The challenge with those is that they're stock and generic. My guess is that in most cases a 360 image is only relevant in a specific context. And in those cases you'll need a camera.
I use the Richoh Theta 2 which is pretty decent. But I'd probably recommend the Insta360. A lot of people in the community say they use that one. They have a sale on them right now [10/7-12].
Many of the photo editing apps will open the file and let you make edits to the images. Some of the cameras come with apps.
A couple of years ago I bought a few cameras to test out and the ones above were a good balance of features and price. I am sure there are many more on the market now, but from my experience, I'd stay away from those unknown brands, especially on Amazon as many are not very good.
In addition to the sources Tom mentioned, you might see if AI generated options would work. That clearly isn't a good option if you're creating a tour of a real environment (you need a real 360 camera for that), but to just make up a generic office or something it might work.
I attended a webinar yesterday by Garima Gupta, and she shared the Blockade Labs Skybox as a tool for creating free AI generated 360 images. They have some AI weirdness, of course, but it might be worth experimenting with (especially up to your limit of free images).
If you do get one approved, can my company borrow it after you?
I keep coming across blog posts that say things along the lines of:
"If your phone doesn’t include a built-in feature that allows you to take 360° equirectangular images, no need to worry! There are a growing number of 360° camera apps you can download to create your own."
Of all the apps I've found, none of them will produce the images in a 2:1 ratio. I'm amazed that all the apps I have come across are intelligent enough to orientate themselves horizontally but not vertically.
Guess I'll have to learn the art of brown-nosing before the work Christmas party, and hope someone gives me an intoxicated approval to make the purchase!
4 Replies
You can create free 360 images via this site I wrote about in the blog.
The challenge with those is that they're stock and generic. My guess is that in most cases a 360 image is only relevant in a specific context. And in those cases you'll need a camera.
I use the Richoh Theta 2 which is pretty decent. But I'd probably recommend the Insta360. A lot of people in the community say they use that one. They have a sale on them right now [10/7-12].
I also bought this cheap selfie-stick stand.
Many of the photo editing apps will open the file and let you make edits to the images. Some of the cameras come with apps.
A couple of years ago I bought a few cameras to test out and the ones above were a good balance of features and price. I am sure there are many more on the market now, but from my experience, I'd stay away from those unknown brands, especially on Amazon as many are not very good.
In addition to the sources Tom mentioned, you might see if AI generated options would work. That clearly isn't a good option if you're creating a tour of a real environment (you need a real 360 camera for that), but to just make up a generic office or something it might work.
I attended a webinar yesterday by Garima Gupta, and she shared the Blockade Labs Skybox as a tool for creating free AI generated 360 images. They have some AI weirdness, of course, but it might be worth experimenting with (especially up to your limit of free images).
Awesome.
Thank you both for your replies.
I'm looking to create 360 walk-around/throughs for my work place's various work environments.
However, I'm not sure if can get the purchase of a 360 camera approved. But only one way to find out!
If you do get one approved, can my company borrow it after you?
I keep coming across blog posts that say things along the lines of:
"If your phone doesn’t include a built-in feature that allows you to take 360° equirectangular images, no need to worry! There are a growing number of 360° camera apps you can download to create your own."
Of all the apps I've found, none of them will produce the images in a 2:1 ratio. I'm amazed that all the apps I have come across are intelligent enough to orientate themselves horizontally but not vertically.
Guess I'll have to learn the art of brown-nosing before the work Christmas party, and hope someone gives me an intoxicated approval to make the purchase!