ExplodeView Tutorials

Go from a blank browser tab to a fully exploded, rotatable assembly using the built-in sample — the fastest way to see what ExplodeView does.

1. Open the app
   Go to explodeview.com/demo and, on the welcome screen, either click Take the guided tour for a narrated 11-step walkthrough, or pick Pillow-block shaft assembly under "Example models" to jump straight in.

   

2. Look around
   Left-drag to rotate, right-drag to pan, scroll to zoom. Click any part to select it; double-click to zoom to it.

   

3. Explode it
   Click + in the right-hand rail (or press E) repeatedly to pull the assembly apart step by step; − brings it back together. Fit to Frame (the corner-brackets icon) re-centers the camera after a big explode.

   

4. Open the tree
   Click Tree in the View tab (or press T). Every part and sub-assembly is numbered like a drawing — click any row to select and frame that part.

   

Load a real assembly you exported from your CAD system.

1. Check the size
   Under 40 MB works straight in the browser. Bigger files need the desktop app, which converts locally with no size cap in practice — see User Manual §2.
2. Upload
   Click Upload 3D file on the welcome screen, or drag the file anywhere onto the page. STEP, STP, IGES, STL, OBJ, GLB and GLTF are all accepted.
   Re-converting? Tick Ignore cache — convert fresh first if you've changed the source file since the last import — otherwise ExplodeView reuses its cached conversion.
3. Wait for conversion
   A progress indicator tracks the conversion. First-time conversion of a large assembly can take a while; reopening it later is instant (it's cached as GLB in the browser).
4. Confirm the tree looks right
   Open Tree (T) and check part names and sub-assembly grouping match your CAD structure. STL/OBJ imports won't have assembly structure — everything else still works.

Turn a viewer into a labeled, clickable product diagram — then export it as a drop-in embed.

1. Open Hotspot Builder
   Switch to the Create tab and click 🎯 Hotspots. A right-hand panel opens with Place Hotspot and Hide/Show tools.
2. Place a hotspot
   Click + Place Hotspot, then click anywhere on the model. A numbered marker drops at that point and a card appears in the panel.

   

3. Describe it
   Fill in Title and Description for the hotspot; Image attaches a photo. Repeat for as many points as you need — ⌘/Ctrl-click selects multiple parts at once, Shift+drag marquee-selects, and V hides/shows the current selection.
4. Save and export
   Click Save to persist the set to this browser. Under Export Embed, choose HTML snippet or Liquid section and paste the result into your product page — or use Capture (PNG/JPG/GIF, optionally transparent) for a static image instead.

Get a polished still image, a looping GIF, or a WebM video out of the viewer.

1. Set real finishes
   Click View → Materials. Select a part (or several), click a preset — Steel, Aluminum, Black Oxide Steel, Brass, Copper, ABS, Rubber, Glass, Carbon Fiber, Titanium, Wood — to apply it; with nothing selected, a preset applies to the whole model. Reset materials undoes it.

   

2. Frame the shot
   Rotate/zoom to the angle you want, and consider View → Blueprint for a clean technical look instead, or leave the PBR shading from the step above for a realistic product shot.

   

3. Still image
   Switch to the Export tab, click Screenshot (or press S), pick PNG/JPG/WebP/TIFF and a resolution up to 4×.

   

4. GIF or video
   Click Record, set a duration, and choose GIF or WebM — it captures a smooth explode → orbit → collapse sequence automatically.

   

5. Want AI-generated backgrounds instead?
   That's the AI Render tool, one tab over — see Tutorial 5.

Connect your own free Gemini key once, then generate photoreal scenes and chat with an AI about the loaded model.

1. Get a free key
   Open aistudio.google.com, sign in, and create an API key. It's free for the default Nano Banana model at the time of writing.
2. Open AI Render and paste it in
   Switch to AI Tools → AI Render. Under API Key, paste the key — it's saved to this browser's storage only, never sent to ExplodeView.

   

3. Describe the scene
   Type a prompt (e.g. "on a workshop bench, soft studio light") or pick a Style Preset — Product Photo, Lifestyle, Technical or Artistic — then Generate Render.
4. Try the chat assistant
   Click Chat on the same tab. Without a key it answers basic part/assembly questions offline; with your Gemini key in place it holds a full natural conversation about the model.

   

Get a live link or a paste-in embed code for the model you're viewing.

1. Open Share
   Export tab → Share.

   

2. Get a link
   Set an expiry (default 30 days) and an optional password, then Create link. It's unguessable — no login required to open it.
3. Or copy the embed code
   Paste this into any HTML page, React, Vue or Svelte app:

   <iframe src="https://explodeview.com/s/<your-model-id>"
           width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"
           allow="xr-spatial-tracking" allowfullscreen></iframe>

4. Tune the embed
   Toggle Auto-rotate on load, Start exploded, or Minimal UI (hides the toolbar) before copying — or generate a QR code instead for print materials.

Get a parts list and a print-ready 4-view drawing straight out of the loaded model.

1. Open the Bill of Materials
   Export tab → BOM. Every sub-assembly is a row, with its part count and a Draw link.

   

2. Export it
   Copy puts it on your clipboard as text; CSV (or Export tab → CSV) downloads a spreadsheet-ready file. Cost, next to it, runs a rough per-part cost estimate.
3. Generate a technical drawing
   Create tab → Drawing. ExplodeView renders Front, Right, Top and Isometric orthographic views and downloads a self-contained HTML file with a title block.

   

4. Need a specific part's drawing instead?
   Select it in the tree, then use the tree panel's own drawing controls at the bottom — choose a size (A4–A0, Letter) and format (PNG/PDF/TIFF/DXF) before generating.

Run ExplodeView Pro standalone — no trial timer, no 40 MB cap.

1. Download
   Go to the download page and pick Windows, macOS (Intel or Apple Silicon) or Linux.
2. Install
   Windows: if SmartScreen warns the app isn't recognized, click More info → Run anyway (the installer isn't code-signed yet).
   macOS: right-click the app in Finder and choose Open the first time (unsigned build blocks a normal double-click once).
   Linux: chmod +x ExplodeView-Pro-*.AppImage, then run it.
3. Activate
   On first launch, paste your license key (from your order confirmation email) into the activation window and click Activate.

   

4. Import without limits
   The desktop app converts large files (100 MB+) locally via a Docker-based converter instead of the browser's 40 MB-capped WASM path — install Docker Desktop once and ExplodeView starts the converter for you on import.