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. You can also add extra information, like info points, floating images and more.
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. They were once a tool for simply selling a space, like a Hotel room, but with the advancement in technology we can now use 360 virtual tours as teaching aids, accessibility aids and as part of extended online marketing programs.
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. Since it’s bankruptcy, the iPix brand has been taken over by US company Minds Eye View.
Many virtual tour suppliers still use iPix software and equipment to produce virtual tours, even in the UK. We do not use iPix software or equipment to create our tours due to it’s lack of usability and quality.
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 them out.
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 ‘scenes’ 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 tour scenes. A complete 360 virtual tour would then be created combining each scene.
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! Remove signage if you don’t want it included, and give the place a spring clean!
I’ve heard people talking about GUIs and ‘skins’, 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 and more. It is also the area that can be edited to add your company branding, information screens and other branding. Here at 360 virtual tours, we call it a tour ‘skin’ as it is essentially the top layer of the tour, above the moving image.
Extra information can be included within those tours, such as simple info tabs to more detailed information boxes, like in our Bristol University example below.
An example of how information points can be used within tours to add extra information and interactivity.
Here at 360 Virtual Tours we do not charge extra for custom skins. 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).
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.
An example of a tripod that has been removed by cloning, in photo editing software.
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. As below, this is perfect for including extra branding, really pushing home the location the user is viewing.
The use of a tripod patch, commonly featuring the companies branding to aid marketing.
Option 3: Photograph it!
The most complicated to do, but sometimes necessary due to complicated flooring. This technique involves taking an extra shot facing the ground, and then editing this extra shot into the 360 degree image. As you can see below, this complicated wooden flooring would have been near impossible to edit and clone in our photo editing software, so the extra photo has been used to cover the tripod area.
An example of how an extra photograph has been taken, then merged with the 360 image to give a seamless floor/ground view.
We can offer you either method, depending on your requirements. Different methods suite different projects, and sometimes it’s just down to taste.
What are these ‘Hotlinks’ I’ve been hearing so much about?
A Hotlink is a link that enables you to travel from one scene 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 travelling from one location to the other. There are many forms of navigation that can be used in your tour project, we’ve listed some below.
Thumbnail navigation
This method of viewing other tour scenes simply uses small thumbnail images of the other scenes that are commonly listed down the left hand side of the tour, or along the top or bottom. When you hover over your mouse, the name of the scene will appear and you can click on the thumbnail to load the scene.
Floor plans
If you have a floor plan of your location, we can include this in the tours so people can click on a location on the floor plan to navigate to that area. This works well with large tours over big areas.
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 take the user to a specific section of our site with your tour on it, in your branding. 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.
