How Cyango Cloud Studio was born: the story behind a no-code 3D editor

Hello, I'm Joao Rodrigues, creator of Cyango Cloud Studio, and since I was a kid, I’ve been obsessed with creating and playing games. It all started with a GameBoy Pocket and Pokémon Blue. That little black-and-white screen pulled me into a world of exploration and strategy, and I was hooked. Funny enough, it even helped me learn English—I had to ask my mom to translate phrases from the game.

The next chapter of my gaming journey came courtesy of my aunt, who gave me The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. That gift sealed my fate as a Nintendo fan, a title I still buy everytime.

‍

From playing to creating

In high school, I decided I didn’t just want to play games—I wanted to make them.

My first deal into game development was with a software called Multimedia Fusion Express. It was a drag-and-drop tool for creating 2D games, and while it wasn’t easy to learn, I managed to make a recycling game as part of my final project.

I couldn’t see myself spending all day coding, so I jumped into Mechatronics engineering. It gave me the chance to learn mechanics, electronics, automation and more, and I ended up working at a FabLab (https://www.fablabs.io/).

Discovering VR, the spark of an idea

Around the time VR and AR technologies started gaining traction, I discovered Unity3D. It reignited my passion for game creation. This was the time companies like Microsoft and Samsung were launching Hololens and GearVR, and got me excited to buy my first 360º camera and start making content.

Virtual tours though, they were something for me, especially those using some out of the box interactions. Tools like Marzipano allowed me to create simple tours, but I saw potential for so much more.

Why stop at static tours when they could become fully interactive, immersive experiences and mixed with storytelling?

So I decided to start building my own virtual tours builder software with this vision.

The road to Cyango Cloud Studio

I had no experience building apps, so I started with what I knew: Unity3D. My first idea was to create a global directory of virtual tours, complete with maps and locations. It didn’t work out.

‍

But in the process, I began developing a tool to automate virtual tour creation.

Initially, I built my editor as an abstraction of Krpano, a virtual tour tool that relied heavily on XML, HTML, and JavaScript. It was far from developer-friendly.

But then I found React, and the promise of “write once, deploy everywhere” drew me in.

I built my editor using the MERN stack and a React library for Krpano. It worked—but scaling it was a nightmare.

‍

Today I look at this and I feel nostalgic, and laughing at how naive I was thinking this was a product that could go to market. The nodes interface you see in the screenshot above were to allow creating the virtual tour simply by connecting blocks. But I realized this was not user friendly and not functional enough.

That’s when I discovered A-Frame, a framework designed for VR web experiences. It simplified many challenges, but my codebase quickly became a mess again. After countless refactors and user feedback, I finally launched the first version of Cyango Cloud Studio. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start.

‍

Challenges, pivots, and progress

Building this editor was never just about the software. I had to create an entire platform, including a backend for processing files and DevOps infrastructure for deployment. This meant diving into video optimization with ffmpeg, setting up livestreaming with HLS.js, and learning tools like AWS, Docker, and Kubernetes—all while running a company.

The UI/UX was another constant challenge. I redesigned the software so many times that my video tutorials were outdated within weeks. But each redesign brought improvements, like introducing a scene-entity system inspired by Unity3D or simplifying the interface for better usability. Look how nice it is becoming!

‍

Into 2024 and beyond

This year, Cyango Cloud Studio took another leap forward. We added 2D tiled maps, Gaussian splats and AR capabilities powered by the pmndrs ecosystem (https://github.com/pmndrs ).

These features turned the editor into more than just a tool—it became a platform for creating immersive, interactive experiences across VR, AR, and 3D.

‍

The year 2024 was marked by the initiative and developments of one genius: Bela Bohlender (https://polar.sh/bbohlender).

He alone, made two incredible libraries that made us dream about a bright future. The future of 3D. Where everything is 3D and immersive, even if you’re seeing it on a flat screen device.

Inspired by web design tools like WordPress Elementor, we restructured the editor to support size breakpoints and flexbox properties. It was a massive undertaking, but it opened the door to creating responsive, interactive experiences with ease.

‍

Cyango Cloud Studio 11

This new version includes the first step towards a vision of 3D UI elements drag and drop inpired on products like Wordpress or Webflow. Cyango's team is working hard to make this feature as simple as possible. We've restructured the UI a lot to include all the feedback from the users and this new feature. You may not notice much, but the editor now includes options to work on the 3D UI for different devices resolutions and a lot of improvements.

‍

The journey continues

Looking back, it’s amazing how far Cyango Cloud Studio has come—from an ambitious side project to a full-fledged platform for democratizing immersive technology. The road hasn’t been easy, but every challenge has been a chance to learn, adapt, and build something better.

Cyango Cloud Studio isn’t just software—it’s a testament to what’s possible when you dream big, stay persistent, and embrace the unknown, with a very small team of talented people.

Let’s keep going!

‍