Last Tuesday the Christchurch community was confronted with a terrible disaster of immense proportions. We would like to convey our best wishes to those affected by this devastating event.
A while a ago I created a series of 20 Virtual Tours for the Christchurch City Council. Many of the buildings I captured are now seriously damaged or gone…
You may have seen it last week on the TV News. Google is now offering 360˚ Virtual Tours of the world’s top art museums.
If Google sees a benefit in Virtual Tours, you may should too !
A 360˚ Virtual Tour is definitely a great way to introduce new visitors to your website. And for past visitors, they can show their friends and family and relive the moment. A Virtual Tour really does allow a visitor to get as near to visiting your venue as is possible from their home.
Whatever your business – a hotel or function room, whether it is inside or outside, use a panoramic tour to show it in the best light possible. Think how important this is for a wedding venue, where the bride and groom will want to get a feel for their special day. Show your facilities off.
Adding a panoramic tour to your website will allow visitors to walk around. They’ll be able to do everything from zooming in, to virtually walking round your venue.
A panoramic tour definitely makes a location and your website more interesting and worth returning to.
Virtual Tours have been around a long time, but not many businesses truly understand the benefits they can bring. However, you do now! So now you understand just how 360˚ Virtual Tours can attract more visitors. A Virtual Tour definitely pays for itself.
As a sample, below is the Virtual Tour of the entrance to the Lake Timara Lodge – one of the country’s most luxurious and private lodges.
Click here to take virtual tours of the charming rooms at the Timara Lodge.
Check out a few of our Virtual Tours and see how they got embedded into existing websites:
When the The Portage Resort Hotel in the Marlborough Sounds did a major re-design of the website, I got commissioned by Alison and Diana to supply Virtual Tours for the different room categories and shoot additional photographs for the already existing image library. The main focus here was on architecture / interior and food photography.
Timing for the interior photography was problematic as we had to take photos of several rooms between departure, cleaning and arrival of guests but Diana co-ordinated everything very well and we were able to complete the photo session in the estimated time frame. Please visit the new Portage Resort Hotel website, designed by babelscribe.com and check out the Virtual Tours or for example view the Kowhai Room Virtual Tour.
Last weekend I looked at the new web-site of the Garin College where my children study. I really liked the design, scrolled down to the footer and there is a link. Site by G-raff. Never heard of these guys… so I checked out the G-raff web-site and was blown away by the cool stuff they do.
World class web design by a very talented group of artists, designers, animators and copywriters who are actually based in different places and even different time zones. It shows again that the world is a village.
I wrote an email to Neil Macneil, who is one of the G-raff boys and based in the Motueka area, telling him how much I like the work they do and I hope we could do a project together and a short time later he replied…
“Hi Frank!
Thanks for your email. We like the stuff you do too!
But to be honest, that is a bit of an understatement… we LOVE the stuff you do.
A fabulous portfolio, simply stunning, one of the best we’ve seen in a long, long time. Where have you been hiding ?!
Loved your VR Panoramas – I dabbled in QTVR for a few years, but your work leaves mine for dead! ”
Neil Macneil, G-raff
A few days ago I have been on the coolest boat of the planet. The Earthrace !
With a 5000 watt music system and a wave-piercing hull design that allows you to pierce through the water (up to 7 meters below surface) rather than riding over the top – that sounds like serious stuff.
What is earthrace?
In June 2008, the amazing Earthrace vessel set a new world record for a powerboat to circle the globe, and she did this with 100% renewable biodiesel fuel, and a net zero carbon footprint. The voyage was over 24,000 nautical miles, and took 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes, smashing the old record by over two weeks.
Earthrace is one of the most eco-friendly boats ever made, running on 100% biodiesel. The team’s philosophy is that it is not just about running the right fuel, or the type of car you drive, it is about all the things you do…and by thinking a little about it, and taking small steps in the right direction, you can make a big difference. But this shouldn’t stop you from doing fantastic, exciting and amazing things in your life.
I totally agree !!
I took three full-screen QTVR panorama:
- At the berth in Picton.
- View from the deck.
- Look around the helm.
Earthrace is currently running promotions in New Zealand > Feb – Jun 2009. The aim of these tours is to connect with people , and encourage debate and understanding about biofuels, carbon footprints, and the many other aspects that affect our environmental footprint.
Would you like to own the coolest boat in the world?
For US$1.5 million, she’s yours! Contact pete@earthrace.net
In partnership with the professional and highly creative team of digitise I have been down to Christchurch to photograph Virtual-room-Tours for the Copthorne Hotel Commodore.
Arriving at the 4-star-plus hotel after a five hours drive I was very happy to check in on one of the Business Level Suites. That promised a night in style.
I got my gear ready and started working. Everything went smooth until I approached the Glass Elevator to shoot the Virtual Tour. Mirrors from the floor to the ceiling, glossy glass everywhere, no place to hide and an elevator door which refused to stay open. On top of that came the hotel guests who wanted to use the elevator and I wanted to stay at the fourth flour for the photos. Polite and humble on the outside my brain slowly realised it’s losing its temper…
24 hours later the photography for the virtual tours was done and I drove home to start with the post production. For the next four days I was glued to the screen to create high-quality full screen virtual tours.
Please go the Copthorne Hotel Commodore website and check out the virtual tours. Don’t forget to click on the full-screen button.
