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This page provides information about the Virtual Reality feature.

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The Virtual Reality feature is currently NOT available on Enscape for Mac.


Hardware Requirements

We recommend at least an NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti graphics card or an AMD equivalent GPU (eg. RX 7900 XT) with at least 12GB or more for a smooth VR experience with Enscape! For less complex projects the official requirements might suffice though.

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Please choose your preferred VR device to read about Setup & Movement:


Meta Quest 3

  • Open the Oculus PC app on your Windows and Log in using your Meta account.

  • Turn on your headset.
  • Plug your USB 3 cable into a USB 3.0 port on your PC, then plug the other end into your headset.
  • Put on your headset, then press / on your right controller to pull up your universal menu.
  • Open Quick settings.
  • Select Quest Link.
  • Select the computer that your headset is plugged into, then select Launch.


  • Open the Oculus PC app on your Windows and Log in using your Meta account.

  • Turn on your headset.
  • Put on your headset, then press / on your right controller to pull up your universal menu.
  • Open Quick settings.
  • Select Quest Link.
  • Select the toggle to Use Air Link at the top of the Quest Link panel.
  • Your PC and headset should be connected to the same network for Air Link to work.
  • Connect the computer via cable to your router.
  • Select Launch to begin using Air Link.


Enable VR in Enscape

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  • Open the Meta/Oculus App and select Settings. In the General settings section please activate the Unknown Sources option.
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Meta Quest 3 Settings with Unknown Sources enabled.

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  • Now you can go ahead and enable Enscape’s VR mode via the Enable VR Headset button on the Enscape ribbon.
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Enable VR mode in the Enscape ribbon will now be possible.

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To change the resolution of a Meta VR HMD, the options can be found in the Oculus native settings window under Devices -> Graphics Preferences.

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Meta Quest 3 Resolution Settings

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Movement & Controls

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  • When activating a view or starting Enscape you will be placed on the next valid position on the floor if possible.

  • You’re then able to explore your surroundings freely by simply moving around using the left-hand controller.
  • The right-hand controller allows you to navigate vertically.
  • The time of the day may be manipulated using both controllers.
  • Teleportation functionality is described here.
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Meta Quest 3 Touch Controllers


Best Practice

  • If you’re experiencing stuttering in VR even though your hardware meets the mentioned requirements, you might want to reduce Enscape’s Rendering Quality in the Enscape settings window. Quality level Ultra is not recommended for VR unless you’re running on a NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti or better.

  • If you have two graphics cards installed make sure either one of them is disabled prior Oculus usage or ensure that Oculus and Enscape are executed on the same graphics card.


HTC Vive Pro 2

Setup

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  • In order to run Enscape with the HTC Vive Pro 2, you’re required to have Steam, including SteamVR, installed and running. All required software will be installed by the official Vive Setup.
  • Once installed, SteamVR will guide you through all the setup steps needed to prepare your room scale VR experience (Run Room Setup).
  • When SteamVR signals everything is green and ready to go, you can go ahead and enable Enscape’s VR mode via the Enable VR Headset button in the Enscape ribbon.
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SteamVR indicates the headset and controllers are ready, enable VR mode in the Enscape ribbon


Movement & Controls

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  • When activating a view or starting Enscape you will be placed on the next valid position on the floor if possible.

  • You’re then able to explore your surroundings freely by simply moving around using the left-hand controller.

  • The right-hand controller allows you to navigate vertically.

  • The time of the day may be manipulated using both controllers.

  • Teleportation functionality is described here.

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HTC Vive Pro 2 Controllers


Best Practice

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If you cannot meet the recommended requirements then we advise that you lower the rendering quality to medium or even draft which will allow for a smoother VR experience.

If you get distortion in VR, and you are using a high end graphics card, this may be due to SteamVR setting the resolution to 100%, which now forces super-sampling. This needs to be changed to 50%. To adjust this please perform the following:

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  • Start your CAD.
  • Start Enscape.
  • Start VR in Enscape.
  • Open Steam VR.
  • Open the SteamVR Settings window.
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Open SteamVR Settings



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In the following dialog, select the ‘Video’ option, and then click on ‘Per-Application Video Settings’.

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Per-Application Video Settings



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In the following dialog use the slider directly below the ‘Custom Resolution Multiplier’ so that it shows 50%, or lower if acceptable. Anything lower than 50% may also result in a performance increase, although the image quality may decrease which should be expected.

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SteamVR Video Custom Resolution Multiplier slider


Other Headsets

Other headsets, such as the Quest 2, Quest Pro or any Windows Mixed Reality Headset, are NOT officially supported. However, users get them to work just fine via a Link Cable, or Oculus Air Link. Please be reminded that we do NOT officially support these headsets.


Preventing Nausea

Usually, if you follow all the above steps, and have a powerful enough machine, cybersickness is not a big problem. However, it depends on the individual and his/her experience within Virtual Reality.

Some of the  most common symptoms of Cybersickness include such things as general discomfort, headaches, a feeling of movement within the stomach, generally feeling odd, nausea, disorientation and dizziness.

Certain things can trigger Cybersickness, and these include age, gender, and general fitness, stability of the posture, a low visual refresh rate, spacial awareness, and sensitivity to motion.

The intensity of the symptoms of Cybersickness can be intensified by things such as visual refresh rate, position of the user, motion mismatch, field of view, motion parallax, and viewing angle.

However, there are some things you can do to try and reduce the effects of Cybersickness. We suggest the following:

  • When entering VR for the first time, the person who wears the glasses should trigger the navigation with a hand controller, not someone else.
  • Enter VR from a ground plane, not from an elevated view, or from on top of a roof.
  • Try to limit the use of flying and elevation modes, walk physically to a destination, or teleport whenever it is possible.
  • Always allow the user time to get comfortable with the glasses before handing out the controller. New Virtual Reality users can be easily overwhelmed.
  • Chew gum.
  • Wear an anti-sea-sickness wrist band.
  • Limit your exposure to VR.
  • Use peripheral-limiting VR Goggles or Glasses.
  • Wear the ReliefBand, a medically proven motion sickness treatment device.
  • Practice good hydration.


Interaction

To interact in the Enscape VR world, Enscape provides you with a Menu Ribbon, that is always visible, above the left-hand controller in VR.


The Enscape Menu ribbon in VR


When any of these symbols are selected in VR, an associated panel will slide out of the top of this strip displaying the related options for each menu item.  You will also notice that the selected menu option is indicated with an orange bar above the selected symbol. When the left-hand controller is not in focus, after a short period of time, the menu panel will slide back down into the Menu Strip and disappear.


Teleportation

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Teleportation functionality uses two distinct stages in its operability, and these should be observed to get the best experience from this function.

Holding the trigger (but not pressing the trigger fully down) displays the Teleportation Target Indicator.

Pressing the trigger down completely will then execute the Teleportation, if the location is available.

So, the right-hand controllers trigger will allow you to select and teleport to almost any destination visible.

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Teleportation Target Indicator (showing a destination that is available to teleport)



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The Teleportation Target Indicator is able to penetrate doors and (some) windows (curtain wall windows are not supported yet), so you can easily reach the areas behind them.

If the pointer turns red with an X symbol when holding down the trigger and pointing at a location, this indicates that the destination is not available to teleport to.

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Teleportation does have a threshold of roughly 10 km, with an offset of some 500 meters.

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Teleportation Target Indicator (showing a destination that is not available to teleport)


Navigation

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The Navigation panel contains five possible options.

  • Roomscale – Sets the VR mode to operate within your VR Boundary settings, along with using your actual ‘real world’ height as the spectator height in VR.
  • Seated – Sets the VR mode to operate in the Seated mode which means that a certain spectator height (defined in the settings) is assumed when in Walkmode.
  • Walkmode – Your position is set to be bound to the ground plane, whilst also colliding with geometry.
  • Flymode – Allows you to freely move around without being bound to the ground plane.
  • Recenter Tracking – Will recenter your tracking origin to your current position within the ‘play area’.
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The Navigation Panel


To further clarify the functionality of the Recenter Tracking option, consider the following use cases:

  • You’re in Seated mode in VR, but in Real World (RW) you’re standing up, and the VR tracking center has been calibrated for a seated position (this is initially defined during VR Setup).This has the effect that your virtual self will be way too tall (by the offset of your standing height to the calibrated seated position). Now, press Recenter Tracking in order to rectify the discrepancy. This will result in your virtual height being corrected and, once again, matching the defined spectator’s height.
  • In Roomscale VR Recenter Tracking is only relevant in Walkmode. This is due to the fact that your collision will be based on the calibrated center. So, if you’re walking several steps sideways in RW, and then try to move through a door using the controller in Walkmode, your collision will be off. Recenter Tracking fixes this.


Presentation Mode

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Any views that have been created and have been marked as a Favorite will then become available under the Presentation Mode menu in VR.

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‘Mark as Favorite’ Views in Enscape



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In VR select the Presentation Mode symbol and the Presentation Mode panel will appear. This is a carousel menu containing thumbnails of all the Views that were highlighted in the View/Manage Views menus. Use the right hand controller’s trigger to scroll through and also to select the thumbnail of the View you want to display. Once selected you will be instantly teleported to that saved View location, whilst the Time of Day, associated with the View, will also be updated.

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Presentation Mode


Mini Map

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On selecting the ‘Map’ symbol from the VR Menu, a Mini-map is displayed. This is a top elevation map using True North as its orientation, which allows you to quickly select, with the right-hand controller’s laser pointer, a location to instantly transport to within your project.

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The Minimap panel in VR.


Virtual Camera

The Virtual Camera settings panel allows you to capture an image of the screen in VR.  There are two types of screen capture that can be produced:

  • Screen Capture
  • Render Image


Screen Capture

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With Screen Capture you can capture exactly what you are seeing in the VR window, so when you are happy with the position you are in, press the right trigger on your control module to capture exactly what you are seeing in VR – but note the quality will not be the same as an actual rendering as the Screen Capture function is designed to facilitate a way to add notes from VR.

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The Virtual Camera settings panel showing Screen Capture


Render Image


The Virtual Camera settings panel showing Render Image method.


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The second method allows you to capture high quality images whilst also allowing the framing of the screenshot through the adjustable aspect ratio of the capture Resolution to be specified in the Enscape’s Visual Settings Output tab.

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Enscape Settings Output tab, where the capture resolution can be set for the Render to be taken



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You can then frame your view by moving the virtual camera.

A Preview window will show you the area you are going to capture as a lower resolution, grayscale image.

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Render Image method showing the Preview window


You can render as many images as you want and not leave VR but please note that the preview quality is NOT the same quality as the final rendering. Also, the final renderings are being generated only upon VR being disabled in the Enscape ribbon.


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Once you disable VR in the Enscape ribbon, only the last settings in the Enscape Settings window will be applied. You can adjust the settings after making the screen capture by opening the Enscape Settings window from the Enscape ribbon. Once VR is disabled, Enscape will render your captured images at the resolution set in the Enscape Settings window.

Rendered images will be saved to the location specified in the Enscape Settings, which, by default, is the Pictures folder.


Settings

Opening the settings screen will allow you to change three aspects:

  • White Mode – Everything, apart from transparent materials is turned white.
  • Outlines – Displays geometry with outlines, the thickness can be adjusted in both Normal and White Mode.
  • Time of Day – Adjust to set the time of day you require.


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When using VR via the Standalone Executable, please refer to this article for the location of the VR settings which will also allow you to toggle the VR option on / off.

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White Mode is enabled

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Outlines are set thick with the slider