IVAN JOHNSTONE'S WEBSITE

VIRTUAL TOURS

Introduction

Updated 7 March 2025

When promoting facilities and services on a website, 360º Virtual Tour Panoramas have a distinctive advantage over a slide show of static photographs in that they provide a greater sense of place. Dynamic images attract and draw more attention than static images, especially when those dynamic images are also interactive.

In 2011 I developed my first virtual tour panorama of the Green Island Art Gallery using a Fujifilm S602Zoom semi-professional camera with a 35 mm equivalent lens and a limited auto-bracketing dynamic range ± 0.3 EV. The sky was overcast at the time, so my exposure setting for the interior did not result in an over exposure of the exterior views through the windows. My subsequent virtual tours using the same camera included the Dunedin Botanic Gardens and the World Fitness Centre. These two virtual tours incorporated a number of tour positions linked to a site and floor plan. Each tour position involved the cumbersome process of taking 118 photographs in multiple rows. Over exposure of views through windows to a brilliant outdoors and outdoor views towards the sun proved to be problematic. I had reached the limits of my semi-professional camera. I then used a Sony NEX-5N camera with a fisheye lens which enabled me to develop 360º virtual tours using 8 overlapping photos. The dynamic auto-bracket range of my Sony NEX-5N camera is ± 3.0 EV.

On 3 January 2024 I purchased an Insta360 ONE RS 1-inch edition camera which can photograph 360º virtual tours using only one 360º photo with a dynamic range of ± 4.5 EV in 9 steps. My new camera can also be used to develop 360º videos. In due course, I will develop a separate website page for these movies. As of 8 January 2024, I use PTGui Pro 12.24 for converting DNG files from my Insta360 ONE RS camera to JPEG instead of using Insta360 Studio 2023 for Windows. I then use either PTGui Pro, Affinity Photo 2, or PhotoDirector 2024 Ultra for processing of panoramas, and then Pano2VR Pro 7 for developing virtual tours

In order to view all available functions within each virtual tour, it is best to use the latest browser and plugin version. On 12 January 2021, Adobe discontinued support of Adobe Flash and now blocks use of Flash Player. I have therefore deleted all my Flash only based  virtual tours. In March 2023 I started to redevelop my previous virtual tours in HTML5 format using Pano2VR 7 and I will continue developing more virtual tours on a hobby basis.

Regent Theatre (2014) - Dunedin - updated December 2023

● HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.0.8
● 360º x 180º Virtual Tour
● HDR photography (F11 ± 3.0 EV) using Sony NEX-5N camera with fisheye lens.
● Full screen option.
●Thumbnail selection of seven panoramas.
● Hotspot arrow navigation.

Dunedin Botanic Garden (2011)  - updated January 2025

● HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.02
● 360º x 180º Virtual Tour.
● HDR photography  ( ± 4.0 EV ) using Insta360 ONE RS camera.
● Full screen option.
● Thumbnail selection of 44 panoramas.

Mayfair Theatre Dunedin (2014) - updated January 2024

● HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.02
● 360º x 180º Virtual Tour
● HDR photography (F11 ± 3.0 EV) using Sony NEX-5N camera with fisheye lens.
● Full screen option.
●Thumbnail selection of five panoramas.

 Dunedin Knox Church (2011) - updated March 2023

● HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.02
● 360º x 180º Virtual Tour Panorama with mirror ball under tripod.
● HDR photography (F11 ± 2.7 EV) using Sony NEX-5N camera with fisheye lens.
● Full screen option.
● Dynamic navigation help.
● Multi-media information box.

Iona Church - Port Chalmers, Dunedin (2012) - updated March 2023

● HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.02
● 360º x 180º Virtual Tour
● HDR photography (F11 ± 3.0 EV) using Sony NEX-5N camera with fisheye lens.
● Full screen option.
● Dynamic navigation help.
● Multi-media information box.

Dunedin Railway Station (2011) - updated March 2023

●  HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.02.
●  360º x 180º Virtual Tour.
●  HDR photography (F16 ± 0.3 EV ) using Fujifilm S602Z camera.
●  Full screen option.
●  Dynamic navigation help.
●  Multi-media information box.
●  Full screen option.

Green Island Art Gallery (2011) - updated March 2023

●  HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.02
●  360º x 56º Virtual Tour
●  HDR photography (F16 ± 0.3 EV ) using Fujifilm S602Z camera.
●  Full screen option.   
●  Dynamic navigation help.
●  Multi-media information box.
●  Popup photos of paintings.

Port Chalmers Businesses (2012) - updated January 2024

●  HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.02
●  360º x 180º Virtual Tour
●  HDR photography (F11 ± 3.0 EV) using Sony NEX-5N camera with fisheye lens.
●  Full screen option.
●  Thumbnail selection of four panoramas.

Port Chalmers Musuem (2012) - updated January 2024

●  HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.02.
●  360º x 180º Virtual Tour.
●  HDR photography (F11 ± 3.0 EV) using Sony NEX-5N camera with fisheye lens.
●  Full screen option.
●  Thumbnail selection of eight panoramas.

Musselburgh Community Garden (February 2024)

●  HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.02.
●  360º x 180º Virtual Tour.
●  HDR photography (± 4.5 EV) using Insta360 ONE RS 1-inch Edition camera.
●  3 metre selfie stick used for bird's eye view.
●  Full screen option.
●  Thumbnail selection of three panoramas.
●  Unobstrusive tripod retained.

Green Island Community Garden (March 2024)

●  HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.02.
●  360º x 180º Virtual Tour.
●  HDR photography (± 4.5 EV) using Insta360 ONE RS 1-inch Edition camera.
●  3 metre selfie stick used for bird's eye view.
●  Full screen option.
●  Thumbnail selection of 14 panoramas.
●  Unobstrusive tripod retained.

Green Island Shed (April 2024)

●  HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.02.
●  360º x 170º Virtual Tour.
●  HDR photography (± 4.5 EV) using Insta360 ONE RS 1-inch Edition camera.
●  PTGui 12.24 used to merge photos and remove ghosting.
●  Full screen option..
●  Thumbnail selection of 19 panoramas.
●  Popup videos included.

Sue and Brian's Food Forest (February 2025)

●  HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.1.8.
●  360º x 170º Virtual Tour.
●  HDR photography (± 4.5 EV) using Insta360 ONE RS 1-inch Edition camera.
●  Before photos popups
●  Full screen option.
●  Thumbnail selection of 11 panoramas.

Meg's Garden (March 2025)

●  HTML5 based using Pano2VR Pro 7.1.8.
●  360º x 170º Virtual Tour.
●  HDR photography (± 4.5 EV) using Insta360 ONE RS 1-inch Edition camera.
●  Before photo popup
●  Full screen option.
●  Thumbnail selection of  panoramas.