360 photography technology is here to stay and now is a very good opportunity to enjoy this new trend. Whether you run a business or are an amateur, harnessing its power now is a good move. Since you might be new to all this, we’ve decided to help you out to make the most of this exciting technology. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this great – straight to the point – beginner guide to VR and 360 photography.
Let’s go!
VR/360 photography is the art of shooting a location from many angles, creating a full spherical view. You can shoot one from your smartphone, from a dedicated 360° device, or from a DSLR. I will get back to this point later on.
The raw – flattened result of a 360 photography looks like this :
It wouldn’t be accessible to us if there was no technology and software to support it. But thanks to technology ( and Panoraven :-), viewing those great 360 images has never been easy. Look at this in the VR viewer below :
You can navigate the picture in all directions. Great isn’t it? Now let me ask you a simple question: why do we take classical photos? Of course, your answer will depend on your job but here are some most common answers
We take photos (regular ones) to :
Now for all those points, which do you think is better : a flat image or a 360 view ?
Please make your choice with this little comparison :
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying bye-bye to classical photography. It will always be here. Nevertheless, won’t it be easier to rent your flat with a 360 view? Won’t it be easier to describe where you are to your friends? Won’t it be easier to remember those great moments in your life?
Let’s face it, 360-degree images are awesome. And leverage them if you run a business is a great idea.
Let’s take a look to some business use cases.
Because 360 images are so rich, they can help any company to promote their brands.
First, simply by the fact it’s cutting-edge technology, using 360 images to promote your brand is a good move. Indeed, it conveys a good first impression because it’s new, it’s shiny, it’s a “WOW Factor”. Beyond that, every business would win from improve the immersion of their customers. Easy examples: if I choose to eat outside tonight, I would be glad to see the dining room of the restaurant. Or imagine now that I want to rent a hotel room. I will definitely love to inspect the room before I pay for it. Now a less obvious one to show you that it could benefit all businesses. Let’s say I need to go to the dentist’s but I’m afraid of it. It would be a pain reliever for me to see the clean room with brand new material. Do you see the point?
There are endless possibilities to raise your brand awareness from 360 photography.
Hotels and travel agencies around the globe are already using it to get a competitive edge. Imagine being able to experience the destination or the accommodation you are planning to visit? This helps travelers make smarter decisions about their travel plans.
Sharing authentic experiences with the audience is in general a fair part of a blogger’s work. With VR and 360-degree imagery, you can be more creative and experiment with this new medium. Whether you are writing about your last travel or a new food recipe, it will help your audience to feel closer.
Imagine the time and money all parties involved in the home building process can save with this tech. Capturing the look of all the completed housing projects is a cash and time saver. No more frustration for customers – and more sales for the real estate agencies.
Thinking about renting your flat or house ? Renting a meeting room ? Then like for the real estate industry, you should definitely use 360 photos.
For film makers, 360 tech could be used for scouting interesting places to shoot from.
Being Pro photographer is more competitive than ever before. Everybody with a DSLR feels like they can do the job and sell their services. To stand out from the crowd, leveraging 360 photos could delight your customers.
You can take one with your smartphone using street view app. The process is to take several photos of the same location and let Street view stitches them to make a 360° view.
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If you don’t have already one, you can consider investing. We selected the 3 best 360 cameras here.
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But what about those of you who want to stick to your DSLR? You will need to set your DSLR on a tripod and shoot dozens of overlapping photos of the area. You’ll get good quality but you will have to stitch them in post-processing yourself though.
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You will find here our full tutorial to make it perfect.
Two options here. First one, you can hold the device and push the button yourself. In this case, your arm will be on the pic and you will be very close to the lens. While you can do great photos and souvenirs this way, for better photos we recommend using a self-timer. Most 360 cameras have this option through the furnished app that controls the device. At this point, you don’t have to be close to the device. The first thing you should pay attention to is the height from which you are going to take the photos. You can achieve this by using a suitable tripod. We recommend getting a microphone stand as it’s less expensive than a specific tripod. Plus the stand will be less visible on the pic than the tripod.
Once your device is on your stand, now it’s all about placement. Photography is an art, and it’s more true than ever with this medium. First, you should note that standard photo advice still applies. But you can be now more creative, eg hide something on the photo, and display much more details.
Be creative and have fun!
Follow this great guide about how to shoot a 360 with a DSLR here.
Ok so you made some great 360 photos ? Now it’s time to share the world!
Upload your 360 photo to share it. Note, that you can upload several images to make it a slider. Once the upload is over, you will get access to the 360 viewer and a dashboard.
From here, you will be able to share or embed your 360 in any website.
On the dashboard, click on the code icon. You will need to paste this code in your HTML where you want this code to appear. The 360 images of these pages are embedded this way. If you do not have access to your HTML, you will be able to easily find some info by typing some google keywords as your CMD eg “WordPress” + “paste embed code”.
You can also share the world by hitting the Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, SMS, or email button depending on your needs. You can also hit the link button and share the direct link in any other way. The receiver will have direct access to your great 360 view!
360 photography is the art to shoot a location from many angles creating a full sphere view. You can create one from a smartphone, a 360 camera, or a DSLR. Now we are able to embed a 360 viewer on a website or easily share a 360 view. This cutting-edge tech provides great new marketing opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs. For amateurs, it’s also a new rich medium to share your world.
We hope you liked this beginner guide, you have now all information you need to start ! Click the button below to upload for free your first 360 photo. You don’t need to create an account!
