Virtual Tour Question

[david_debalko1]

<p>A client of has asked if I can photograph a virtual tour of a facility for their website. Not sure what this entails, I am sure a camera on a tripod taking frames in a 360 degrees circle,How wide(or not wide) of a lens to use? Does it require a special pan head for the tripod? What program did you use to put it together? I would appreciate any help. Thanks, Dave</p>

[bill_mussett1]

<p>It might be best to ask your client for clarification of what they mean by virtual tour. It could mean panoramas (full 360 or partial), a slide show with captions, a gallery with thumbnails opening to a larger photo or something else.<br>

If they do want panoramas you'll need a special pan head and stitching software to do it right. A couple of sources for both are Really Right Stuff <a rel="nofollow" href="http://reallyrightstuff.com/QR/05.html" target="_blank">http://reallyrightstuff.com</a> and Kaidan http://www.kaidan.com/<br>

You may also want to read this post on PNet about panoramas for more info: http://www.photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00PwFG<br>

<br /></p>

[bill_mussett1]

<p>David,<br>

A P.S. to my earlier post: If your client does want a panorama, you will likely be expected to hand them a file ready to be uploaded as a rotating panorama, as I doubt they'd want one long and narrow still photo. I'm not familiar with all the current stitching software, but if any include the ability to create a Flash rotating panorama, that would be the one to buy, otherwise you'll be looking at purchasing additional software.<br>

The only other advise I can give is to encourage you to do several test panoramas; you'll have to calibrate your lens to the panning head (find the nodal point of the lens) and record that setting.<br>

Panoramas can be unique, fun to produce and dramatic but they are work and do take some practice. Good Luck!</p>

[david_debalko1]

<p>Bill, Thanks for your help, this is the sample they gave me - http://www.virtualtourproductions.com/sampletours.asp<br>

Dave</p>

[bill_mussett1]

<p>David,<br>

Looks like you'll be producing a panorama in the near future!<br>

You will need a wide angle lens, just how wide depends upon how small or large an area you'll be photographing. If you have a wide zoom, such as 10-22 mm, that would be the most versatile, but you'll want to avoid distortion from using the lens too wide for nearby objects. Then there's the potential that the nodal point changes as you change the focal length. But stay with the same focal length through each individual panorama. Do shoot photos somewhat wider than what you need as you'll undoubtedly be cropping the top and bottom edges of your stitched panorama to remove jagged edges.<br>

The example you sent appears to use a Java encoded viewer; I don't know how prevalent Java is in most browsers, so that's why I first mentioned Flash encoding for a Flash viewer since Flash has practically become the de facto viewer and is included with most browsers.<br>

Hope all this helps.</p>