Here at 360 Virtual Tours we want to make things as simple as possible when it comes to choosing a virtual tour provider. There is a lot of babble in this industry, so let us tell you the most important things you’ll need to know.
We’ve created this guide to give you the best possible start to choosing your virtual tour provider, even if it’s not us.
What is a Virtual Tour?
A virtual tour is a picture that has been taken giving the user a full 360 degree view of a location. This picture is then processed into an interactive media format, giving the user full control over what they look at. You can zoom in, zoom out and make the tour ‘full screen’ using simple buttons on screen.
How can they be used?
A virtual tour can be used in a huge variety of ways. Back in the good old days of dial up internet, you would commonly see simple ‘flat’ low res virtual tours on property websites. With the advent of broadband and the ability to now produce full screen HD quality tours, you will find that tours are being used to market anything from Hotels to Spas, Retail Outlets to Car Showrooms.
I’ve heard ‘iPix’ being mentioned on other sites, what is this?
iPix (The iPix Corporation) were a US imaging technology company that filed for bankruptcy in 2006. iPix were considered the market leaders in virtual tour technology in the late 90’s, but due to increasing competition from other technology companies they were unable to keep their market share.
Many virtual tour suppliers still use iPix software and equipment to produce virtual tours, even in the UK. iPix software will always display the iPix logo in the bottom left or right corner of the tour.
We do not use iPix software or equipment to create our tours due to it’s dated look and lack of usability. The tours are also much lower quality, so watch out.
I know a company using a ‘one shot’ lens, why can’t I use them?
You can, however be wary of quality. Here at 360 Virtual Tours, we used to use these so called ‘wonder’ lenses (several years ago!), however within a few weeks of experimentation decided to throw it out.
Basically, these lenses use a mirror to bounce light around a 360 degree area, allowing the camera to capture 360 degrees in one shot. They have their uses, mainly in the Estate Agent world were time and price are important and quality isn’t. We wouldn’t dream of using this method for our tours, basically due to poor resolution, limited visibility (you can’t view up or down) and lack of full screen HD options.
They will always be cheaper than ‘premium’ providers like us, although you will be getting a far less superior end result that will make your website look dated. If you’re not sure about a provider and what equipment they’re using, ask them. If you’re still in doubt, give us a ring and we’ll check them out for you.
How do I know how many ‘tours’ I’ll need?
Good question and one to watch out for. When asking for quotes on virtual tours, they will ask you how many you require. To work this out, we are going to take a 3 bed house as an example.
The house has 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a kitchen and small diner. If you wanted a complete tour of this house, you would need to ask for 6 virtual tours, not just 1! A tour would then be created for each room, and linked together to form a complete tour of the house.
What preparation should I do before photographers arrive?
It is advisable to prepare the areas to be photographed before a photographer arrives. The tour will be a showcase of your facility / location, so make sure it is looking it’s best.
Ensure clutter is removed, and if you have staff on site that will be in shot, make sure they’re looking their best! Think about how the tour will look, remember, no area is out of site!
I’ve heard people talking about GUIs, what are they?
A GUI, or Graphic User Interface, is simply the name given to the sections of the tour that the are used to control certain aspects, maybe zoom in or out, access the full screen options etc. It is also the area that can be edited to add your company branding, information screens and more.
Here at 360 Virtual Tours we do not charge extra for custom GUIs. But be careful, most if not all other companies will, so be wary of how this will bump up the cost.
OK, let’s get serious. What’s a ‘tripod cap’?
A ‘tripod cap’ is a custom image that is used to cover up the base of a tour where the tripod would be (the part you see when looking directly down).
When producing premium virtual tours, there is always a small section directly underneath the tripod that is not photographed, no matter how high tech your kit! This part of the tour often requires a custom image to be produced to place over it, covering up the ‘hole’. Make sure you ask what is going to happen to that hole, as many companies will charge extra depending on what they do.
Option 1: Touch up the area
This involves skillful work in a photo application and involves ‘filling in’ the missing space. As you can see from one of our examples, it appears as if there was never a problem.
Option 2: A custom image cap
Sometimes it is not possible to touch up an image, so another image is placed on top of the hole.
What are these ‘Hotlinks’ I’ve been hearing so much about?
A Hotlink is a link that enables you to travel from one tour to another. Let’s say you have a bedroom in a house, and you’re viewing the tour in that bedroom. If you like, a visible link can be created that when clicked, takes you to the next room. That link would normally be on the doorway, therefore creating the feeling you’re traveling from one location to the other.
I have a tour, so how do I get it on our website?
This is fairly easy, depending on what you want. Our tours are provided in such a way that all that is required to get it online is a simple text link on one of your pages. This will then open a full screen version when clicked. You can also have the tour ‘embedded’ within your site (like our header example tours) using a simple bit of code. We can either do this for you or liaise with your current site designers. We do not charge extra for this, and watch out for those that will! There is no need!
