What is a 360-degree photo and how is it made?
Imagine a standard photo wrapped around you like a sphere. It captures left, right, above and below from one position. That is a 360-degree photo, the basic building block of every virtual tour.
In brief
A 360-degree photo captures the entire area around the camera, rather than only what is in front of it. Visitors can look left, right, up and down. Link several of these photos together and you create a virtual tour in which people move from one space to another.
How do we capture a 360-degree photo?
We place the camera at a carefully chosen point in the space. From that position, we capture everything around it and combine the images into one seamless panorama.
The position matters. Too close to a wall, the room feels small. In a natural viewing position, the tour immediately feels logical. That is why we consider the layout, key features and route through the building in advance.
Why not use one photo per floor?
One 360-degree photo shows a single position, rather than a tour. A logical tour needs images at every point where visitors should be able to look around or move on.
Good to know: The goal is not to capture every square metre. The selected points should show the company clearly. More is not always better.
What happens after the shoot?
We process the images and build the route. We always make number plates unreadable and blur or remove faces and confidential information as agreed. We then add text, images, videos and links where useful. This turns a single 360-degree photo into part of an interactive presentation.
Is this the same as a virtual tour?
No. A 360-degree photo is one image that people can look around in. A virtual tour links several of these images and can include navigation and extra information. The photo is the building block; the tour is the complete structure.
Want to know how many images are needed and how a complete virtual tour is made? Tell us briefly about the building, the audience and the goal, and we will give focused advice.