Create and Use Scrolling Panoramic Images in your VisualTour Marketing System!
With unlimited scenes in each of your VisualTours, you have plenty of flexibility in how you choose to showcase each property! The choice is yours… you can use any combination of individual still images, wide angle panoramic images, or full 360° images in your VisualTours. To see a sample VisualTour with a combination of all of these types of images, please visit our Sample Tours page.
Panoramic images are created by taking multiple individual still photos with your digital camera and stitching them together using the VisualTour Studio software which will be installed on your local computer. We have designed our stitching application to work with photos taken by amateur photographers (REALTORS like you!). A tripod isn't required to create a seamless panorama, however using one may work better for some people.
To get the best results in the least amount of time and effort, follow these 3 steps:
Step 1: Take your individual photos from left to right, overlapping each image by about 20%. Notice the overlap in the images below. Just turn your body, don't step from in front of one photo to the next.
Step 2: After your photos are downloaded into VisualTour, select which images you'd like to stitch together, click “Create panoramic”, select the photo's stitching orientation of horizontal or vertical, and select the type of pano you would like.
Step 3: Click the Next button, and the images will be merged automatically. All of the aligning, brightness and contrast adjustments, and even color adjustments are done automatically in seconds. No manual intervention is required for the stitching operation!
Horizontal Panoramic Image
The fully stitched image automatically scrolls side to side when displayed in the VisualTour viewer.
Vertical Panoramic Image
Take multiple still photos from top to bottom and repeat the steps for the horizontal pano listed above.
Sample Full 360° Image
The VisualTour Studio stitching software can also create a seamless 360° image that scrolls completely around 360° instead of moving back and forth like the partial panoramic image. VisualTour automatically determines the image type and displays it properly.
To create a complete 360° image, take photos until you have rotated in a complete circle. We recommend that for full 360° scenes that you take the overlapped still photos in “Portrait” orientation.
Portrait Orientation
The four photos below were taken in Portrait orientation (taller rather than wider). This technique works well for 360° panoramas as well as when you want to create a partial panorama of a smaller room such as a secondary bedroom. To do this, simply turn your camera 90° (either right or left). For these types of scenes, a standard tripod is recommended (but not required). Standard tripods can be purchased for under $20 and are available at most camera stores and department stores such as Wal-Mart, Sears, Best Buy, etc.
