3D Preview

3D Preview lets you drop a 3D model of your building onto real satellite terrain, compose the camera, and generate a photorealistic render from that exact viewpoint. It's ideal when you want your building to sit in a specific street, plot, or skyline — with real context, shadows, and surroundings.

When to use 3D Preview vs. a regular upload

• Regular upload (2D) — you already have a drawing, sketch, or rendering and you want to re-style it. See Upload your design.
• 3D Preview — you have a 3D model and you want to place it on a real map, pick the exact camera angle, and render it into its real context.

Both flows live inside the same project — you can start in 3D and still end up in the regular render editor for refinements.

1. Open 3D Preview

From the dashboard, start a new project (or open an existing one) and choose 3D Preview → Get started on the onboarding card.

If you're already inside a project, you can also switch to the "3D" perspective in the right dock to jump into 3D Preview at any time.

2. Set a location

3D Preview is built around satellite terrain, so the first step is to tell it where your building will live.

• Search for an address using the search bar, or
• Click anywhere on the map to drop a pin, or
• Skip — you can set the location later, or leave it unset entirely (e.g. for an interior scene where surroundings don't matter)

Once the pin is placed, you'll see the address confirmed and the surrounding streets loaded in.

Click Confirm to continue.

3. Import your 3D model

3D Preview accepts .glb and .gltf files. If your design lives in SketchUp, Rhino, Blender, or another 3D tool, export it to glTF Binary (.glb) first.

Exporting from SketchUp

1. Open your model in SketchUp.

2. Go to File → Export → 3D Model…

   

3. In the format dropdown, choose glTF Binary File (.glb).

   

4. Save the file, then drop it into the Upload file button on the import dialog.

Rhino, Blender, and most modern 3D tools can export .glb / .gltf natively. If your tool only exports .obj, convert it to .glb first (Blender can do this in one step).

4. Position your model on the map

Once imported, the model appears on the satellite map in top-down view. This is where you pin it to its real plot.

The bottom toolbar has four tools:

• Move / Drag — slide the model across the map
• Scale — resize to match the plot
• Rotate — align with the street or plot orientation
• Height — raise or lower the model vertically (useful for sloped plots or terraces)

Position from top-down first, then switch to height. When the placement looks right, hit Next.

5. Navigate the 3D scene

Now you're inside the 3D scene — satellite terrain around your model, free camera. Three navigation modes:

• Orbit — left click + drag. Rotates around the model.
• Pan — right click + drag. Slides the camera sideways.
• Fly — WASD or Arrow Keys to move, Q / E for up / down, mouse to look around.

Use fly mode to walk through streets, find a pedestrian-eye view, or get right up next to the façade. Use orbit for quick overviews.

6. Save a camera angle as a Perspective

Once you've framed a shot you like, save it.

Click + Perspective on the right dock. This:

1. Saves the current camera angle as a new view (a.k.a. perspective) inside the project.
2. Captures the 3D scene as a base image for the AI to render from.
3. Opens the regular render panel for this view.

You can create as many perspectives as you want — each one is its own view with its own render history. See Projects and Views for how views are organized.

7. Render your perspective

Once you've saved a perspective, you land in the render settings panel — the same one from the regular Getting Started flow, but pre-filled with the 3D scene as the base image and the location you picked.

Configure:

• Model — Pro is recommended for 3D-sourced renders; it preserves geometry best
• Location — already set from step 2
• Time of Day — changes the lighting and shadow direction on your model
• Camera Angle — Same as drawing keeps your 3D framing exactly; Custom lets the AI reframe
• Style — Real photo, or pick one of the style presets
• References — optional mood / material / style references

Click Continue (chat-guided) or Render directly to generate.

From here on, it's the same as a 2D project: you can refine, enhance, compare, download, and share. See Refine and Iterate for the editing toolbar.

Switching back to 3D from the render

The 3D tile in the right dock (above your perspectives) always takes you back to the 3D scene. Reposition the camera, save a new perspective, and you have a new view to render from — no need to re-import the model.

Tips

• Export at real-world scale — 1 unit = 1 meter is the convention in glTF. If your model lands tiny or huge, use Scale on the map step.
• Save multiple perspectives per project — it's much faster than re-importing for every angle, and Copy Render (Pro) keeps the style consistent across them.
• Fly mode + sunset / dusk gives the most dramatic hero shots.

What's next

• Projects and Views — how perspectives fit into the project hierarchy
• Choose a style — style presets for your render
• Refine and Iterate — edit the render after it's generated
• Supported file formats