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The VR BAR is a professional
360-Degree rotating camera mount (or panoramic head) designed
specifically to be used with your
digital SLR camera and a fisheye lens
to create the highest quality 360°
Virtual Tours. The VR BAR is CAD
designed and CNC milled to ensure a
rugged and stable piece of equipment
to produce consistent images that
can easily be turned into Virtual
Tours.
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| Why do I need the VR BAR? |
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The VR BAR rotating camera mount takes all the guesswork out of virtual reality photography. It positions your camera perfectly around what is commonly referred to as the
No-Parallax-Point".
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| How do I set the
No-Parallax-Point and what is it? |
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There is a lot of talk about setting
the "No-Parallax-Point" or
"nodal point". It's really
not important to understand what this is. What is important to understand is that positioning your
camera lens correctly eliminates distortion.
The VR BAR makes setting the "No-Parallax-Point" incredibly easy. Simply find your fisheye
lens on the instructions that are included with your VR BAR and position your equipment accordingly.
Following this simple step will position your camera lens so that there is no distortion.
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| How does the VR BAR work? |
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The VR BAR
uses detent points
to stop your camera's rotation at
precise positions to produce perfect
results. There are no disks to
change. Everything is built in.
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| Does the VR BAR flip up for a vertical shot? |
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Yes.
Vaulted ceilings, chandeliers and intricate tiling can be recorded seamlessly with this feature.
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| Do I need to be a professional photographer? |
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No.
The VR BAR is so easy to use that the simple step-by-step instructions (included) will have even an amateur photographer producing amazing results immediately.
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| What camera equipment is compatible with the VR BAR? |
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The
VR BAR is designed to be used with your
digital SLR camera, a
fisheye lens and a
tripod.
The number of images that you need to shoot is determined by how much data is captured
with your camera and lens combination.
This chart is meant to be used as a guide.
It is not meant
to be all inclusive. We have attempted to list some
of the more common fisheye lenses available at
this time. Lists such as these become obsolete whenever equipment if modified
or introduced. We will do
our best to keep it updated.
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FISHEYE LENS
| CAMERA
| # of IMAGES in
a 360° ROTATION
| TOP /
"ZENITH" SHOT
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Sigma 8mm |
Non full-frame sensor |
4 |
Recommended |
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Sigma 8mm |
Full-frame sensor |
4 |
Recommended |
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Peleng 8mm* |
Non full-frame sensor |
4 |
Recommended |
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Peleng 8mm* |
Full-frame sensor |
4 |
Recommended |
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Olympus 8mm |
Non full-frame sensor |
4 |
Recommended |
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Olympus 8mm |
Full-frame sensor |
4 |
Recommended |
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Nikon 10.5 |
Non full-frame sensor |
6 |
Required |
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Nikon 10.5 |
Full-frame sensor |
6 |
Required |
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Sigma 15mm |
Full-frame sensor
only |
6 |
Required |
* The
Peleng
8mm is a manual fisheye lens.
There are no automatic features
at all including focus. At this
point, the manual is written in
Russian.
I have used mine with excellent
results using a light meter.
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| What kind of tripod should I use? |
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While any sturdy tripod will work, we recommend one without long locking handles that
may show up in your photography. A tripod with a locking ball head is ideal. It is
possible to convert your long-handled tripod for a few dollars by replacing the
handles with bolts from a hardware store. You will need a wrench to adjust these bolts.
(I suggest attaching the wrench to your tripod, so you'll always have it when you need it.)
This isn't pretty - but it works.
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Stitching refers to the process of
assembling your images into one seamless
image to use it as a 360° Virtual Tour
or as a panoramic print."
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| How do I turn my images into a Virtual Tour? |
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The
rugged construction and precise
engineering of the VR BAR - coupled
with the knowledge that you gain
from the "VR Photography Made
Easy" handbook - virtually
guarantees that your images will be
lined up perfectly - for easy and
accurate "stitching" using any one
of a number of software programs
available on the market today -
ranging from free open source
programs to software that is written
specifically to create 360 Degree
Virtual Tours from fisheye images. |
| Who will my customers be? |
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The following is a list of some of the businesses that can benefit from Virtual Tours:
Travel & Tourism
Restaurants & Clubs
Real Estate & Recreation
Retail
Education
Sports & Leisure
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Health & Wellness
Resorts & Courses
Assisted Living Residences
Industry
Entertainment
And many more
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| What is the demand for this service? |
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Unlimited.
Virtual Tours are rapidly becoming recognized as a key part of a
dynamic web presence. Our recommendation is to identify the target market(s)
that best match you and proceed from there.
High-end Virtual Tours can also be an excellent value-add to offer an established client base.
There is an entire section in
the "VR
Photography Made Easy" handbook
with tips and ideas on marketing
your Virtual Tour business.
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| What can I expect to charge for my Virtual Tours? |
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Remember that differentiation is the key to pricing.
You will be delivering a high-quality 360° image. There is little competition offering Virtual Tours of this quality.
This is the new "Wild Wild West" of photography.
You could recoup your complete investment with your first job.
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| Do you provide tech support? |
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Yes.
While the VR BAR is incredibly simple to use, if you have any questions please
use our
Contact Us form.
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