[Transcript] In this video, I'll show you how to create a virtual reality tour from start to finish with just the Aleta SC2 and your phone. I'll be using an iPhone, but the instructions are virtually the same with a Samsung or other modern smartphone.
Begin by positioning the camera in the location you want photographed. It doesn't matter which lens is facing forward, as long as the four side lenses facing 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees.
Turn the camera on and wait about 30 seconds for it to boot up and be ready. You will see a series of messages in the display and hear two sounds, indicating that the camera is ready.
Prepare the location by removing personal items or anything that shouldn't be in the photo. It is generally a good idea to pull down shades if it is sunny and turn on all the lights. Doors should be fully opened or fully closed, depending on if the door leads to a camera location or not.
On your smartphone, connect to the Aleta WIFI in order to communicate with the camera. The Aleta WIFI will end in .OSC. Once connected, you can open the Aleta app.
For excellent quality photos with no post-processing, make sure you are in HDR mode, and use "auto" for the other settings where applicable. Now it's time to take the photo. Make sure you are out of the picture and tap the button on the right of the app. Once you hear the click, you no longer have to hide and can grab the camera to move to the next location. Remember to get out of the picture, remove items that shouldn't be in the photo, pull down shades if possible, turn on lights, and open or close doors.
Once you have taken all your photos for the tour, you can transfer them from the camera to your phone. Enter the camera's library by taping the thumbnail photo in the upper right. Select all the photos you want to transfer and tap the upload icon. Depending on your connection speed, this can take several minutes.
At this point, we are done with the camera and need to disconnect from the camera's wifi and reconnect to our local WIFI or your mobile network if WIFI is not available.
Now we are ready to create the virtual reality tour by connecting to vr360.tours and going to our VR tours. And tap the "add new tour" button. You'll notice that everything is organized in steps to make this more simple.
In step 1, enter the tour name, then an optional brief description.
In steps 2 & 3 we create the location by taping on the "add new location" link. tap the "select the file" link to access your phone's photo library where you just saved your 360-degree photos. Select the first photo in the tour. The photo will upload. It is important to make sure that the initial view of each photo is from the perspective of the viewer facing the rear of the property. If it is not, then rotate the photo. Enter a location name that will make it helpful for you and viewers to identify the location.
Once you have uploaded the photo, set the location name and rotation, you want to tap the "add new location" link for each location in your tour (that is, for each 360-degree photo on your tour). Repeat the upload, location name, and rotation (if necessary) for each location.
Remember that you can also create tours on your mac or PC, where the process is slightly different. If using a Mac or PC, it is faster to just remove the memory card from your camera and insert it into your computer rather than upload all the files wirelessly (assuming your computer can read micro SD cards). Also, on a Mac or PC, you select all of your 360-degree photos at once and upload them at one time, cutting back on the creation time.
As for setting the rotation of each image, you will quickly learn which direction your camera has to be pointing in order to bypass the rotation.
Once all of your 360-degree photos have been uploaded, you are ready for step 4: link your location to each other by setting the navigation arrows. Scroll up to your locations and start by taping on your first location name. You will see a 360-degree array of navigation arrows. Tap on the arrow that points to your next location. A window will pop up displaying all of your locations. Tap on the location you want the arrow to link to. The navigation arrow will turn red indicating it is linked. You can click on the arrow again to change or remove the link.
Proceed to your next location and repeat this process. Remember that each location can have more than one link, and every location should have a back link to the previous location.
If you want to add some pizzaz to your tour, you can go back to any location and add hotspots. Hotspots are areas that can be clicked to reveal more information in the form of text, photos, audio, and video. To add a hotspot, quickly double tap on the area where you want to add the hotspot. The hotspot window will appear where you can enter a heading text body, image, audio, or video link. For the audio, you can actually record the audio in real-time - no need to upload a pre-recorded mp3.
Now we are ready to preview our tour, In step 5, we will see options to display our tour, including the tour's direct URL. We can just click on that URL to launch the tour. Of course, this is the "virtual tour" version, not the "virtual reality tour" that someone would experience through a VR headset, but it is fine for testing.
As we move the phone around, the view will change. Tap the navigation arrows to move to the next location. Tap any "info" icon to access the hotspot information.
I can't stress enough the immersive sensation one experiences with these tours when in virtual reality. The 2-dimensional video does not do the experience justice, but because not everyone has a VR headset, the "virtual tour" version is also designed to "wow" the viewers by providing an experience well beyond mere photos or even a video.
Once you are satisfied with your tour, make it live in step number five in order for it to be publicly accessible. It will then appear in your list of tours with a green checkmark under the status column. From here, share your link or use the provided embed code to share your virtual reality tour with the world.
