Changing the Order of Images Within a Category

Several users have asked how to reorder images within a particular Category after they’ve been uploaded to their Buildatour.com Tour.

All digital cameras automatically assign file names to images as they are shot. In the example below, shot with a Nikon D70 Digital SLR), the file names are consecutive, i.e. Dsc_0152, Dsc_0153, Dsc_0154, etc.

It will be easiest if you shoot your images in the order you’re going to want them to appear in your tour. However, it is very easy to reorder images within a category by simply changing the file name / name. Simply click the blue pencil under a thumbnail image within a particular category, and change the Name. Example 1 illustrates the Edit Photo Screen before the image name has been changed from the image file name assigned by the camera. Example 2 illustrates the Edit Photo Screen after the name has been changed. Simply click the update link after the name is changed to save changes.

Example 1

 
Example 2

In the example below, images have been renamed 1,2,3,4,5, etc. Once files have been uploaded to your tour, file extensions are no longer required. Notice that decimal format is accepted also. This can be handy if you find you need to place an image between two chronological whole numbers. For example, 4.5 could be placed between 4 and 5.

If you have additional questions regarding this subject, please contact us anytime.

Buildatour.com, L.L.C.
(314) 256-9252
contact@buildatour.com

A Good Camera Choice of Real Estate Agents?

We wrote an article on the V-570 some time ago withouth much to go on.  Continued research has shown that the Kokak V-570 is, by far most affordable camera that is suitable for Real Estate Photography.  Therefore, it is an excellent choice for Real Estate Agents.  It even fits in your shirt pocket.

And, of course your can make up to 75 images of your listing and upload to Realtor.com for the low price of $9.95 which includes 12 months of hosting on our servers.

See the original article on this camera below. 
 
We recently discovered a relatively new camera, the Kodak Easyshare V570. Apparently, this is the first dual-lens digital still camera. The most significant thing about this camera is that one of the two lenses is a 23mm equivalent. This is a very wide angle lens for a camera of this physical size and price. We played around with the Easyshare V570 a bit and it seemed to perform very well. This may be an affordable wide-angle option for agents and amateur real estate photographers shooting their own tour images.

We do not necessarily recommend this camera. However, based on our preliminary research, it may be an affordable option for real estate agents that is at least worthy of further investigation.

The Kodak Easyshare V570 will not accept an external flash, which is very important for point and shoot interior photography. Related to this subject we did some experimenting with an antiquated Canon Elf (2.1 megapixel). We mounted the Canon Elf to a $20 tripod, turned the shooting mode to manual rather than automatic, and turned up the exposure control until we achieved a satisfactory exposure.

NOTE: By slowing down the shutter speed, the potential for blurred images due to camera shake is greatly increased.

We recommend using the camera’s on-board timer (usually 5 seconds) and a tripod to shoot in this mode. By doing so, you eliminate the potential for a blurry image from camera shake.

Please click here to read a detailed review of the Kodak Easyshare V570 from Steve’s Digicams.

If you own this camera and use it for real estate photography, we would appreciate your comments.

Preparing and Uploading User Photo and Logo

When you create your free account with Buildatour.com, you will be given the opportunity to upload your personal photo and company logo. These images will be displayed in all future tours you create.

We display the user photo and logo images at 75 X 75 pixels, but any size image may be uploaded to these fields. For best results, these two images should have an aspect ratio of 1 to 1, i.e. square, and should be either .jpg or .gif format.

To upload these images to your account, click the browse button beside the user photo window, select the image file from your hard drive or disc, and click upload under the user photo window. When the file is uploaded, it will appear in the window. Repeat these steps for user logo. Remember to click the upload link under the window for each of these images individually. The image below shows an example of these upload fields.

If you’ve already created your account without uploading these images and want to upload them now, click on the “my account” tab on the sign post near the upper left-hand corner of the Buildatour.com Home Page. This will direct you back to the User Registration Page where these images may be uploaded at any time.

Once these images are uploaded and appear in the windows, click the Update Account Data link at the bottom of the page. Doing so will direct you back to the My Tours Page where you can edit your existing tours or create new ones.

If you need assistance, please contact us.

(314) 256-9252
contact@buildatour.com

Get The Big Picture

We believe the single most unique aspect of our tours is the very large (nearly full-screen) image size. So, when you go to make the pictures of your next listing … “get the Big Picture”. The potential buyers that view your Buildatour.com Tour will appreciate it. Agents have gotten so accustomed to their property images being squeezed down for MLS’s and other websites, that they regularly shoot the images at the lowest resolution setting their camera will allow (generally 640 X 480).

Our tours display images at 800 X 600. Therefore, images uploaded to our tours that are smaller than 800 X 600 do not fit our viewer window properly.

Most consumer type digicams create images that have a 4 to 3 (1.3333 to 1) aspect ratio. Uploading images to our tours that are at least 800 X 600, and have an aspect ratio of 4 to 3 (1.3333 to 1) will result in a perfect fit in the viewer window. Most digicams will not shoot images at 800 X 600, so we recommend setting the camera to the next size option larger than 800 X 600 (usually 1024 X 768 or 1600 X 1200). Images uploaded to your Buildatour.com Tour will be automatically downsized to 800 X 600, but we can’t stretch them to fit the window if they’re too small. That’s a bit like painting a very large house with a half-gallon of paint … you wouldn’t like the result.

In a prior article, “Image Size and Aspect Ratio“, we discussed this same topic along with a few reasonable methods of dealing with the aspect ratio of higher-end digital SLR’s (1.5040 to 1). Mark Reibman of Blue Light Imaging utilizes one of these methods for all the tours he creates … Click here to view one.

There are photo editing software packages available that allow script recording, therefore allowing one to add a gray strip at the top or resize an entire directory of images all at once. One of the least expensive yet very versatile alternatives is Paintshop Pro 8.0, which is now an older version. This version can be picked up for around $20.

So remember, when your making the photos of your next listing, “GET THE BIG PICTURE”.

Professional Photographers

We’re very excited that so many professional real estate photographers are using our site. Thanks to all of you.

Mark Reibman of Blue Light Imaging who serves the Greater Seattle, Washington area is now using our site. Mark’s skill speaks for itself. You can take a look at his work by visiting his website www.bluelightimaging.com

For those professional/semi-professional photographers that would like to start using our site, we’d like to take a moment to make a few recommendations.

Memberships to Buildatour.com are free, so we recommend you create an account for each agent you work for. Once the user photo and company logo are uploaded, they will be used in all future tours built under that particular account. The photographer/tour provider can purchase the tour under that account. A confirmation email containing both links will be sent to the email address of the agent. A credit card transaction receipt will be sent to the card holder (the email address entered while proceeding through our secure checkout).

Most photographers building tours for their agents share usernames and passwords since most agents prefer to enter their own text details, links, etc.

We do provide an Agent-Branded Link and an MLS/IDX Compliant Link. However, as tours are customized, it is important to remember that most MLS’s do not allow hyperlinks back to an agents personal website, brokers site, or any other site that would provide personal contact information or information intended for cooperating brokers rather than consumers. In some locations, Denver, Colorado for example, hyperlinks aren’t allowed at all.

We are addressing new MLS issues as they arise. Thank you for your patience.

Having Trouble Viewing Tours?

If you are experiencing difficulties in viewing tours, please read the following possible causes below. 

1. Flash Player 8.0 not installed. Flashplayer 8.0 is a free-download from Adobe, formerly Macromedia. Our tours direct viewers to this free download page if they do not have Flash Player 8.0 installed. To go directly to the Adobe Flash Player 8.0 free download page, click here. If you do not want the free Yahoo Toolbar, simply deselect it from the free download page.
2. More than one pop-up blocker is running on your system. Internet explorer and other browsers provide pop-up blockers. The first browser window that opens when a tour link is clicked is designed to open despite your browsers pop-up blocker settings. However, it is entirely possible to have a few different pop-up blockers activated and running at the same time. For example: Google Toolbar, Yahoo Toolbar, and most Anti-Virus background programs have their own pop-up blockers. Each of these should be set to “always allow pop-ups” from www.buildatour.com. This is not a common problem, but has been reported by some.
3. Buildatour.com tours are designed and optimized for Internet Explorer 6.0, but the majority of web browsers will play the tours as effectively. Some have reported that “MSN Explorer” will not open our tours.

If you’ve already checked these things and are still have problems viewing tours, please contact us directly.
(314) 256-9252
contact@buildatour.com

Realtor.com Showcase Listing Enhancements

As we understand it, Realtor.com recently made some changes to their pricing for Featured Tour Links (Red Spinning Houses).  In the past, Realtor.com charged virtual tour providers $19.95 per listing to post virtual tour links.  This is still true in the majority of cases.   

The price change is related only to real estate agents who subscribe to Realtor.com’s “Showcase Listing Enhancements”. For those agents paying Realtor.com for this service, virtual tour links may now be uploaded free of charge.

We have modified our secure checkout to accomodate these agents. If you are a Showcase Listing Enhancements subscriber, you will now only click the checkbox to purchase the tour. Then, just above the personal information input fields, click the checkbox beside “I have Showcase Listing Enhancements.” Doing so will notify us to upload your Realtor.com virtual tour links free of charge.

If this checkbox is selected, be sure the Realtor.com Link checkbox in the tour purchase bar is deselected.

Image Size and Aspect Ratio

When preparing your images for uploading to your Buildatour.com Tour, aspect ratio is important. We designed our tours to effectively display medium and large image sizes from the majority of low to middle-priced digital cameras. These cameras probably represent the majority of Real Estate Professionals who use digital cameras to photograph their listings. Do not shoot your images at less that 800X600. For best results in our tours, do not turn the camera vertically (portrait). This will also result in an improper fit in our tour window.

The most important thing to remember is that the aspect ratio of your images should be 4:3 or 4 wide to 3 high. This is equal to 1.3333:1 or 1.3333 wide to 1 high.

This image below has a 1.5040:1 aspect ratio found in most higher-end cameras, particularly Digital SLR’s. This image was shot with a Nikon D70 and a Nikkor 12-24 Ultra Wide Lens.

This aspect ratio of the above image has been modified to 1.3333:1 in the image below. This was done without cropping the image. We simply stretched the image vertically.

Serious real estate photographers are probably griting their teeth when we talk about “stretching images” like the photograph directly above. For those serious photographers with high-end equipment that want to utilize Buildatour.com, there is still another viable option that works quite well.

In the example below, we took the original photo above and increased the canvas size to make the image fit the Buildatour.com viewer window properly without changing or “stretching” the original image. This top portion of the photo will reside being the agent-branded fly-in bar at the top of the tour. Coloring this area black or dark gray is less conspicuous and looks best in our tours. Some users have said that an additional advantage to this fix is that it minimizes the need to raise the agent-branded bar at the top or the tour. This area might also be used to advertise a photography company. This action can also be performed on all photos in a directory by writing a script in Paintshop Pro 8.0 or Photoshop.

Buildatour.com automatically resizes photos after they are uploaded to 800X600 at 72dpi (dots per inch), provided they are shot at 4:3 aspect ratio and are at least 800X600. 72 dpi is the maximum resolution a computer monitor can see. Resizing your photos prior to uploading will increase upload speed, but isn’t necessary provided your images are at least 800X600.

Almost all digicams shoot images at 4:3 aspect ratio. However, several of the higher-end cameras, particularly Digital SLR’s, shoot at 1.5040:1.

There are numerous software programs that will resize and adjust aspect ratio of images quickly and easily. We recommend Paintshop Pro 8.0. Paintshop Pro, and probably Photoshop Elements as well, allows you to record a script while making adjustments to a single image, and save that script for batch processing of a large group of images at one time. Using Paintshop Pro, this process only takes a minute for batch processing as many as 75 photos at a time.