Virtual Tour Online Help Wiki for Estate Agents

What is a scene?

A scene is a series of photographs that are stitched together and animated using our virtual tour online software. Click here for a sample.

What is a slideshow?

A slideshow is a series of static images that are cycled through using our virtual tour online software. Click here for a sample.

What is a virtual tour?

At virtual tour online, when we refer to a virtual tour, we are referring to a series or group of scenes/slideshows. For example, an estate agent could have the following 6 scenes:

1 Park Drive Manchester Living Room
1 Park Drive Manchester Dining Room
1 Park Drive Manchester Kitchen
1 Park Drive Manchester Bedroom 1
1 Park Drive Manchester Bedroom 2
1 Park Drive Manchester Bathroom

This example group of scenes could be referred to as the virtual tour for '1 Park Drive Manchester'.

I am an estate agent, is this virtual tour service compatible with my estate agent software?

We have developed our virtual tour service to be compatible with estate agent software. If your estate agent software will only allow you to have one URL link for a virtual tour you can now easily combine your virtual tour online scenes/slideshows into one tour.

Is this virtual tour service compatible with rightmove.co.uk?

Yes, some of virtual tour online clients are using scenes/slideshows created with our virtual tour service and linked on rightmove.co.uk. Rightmove supports multiple links for you to display each scene/slideshow you create. Alternatively you can combine your scenes/slideshows into one tour and have one virtual tour for an entire property.

I haven't received my verification e-mail.

Please remember to check your spam or junk mail folders as some service providers may assume your sign up verification e-mail is spam. If you still cannot find your verification e-mail, please send us an e-mail to support@virtualtouronline.co.uk from the e-mail address you registered with us stating that you need a new verification link. We will send you a reply containing your link. Please also add our email address to any white list of safe addresses. This process should avoid any problems with spam filters. If you still do not receive your verification link, contact us again and we will be happy to verify for you.

How much does it cost to become a subscriber?

Subscription to our virtual tour service is Ł400 + VAT per account per year. For this you can create and host an unlimited quantity of scenes/slideshows/tours. If you need more than one account, for example, for multiple offices or regions, each account is paid for seperately.

How can I pay?

For our UK customers we can invoice you and receive payment by BACS, Cheque, Standing Order. Please contact support@virtualtouronline.co.uk for more information.

You can pay for the subscription service after signing up and logging in. Virtual Tour Online use PayPal as a payment provider. It’s free, fast and secure. PayPal accepts all major debit/credit cards.

I do not have a PayPal account, can I still pay for a virtual tour online?

Yes you can, PayPal no longer require you to have a PayPal account to buy goods or services via PayPal. We also accept other methods of payment for our UK customers: BACS, Cheque, Standing Order. Please contact support@virtualtouronline.co.uk for more information.

When paying via PayPal I noticed the payment was being made to CBS Solutions LLP, is this correct?

Yes, CBS Solutions LLP is the name of our parent company. All monetary transactions go through them.

Do I have to use a tripod?

We strongly recommend the use of a camera tripod when taking your photographs. This eliminates vertical camera movement, reduces camera tilt and roll, and also reduces the amount that the camera is moved from side to side when rotating the camera from one photo to the next. All of these factors help to produce a better end result. If you wish to use the service without using a tripod try to remember these points when taking your photos:

try to rotate yourself around the camera rather than rotating the camera around you, thereby keeping the camera 'in the same spot'.
try not to tilt the camera at all, keep it straight. You may however rotate the camera into a portrait or landscape orientation. Use the same orientation for all photos.

Do I have to use a fish eye lens or any other special camera equipment?

No, any standard digital camera will be fine.

What is the best way to take my pictures to ensure the best results?

We have compiled some information on our tutorial page with regard to the best way of taking your photographs.

Does the order in which I upload photographs to my scene matter?

No. Your photographs are organised into an order based on the filename of the photographs. Your digital camera should create filenames for your photographs automatically either using a numerical sequence or date/time stamp filename. This should ensure that your photographs are interpreted in the left to right sequence that they were taken in originally.

If this is not the case, or as a matter of course you rename your photographs to a more meaningful filename when you extract them from your camera, please follow the following guidelines in order to retain an alphanumerical order sequence:

Be consistent when creating the filename. e.g. avoid typing errors in the filename or accidental spaces etc.
Your first photograph in a left to right scene sequence should be prefixed or suffixed with a '1' or '01'. All other additional photographs that make up the scene should continue this number sequence.
If the number of photographs needed to create a scene exceeds 9, then prefix your photographs '01','02'... rather than '1','2'... etc.
Your filenames are case-sensitive, so ensure that you are consistent with the use of capital letters.

Uploading each photo seems to be taking a long time, is there anything I can do?

There a several reasons why the photograph uploading could be taking some time:

Your internet connection is slow.
Your photographs were taken at a high resolution and therefore have a large file size.

If your photographs are very large in file size and you want to speed up the photograph upload process there are a couple of things you can do:

Resize your photographs to the size our virtual tour online system requires before you upload them.
Set your digital camera to take your virtual tour photographs at a low resolution.

If you decide to resize your photographs before you upload, our virtual tour online system requires that your photographs are 400 pixels high, when resizing please remember to preserve the aspect ratio of your photographs otherwise they will become distorted. You can now also download and use our 'Photograph Resizer' tool for this purpose.

My virtual tour scene doesn’t look like I intended.

Please ensure you followed our tutorial section on how to take your photographs. If you are still experiencing problems creating a good scene from your photographs, please check the quality of your photogrpahs and consider re-taking the photos. If you cannot fix the problem please click on the 'Report' button next to your scene to submit it to us for analysis. We will then endeavour to help you with that scene.

I've changed the photographs in a scene/slideshow and submitted it for processing, but when I view the scene/slideshow I'm still looking at the old one.

This is because your internet browser has stored the virtual tour online scene/slideshow in your local cache. Please force the browser to refresh the page from the source rather than use the cache store, or research emptying the cache for the browser you are using. For example, if you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer, please try the following:

Click on the Tools menu
Select Internet Options...
On the General tab, under Temporary Internet Files, click on the Delete Files button.

How long will my virtual tours stay online?

Your virtual tour scenes/slideshows/tours will remain online for as long as you maintain a subscription.

Why do I keep getting logged out after an hour?

This is a security feature. If, after logging in, you are inactive on our website for a period of one hour, you will automatically be logged out.

How many scenes can I link to each property virtual tour?

You can now have an unlimited number of scenes and slideshows in a tour. A scrollbar facilitates access to a longr list on the right hand side.

Can I use the single images I have already stitched from a different source, such as a previous provider or from my digital camera stitching system?

Yes, you only need to upload your completed image and it will be displayed using our standard tour/scene viewer. No stitching will be performed. The image must be in rectilinear format (this looks like a standard camera image).

If you require further help please e-mail support@virtualtouronline.co.uk.

FAQ