How to View Microraptor in 3D
Microraptor 3D Viewer runs a crow-sized, four-winged Early Cretaceous dromaeosaurid - length about 0.8 m (Size vs human uses 0.8 m), mass about 0.5-1.5 kg. Drag to rotate, scroll or pinch to zoom, toggle a 1.8 m person for scale, and click a body part for a fossil-sourced fact.
Open the Microraptor page and take the camera
Open the Microraptor 3D Viewer and wait for the facts panel to fill. When the status line says you can drag, orbit Microraptor with the pointer and zoom with the scroll wheel or a two-finger pinch. Fullscreen expands the wrapper so the controls stay visible beside the scene. After first paint a license-clean CC-BY-SA 4.0 glTF may swap in automatically from the CDN; if that load fails the page stays on the procedural raptor with zero regression.
Use the four Microraptor controls under the canvas
Under the Microraptor canvas, four controls handle view and scale:
- Fullscreen - fills the display while keeping the buttons visible
- Stop rotation / Auto-rotate - freezes or resumes auto-spin
- Idle motion - adds subtle breathing and leg sway; tap again for Stand still
- Size vs human - shows a 1.8 m person at the honest length ratio used by the viewer (0.8 m; holotype M. gui about 77 cm; larger specimens a little longer)
Read the Microraptor facts panel and click a body part
The Microraptor facts panel lists length about 0.8 m (holotype M. gui about 77 cm), hip height about 0.2-0.3 m, mass about 0.5-1.5 kg (NHM about 1 kg), the Early Cretaceous window about 125-120 million years ago in Liaoning, China, carnivore diet (small animals; fish and lizards documented in some specimens), and naming - Microraptor described in the early 2000s with M. gui four-winged material in Xu et al. 2003. Long flight feathers on arms and legs distinguish it from larger ground raptors on this site. A short click - not a drag - on head, body, wing, leg, or tail surfaces a short fossil fact. Soft-tissue color is an artistic reconstruction; when the CC-BY-SA 4.0 glTF by seth the yutyrannus via Printables loads, the status text notes a real model with that credit - a stylized reconstruction, not a laser scan. This model is not a fossil-accurate skeleton and does not assert a single proven flight mode (glide vs powered flight remains debated).
What the Microraptor how-to guide is not
The Microraptor how-to guide is a controls walkthrough for the in-browser viewer only - it does not place the model in your room (no AR), does not invent one precise length or weight beyond the disclosed about 0.8 m / 0.5-1.5 kg ranges, does not claim a settled flight mode, does not claim soft-tissue color accuracy for every specimen, does not invent game score or win states, and does not claim the optional glTF is a scientifically exact reconstruction. For the size story see Microraptor size comparison. For trade-offs versus phone AR apps see Microraptor 3D viewer vs AR apps.
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