Photoshoot Prep & FAQ
We are very excited to work with you to bring high quality interactive virtual tours to your institution. Below we will go over some of the best practices to consider when selecting a room.
The most import thing when choosing a room is to pick one with good natural sunlight. We suggest that you visit the rooms around the time of day you plan to shoot them. In our experience depending on the direction the windows face some rooms are better to shoot in the afternoon light vs. morning. The best way to know is by visiting the room to make sure there is good natural light.
It is very important to note that we can not make any changes, alterations, blur our or edit objects to the tour once they are shot. Please make sure to select rooms that do not have very obvious damage or defects.
Windows & Window Coverings
Please make sure the blinds/window coverings in each room are functional and not missing any pieces. Depending on the natural and artificial light in each room we will adjust the blinds halfway to provide the best light for the tours. Broken blinds or window coverings may affect our ability to best light the room and may appear broken in the tour.
Also, make sure the windows themselves aren’t dirty or have any type of condensation in them. We find virtual tours where a user can see clearly out of a window look best.
Lighting Fixtures
Please make sure all of the lighting fixtures are working and have the proper amount of lightbulbs. Broken lighting fixtures or fixtures with missing bulbs will appear in the tour and may effect the final product. We recommend that you test the lighting fixtures in each room prior to our arrival.
The View & Surrounding Area
When selecting a room consider what a user can see when looking out of the windows. We suggest selecting a room that does not have views of the tops of other buildings, trash disposals or parking lots when possible. Usually the higher floors provide the best sunlight & unobstructed views.
Frequently Asked Questions
In our experience lightly staged rooms look best. If you already have a tour room that you use for student tours we would recommend using that. If you plan to decorate the room we recommend keeping it simple. Here are a few easy items you can consider for the rooms.
- Blanket & pillow with school logo/colors
- School t-shirt or sweatshirt for closets
- School notebooks or binders for the desks
- School Banner or Flag
Yes absolutely! The room will just need to be unoccupied while we are shooting. When using a students room it is very important to make sure to pick one that is nicely decorated and clean. A cluttered or unorganized room will show on the virtual tours.
Here are 2 examples of student rooms we have done in the past.
LSU 2 Bedroom Apartment
Susquehanna Double
It all depends on the size of the rooms but on average we can shoot between 10-15 tours per day.
When we are on campus we try to adapt to your schedule as much as possible. We usually will start between 8:30 – 9:30 am and take 30-60 minute break whenever you normally take lunch or it makes sense to break. Normally we end the day around 4-5 or whenever the sunlight prohibits us from shooting.
We can start earlier or shoot later if it works better for you or spaces are only available at a specific time. Please let us know if you have any special time restrictions as soon as possible so we can plan accordingly.
We will follow up with you to set a time and location to meet a few weeks before the photoshoot.
Very little. All of our equipment fits in a carry on sized rolling case and backpack. We can easily walk around campus and up stairs.
A Single/Double/Triple Room should take around 15 minutes
A 1-4 Bedroom Apartment should take around 20 to 40 minutes
Please let us know within 2 weeks (preferably as soon as possible) if any of the spaces on the signed agreement are unable to be shot.
On the day of shooting if a space is not ready we will substitute rooms from the original agreement for like-sized spaces.
No. We cannot photoshop or make any edits to the space after it is shot.
No. All we need is access to each space. Although we do recommend having a representative close-by in case we need to ask any questions or want your opinion on how a space should be captured .
Usually when we are shooting rooms whoever we are with will work on their computer in a nearby room or lounge.