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Example of a Retail Store Replicating the Experience within a Matterport15363

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Matterport Digital Twin by Adrian Baker Virtual Tours | Adrian Baker Virtual Tours Website

Matterport Blog (2 August 2021) Walk through Collectibles R Us to shop for unique models and memorabilia | Learn how Adrian Barker is bringing UK retail shops to life for out-of-town customers with digital twin technology
Post 1 IP   flag post
MeshImages private msg quote post Address this user
Very nice!

But to be honest, you don't need a Matterport for this. You can shoot this tour with a Z1 or InstaPro camera and build this tour experience in no time with 3Dvista - probably even faster than with Matterport, because you can replace the Mattertag Popup content with webframes, that show the shoplinks directly in the 3dvista tour.
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ahagert private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by MeshImages
Very nice!

But to be honest, you don't need a Matterport for this. You can shoot this tour with a Z1 or InstaPro camera and build this tour experience in no time with 3Dvista - probably even faster than with Matterport, because you can replace the Mattertag Popup content with webframes, that show the shoplinks directly in the 3dvista tour.
Agree! When you shoot with Z1 are you shooting with dual fish eye plugin?
Post 3 IP   flag post
MeshImages private msg quote post Address this user
@ahagert No, I have an InstaPro 360 camera and I am shooting with this one (also for 360 3D Virtual Reality).

My next plan is to invest in classic camera system, a Sony Alpha Rii with 8mm lens.
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ahagert private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by MeshImages
@ahagert No, I have an InstaPro 360 camera and I am shooting with this one (also for 360 3D Virtual Reality).

My next plan is to invest in classic camera system, a Sony Alpha Rii with 8mm lens.
I am also considering making the switch. Can you please share the specs on the lens you are considering for the Alpha Rii?
Post 5 IP   flag post
MeshImages private msg quote post Address this user
@ahagert Not sure yet, it's difficult. Not even sure about the Sony Rii.

I will do some research in the FB forum. I want to shoot 1 row Panos, maybe also with the cheap sony alpha 6000. But if you buy cheap, you often buy twice.
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ahagert private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by MeshImages
@ahagert Not sure yet, it's difficult. Not even sure about the Sony Rii.

I will do some research in the FB forum. I want to shoot 1 row Panos, maybe also with the cheap sony alpha 6000. But if you buy cheap, you often buy twice.
Sounds like you and I are on the same timeline. I will let you know where I land with my research.
Post 7 IP   flag post
MeshImages private msg quote post Address this user
@ahagert I think this post from 360rumors is a good starting point.

After further reading my favorite setup (also for budget) is the following:

- Sony a6000
- plus 7Artisan 7,5mm fisheye lens
shooting slanted 6 or 8 shot one row.
- maybe with an ultra portable TomShot360 panohead or a Nodal Ninja N1. Here is a review of the TomShot360 (unfortunately in German, maybe you can translate).

This FB post from the 360 Pano group gives you good insights and impressive images.
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Expertise private msg quote post Address this user
A6000 compared to A7Rii is night and day. If you're on a budget, pick up a used A7.

I've had the A7Rii for almost 3 years, image quality is excellent.
Post 9 IP   flag post
MeshImages private msg quote post Address this user
@Expertise Thanks, so back to the A7Rii.

I am not on a budget, but most often I start by putting something together that gives you decent quality for a nice price. And it should also be portable. This is how I came to the A6000 setup before.

Do you have a recommendation? Maybe another manufacturer? Fuji, Nikon, Canon? Or is the A7Rii the way to go? Or triple the price again for a A7Riv?

Any help here is much appreciated. It's a very difficult decision. My focus is on panorama photography and photogrammetry. Mostly indoor.
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ahagert private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Expertise
A6000 compared to A7Rii is night and day. If you're on a budget, pick up a used A7.

I've had the A7Rii for almost 3 years, image quality is excellent.
can you please share your set up, lens that you use? when buying used, what is a good/decent shutter count?
Post 11 IP   flag post
ahagert private msg quote post Address this user
Quote:
Originally Posted by Expertise
A6000 compared to A7Rii is night and day. If you're on a budget, pick up a used A7.

I've had the A7Rii for almost 3 years, image quality is excellent.

They seem to be on sale. $600 off brand new!
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I saw a news yesterday that Canon 5DS(R) is marked down to $1500 USD from $2400. This was the highest resolution camera(50.6MP) on the market before Sony a7rIV.

So it may be worth to consider 5ds or 5dsr with Canon 8-15mm lens instead of a7rII/arIII
With one row, 7 degree up and four shoots at 8mm you will get about 72MP 360 panorama. There will be a black spot at nadir but it will be very small spot.

I have done this tour with it at 8mm for another photographer who could not come & do it due to lockdown in their state.
Could not convert link ( https://goo.gl/maps/GtBviEDJ1iw2vw9e8 )

The beauty of Canon 8-15mm lens that you can do a lot of variations for capturing using different focal length from 8 to 15mm and can do mega panoramas with 200MP and even more resolution.

I also started with Sony a6000 and meike 6.5mm lens. This is dirty cheap as you can get this camera for about $250 and the lens will cost you less than $200. However it is fixed length lens and a6000 is only 24.5MP cropped sensor so you may get something close to 32-38MP with four shots and full 180 degree vertical coverage.
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BTW, consider buying PtGui Pro license.

That's the best software I have ever bought. It has saved me even on the job shown above with its masking features.

I could not get a lens hood out of half of stitched panos. I specifically did 6 shots in one row to eliminate it and make focus sharper on edges but the hood partially was included in half of stitched panos. I spent a few hours trying to redefine a circle and I was only coming to much less resolution until I decided to try masking the hood. It worked like a charm, completelly erased the hood from every pano leaving the maximum resolution possible. And I have not even needed to mask the hood on each photo as you can either save it into file and apply to all images in just 2-3 clicks or copy & paste it.

And if you are good with PtGui which will come over time working with it you may help others to stich their panos. It is usually in demand as with the license cost for PtGui Pro not everybody wants to invest in it and you may have a chance to earn something on helping others.

I have made a post here recently about stitching IGuide old system photos into a 360 with PtGui Pro.
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as for rotators this is the best value for your investment.

https://www.fanotec.com/mecha-c1-e1-single-axis-bundle/407

I got e-Mecha when it was sold through NodalNindja and got their R1 head with a lot of other stuff including a 8-15mm lens collar from a guy on ebay. It allows to automate each pano capture and it works with a quite heavy Canon 5DS and 8-15mm lens.

You can also get it in two axis automation setup which allows to automate multiple rows capturing. I do not remember what product it is but you can see them all at https://www.fanotec.com/cat/panoramic-hardware/19/automation/3
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MeshImages private msg quote post Address this user
@Wingman thanks a lot, this is very helpful! I am also using PtGui for manual stitching of my Mavic Pro2 drone panoramas. And now I want to invest in a quality panorama camera system as many clients ask for high quality images with selfhosting solutions like 3DVista.

I will take the Canon 5Ds into consideration, but the setup with the 8mm-15mm lens seems to be very heavy.

@ahagert
Quote:
Originally Posted by ahagert

They seem to be on sale. $600 off brand new!


One weak point of the A7Rii vs the more expensive A7Riii seems to be the energy consumption. You will definitely need spare battery packs. And the A7Rii can hold only one storage card vs two cards in the A7Riii.
Post 16 IP   flag post
Expertise private msg quote post Address this user
My "knowledge" (personal experience) only extends to numerous crop-frame Canons and Sony A7, A6000 and A7Rii.

The A7Rii was around $3200 when introduced in 2015. It has been around. It has an Excellent sensor with excellent dynamic range. It is very compact, light, but sturdy. Magnesium body. I love mine.

Batteries go pretty fast, maybe like 400 exposures in 2 hours worth? I typically have the Liveview ON almost continuously so that burns it up faster. Batteries are cheap tho. I buy knockoffs for like $12/each or something.

I can't imagine the a7riv has noticeably better image quality, just massive size. Which (I assume) would slow processing.


IIRC, the shutter is rated for 500,000 actuation! You have to wary of using shutter count, becuase a lot of mirrorless cameras like this were used mainly for video by professionals. They could be all used up (knobs/buttons/dials) and still have very low shutter counts. I'd just buy new if they are $1195 now.

If you are buying used, look for a hobbyist who still has the box, and looks like they used it for vacation shots. If they're selling a camera, 12 batteries and a bunch of video gear like cage or handles... I'd stay away.
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MeshImages private msg quote post Address this user
Thanks for this super-feedback! 🙌 I will go for the Sony A7Rii.
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@MeshImages I have the full 3D Vista license and it's been barely used, I'm wondering what kind of lens I might need for my Nikon D750 including any other rotator costs that might be involved, would be sufficient to replace matterport and produce a similar e-store 3D tour?
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Have a look at the following guide

How to choose a lens to create a virtual tour?

There is a better page that compares just lenses for 360(I believe it is on 360rumors somewhere) but this one will give you some ideas. May be just stay away from a fixed length lens especially with less than 7mm. If it is 8-15mm you can choose the way you capture and anything less than 7mm will be quite a circular 360 with object warping on sides of a current field of.

As for other equipment have a look at the link I have given above for Mecha E1 automated rotator. If you buy a good manual one it will cost close to the Mecha but with automation you will be capturing all photos with one click while with manual you will be rotating camera manually and clicking to take every shot. It is not that hard to forget with manual capture whether you have clicked to take a shot at every rotation or not especially on big jobs.

And if you use Mecha you either need a collar for the lens you use or some long rail to offset position of the camera so the lens nodal point is above the centre of rotation on Mecha.
Post 20 IP   flag post
MeshImages private msg quote post Address this user
@Wingman thanks for sharing this web resource and for your recommendations. This is the way to go 👍 Maybe I can pass one tipp back to you, not for 360 photography, but for organizing all my bookmarks I am using raindrop.io - if you don't know it, it's worth a look. One of my most essential web tools.

@GETMYVR Don't get me wrong. Actually, I don't think that we can replace Matterport anymore. MATTERPORT is the way to go if you need 1) 3D - 2) HIGHRES 360 - 3) MEASUREMENTS - 4) SNAPSHOTS - 5) AUTOMATION - Or often only 3 out of 5.

But Matterport has also weak points and this is where alternatives like 3DVista come into play. In the shop-example above I see the Matterport WEAK POINTS in 1) longterm HOSTING fees 2) MATTERTAG placement - workload and quality - 3) Image QUALITY (not resolution) 4) the always-the-same-tour-experience and 5) ANALYTICS if we compare to 3D Vista Hosting Service. Numbers 4 and 5 can be balanced out (in a way) if we add a SDK service to the Matterport like MPEmbed or MPskin. But this adds to the workload and the cost.

If we follow @Wingman and @Expertise recommendations we will have SUPER-QUALITY PANORAMA SETUP (Sony A7Rii plus probably 8mm fixed lens - makes it easier) with automated shooting (mecha E1) and automated HDR workflow (lightroom, affinity or darktable/free) and automated batch-stitching (PtGui) in combination with semi-automated tour building with 3DVista Quick Actions.

And I think,that I can build a workflow routine with this setup, that has a similar workload like the Matterport capturing/shooting plus marking plus upload plus editing plus Mattertags. If not in the first shooting, then definitively in the follow-up shootings for Shops and Showooms for example - when I only have replace the panoramas and links in 3Dvista and the rest stays the same.
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ahagert private msg quote post Address this user
@wingman
@meshimages- THANKS FOR THE RECAP!
@expertise

THANK YOU!
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