[bibbt]

Hi there, been several years since I sought help here. Last time I was contemplating a 645Z purchase. This site was very helpful back then. Hopefully there is a forum member out there using and making money with this new Theta Z1 camera that can help me.

Just received my Ricoh Theta Z1 from B&H. Ordered it roughly 3 months ago. I'm guessing Ricoh can't make these Theta Z1's fast enough.

I bought this camera specifically to shoot still 360 images of interior spaces(construction, cars etc) based on reviews I read from people that were connected enough to get their hands on one when Ricoh introduced the camera. Problem with most of the reviewers is they assume the viewer/reader has 360VR experience. While I'm a seasoned professional with roughly 40 years in the biz, I have ZERO experience with 360VR so some of my questions will probably be "dumb" to some reading this.

Recently, I missed out on a job because I didn't offer 360VR images in addition to normal still photography. Time to add it to my tool kit so that doesn't happen again. All I have done so far is make a few captures using the iPhone Theta app and transferring the photos to the phone.

Here goes with the questions that I haven't been able to answer by reading the Ricoh literature and website.

1. Is there specific software that my customers will need to imbed into their website in order for viewers to interact with the photos? If so, what is it? I want viewers to be able to navigate through the photo by dragging their mouse.

2. There are subscription based services that construction and Real Estate people use to process and display/share their images. A popular one is Matterport? Is this type of service necessary if I want to use the camera at a professional level ? All I really want to do is deliver images to my clients that are ready to use on their websites.

I have more questions but I will save those till I hear from someone that currently does this type of work.

Thanks,
Bibb T.Gault
San Antonio,Texas

[Adam]

Congrats on getting the Z1! I think it literally just came out, so you might be one of the first owners to get one.

The easiest way for you to share the photos will likely be via Theta360.com. Simply upload the photos there (this can be done via the desktop or phone apps), and anyone with the link will be able to embed the photo onto a web page, similar to how it works with youtube videos.

What you'll get is something like this for each photo:

Theta Image

If you're more concerned with privacy and don't want to rely on a third-party to host the images, you can use the simple script below to embed 360 photos on a page:

VR View for the Web *|* Google VR *|* Google Developers

Then, you'd simply need to send your customers an html file and the image files from your Theta.

Note that the image files themselves do not need to be modified from their original form for display online.

[Ishpuini]

Google photos supports 360° format as well. I always upload my (unprocessed) images to my google account through my phone when I'm still in the field. People I share these with can open them on their phone through their google photos app, put the phone in a VR headset and have a very nice VR experience without any additional software. No mouse dragging (that's the way it does work in a desktop browser), but just turning their head around and the phone's orientation sensor does the rest.

Once back behind my laptop, I can process the images and replace the unprocessed ones by better versions.

hth, Wim

[wstruth]

This may help. Its a page that's been updated by users on the Theta360 website with listings of apps and websites.

List of RICOH THETA Apps - THETA Media - THETA 360 Developer