Virtual Tours

What is a Virtual Tour?

It is an interactive, spherical image that can be viewed on a web-site or CD-ROM that offers the viewer a complete field of view, from earth to sky, floor to ceiling, and alll around. The viewer can control this image by clicking on it with their mouse and dragging in the direction that they wish to look: see some examples in our project portfolio

How large are Virtual Tour Files?

The final tour is available in a variety of sizes and formats but typically the tours are about 100-300 Kilobytes in size, which is small enough to load quickly even for users with slower modem connections.

Will the virtual tours work in all browsers?

PawPrint provides tours in QuicktimeVR and Java formats, most recent browsers have Quicktime support included but a free plugin may need to be downloaded. Most all browsers support Java.

Are there any royalties associated with the final images?

No. We provide all the final images of your shoot on a CD-ROM (or you may elect to download them from our web-delivery server in advance) they become your property - there are no royalties associated and you may reuse the images as many times as you wish and in any format you wish.

I´ve noticed a logo at the bottom of your tours - must it be there?

When taking these 360° images it is virtually impossible to remove all traces of the tripod used to steady the camera. A ´tripod cap´ image is used to cover the remnants of the tripod in the image. You may choose to omit this, or add an image of your own for this cap rather then our standard logo.

Do you provide images in other formats?

We can re-map our final images into various formats - let us know what you are looking for and we will do our best to fill your needs.

Can I get a image that looks 360° around but not up and down?

Yes, we can provide any field of view within the sphere that you desire, as well as regular still images.

Why is looking up and down so important even if there is nothing there?

Because sometimes what isn´t there is just as important as what is...

Simply showing your customer that there is no gaping hole in the ceiling, or ugly shag carpet on the floor can be of great interest. Quite often however, there is something special that is high up or low down in a room and a completely spherical virtual tour is the only way to show it. Our research has shown that users feel more comfortable when they are not needlessly limited by a restricted field of view in virtual tours.

Some photographers who lack the equipment to provide completely spherical tours downplay the importance of unlimited field of view - don´t be fooled - it´s far more important then they let on.

Which format is better QuicktimeVR or Java?

In general, the QuicktimeVR version works better (is smoother) on most computers because Java can be resource intensive, but the quality of both versions is virtually the same. The main difference is that with the Quicktime version a plugin is required, the Java is provided for those visitors who do not have or do not wish to install the free Quicktime plugin.

What are Hot-Spots?

Hot-Spots (or nodes) are areas within the 360° image where more information can be displayed, the user can click to be re-directed to another 360 or web page, or a sound can be played. We can add as many Hot-Spots to your image as you want for a small additional charge.

How long does it take?

On average, it takes about 10 minutes to photograph a room - assuming the room is ready when we arive. An average 4 room shoot therefore, takes about one hour. We then require about one week to create the completed tours.

What if I only have a listing and not a web site?

PawPrint offers virtual tour hosting services for customers who do not have their own web site for a small annual fee. See our rates & packages page for details.

Do you do offer Real Estate Virtual Tours?

We do, but you may find our services not ideally suited for real estate.

PawPrint strives for the best possible quality 360° Virtual Tours - as such, we spend a lot of time creating our images - which makes them cost more then a simple one-shot 360 (the ones where you can´t look up and down) For most realestate applications this may not be necessary.

PawPrint has, thus, limited our real estate services to high-end properties that require the best quality tours, rather then trying to compete with the providers offering the "quick and dirty" one-shot tours at a much lower rate.

How far do you travel?

PawPrint has created Virtual Tours for companies across the globe - in Canada, USA, England, Spain, etc... Apart from local travel within the areas of Greater Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and the Sunshine Coast; travel expences are the responsibility of the client. You will most likely find that for projects under 20-30 individual virtual tours that this makes distance travel a prohibitive factor.

Some PawPrint customers (especially small business) have teamed up with other local businesses to share travel expences - In these cases PawPrint will also offer a group rate on the individual Virtual Tours.