Embedded Files
Want to dive right in? Start here!
Want to dive right in? Start here!
Step 1: Get Pano2VR
Step 2: Importing tour images
Step 3: Build your tour
Step 4: Exporting your tour
Step 5: Hosting your tour
Try a Pano2VR field trip to see what you can do:
Try a Pano2VR field trip to see what you can do:
California Tiger Salamander Conversation Virtual Field Trip
Getting Started with Pano2VR 7 tutorial video
Step 1: Get Pano2VR
Step 1: Get Pano2VR
Pano2VR is a paid desktop app with a free trial. Click on this link to download Pano2VR. Click on the "Try it" button to test the application before purchasing a license.
Step 2: Importing Tour Images
Step 2: Importing Tour Images
Image depicting adding tour images to Pano2VR project
Input media refers to the images or videos that will be added to the Tour Browser. This is your main content.
Need to capture images? Check out our guide!
There are multiple ways to get the content into Pano2VR:
Click the input button in the Toolbar and navigate to your image/s.
Select the input media in your file browser and drag them on to the Viewer or the Tour Browser.
Drag a folder containing the input media to the Tour Browser or Viewer.
Step 3: Building Your Tour
Step 3: Building Your Tour
Image depicting adding tour nodes to Pano2VR project
Tour node
Tour node
Now you’re ready to link everything together. Tour Nodes are linked together using hotspots. Point Hotspots will provide a point of interaction, providing the link to the next node.
Here is one way to link nodes together:
Enable Point Hotspot Mode by hovering your mouse over the graphic in the upper left corner of the Viewer and choose the Point Hotspot Mode. You can also use the keyboard shortcut, P, to change to Point Hotspot mode.
In the Viewer, spin the panorama to where you would like to place the hotspot.
Drag the node that should be linked at that point from the Tour Browser and drag it to the Viewer.
A point hotspot will be created, including its connection to the panorama.
For a faster way to connect the nodes, use Automatic Linking.
Learn more about linking nodes
Image depicting a Point Hotspot
Video explaining how to add Point Hotspots in Pano2VR
Point Hotspots are points of interactivity in a VR tour or project. Clicking on a point hotspot will open a web link, a video, an image, a PDF, or a tour node.Â
After loading an image into Pano2VR or opening an existing project, you can switch to the point hotspot mode in the Viewer.
Double-click in the viewer to add a Point Hotspot. Once you do this you’ll see the hotspot icon and its properties panel will open. A red icon means the hotspot is active, while a blue icon means it is not active.Â
Add your desired content by selecting either URL, Tour Node, Image, Video, Info, or PDF from the Properties panel window.Â
You can then later modify the hotspot’s actions and icon/image in the skin editor using a hotspot template.
Image depicting adjusting the settings for a Point Hotspot
Image depicting types of Point Hotspots
Step 4: Outputting Your Tour
Step 4: Outputting Your Tour
Video explaining how to output Pano2VR projects
Outputting Tours
Outputting Tours
View of tour output window
View of tour Output window
The Output panel is where you choose output formats for your project. The web output exports all the files needed to add a tour to a website for playback in any modern web browser.Â
All files associated with this output will be added to the Output Folder unless otherwise specified. Its default name is output. Its default location is the same folder as the source image.
You can change the output folder’s location by clicking the folder icon and navigating to the new location.
Right-click the folder name to change its name or to find the folder’s location in Finder [macos] or Explorer [win].
Each output will create a unique folder name to avoid overwriting previous outputs.
Erase Output Folder – Click the trashcan icon to erase all the content from the current output folder. Long press the button to choose to erase all the content except for the outputted tiles.
Tour Skin
Tour Skin
View of Skin settings window
Here you can choose either one of the pre-installed skins or choose one that you have created in the Skin Editor. All skins saved to the default Skins folder will be listed in the menu. Otherwise, use the Open Skin button to add a skin or drag a skin file to the menu. If a skin is found in the same location as the source image, it will also be visible in the list preceded with $d: $d/myskin.ggsk
Right-click the skin file to locate it in Finder or Explorer.
The file extension used for skins is .ggsk (stands for Garden Gnome Skin).
Open Skin – Click this folder icon to navigate to a skin and add it to the output.
Edit Skin – Click this button to open the currently selected skin in the Skin Editor.
Edit Skin Configuration – Click to edit the initial values of exposed variables of the skin. This lets you configure skins to the needs of the current project.
Step 5: Hosting Your Tour
Step 5: Hosting Your Tour
Publishing Tours
Publishing Tours
View of FTP client used for publishing Pano2VR projects
There are several ways to self-host. Â
First, Pano2VR can be self-hosted by uploading the output folder via FTP to your website. Use an FTP client like Cyberduck to upload the output folder to your server.
Another way is to upload it to WordPress. With this method, you need to install the free Garden Gnome Package plugin into your WordPress. From Pano2VR you can export the tour as a Garden Gnome Package, a single file, which you then upload to your WordPress through the Add Media tab. You can embed the tour with a shortcode or if you’re using the Gutenberg editor, by inserting a block.
You can also use Gnome Cloud for hosting.
Before uploading, check that external media is added to Assets. This is found in the Web Output Properties, under Advanced.
Open an existing project or create a new project in Pano2VR.
Click Cloud Browser in the Toolbar and choose Log in.
Choose Web Browser for the login method. This will open your default browser briefly then switch back to Pano2VR since you are already logged in. If you’re not already logged in, provide your ggnome.com login details.
Add a Web Output.
Click the Upload button. If the project has been outputted before, you may be asked if Pano2VR should overwrite the existing folder.
In the next dialog that appears, select your account. (It is possible to have multiple accounts, so check you’re using the correct account.) Here, you’ll see your storage usage and, if you need more, click the Buy Storage button. If you’ve made changes to your account in the meantime, use the Refresh button to update the dialog.
Accept the Terms of Garden Gnome’s hosting service.
Click Upload. This button will not be active until Accept Terms is selected. You’ll see a progress bar dialog next.
Once the upload is complete, the project will automatically open in the default browser with the cloud URL.
Video explaining how to use Gnome Cloud hosting for a tour
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