In 2022, virtual tours are now better, faster,
and easier to make than ever before.
There are now a lot more options in terms of cameras,
gear, shooting techniques, photo editing software,
and more virtual tour platforms than we've ever had before.
So in this video,
I'm going to share my top gear recommendations in 2022
for shooting virtual tours,
as well as a very brief overview of how to shoot
and edit them.
If you want the full breakdown,
you can find 18 plus hours of tutorials
inside my Virtual Tour Pro course, which I'll link below.
Now, the first decision you'll need to make
is how professional you want your tours to be
and what exactly professional means to you.
Because that will determine what you choose
in terms of camera gear, software, and workflows.
Some people out there will tell you
that you need the most expensive camera,
the most high end and complicated editing workflow
in order to feel like you are a professional
that's worthy of charging for their work,
which personally I think is BS.
In reality,
the level of professionalism your virtual tour needs depends
on the use case of what you're making it for.
If you're shooting for high end,
multimillion and billion dollar companies, then yes,
of course you'll need a high end workflow
using expensive equipment.
But for most other types of virtual tours
like real estate, retail, hospitality, tourism, automotive,
the list goes on,
it's totally fine to stick with a more basic camera
and workflow that produces results professional enough,
especially when you follow the best shooting
and editing workflows like the ones I'll touch on
in this video.
So let's start with gear.
What kind of camera do you need
to shoot virtual tours in 2022?
So the most basic way to shoot a virtual tour
is with a smartphone and a smartphone rotator.
You can normally get these for around $100
and they only work with specific platforms.
The quality will be fairly average,
but for real estate shoots, it's acceptable.
The next level up from shooting on a phone
is shooting with a 360 camera like this, or this, or this.
And there are lots of options that range
from around $200 up to $2,000.
My number one recommendation for a 360 camera right now
is the THETA Z1
because it shoots amazing bracketed raw shots
and the final image quality
and dynamic range beats
every other 360 camera out there right now.
At the moment, the THETA Z1 is $1,000.
If that's too much,
then I'd suggest going for something cheaper,
like the THETA X, or the Trisio Lite 2.
Both of these cameras pack of punch
for that slightly lower price tag
and you won't be disappointed with the results of either.
And of course, you'll wanna subscribe
for my future 360 camera recommendations.
Then finally, on the high end of shooting 360 photography
for virtual tours, we have capturing panoramic images
with a DSLR and a panoramic head like a Nodal Ninja.
This workflow is essential
for high end shoots for big clients.
And if that interests you,
then I'd strongly suggest following one of my good friends,
Peter from Little Planet,
who is one of the world's top DSLR 360 photographers.
The next tool you're going to need for your 360 camera
is a monopod.
And you'll notice how I didn't say tripod,
because tripods are not built for virtual tours
because the head of the tripod is too thick
and shows up prominently in 360 photos.
The monopod I recommend is the Bushman Monopod,
which is a bit fancy and higher end,
but it's seriously good quality and will last a long time.
You wanna make sure your monopod has a counterweight
like this one, as well as some small tripod legs
that will be easy to edit out later.
There are more budget friendly alternatives
like using a selfie stick with some tripod legs,
or you can buy yourself a light stand from Amazon,
which has slightly bigger legs,
but it should work fine for virtual tours
as long as it has a 1/4 inch tripod thread on the top.
And that's it, really,
when it comes to the basic gear you need
to shoot a virtual tour.
This is because your camera settings
and editing techniques will do the rest.
So let's talk camera settings.
Now, there are a lot of 360 cameras out there
with a lot of modes and a lot of settings,
but to keep it simple,
the two best workflows I recommend,
regardless of your camera,
is either shooting with inbuilt HDR,
if your camera has it,
or shooting with raw plus bracketing, if again,
your camera has it.
The bracketing workflow will produce better results.
The inbuilt HDR will mean the shoots go a lot faster.
So which of these two workflows you choose depends
on which camera you own,
as well as how much editing you're willing to do.
Now, when you're at your location,
the first decision you'll need to make
is how many shots do you need?
And the answer changes a bit,
depending on your use case for the virtual tour.
Generally, I recommend one shot per room of your location,
assuming the rooms are average size rooms.
This avoids your tour feeling too repetitive.
The exception to one photo per room is firstly real estate,
where more coverage is needed to show off every last corner,
and two, if you plan on uploading the tour
to Google street view,
where more regular navigation points
will be more consistent
with the Google street view experience.
It is better to overcover than undercover a location.
So as a rule of thumb,
shoot every shot you think could work out
and then it will be a process of elimination later
in choosing as few shots as you can get away with.
If your location is well lit to begin with,
then you won't need to turn the house lights on.
If there are any dark areas, however,
or if the entire location depends
on the lights being switched on to get enough light,
then yeah, absolutely turn those lights on,
but only if you have to,
because direct light sources can cause overexposure
in your shots.
Next, you're going to set a self timer
of at least five seconds
so you have enough time to hide.
I hope you like playing hide and seek.
Once you've taken your first shot,
the rest of the shoot is going to go so fast
because your camera's already set up on the monopod,
you've chosen the right settings.
So it's just a matter of moving it from room to room,
getting the shot right, then moving on.
So for the average virtual tour,
you're not going to be shooting
for any longer than half an hour.
Next, let's discuss the best editing workflows in 2022.
Because 360 cameras are getting so good,
some cameras don't even need editing
if you don't have the time or inclination to do so.
If you want better quality, though, then
I absolutely would recommend colour correcting your 360.
Photoshop used to be the number one software to do this,
but they've recently discontinued their 3D
and 360 capabilities,
meaning the new go-to workflow for colour correction
is using Adobe Lightroom to merge your bracketed photos
and colour correct,
then using a low cost Photoshop alternative
like Affinity Photo to edit out the tripod
and any other imperfections.
Depending on the camera you're using,
you will need to stitch your images at some point.
And stitching is the easiest process ever.
All you do is import your shots
into your camera's software
and it spits out an equirectangular two by one image
in seconds.
Then it's up to you whether you want to do any more editing
to increase your image quality further.
Personally, I like using the Topaz Suite,
like Denoise and Gigapixel to increase the overall size
and sharpness of my shots,
as well as eliminating all noise,
making everything picture perfect.
You can find in-depth tutorials to the Topaz Suite
inside my Virtual Tour Pro course.
The final step is pieing together your virtual tour
in a virtual tour software.
And there is absolutely no shortage of choice.
There is like nearly 200 virtual tour platforms out there,
and yes, it's kind of hard to choose which one's the best.
And the good news is it's not just Matterport.
There are so many different kinds of virtual tour softwares
that cater to different markets.
There really are options for every use case,
skill level, and budget.
So if you haven't seen my video,
"Which is the best virtual tour software?"
I'd strongly suggest checking it out.
I'll link that down below.
And I will remake that one soon
because there are now many more platforms
that have emerged as serious competitors
since I made that video.
Whichever virtual tour platform you choose,
the editing process is going to be pretty similar.
You start by uploading your photos,
then you connect them together
by adding hotspots from one to the other,
then you can add custom elements like info cards and logos.
Then simply share the link
of that virtual tool with your client
and they'll be sent directly to it
in their internet browser.
And that's it.
That is at least the basics
of how to shoot a virtual tool in 2022
and my top recommended workflows.
If you want the more detailed workflows,
you'll find them inside Virtual Tour Pro,
which shares all of my best tips and tricks
for professional virtual tours that you can charge for.
And that's it.
Happy 360-ing and I'll see you next time.