I have one of the virtual tour programs that you stitch together the pics & then post the tour on the original vendor’s web site for a monthly or per tour fee. Can a tour somehow be posted on my site along with the tour viewer? I would like to post virtual tours on my site with the software I already have but if that isn’t possible what options should I be looking at. Thanks

It can probably be posted on your website if there is a URL you can link to.

I know www.VisualTour.com is very good at making their tours easy to put anywhere you want along with a viewer.

I was thinking more on the line of skipping the vendor’s web site and posting the tour on my site (server) with maybe an auto run command to the viewer when you click on the tour?

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Ann Connolly ABR,CRS,GRI,e-PRO
RE/MAX Realty Marketing
mailto:ann@AnnConnolly.com
http://www.ElkhartCountyListings.com

Ann,
http://www.360dof.com/

I’m not sure what you are referring to as being “honest”? I posted a question looking for a way to post virtual tours on my site without using a 3rd party vendor’s site. I don’t call Fisbos dishonest, crooks or bad people. I can hope the Fisbo fails which statistics show 95-98% of them do. That just means I’m one of those minority agents that might have the ability or desire to post my own tours. If it’s not “illegal”(or against the license agreement) to use the software I purchased along with the viewer and post the tours on my server then it’s not any different than a fisbo selling his own home, if he tries to sell his neighbors home then that’s a different story altogether.

So again back to the original question of a way to post virtual tours on web site whether it’s visualtour.com, 360dof.com, billyjimbob.com or just plain video camera and windows media player. I’m looking for some input from anyone that has accomplished this. Thanks

Ann,
You need to chill. In my previous post I placed a link to a website that has software that does exactly what you asked.

The quote "If you are honest..." is from Mark Twain and is on my signature line. It was not directed at you but is on all of my posts.

Misunderstanding I am sure Jim.

Ann do you understand that is his signature?

This is your signature.

Jim participates in this forum daily helping thousands of people with good advice and ideas. If someone can help you get what you need he can.

Hi Ann,

I am brand new to this forum, but was intrigued by your question. I have answered this same question to thousands of realtors in the last 5 years. I haven't officially even introduced myself and background to the other members of this forum as yet. But I do have some input you may find valuable to your recent question regarding hosting your own tours.

First, you probably should ask yourself what is the reason I want to host the tour myself? Is it because you don't like the viewer that my tour company is providing, or is it because you don't like the fact that the consumer looking at your site is re-directed to a third party site.

To host the tours yourself, you will need to create a nice viewer to show the photo's in, you would then need to have a panoramic viewer software to run the images. Most consumer products are not a good quality for the imaging and let's face it tour companies have spent millions investing in getting this system right for realtors.

There are ways for you to link the tours to your site, but have it pop up in a window that makes it appear to the viewer that they never left your site at all. Also some tour providers can customize a Virtual tour viewer to have the same look and feel as your website, making it appear so seamless. Perhaps that is a solution for you.

One of the features with our services is an on-line statistics traffic report. Having the tour linked to our servers will help facilitate this report with real numbers and a pie chart of where your on-line visitors are coming from and how many showings. Imagine being in a multiple offer situation and using this as a leverage tool to gain a higher sale price. "We have had 5000 online showings on this property just this week, I think we will hold off till next week for a list price or higher offer". There is so much more to a virtual tour than just pictures. It is all about the investment vs. aquistion!

If you host your tour yourself, will you gain that type of exposure tool? Will it track the hits from realtor.com, yoursite, your company site, yahoo, obeo.com and any other site it may be linked to in one neat and tidy report?

I hope I was helpful, please feel free to contact me if you would like more information.

I use a Canon S1 IS digital camera and a wide angle lens to shoot my own virtual tours. With the software provided with the camera, I can create Apple Quicktime movies for the tours. Quicktime is a great platform because most people already have it on their PC.

The Canon S1 IS has a special panoramic mode for taking the pictures. Even without the pano head, you can still take great photos with a little practice.

I just bought Nikon 8800 and plan on using it with the Kaidan 360 VR lens. Lens is on backorder, so we'll see how it goes. The software works on a Mac, so that is pretty nice.

I tried using a tripod and stitching software. Man, that takes a much longer time and greater deal of effort. The Kaindan seemed like a good idea because it's just a one-shot solution.

Thait Kaidan looks like one great piece of hardware! Good luck!

Got my Kaidan a couple weeks ago. It was on backorder. The lens is very large, so I have to get an adapter ring, as expected. I'm going to test it today.

Hi room. I need your opinions on something. My company, CommercialNet, Inc., is seriously considering offering our Web-based DVT Production Suite under the "shareware" business model. This would DRAMATICALLY reduce the per annum cost of our product. As you know, companies such as VisualTour.com charge around $560 for one year of use per agent ($199.95 plus $25 per month). Virtual tour providers that offer photography services charge $60 to $90 PER TOUR. If we went with our proposed model, we would be able to offer a product that is more than twice as powerful as most "do-it-yourself" virtual tour products for only $55 per year (includes unlimited use, no recurring fees, hosting, documentation, free upgrades, more). The only thing we would not do is offer phone support. Instead, support be provided by thorough documentation.

I think a huge benefit of moving to a shareware business model is that it would give real estate professionals access to our product to create multimedia-rich tours when they need it most and still use "competitive" products for their daily tours.

So I guess the question is: Would you pay $55 for unlimited use of a virtual tour production suite for one year with NO STRINGS ATTACHED?

If you want to see our stuff, visit our Web site at http://www.commercialnet.biz. Click on the DEMO link to see some live tour demos.

Thanks for your help!

Sorry, I made a mistake in my previous post. VisualTour.com charges $29.95 per user per month (for a single-use license) - not $25

We suggest actually bypassing the virtual tour. We think it will become a thing of the past. The new format will be video tours. Perhaps you should put some of your efforts in to videos. With Windows XP and MovieMaker and a good mini dv camera, you can create great videos tours in minutes.


Just a suggestion...