How to Make a Virtual Movie for the Web

360 Degree Image

Recently, I started to research the software necessary for making Real Estate Virtual Tours. These are the 360-degree movies that you can control with your mouse. There are many options for doing this. Some real estate companies even have the ability to let you create these on their sites. I was thinking of offering this product with the ability to take the pictures as a service to Realtors. I found a Canadian company that offers a free demo of their product, Image Assembler. The full-featured version ranges in price from $61 to $199.



In this article I will use the demo version and lead you through one of their examples. You can then download the same demo and go through the same example as used in this article. The demo version only allows you to render virtual movies in grayscale; the full feature version has color. In other articles I will use this same software and others to create virtual tour examples for real estate. eHow does not yet have the ability to display QuickTime VR movies, so you will need to follow this exercise to see the resulting movie from your work.

Things You'll Need

• Panavue demo software installed on your computer
• An Internet connection.

Instructions

1. 

   In this case select FILE and OPEN to select the Saint Paul Project from the SAMPLES directory in the Panvue folder on your computer. If you want to use your own photos, take pictures of a room or scene with the camera on a tripod. Without tilting the tripod, pan the area and take pictures about every 45 degrees. You can control the overlap of each image frame with the software.

2. 

   Once you have opened the folder, select the images files and click ADD to add them to the list. Make sure you put them in the correct order so that when you pan the VR movie with your mouse it will display a logical movement through the scene. After you have selected your images, click DONE.

3. 

   Click on the OPTION tab to set the rendering values for your VR movie. You can select the amount of blending which is useful to make the VR movie seem less jumpy. You should select some amount of blending. Experimentation with this will help you to decide how much. Make sure you click 360-degree wrapping and auto crop for this example. This will make sure your images line up correctly and assure you can pan a complete 360 degrees with your mouse to see the whole area.

4. 

   Select a lens definition. For this example, it has already been done and you should just click on ST.PAUL STREET EXAMPLE and click OK. If you are providing your own images, select the lens definition of your lens. If it is not listed, create a new lens definition for the lens you used to take the pictures.

5. 

   You will notice the panoramic image pop up in a separate window. It is now time to compile your movie by clicking on the RUN & FINALIZE tab. Select the full run button. Once you have compiled the movie, the SAVE button will become active allowing you to save your VR movie.

6. 

   Give your movie a name and select the time of movie you want, in this case a QuickTime VR movie. If you do not have VR installed on QuickTime, you will need to do so to be able to move the image with your mouse. Notice you can only choose GRAYSCALE as a rendering option because it is a demo version. In the full version you have many color choices including 24-bit and 1-bit options.

Tips & Warnings

• Experiment with the provided samples before using your own images.

• Take your own images with a wide angle lens at 45-degree intervals yielding eight images for a 360-degree Image.

Resources

• Panavue Software