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Design Your Pass-Through Window Live: Meet the LiveVue™ Window Designer

Writer: OPTVUE™
OPTVUE™
2 days ago
4 min read

Buying a custom pass-through window used to mean sketches, phone calls and waiting days to see whether your idea would even work. With the LiveVue™ Window Designer, you build your Optvue window yourself, online, in minutes. You see it drawn to scale as you go, and you send it straight to the team that will build it.

It is the fastest way to design a gas strut or motorized pass-through window, and it is built around something most window makers can't offer: windows up to 16 feet wide, with options you can actually see before you commit.

The old way of ordering a pass-through window

Most gas strut window makers still work the same way. You email a rough sketch or a few measurements, a sales rep sends questions back, and a drawing shows up days later. If something doesn't fit, like a sill that won't work with your frame or a size past the maker's limit, you start over.

That back-and-forth is slow, and it hides the most important part of the decision: what your window will actually look like in your wall.

What LiveVue does differently

LiveVue turns that process into a few minutes of clicking.

  • It draws your window as you design it. Every choice updates a drawing of your window, drawn to scale with real frame and sash proportions.

  • It only shows options that work. Choices that don't fit your window are greyed out automatically. Pick a wood interior, for example, and products that can't take wood step aside.

  • It won't let you order something we can't build. Sizes are capped as you type to each product's real limits, so there are no surprises later.

  • It works on your phone. Design on site, standing in front of the opening, on any phone or tablet.

  • It goes straight to Optvue. When you finish, your design comes directly to our team in Oceanside, California, and we follow up with a quote.

LiveVue is a design tool, not a price calculator. There are no prices to hunt through, just your window, designed the way you want it.

Sizes that go past the industry standard

Most gas strut windows top out around 8 to 10 feet wide. Past that, other makers add a post (a mullion) down the middle or ask you to install two smaller windows. Optvue windows go much further, and LiveVue lets you design every one of them.

Up to 13 by 6 feet comes in a single piece of glass, with no posts in your view. Enter any size in LiveVue, down to the eighth of an inch, and the designer tells you right away which products can build it.

Options you can see before you buy

A window this size is a centerpiece, so the details matter. LiveVue walks you through every one and shows it on your drawing.

  • Frame: all-aluminum, thermally broken, or aluminum outside with a real wood interior in Sapele mahogany, white oak, walnut, Douglas fir, maple and more

  • Color: 14 standard colors, a custom color match, or split finishes with a different color inside and out

  • Glass: 1" insulated, argon-filled glass with several Low-E coatings, impact glass, triple glazing for cold climates, or your own custom glass

  • Sills: 8 sill designs, from a flush countertop with no sill to full weather-sealing sills, with drawings of each one

  • Screens and shades: surface-mount, concealed and motorized roll-down screens up to 20 feet wide, plus motorized shades

  • Glass layout: one clear piece of glass, or simulated divided lites with bar widths you set

  • Transoms: add a fixed transom above your window and see it drawn to scale on top

  • Pivot windows: set the pivot point and see how far the sash swings in and out

Optvue vs. a typical gas strut window

  • Widest window: Optvue builds up to 16' (20' with XL-XS); a typical gas strut window needs a mullion past 8' to 10'.

  • Single piece of glass: up to 13' x 6' with Optvue; usually much smaller elsewhere.

  • Motorized option: SL, EL, XL-XS and AutoMate with Optvue; not always available elsewhere.

  • Design online: live and drawn to scale in LiveVue, versus emailing a sketch and waiting.

  • Wood interior: 7 species with Optvue; varies by brand elsewhere.

  • Who you work with: the Oceanside, CA team that builds your window, whether you buy direct or through an Optvue dealer.

Who LiveVue is for

  • Homeowners who want to see their kitchen or bar window before they commit

  • Architects and designers who need accurate proportions, finishes and options for a project

  • Builders and contractors who need a buildable design and the right rough opening, fast

Design your window in five steps

  1. Choose your material: all-aluminum or aluminum with a wood interior.

  2. Pick your product and size: gas strut, motorized, pivot or AutoMate, and enter your width and height in inches.

  3. Build it: frame type, sill, color, glass, screens, glass layout and an optional transom.

  4. Add your timing and delivery details.

  5. Send it to Optvue. Our team reviews your design and follows up with your quote.

Frequently asked questions

Is LiveVue free to use?

Yes. LiveVue is free, and there's nothing to download.

Do I need exact measurements?

Use your best measurements to start. Order the window about half an inch under your rough opening, and our team will confirm everything before your window is built.

Does LiveVue show prices?

No. LiveVue is for designing your window. Optvue sends your quote after reviewing your design.

Ready to design yours?

The biggest pass-through windows deserve better than a sketch on a napkin. Open LiveVue, design your window live, and see what a 16-foot opening looks like in your space.

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