Anyone making their own Virtual Tours? It's simple..
Just buy a Digital Handycam..we use the Sony DCR-HC32..go take a video...then use Windows Movie Maker which is included in any Windows XP computer to make the tour.
Its FREE (other than the cost of the handycam) and the software is fairly simple to figure out. If you need help..let us know, we can guide you thru it.

Can the tours be linked to an IDX compliant MLS system, or REALTOR.com?

You can usually post a link to the video. Not sure about realtor.com?
But via an mls board it could be linked as a virtual tour or a link right to the tour on your web site.

Realtor.com has made a concerted effort to cut off all avenues for placing any html in your listings there, even if you pay for enhancement.

The only way you can get a Virtual Tour there is to pay one of the VT providers supported. They,then, share that revenue with R.com.

Can we see a sample of the quality?

Here is one of our clients who does one.

http://www.prudentialdamiano.com/movies/ncgreenfront.wmv

http://www.prudentialdamiano.com/movies/greenfamrmkit.wmv

http://www.prudentialdamiano.com/movies/greenkit1.wmv

You can also use Windows Movie Maker with still shots and do custom transitions. See example here:

http://www.galleryrealty.com/Taos-Real-Estate-Listings/Historic-El-Valle-Home/Romero.wmv

Very good and informative post. Thanks for your help.

I personally use Obeo.com. They come out and take high quality pics and then stitch them and go a step further and host them. Once that's done ... there are a lot of options that people looking at the property can do from reviewing the neighborhood demographics, schools, making an appointment ... to seeing a picture from above. I cannot say enough about this service and it's value. The cost here is about $120 and is worth every penny. Looks more professional to your clients when you say the photographer can be here on Tuesday ... is that o.k?

See one at www.obeo.com/204739

They certainly are better quality. Thanks for the information. We'll pass it along

I don't consider that a virtual tour - its a movie. Poor quality, no interactivity. Proper virtual tours are far better.

Anyone who goes this route should be aware that Safari users -- approximately 3 or 4 over every 100 visitors -- most likely will get only a blank page when they attempt to view the tour.

I use Safari, and I can view the tour with no problem.

However, I do video virtual tours using Flash, not Windows Media Player. Flash is just about as universal of a platform as you will find, on over 98% of all browsers.

Here is a sample of the narrated tours:

http://www.rudymayer.com/featuredprop/MaxcyFisher/PhotosSept.html

Sorry Rudy... Tried to watch it, but feel asleep after about 30 seconds... never did get to see the property.

Just a note... videos and flash are NOT virtual tours. By definition, a virtual tour is a user controlled experience, not a sequentuially played movie.

Be careful using things as described above, as you may get in touble with your board. Virtual tours are NOT to include any agent contact information. (at least all the boards I know of) The reason for this is IDX... other agents are displaying your listings as their own, and your contact information should not be on the virtual tours. For those virtual tours that do contain agent contact information, you can be assured YOUR listings are NOT being forwarded to potential clients by other agents... hence your listing is not getting the exposure it could.

That's not true.. many boards allow contact information. In fact, all do in this area... agents photo, website, phone, email, etc are all branded on the virtual tours - all fully supported and linked by the MLS.

I'm not sure that the definition of 'virtual tour' is a user controlled experience, although that may be your definition.

"A Virtual Tour (or Virtual Reality Tour) is a digital (often online) tour of a location (actual or fictional) composed of a varying degree of images and other media. Tours often are comprised of digital photographs, panoramas, text, and even sounds. Generally, a virtual tour should evoke the sense of moving or walking through the location.
More purposefully, they can be especially useful in Universities and the Real Estate industry where shoppers do not wish to visit each individual location. People browsing these Virtual Tours can often at least determine what they do not wish to see, eliminating several options so they may physically inspect ones that they know already interest them."

Customers like them... and that gets listings... I think most people are not interested in standing in the middle of a room a spinning around like a top, which is what most virtual tours really are... distorted, blurry spinning sensations.

So you're saying that if I have IDX on my website, MY CLIENTS searching on MY WEBSITE see YOUR contact information on your virtual tours of your listings? That's just stupid and defeats the purpose of having an IDX search on your website. I'm glad they don't allow that anywhere around here!

The Virtual Tour we submitted as an example was not necessarily the best quality, but it certainly gets the job done and is a much more cost effective way. With one camera you can create unlimited tours. Most tours these days I think average about $100 per tour???
With this technique, (your own camera and editing) takes only minutes to make and it virtually makes the cost only pennies for each, plus the more you do, the better the quality can become.