Virtual Tour

[wildwebwest]

WPRealty plugin seems to feature a virtual tour, yet there is no documentation yet to tell me how this works for optimum results.

I've emailed Chad but didn't hear back so I figured perhaps this is a better place to post a question.

Most of the people in my region, use these Virtual Tour services where they end up with a URL on some other server, to reference the Virtual Tour. I've created a URL field on KooskiaIdahoRealEState.com so that listings with a reference to these paid virtual tours can be displayed.

However, in WP Realty, you have a PHOTO IMAGES tab when adding a listing. You also have a VIRTUAL TOUR tab that appears to require photos to be uploaded.

Do you have any recommendations for agents who would like to use this feature?

Do you recommend that they click regular photos in a 360 degree pattern and upload in that same order?

Does your built in virtual tour application "stitch" the photos together automatically?

Can you provide a link to wherever you might have borrowed this feature so that I can read a bit more about it and then convey appropriate advice to the site owner so that the agents don't spin their wheels when using this feature?

In this case, ANY INFORMATION you can share would be GOOD INFORMATION.

A link, a clue, a cut and paste from any resource info. Any of it would be really appreciated.

Especially since the documentation does not exist for WP Realty.

I may be wrong, but I would think at some point, other web designers might have the same question. ????

:cool:

[Jared]

Hello again, here is what I have been telling people to do who do not purchase photo stitching software.

First, the ideal solution if you plan on doing a lot of these things would be to purchase a camera lens designed specifically for this type of photography. The price ranges from $300 - $800 here is a good example. http://www.0-360.com/

If you do not have that as an option, a $30 try pod can suffice if you either purchase or download the PDF version of the panorama tripod head.

The idea is to take photos in succession at the same level by simply rotating the camera clockwise. Each successive photo in the sequence should have about a 20% overlap. Then with editing software you take each of the photos and lay them side by side overlapping them until the seam is gone creating a panorama.

The big problem people face is the tilting of the camera as they turn, a more sophisticated camera stand will have a camera mount head that can be dialed by a rotate nob.

Important Note About Panorama Feature for Virtual Tour.
Although WPRealty has the Virtual Tour feature it is actually being replaced. The current method uses JAVA which is not embraced nearly as much as Flash so we are tasking it to be replaced. There will be basic enhancements to the photo editing part of the application as well.

The Canon PhotoStitch is software that comes with most Canon Cameras and will suffice to do the job.

Links of importance
http://app.photoshop.com/express/index.html
http://www.pixlr.com/editor/
http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/photostitch.htm

[criley]

Jared,

After reading your comment, I have a small concern, and maybe it's nothing. You mention that Flash is more embraced than Java. I am not too sure that is correct. Flash seems that it will soon be a thing of the past and not the industry standard as most thought it might be. HTML5 and H264 are quickly being embraced for video and other web objects as the Mobile industry/generation grows. Flash is not supported by these devices which is why sites such as YouTube are phasing out flash.

If there is anyway for you to look at these two items and find a way to get them to work, you will be way ahead of the curve. I have a feeling that withing 12-18 months, there will be a major change in how sites use Flash if at all. I think the small companies may continue to utilize it, but the big players will do away with it all together.

[LorrieF]

I'm not a big fan of Flash either because a lot of my customers are looking at homes using their iPhone or iPad and neither supports Flash. I think it would be great to have a virtual tour part that isn't Flash but used something else. Also to have it embedded rather than go to another site would be good too.

[bdewall]

Another thing to remember is how much time are you willing to spend to create a virtual tour and is it worth the bang for the buck. Many of my clients find that using Youtube and an inexpensive video camera or smart phone do the trick. I simply create a link field for the listing page or if you like you can embed the video with the page depending on your layout. Photo stitchng is relativley easy with a litlle practice but with flash and other emerging technologies will soon be a thing of the past and not be worth while if you are just starting to get into creating virtual tours.