Chief Architect walkthrough video: record a path, or turn six ray-traced views into a vertical film

You design homes in Chief Architect, and the homeowner wants to "walk through" the house before signing, or your sales lead wants a clip for Facebook and Instagram. Chief Architect records walkthrough videos itself, but the defaults produce a landscape file, the codec differs between Windows and Mac, and a ray-traced walkthrough can tie up the computer for a long time. This guide covers the walkthrough tools in Chief Architect Premier X18, the settings for a clean recording, what homeowners actually want to see, and a second route: six ray-traced views turned into a 30-second vertical film.

Key takeaways

• Chief Architect's manual calls Walkthrough Paths "the preferred way to create a walkthrough video," and records them as .mp4, .wmv or .avi files from 3D > Walkthroughs.
• Key frames along the path set the camera angle, tilt, height, speed and sunlight, and a path drawn into a staircase continues on the next floor.
• The default codec is Windows Media Video 9 on Windows and H.264 on Mac, so Windows users should pick H.264 before recording a file meant for phones and social media.
• In X18, ray tracing means GPU Ray Tracing with the Physically Based or Clay techniques; each walkthrough frame then uses the Maximum Samples value and takes considerably longer to record.
• Six ray-traced camera views exported at 1080 × 1920 can become a 30-second vertical film without recording a path, though the motion is an AI interpretation rather than a route through the plan.

How to make a walkthrough video in Chief Architect

To make a Chief Architect walkthrough video, draw a path with 3D > Walkthroughs > Create Walkthrough Path, add key frames that set where the camera looks and how fast it moves, preview it in the Walkthrough Preview side window, then click Record Walkthrough Along Path and choose the resolution, frame rate, codec and file location. The result is an .mp4, .wmv or .avi file you can play, send or upload.

All of this is in Chief Architect's X18 Reference Manual (dated August 4, 2026, read as of October 2026), which defines a 3D walkthrough as "a series of pictures saved as an .mp4, .wmv, or .avi file that can be played as a video by media player applications." There are four ways to make one:

Recording a walkthrough along a path, step by step

The manual's steps, in order:

1. In the Walkthrough Path Defaults dialog, choose your preferred codec for all walkthroughs.
2. In plan view, select 3D > Walkthroughs > Create Walkthrough Path and click and drag to draw the path. Keep Connect CAD Segments on so segments snap together.
3. Edit the spline's direction and curvature, then add key frames.
4. Open the path's specification dialog and check the GENERAL, CAMERA and BACKDROP panels, including the Rendering Technique on the CAMERA panel.
5. Preview in the Walkthrough Preview side window (View > Walkthrough Preview). The manual warns that "depending on the quality settings and length of a Walkthrough Path, it may take a considerable amount of time to record a walkthrough video," so check it here first.
6. Click Record Walkthrough Along Path, or Record in the preview window, and set the options below.

Key frames: where the camera looks and how fast it moves

Key frames are points along the path where you can change the camera direction, tilt angle and height, the walkthrough speed, the sunlight and the floor. In the specification dialog, each key frame has a Time, a Speed After in feet per second, a Camera Angle, a Tilt Angle (0° is level), a Height, and an optional Pause with a duration. Draw a path into a staircase or ramp and it "will follow the height of the stairs or ramp and continue on the next floor."

Practical settings for a homeowner film: keep the camera at a standing eye height, keep tilt near level so walls stay vertical, slow the speed through doorways, and add a short pause where you want the homeowner to look, such as the kitchen island or the view from the primary bedroom.

Record Walkthrough Options: resolution, frame rate and codec

The codec matters more than it looks. The manual notes that "your choice of codec may affect the file formats in the Save Video As dialog," and that if you check Save to Chief Architect Cloud, "the H.264 codec is the only available option." The cloud keeps "up to 10 uploaded Walkthrough files" in your Chief Architect account at a time. For anything going to a phone, Facebook or Instagram, H.264 in an .mp4 is the safe choice.

Ray tracing in X18: what changed and what it costs per frame

Older tutorials describe a separate CPU ray trace. Chief Architect's 360° panorama support article states that "CPU ray tracing has been deprecated and is no longer available in X17 and newer versions." In X18, ray tracing is GPU Ray Tracing, used by the Physically Based and Clay rendering techniques on graphics cards that support it.

For stills, that's good news: the view refines as samples accumulate, and the manual says "GPU Ray Trace views are automatically denoised when exported, printed, or recorded in a walkthrough." For walkthroughs, it's a time cost. "GPU Ray Tracing can also be used when recording a Walkthrough. Each frame will use the Maximum Samples value and Denoise setting, and will take considerably more time to record." A 30-second walkthrough at 30 fps is 900 frames, each one a fully sampled ray trace.

Two ways to keep it manageable: lower the Maximum Samples for the walkthrough and check a short frame range first, and on a 4K or Retina monitor use Super Resolution, which "renders scenes at a lower-than-native resolution to shorten rendering time and then scales the result up again." The manual notes that on regular, lower-resolution monitors this "typically results in decreased quality."

What homeowners respond to in a walkthrough

A homeowner isn't reviewing a design the way a builder does. They're picturing a Tuesday evening in the house. A walkthrough that works for them is short, steady and built around the rooms they'll use most:

• Arrival. The street view and the front door, so they recognize the house.
• The main living space. The kitchen and the great room, where most of the decisions and the budget sit.
• One private room. The primary suite or the bath, at the pace of someone walking, not flying.
• Outside. The patio, the yard or the view, ideally in warm late-day light from a Sun Angle.

What loses them is the opposite: a fast camera, a route through every hallway, a tilted camera that makes walls lean, and a three-minute file that won't play on their phone. If you want the bigger picture of how US homeowners choose a designer, see custom home architect marketing for US homeowners and design-build remodeler video marketing.

Six ray-traced views to a 30-second vertical film

Sometimes you don't need a route through the plan; you need a 30-second clip for social media or the website this week. Then six good ray-traced camera views are enough.

Exporting the six views

Per the manual: open a camera view, let it sample until it's clean (or denoise it), turn off the Coordinate Indicators, and select File > Export > Export Picture (BMP, JPG, PNG). In the Export Picture dialog, choose Pixels; in camera views you can change the Width and Height, which unchecks Use Active Window Size. Enter 1080 × 1920, or a larger size with the same proportions, and keep Retain Aspect Ratio checked. Save as PNG or JPG. Recompose each camera for a tall frame before exporting rather than cropping later.

Pick the six as the homeowner tour above: front of the house, entry, great room, kitchen, primary suite or bath, and the backyard at golden hour. The six roles a project video needs explains why a set built this way cuts together better than six views of the same room.

Arch2Video takes exactly six images from one project (JPG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF or WebP, up to 30 MB each; long side at least 512 px, 1,500 px or more for the sharpest scenes) and returns a 1080 × 1920 vertical H.264 MP4 of about 30 seconds: six connected five-second AI-generated scenes, an original soundtrack and an optional logo, with a no-logo version included when you add one. The AI director plans the order, so it may differ from your upload order. It usually takes an hour or more, and you're emailed when it's ready. It costs USD 15 per video, a one-time card payment with no subscription; uploading is free and the price appears after the upload. There is no free trial and no free video.

Know what it isn't. It works from images, not from your Chief Architect plan, so it isn't a measured walkthrough and can't take a homeowner down a specific hallway. Every film includes a small cast of original, fictional adults in at least one scene, and people in your renderings aren't animated. Review it before posting, and present an unbuilt house as a concept, not as built.

Which video for which conversation

The design meeting. A Walkthrough Path recording, landscape, played on a screen in the meeting. The homeowner can ask you to stop and go back, and it's a true route through their plan.

Sun and shadow questions. A Stationary Walkthrough sun study from one perspective, with the date and time overlay turned on.

Facebook, Instagram, your website or a new-construction listing. A vertical walkthrough recorded at 1080 × 1920, or six ray-traced views turned into a 30-second film. For listing use, making a new-construction listing video from the builder's renderings covers portal rules and disclosure.

Frequently asked questions

Can Chief Architect record a vertical walkthrough for Instagram or Facebook?

Yes. In the Record Walkthrough Options dialog, edit the Width and Height to 1080 and 1920 so the Resolution becomes Custom, choose the H.264 codec, set 30 frames per second, and keep the duration around 15 to 30 seconds. Redraw or re-aim the path for a tall frame, since a path designed for a wide screen loses the sides of every room.

Why does my Chief Architect walkthrough take so long to record?

Every frame is rendered separately, and with GPU Ray Tracing each frame uses the Maximum Samples value and the denoiser. Frames add up quickly: 30 seconds at 30 fps is 900 frames. Preview the path first, lower the Maximum Samples for the walkthrough, record a short custom range as a test, and use Super Resolution if you have a high-resolution monitor.

How do I send a walkthrough to a client without a huge file?

Keep the file short and use H.264: a 20-to-30-second H.264 .mp4 with low Compression keeps quality high, plays on phones and is small enough for a file-sharing link. You can also check Save to Chief Architect Cloud when you record, which uploads the walkthrough to your Chief Architect account (up to 10 walkthrough files at a time, H.264 only); see your account page for what it offers for viewing.

Is ray tracing gone from Chief Architect?

The old CPU ray trace is. Chief Architect's support site says CPU ray tracing "has been deprecated and is no longer available in X17 and newer versions." In X18, ray tracing is GPU Ray Tracing through the Physically Based and Clay rendering techniques, on graphics cards that support it; the Preferences dialog shows whether yours does.