Navigation Controls
3DStreet is rolling out a new camera-control system that makes moving around a scene feel like Google Maps and Street View as one integrated tool: tilt smoothly all the way from a top-down map view down to eye level on the sidewalk, zoom toward whatever is under your cursor, and double-click anything to fly to a good view of it.
You choose which control scheme you want from View → Navigation Controls.
The new controls are a working prototype and are becoming the default, but they're still being refined — a few behaviors are rough around the edges. If anything feels off, you can switch back to Legacy at any time from the same menu.
Choosing a scheme
Open the View menu and pick Navigation Controls. There are three options:
| Scheme | What you get |
|---|---|
| Legacy | The classic 3DStreet editor camera. Choose this if you prefer the original controls or hit a snag with the new ones. |
| Standard | The new controls, elevated ("map / drone") half only: cursor-anchored zoom, map-style drag, the compass, drone view, and double-click framing. A safe, polished default. |
| Experimental | Everything in Standard plus the street-level features: the smooth "swoop" down to eye level, first-person WASD flight, and double-click-to-teleport onto a lane. The fullest preview of where navigation is heading. |
Switching schemes saves your choice and reloads the editor (the controls are set up when the page loads), so expect a quick refresh when you change it. Your selection is remembered for next time.
How the new controls work
Everything keys off tilt — how far down the camera is looking. There are two "regimes," and the controls adapt automatically as you cross between them:
- Map mode (looking down, like a map) — dragging trucks and dollies across the ground plane; Shift-drag orbits the point under your cursor while keeping it framed; the wheel zooms toward the cursor.
- Street mode (looking level, at eye height) — dragging moves you horizontally and vertically; Shift-drag is a first-person look-around; the toolbars turn into full-width black strips (a letterbox) to signal you've dropped to street level.
You don't switch these manually — they follow where you point the camera.
The main moves
- Left-drag — move across the scene (the exact motion depends on the regime, as above).
- Shift + left-drag — rotate: orbit what you're pointing at (map mode) or look around from where you stand (street mode). You can hold or release Shift mid-drag to switch between the two.
- Mouse wheel — zoom. High up, it's a cursor-anchored zoom (the point under your cursor stays put, just like Google Maps). Keep scrolling down and it becomes the swoop: a single continuous gesture that glides you from bird's-eye all the way to street level, then reverses on the way back up. (Ctrl+wheel or a trackpad pinch does a plain fixed-tilt zoom instead.)
- Double-click anything — fly to a good view of it. The heading snaps to the nearest compass direction, and a double-click never raises the camera — it descends or holds. Double-click a lane to drop to eye level there, a building to frame it, or an object to frame it at its size.
On-screen helpers
- Compass — click the compass body to animate to a top-down view while keeping your heading; click again to align north. The side arrows turn your heading by 90°. (There's no separate "Plan View" button — it's folded into the compass.)
- Context view button — an always-visible toolbar button whose icon shows the one useful move for where you are right now: Daylight (pop up out of a building or terrain you're stuck inside), Street view (swoop down to the surface), or Drone view (rise to an angled survey from above). The Space bar does the same thing as this button.
Buildings are solid
A guiding rule of the new system: the camera stays out of solid geometry. Buildings are treated as solid, and the camera rests just above whatever surface is beneath it — so a swoop lands on a rooftop rather than dropping you inside the building's footprint. If you ever do end up inside something, nothing moves on its own; just press the context button (or Space) to pop back out into the open.
Which should I use?
- Want the most familiar experience, or troubleshooting? → Legacy.
- Want the new feel without surprises? → Standard (the recommended default).
- Want to try street-level walk-throughs and WASD flight, and don't mind occasional rough edges? → Experimental.
You can change your mind anytime from View → Navigation Controls.