In our previous blog How much will a 3D Virtual tour cost me? we shared guide prices for creating a 3D tour. Here we will try to answer some other questions we are often asked about 3D Virtual Walkthrough Tours.
- How long does it take?
- What do we have to do to prepare?
- Does it have to be out of hours?
- Can it take external views? Is the weather a factor?
How long does it take?
As with pricing we cannot be specific about this but generally a large room, e.g., A Ballroom may take 1.5 hours. If you are filming many rooms and areas in your hotel, it could take approx. half a day of filming.
A Retail Showroom may have many more areas with lots of details and may take longer.
What do we have to do to prepare?
As with Photography etc. you want to present your space in the best possible way. The beauty of the Matterport is that it picks up everything, the downside of the Matterport is that it picks up everything!!!
It looks in corners, it will record out of date stuff on your shelves, it will notice a blown light bulb etc. so you should use the opportunity to make everything look great! It is a good time to have all those little renovations and fixes done!
Take special care of what your signage is saying e.g. up to date logos, the cleanliness of bins, remove all personal items from areas being filmed etc.
Also, the tour will be set at a point in time so if you create the tour with Xmas decorations up then that’s going to represent your premises while you use this tour.
If a hotel is planning a Wedding Showcase Event it is an ideal opportunity to have a 3D tour carried when the room is dressed and set up for an event.
Perhaps the best form of preparation you can do in advance of your tour is to decide what you want to achieve from your tour.
- Do you already have video content you want to reuse or link with the tour?
- What areas do you specifically want to include in your tour e.g., is there a specific area a wedding couple love to have photos taken?
- Think about maximising the tour impact by preparing a quick piece to camera.
- What item / products / services /offers etc. do you want to highlight with ‘Tagging’ on your tour?
Does it have to be out of hours?
Ideally there should be minimum to no personnel activity going on in the areas. Some unavoidable things can be blurred out, but these edits are not ideal….so, we can sometimes look like we’re hiding from the Matterport camera while its moving around!!
We also offer some out of busy hours services.
Light and the Matterport Pro2
One of the features of the Matterport Pro2 camera is HDR. It balances external and ambient light ensuring that filming can continue indoors even on a very bright or very dark day.
If you want to capture an external view e.g. a transition to a balcony or courtyard this is also possible in most cases, exception being very bright cloudless sunshine. The alternative is to capture some 360 degree panorama images which can be incorporated into to the final tour. This is also the best method to include other external areas of interest e.g. gardens, outdoor dining etc.
These are among the most frequently asked questions, put if you have additional questions or queries, please contact us for advice or a quotation.