TOPIC:

Best regards.

I'm interested in creating a 360 image exercise like the one on this Xerte example page or like Google Street View:

xerte.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=media_360_image_page

I have several questions:

1) What type and brand of 360 camera do I need to take the photos?

2) Is it necessary to use additional software to prepare the photos and then upload them to Xerte?

I've read about 360 Insta cameras and other brands and features, but I'm not sure what camera hardware I need to create a digital tour like the one in the xerte example.

Thank you for your kind collaboration.

Hi,

You can use most mobile phones to create 360 photo's (by really turning around a single pint. It is a bit cumbersome, and not suitable for moving targets, but can give you absolutely adequate results to experiment with. You normally do not need extra software, but it can be handy to postprocess the pictures.

Also you obviously use all the regular 360 camera's and they usually come with extra software.

Hi
just to add to what Tom has said a few comments and links:

Strictly speaking what you need for the 360 page is what is referred to as an equirectangular image. Generally all cameras described as 360 cameras will give you this but quality can be limited at the cheaper end. Using a pano mode on smart phones isn't quite the same because it misses the top and bottom but as Tom says should suffice for testing.
You don't need additional software unless you want to also explore advanced editing and other techniques.

If you visit the version 3.11 page of our release notes xot.xerte.org.uk/play.php?template_id=81#v311section3 you can actually download one of the Newark Castle images from our example both as a single image and as cube map faces which is described on the page. Note: As it says on the page you can also use the links on the page to download the images and test this functional but for non-commercial use only.

HTH
Ron