In 2022, virtual tours
are now better, faster, and easier to make than ever before. There are now a lot more
options in terms of cameras, gear, shooting techniques,
photo editing software, and more virtual tour platforms
than we've ever had before. So in this video, I'm going to share my top
gear recommendations in 2022 for shooting virtual tours, as well as a very brief
overview of how to shoot and edit them. If you want the full breakdown, you can find 18 plus hours of tutorials inside my Virtual Tour Pro
course, which I'll link below. Now, the first decision
you'll need to make is how professional you
want your tours to be and what exactly
professional means to you. Because that will
determine what you choose in terms of camera gear,
software, and workflows. Some people out there will tell you that you need the most expensive camera, the most high end and
complicated editing workflow in order to feel like
you are a professional that's worthy of charging for their work, which personally I think is BS. In reality, the level of professionalism
your virtual tour needs depends on the use case of what
you're making it for. If you're shooting for high end, multimillion and billion
dollar companies, then yes, of course you'll need a high end workflow using expensive equipment. But for most other types of virtual tours like real estate, retail,
hospitality, tourism, automotive, the list goes on, it's totally fine to stick
with a more basic camera and workflow that produces
results professional enough, especially when you
follow the best shooting and editing workflows like
the ones I'll touch on in this video. So let's start with gear. What kind of camera do you need to shoot virtual tours in 2022? So the most basic way
to shoot a virtual tour is with a smartphone and
a smartphone rotator. You can normally get these for around $100 and they only work with
specific platforms. The quality will be fairly average, but for real estate
shoots, it's acceptable. The next level up from shooting on a phone is shooting with a 360 camera
like this, or this, or this. And there are lots of options that range from around $200 up to $2,000. My number one recommendation
for a 360 camera right now is the THETA Z1 because it shoots amazing
bracketed raw shots and the final image quality and dynamic range beats every other 360 camera
out there right now. At the moment, the THETA Z1 is $1,000. If that's too much, then I'd suggest going
for something cheaper, like the THETA X, or the Trisio Lite 2. Both of these cameras pack of punch for that slightly lower price tag and you won't be disappointed
with the results of either. And of course, you'll wanna subscribe for my future 360 camera recommendations. Then finally, on the high end
of shooting 360 photography for virtual tours, we have
capturing panoramic images with a DSLR and a panoramic
head like a Nodal Ninja. This workflow is essential for high end shoots for big clients. And if that interests you, then I'd strongly suggest
following one of my good friends, Peter from Little Planet, who is one of the world's
top DSLR 360 photographers. The next tool you're going
to need for your 360 camera is a monopod. And you'll notice how I didn't say tripod, because tripods are not
built for virtual tours because the head of
the tripod is too thick and shows up prominently in 360 photos. The monopod I recommend
is the Bushman Monopod, which is a bit fancy and higher end, but it's seriously good quality
and will last a long time. You wanna make sure your
monopod has a counterweight like this one, as well
as some small tripod legs that will be easy to edit out later. There are more budget
friendly alternatives like using a selfie stick
with some tripod legs, or you can buy yourself a
light stand from Amazon, which has slightly bigger legs, but it should work fine for virtual tours as long as it has a 1/4 inch
tripod thread on the top. And that's it, really, when it comes to the basic gear you need to shoot a virtual tour. This is because your camera settings and editing techniques will do the rest. So let's talk camera settings. Now, there are a lot of
360 cameras out there with a lot of modes and a lot of settings, but to keep it simple, the two best workflows I recommend, regardless of your camera, is either shooting with inbuilt HDR, if your camera has it, or shooting with raw plus
bracketing, if again, your camera has it. The bracketing workflow
will produce better results. The inbuilt HDR will mean
the shoots go a lot faster. So which of these two
workflows you choose depends on which camera you own, as well as how much editing
you're willing to do. Now, when you're at your location, the first decision you'll need to make is how many shots do you need? And the answer changes a bit, depending on your use
case for the virtual tour. Generally, I recommend one
shot per room of your location, assuming the rooms are average size rooms. This avoids your tour
feeling too repetitive. The exception to one photo per
room is firstly real estate, where more coverage is needed
to show off every last corner, and two, if you plan on uploading the tour to Google street view, where more regular navigation points will be more consistent with the Google street view experience. It is better to overcover
than undercover a location. So as a rule of thumb, shoot every shot you think could work out and then it will be a
process of elimination later in choosing as few shots
as you can get away with. If your location is
well lit to begin with, then you won't need to
turn the house lights on. If there are any dark areas, however, or if the entire location depends on the lights being switched
on to get enough light, then yeah, absolutely
turn those lights on, but only if you have to, because direct light sources
can cause overexposure in your shots. Next, you're going to set a self timer of at least five seconds so you have enough time to hide. I hope you like playing hide and seek. Once you've taken your first shot, the rest of the shoot
is going to go so fast because your camera's already
set up on the monopod, you've chosen the right settings. So it's just a matter of
moving it from room to room, getting the shot right, then moving on. So for the average virtual tour, you're not going to be shooting for any longer than half an hour. Next, let's discuss the best
editing workflows in 2022. Because 360 cameras are getting so good, some cameras don't even need editing if you don't have the time
or inclination to do so. If you want better quality, though, then I absolutely would recommend
colour correcting your 360. Photoshop used to be the
number one software to do this, but they've recently discontinued their 3D and 360 capabilities, meaning the new go-to
workflow for colour correction is using Adobe Lightroom to
merge your bracketed photos and colour correct, then using a low cost
Photoshop alternative like Affinity Photo to edit out the tripod and any other imperfections. Depending on the camera you're using, you will need to stitch
your images at some point. And stitching is the easiest process ever. All you do is import your shots into your camera's software and it spits out an
equirectangular two by one image in seconds. Then it's up to you whether
you want to do any more editing to increase your image quality further. Personally, I like using the Topaz Suite, like Denoise and Gigapixel
to increase the overall size and sharpness of my shots, as well as eliminating all noise, making everything picture perfect. You can find in-depth
tutorials to the Topaz Suite inside my Virtual Tour Pro course. The final step is pieing
together your virtual tour in a virtual tour software. And there is absolutely
no shortage of choice. There is like nearly 200 virtual
tour platforms out there, and yes, it's kind of hard to
choose which one's the best. And the good news is
it's not just Matterport. There are so many different
kinds of virtual tour softwares that cater to different markets. There really are options
for every use case, skill level, and budget. So if you haven't seen my video, "Which is the best virtual tour software?" I'd strongly suggest checking it out. I'll link that down below. And I will remake that one soon because there are now many more platforms that have emerged as serious competitors since I made that video. Whichever virtual tour
platform you choose, the editing process is
going to be pretty similar. You start by uploading your photos, then you connect them together by adding hotspots from one to the other, then you can add custom elements
like info cards and logos. Then simply share the link of that virtual tool with your client and they'll be sent directly to it in their internet browser. And that's it. That is at least the basics of how to shoot a virtual tool in 2022 and my top recommended workflows. If you want the more detailed workflows, you'll find them inside Virtual Tour Pro, which shares all of my
best tips and tricks for professional virtual
tours that you can charge for. And that's it. Happy 360-ing and I'll see you next time.
