Chil factor-E is the extremely large, ski and snowboarding slopes in Trafford, Manchester.
The 360 tour was commissioned to show the interior of the complex.

Limebar is part of a chain of clubs and bars in MAnchester, Salford and darn Sarth!
Wonderful, interiors and very high class.

Software has come along way since the early days of 360 tours and can stitch panos, that would be un-stitchable in the past.
But, photography skills still come into play, when you are in tricky situations – low light, fast action, no good vantage point.
Handheld 360 tours need to replicate what you do on a tripod, so steadiness is key.
One tip – through your lens, push you foot/toe out in front of you until you just see at the bottom of the image.
Use that as a marker and rotate around that spot, keeping not of your general stance by keeping both eyes open when you move around.

This method works, but if you are getting pushed and jockeyed, like at a festival, etc., this you can’t do anything about, so try and up the ISO and use a faster shutter speed – grain is better than blur.

Hand held panos are very possible. Not as accurate as with a tripod, but think you are the sturdy tripod and eventually you will get some good ones.

After a number of years taking 360 tours manchester and other locations, in a variety of situations, the usefulness of a one shot panorama lens seemed very appealing.
The ability to get a 360 shot in one go is a great idea, giving the ability to capture action, take alot more shots and make the workflow simpler and quicker.
So, i took the plunge and bought a one shot panorama lens.
The lens (well its not really a lens) is made up of a barrel which fits onto a lens with a convexed mirror on its top, which reflects a 180 degree view onto the lens and into the camera.

On looks alone, the one shot panorama lens looks impressive and when out and about, is a great conversation starter. (not many people see a camera pointing upwards with a big barrel and mirror stuck on top of the lens.)
(Sorry, but i can’t give technical specs. here on the one shot panorama lens. This is a brief practical review.)
Depending on the lens you use (a prime is the best for image quality and a prime when pointed upwards will not have the lens barrel/zoom move towards the floor with the wieght of the one shot panorama lens.) you will need a conversion ring most likely to step up or down from your camera lens.)
Once setup, the lens is as easy to use as a the most basic lens. Focus on the mirror and your off. Special software that comes with the lens converts the ‘donut’ shaped image into a panorama (caveat – you don’t get the zenith or nadir with the lens – the very top and bottom of the image.)

Quality of the one shot panorama lens.
This is the crux for me. Is the quality any good? Well on the surface, you are basically taking a picture of a reflection in a mirror. This will never be as good as taking a series of images with a high quality lens, but the resulting images, after some post processing are acceptable for certain jobs.
Remember, with this in mind, its down to the applications where quick images are needed where a 200Mb image is not viable or not needed – estate agent images, fast action all around you, limited or no budget to spend on a proper, high quality tour.
Now there are similar version available for smart phones – great for things like a 360 tour at a festival, but as with all photography, it can be down to the gear you use for quality and the person taking the photos.

Thus, the one shot panorama lens is great for quick 360 tours and get some good shots, but if you want full 360×180 shots with the highest quality, then the traditional way by most 360 tour providers is still the best.
However, there has been a few instances where there has been lots of varying light levels all around, loads of action, etc. where a one shot lens would have been loads easier. However, i still opted for the traditional route of multiple images as i knew the results would be better quality and more scope for post editing the different areas of the image.

I hope i am proved wrong and incredible one shot panorama lens images come out, as its obviously preferable to take one image, rather than loads to make up a 360 tour, but if the ultimate quality isn’t there, then i will have to wait for a better solution.
For example 360 tours, please see studio-33.com

If you have a live event, then 360 tours will help promote the venue, giving prospective visitors a ‘good as being there’ view.

Now available, your 360 tours viewable on iphone devices, iPod Touch, iPad and most smart phones.
-Please check this link on your device of choice to see the latest way to view your 360 tours –  http://bassmedia.net/biffyclyro/biffyclyro.html

Benefits – let your visitors view your events, locations, places of interest on the move and once downloaded, viewable offline.
Clients have a more portable way to consume your 360 tours and view your environment in a more convenient way.
All 360 tours for smart devices have a full naviagation for zooming in, moving and information.

The tours are optimised to be viewed on different smart phone devices and will switch between version of the 360 tour to play on the respective device.
(iPad 1st and 2nd Generation iPad – screen resolution of 1024 x 768.)
(iPhone 3 & iPod Touch 3rd Generation – screen resolution of 480 x 320. Mobile Safari – 416px.)
Google chrome is also covered.
A flash fall back version is also available for all other devices, along with the flash version for websites.

In all, the iphone version of a 360 tour is an ideal solution for your propective customers to view your event or location.

We pride ourselves on producing the best 360 tours, with added value and the best value in the UK.

We have found 360 tour suppliers charging alomsot twice or three times what we charge for our tours.
Also, with extensive web development experience, we can help you implement your 360 tours in any medium you like, e.g Facebook apps.

Please contact us to discuss how we can help you.

All 360 tours come standard with a print quality version of your 360 tour, HDR imaging (multiple images used to show every detail) and 360 tour.

All 360 tours that were previously on bassmedia.net have been ported to the studio-33 site.
This has been done for clarity of content and to be able to prvide a more focused service and to provide clients with a more straight forward website.

If you require website/SEO  related work, please visit bassmedia.net.