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Company Planning, Virtual Panorama, Newbies
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Re: Company Planning, Virtual Panorama, Newbies
Posted: 30 Jun 2009 at 10:10 GMT
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 that setup is insane!!! but thats the effect we were after, we were thinking along the lines of having a camera rail similar to that in your link, but just the one camera that we'd slide around to multiple points. The car isn't going to be doing any matrix manouvres...
You rekon once they took them images they used breezesys to put it all together?
thanks for the advice
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Company Planning, Virtual Panorama, Newbies
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Re: Company Planning, Virtual Panorama, Newbies
Posted: 30 Jun 2009 at 4:14 GMT
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We understand how you acquired the shots, what we were getting at was once you had the shots what software did you use? We created a 360 of a car earlier. Long story short, it needs to be in a studio, as you guys rightly pointed out earlier (apologies, of course we had to explore all options). We only have a couple of questions remaining?
Assuming your in a white wall studio, can you obtain the same effect if you moved the camera around the vehicle and took shots at every 10 degrees as you would if the camera where stationary and the vehicle were on a turntable stopping every 10 degree?
We can walk the line between an unviable and viable idea if we are able to erect a portable studio (white wall tent with lighting) and are able to have the camera zip around the car taking shots at degree increments. However setting up even the most portable turntables at the start of the shoot and then having to adjust it for every car makes the idea unviable. While a solid adjustable free turntables would require a truck to get around. It would be much quicker if you could set up the studio drive the cars into a marked area and shoot
The second question is what’s the best software to create object movies?
thanks for your patience
Tim
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Company Planning, Virtual Panorama, Newbies
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Re: Company Planning, Virtual Panorama, Newbies
Posted: 30 Jun 2009 at 1:01 GMT
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Martin, the example you posted is great!!! Assuming we can make it do a full 360 around a car? How did you do it? We intend to have the dealerships set up with tripods walking around a marked circle. So that will clean it up.
Doug, all cars on the site will have between 5-20 pictures for both private sellers and dealership vehicles. We charge the dealerships a yearly fee to post all there entire inventory online with unlimited changes. This yearly fee is a quater of the cost of putting a full page add in one Saturday paper. Our advertising budget is large enough to place radio ads every day of the year across multiple stations to attract private buyers to the website, thus giving the dealerships greater hits on there inventory. The dealerships can track how many views there inventory has had online to asses the effectiveness of the website. They can simply add, remove or edit there inventory at any time. Private sellers advertise free (to improve content volume) until sold, and can also easily add, remove, or edit there ads with multiple pictures.
Other features include allowing buyers and sellers to interact or negotiate anonymously with each other. Each vehicle will have a mini forum below it. Allowing buyers to ask questions and sellers to answer them, of course anonymous messages can be sent privately as well. This form of communication gives people a chance to have questions answered without being worried about being harassed (dealers) or shunned (private) by sellers. When people get there questions answered they feel more comfortable and confident about there decision and are more likely to buy.
Not just pictures, but video, for private sellers if they choose. This allows them physically show features of there cars. We intended to replicate this feature for dealerships but that’s where the idea of 360 comes up. We thought it was a cleaner look or more upmarket so to speak then video.
We appreciate your input and are also wary that the idea may not work. But as I’ve tried to explain above the success of this venture is not based on the 360. Now, to keep on topic, we have asked how to replicate what where after? Not is the idea or viable or not? We can't possibly write the idea of as unviable if we havn't even discovered the best way of creating what were after. If the best way is not good enough we will keep the idea in mind until future advances in this field allow us.
Cheers Tim
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Re: Company Planning, Virtual Panorama, Newbies
Posted: 29 Jun 2009 at 14:38 GMT
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Doug has hit it on the head. Dealers are desperate to sell cars, there couldn’t be a better time for us to pitch the ideas we have at them. Doug also pointed out there would be absolutely no point having 360 degree images if we were advertising just a few cars and we couldn't agree more, content sells far better then nifty features.
We intend to have a large inventory to bring sellers and buyers to the one place. The 360 degree images were just an after thought, we wanted people to go 'wow, why would you use anything else'. We want to have features they never thought possible. Obviously you need to distance yourself from the competition. You have to admit the idea of being able to 'virtually' see used cars online would be a massive attraction to private buyers. And believe me, if the dealerships see it this way they will pay for it.
Doug and other posters are also right however, when they say we can't produce these virtual panoramas quickly enough. Obviously we'd need a large number of staff, of course you'd have to then pass on costs to the dealerships and it all comes down to what there willing to pay as to whether the idea is viable. Something we will determine ourselves.
Now as for our problem, so far the link below is the best example we can give you of what were after in terms of the exterior view (we're still trying to determine whether this sort of thing is a form of panorama or something else we need to venture into)
www.experience-images.com/examples/MiataO/index.h...
The quality of both the image and movement is shocking. But it shows the camera rotating around the car as if it was still parked in the car yard (or in this case a forest). Does anyone know how to recreate this? We can't help but get the feeling it’s just so obvious to everyone else but us.
Yes we are still keen on pursuing the idea for now. We at least need to recreate what where after and present it to the dealerships as a whole with the rest of the website to determine wether the idea is viable or not.
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Re: Company Planning, Virtual Panorama, Newbies
Posted: 29 Jun 2009 at 6:08 GMT
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A very valid point, we had thought of a couple of ways or offers to stop them using the panorama's they created elsewhere. We had a rough play around with some programs and are confident in recreating interior panoramas with relative ease after some practice (at least we know its actually achievable). Unfortunately were still no closer to doing an object panorama (or exterior view) without the use of a turntable. Which we consider critical to make this work.
We don’t think it would be beyond a dealerships to learn how to make a sufficient panorama. As for your example we couldn't notice anything out of the ordinary, so neither would the general public. In fact it was very good and would be more then satisfactory for what we have planned.
Cheers
Tim
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Re: Company Planning, Virtual Panorama, Newbies
Posted: 29 Jun 2009 at 0:25 GMT
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Thanks for your input guys, it sounds like there’s a reason no one else has ventured into a project on this scale for a reason (none that i know of). The web developers assured us they could upload something like this on the website, but as for creating it, they seemed to have as much idea as we did and certainly had no idea of the simplest and best way. That’s why we thought it best to ask people involved in this type of thing. And you guys have already given us multiple avenues to explore.
We will explore the turntable further. But we couldn't possibly bring all the dealerships vehicles to a single location, or even multiple locations. Convincing a dealership to install a turntable for this purpose seems unlikely. The only other option would to have a turntable that came to them.
But Due to the time frame you guys are suggesting, We think the easiest (and only) way to create the figures that we've forecast is to have the dealerships create the panoramas themselves. We simply couldn’t cover it. We don’t think they will be against acquiring and learning how to use the equipment if it sells cars (and we think it will). Hopefully the dealerships not willing to create the panoramas themselves will be few enough for us to cover.
So assuming there not willing to install a turntable. Is there any way at all to re-create an exterior view. Perhaps we would have to venture out of panorama, like a video that pans around the car that you could drag back and forward like controlling a panorama?
As for the one shot lenses, we considered it, and looked at examples. But our theory is, if your not going to create it properly don’t create it at all. Because someone will simply come along and better you.
Tim
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Re: Company Planning, Virtual Panorama, Newbies
Posted: 28 Jun 2009 at 12:37 GMT
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Both of the examples above are the kind of thing were chasing. We noticed in all car interior panorama that the windows are white. I just thought it was because they where shot in studio. But if you say this was shot outdoors, were the windows covered in white? the images manipulated in Photoshop or similar? or is panorama software capable of this. Another thing we've notice is that in alot of landscape panorama (not all) when you look at the feet of the camera there’s a black spot or logo, obviously where the tripod was. This is not apparent in car interior panoramas, is this the result of image editing before creating a panorama?
Anyway we will have a play around with Autopano and Pano2VR tomorrow and see what results we come up with.
One thing where keen on seeing is an example of a panorama where the camera rotates around the car. Like in the first link i posted, but outdoors. Or is this something you could only achieve in a studio on a turntable.
Cheers
Tim
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Re: Company Planning, Virtual Panorama, Newbies
Posted: 28 Jun 2009 at 11:26 GMT
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Sorry guys, the examples i posted are just to show you the type of movement and view range where after. We don't intend to shoot the vehicles in a studio or on a turntable either. The thought was just to pull the vehicle into and empty space and photograph them there.
Andrew thanks for the advice, do you have any examples of the panorama you've created. We'd be very interested in seing them.
Cheers, Tim
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Company Planning, Virtual Panorama, Newbies
Posted: 28 Jun 2009 at 5:12 GMT
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Hey Guys. We are looking at starting a company that advertises motor vehicles online. During an initial discussion on how to better the competition, the idea of virtual panorama came up. After performing research on the subject we have been unable to come up with any concrete information on how to complete the task. With so much outdated information, third party companies and every software company claiming there the best.
Basically the website will allow both private advertisers and dealerships to use the service. Initially the virtual panorama will only be available to the dealerships as an option to advertise there used car inventory. This means we would be creating 100's if not 1000's of these panoramas on a weekly basis. So being able to create them quickly is critical. I must also stress this is a task we want our own staff to perform. No contracts.
What were after is two views of the cars, the interior and the exterior. The examples below are exactly what where after.
Interior
www.mazda.com.au/Models/Current%20models/RX-8/Fea...
Exterior
www.mazda.com.au/Models/Current%20models/RX-8/Fea...
Where on square on here, pretend we know virtually nothing on the topic
Equipment? what do we use? we gathered you take various images and "stitch" them together? correct? or is there and easier way? what do you use to take these images? digital camera and tripod? or something else?
Software? initially we thought you'd take a couple of images load flash cs4 and somehow it would do the rest for you (well we wished) or does it? or is there another program that does this? what do the professionals use?
Format? flash, QuickTime, java, other? The panoramas will be of similar size to those in the examples linked above. They need to be able to load quickly but be of decent quality, To cater for a variety of internet speeds (we found the above examples satisfactory in both regards). We want to be able to handle the finished product like you would uploading a flash movie to your website.
As you've probably gathered we need a comprehensive run down on the subject. from equipment, software, format etc?
We appreciate any information provided, and apologise if this has been previously discussed (direct us).
Cheers in Advance
Tim
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