Room 360 view

[Tom Krowka]

I have a client that would like a 360 degree interior view of several rooms on two different floors. What would be the best way to set this up for ease and speed?

I tried VR object, look outside, with a small radius. There seems to be some internal problem with the object regarding the angle of the field of view and the angle of the height of the view. I get a lot of locked up computer problems trying to adjust the VR object for optimum views.

I have not tried it yet, but when I get this set up, can I copy the VR object to each room and rename it, or would I have to set up a new one each time.

I guess I could do a panorama, but it would be more time intensive to set it up specifically for each room.

Whaddya think?

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure what you mean by a small radius, but that may be your problem. For the inside out QTVR object the radius can be as big as you like. The sphere just defines the frequency and limits of the views (which extend infinitely). I don't know why it would matter though, just a thought.

[Link]

I would recommend using panoramas - they are very simple to set up for each room. You can even copy them around if you like - and you can set the image height independently from the Window Size in the VR player.

Cheers,
Link.

[Anonymous]

My problem with the panoramas is that the fisheye distortion and low res image make them look like cr*p (IMHO). I am sure there are notable exceptions and I know that the resolution can be bumped up, but the parorama (also IMHO) will never equal an array of high res stills. Of course it is quicker, so if time is short...

[Link]

I was just answering the man's question - I agree they're not perfect. I would rather 'knock a few walls out' and render still images too!

Cheers,
Link.

[David Pacifico]

Tom, Link is right
VR Scene or Panorama is the way to go.
Find the the folder called Meander inside your ArchiCAD folder and read how set it up so that you can link the VR with a Floor plan image. It can be very effective when showing your design on a computer, relatively quick and easy.

After you try it once (reduce the size of the floor plan window before saving the floor plan image)

[Djordje]

Matthew wrote:
My problem with the panoramas is that the fisheye distortion and low res image make them look like cr*p (IMHO).

All of them do, especially if you zoom out to the limit. For a good panorama, you need a wide angle lens (viewing angle 84 degrees, meaning 24mm lens on a standard 24x36mm film) and no zooming.

Matthew wrote:
I am sure there are notable exceptions and I know that the resolution can be bumped up, but the panorama (also IMHO) will never equal an array of high res stills. Of course it is quicker, so if time is short...

Hah ... if you turn your photo around, do you see yourself from the back? No - so, panoramas are the only way to get a feeling of space (except the OpenGL walkthrough, that is THE best) that you can burn on a CD.

Don't forget panoramas can be linked and you can walk from room to room. Using AV Works for rendering them gets rid of the crappy feeling - but the interior has to be done fully. Alternatively, use the sketch rendering over a long weekend.

Size wise, 400 pixels on the longer side usually suffices. Sizes can be huge, watch out.Check the playback machine - some computers can't handle it, especially off a CD (nowadays you usually have a slower DVD drive, not a fast CD drive).

NP, Matthew