Click on the Embed tab, copy the HTML code, and paste it into the source code for your website; or provide the code to your webmaster and ask them to add it to your website.
