Realistic Snapshots Of Your 3D Model, And A Night Sky

You can now take a picture of your 3D model that looks like a real photograph — and choose whether the model is standing in daylight or under a night sky.

What shipped#

• Snapshot. The camera button in the toolbar saves your view exactly as you see it, as a PNG. Free and unlimited on every plan.
• Realistic snapshot. The same view, shot like the real thing: real materials, real daylight, real shadows. Same rooms, same walls, same windows — nothing is added or invented.
• Night and Day. A new toolbar button lights the model in full daylight or at night, with the building's own windows glowing and a deep blue starry sky behind it. It switches the model, not the interface, so you can keep your dark theme and still shoot in daylight.
• The realistic snapshot follows the light. Shoot a night view and you get a night photograph, not a midday one.
• You can see it working. A realistic snapshot takes under a minute, and the view now shows exactly where it's up to while you wait.

Why it matters#

A clean 3D model is the right thing for checking a plan, and the wrong thing for showing a client — it still looks like a model. A realistic snapshot gives you the picture you'd otherwise commission a visualiser for, from the view you already set up, in about a minute. And a night shot with the windows lit sells a building in a way a daytime one never does.

How to use it#

1. Open a project whose 3D model is ready (see getting started).
2. Set up the view you want, and pick Night or Day in the toolbar.
3. Click the camera button and choose Snapshot or Realistic snapshot.
4. The picture downloads as a PNG.

Realistic snapshots are included on paid plans — 10 a month on Ex10ded, or $5 each on "5 as you go". Snapshots are free and unlimited for everyone.

Full details are in Snapshots of your 3D model. For getting the geometry out instead of a picture, see export to CAD.