Virtual tours are becoming increasingly sought after as effective marketing material. With the realization of their online value for potential customers, many businesses are now investing in virtual tours. With the sudden growth comes misunderstandings and uncertainties about what you can expect from a virtual tour company. As an experienced and highly regarded virtual tour company operating in the Sheffield, Derbyshire and Peak District areas we wanted to help customers get the most from their virtual tours, so below are 4 questions to ask your virtual tour company before hiring.
1) What equipment will you use for the virtual tour?
Ask what output the camera and workflow will provide, and review examples similar to your own space. There is no universal requirement to use a DSLR: specialist 3D cameras, panoramas and other capture methods serve different purposes. Agree image quality, coverage and deliverables rather than judging the result by one camera label.
2) Can I see some of your previous virtual tours?
Find out how many virtual tours the company has done before and take a look at their previous work. You can often find some examples of the companies work on their website so it is definitely worth taking a look. You can get an idea of how experienced the company is and by reviewing some of their work you can know the standard of the tours they offer. Pay attention to detail as if you were reviewing your own business’s virtual tour.
Not sure what to look for in their tour examples? Below are some top tips:
- Lighting is very important for photos and this remains true for virtual tours. The lighting needs to be right otherwise you miss important details or your eye is drawn elsewhere.
- Transition between rooms. You want the transitions to be smooth, it shouldn’t be clunky or feel unnatural.
- Are your eyes being drawn to the right features?
- Unwanted features. Are there features in the tour that take away from the experience? e.g. bins, faces, personal information etc.
3) What rooms will be photographed?
It is important to ask this so you can be clear on what will be included in the tour. This is an important question as sometimes photographers pick and choose which rooms to include, this can be for good reason and produce an effective end product but if the photographer isn’t experienced it could just be them trying to simplify the project.
4) Should the business be empty for the tour?
The virtual tour company will be able to offer suggestions on whether staff or clients should be around for the virtual tour. More often than not, the virtual tour is more effective when there are no people so the focus can be on what your business has to offer customers. There can be occasions where there are benefits to having people around so it’s definitely something to discuss with the photographer.
If you’re looking for a virtual tour Sheffield, Derbyshire or Peak District then 360 Virtual View will be able to help. Experience is key to producing seamless virtual tours, if you’d like to see our previous work, get in touch by calling 0114 383 0711 or via www.360virtualview.co.uk