Blog6 min read
How do you get a virtual tour made? A step-by-step guide
Getting a virtual tour made starts with four decisions: what you will use the tour for, which type of tour fits that goal, what information you already have and where you will share the tour. This guide walks through those decisions in order, in plain terms.
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In short
- Decide the goal first: sales, brand, showing the space remotely or a trade show. The type and content of the tour follow from it.
- If the space exists and will be shown as it is, a 360-degree tour may be enough; if you want products, options or shopping, you need an interactive 3D space.
- A plan, or just an idea, is enough to start. A Viniona tour opens from a single link, in the browser.
In this article
- What will you use the virtual tour for?
- Which type of virtual tour fits your goal?
- What should you prepare before you start?
- Which questions should you ask a virtual tour provider?
- Where and how do you share the virtual tour?
- An observation from our own project
- How does the process work with Viniona?
- Your next step
You want to show your space online. You have a few photos, maybe a video; but a photo doesn’t let visitors walk around inside, and a video doesn’t take them to the corner they’re curious about. A virtual tour comes to mind, but where to start isn’t clear: which type, which files, which provider?
The confusion comes from the fact that the name “virtual tour” is given to very different things. A tour made of panoramic photos and a 3D store you can shop in are both called by the same name. The way to choose the right tour is to start from your goal, not from the technology. The four decisions below take you there in order.
What will you use the virtual tour for?
The first decision is the goal; the type of tour, what goes inside it and where it is shared all depend on it. It is also one of the first things our Quote Wizard asks:
Increase sales
Visitors see the products in the space and buy them.
Make your brand stand out
The space becomes an experience that introduces your brand.
Show customers around remotely
Customers walk around inside without coming; for example, an apartment for sale.
Use it at a trade show or event
Your products stay in an exhibition space that never closes.
Which type of virtual tour fits your goal?
To show an existing space as it is, a 360-degree photo tour may be enough. If you want products to be examined and bought, colours and materials to be changed, or a space that hasn’t been built yet to be explored, you need an interactive 3D space.
We compared the differences in a table in our article 360 tour or 3D virtual tour?.
What should you prepare before you start?
An interactive 3D virtual tour doesn’t need much at the start: a plan, or just an idea, is enough. What’s needed varies a little with the type of space.
| Store | Home | Showroom and exhibition | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | The architectural plan if there is one; otherwise your description, or leave the design to us | Only the floor plan; no architectural project files needed | The space plan if there is one; otherwise we design it together |
| Products | 3D files of your products (for example .glb) | Your interior design ideas (if any) | The products to be exhibited |
| Interaction | Your Shopify store (for shopping) | Furniture, lighting, wall and floor options to try | Info cards, product variants, fun areas |
For the steps of each solution, see our 3D virtual store, real-estate virtual tour and virtual exhibition pages.
Which questions should you ask a virtual tour provider?
Asking every provider the same questions makes comparing quotes easier. The answers to these questions show how useful the tour will be for your visitors:
- Which devices does the tour open on? Does it work the same way on phones and tablets?
- Do visitors need to download an app or plug-in, or sign up?
- Does the space need to exist already, or can it be built from a plan?
- Can visitors move around freely, or do they jump between fixed points?
- Does clicking a product open information? Can people buy from inside the tour?
- Can colour, material or furniture options be changed inside the tour?
- How is the tour shared: with a single link?
Where and how do you share the virtual tour?
A Viniona virtual tour opens from a single link. You can add that link to your website, your social media accounts or the messages you send to customers.
The tour runs in the web browser and opens the same way on desktop, phone and tablet. Visitors don’t need to download an app or sign up. We covered what to watch for when adding the tour to your website in our article Adding a virtual tour to your website.
An observation from our own project
viHome virtual apartment
We designed viHome ourselves to show how far a residential experience can go in a virtual space. What we see is this: when a home is presented as a space you can walk through instead of a plan and a render, people understand it far faster.
How does the process work with Viniona?
We build your space in 3D at true scale from a plan or a description, place your products and interactions, test everything and launch it.
- Plan or ideaPlan, description or design
- 3D spaceAt true scale
- ProductsInfo cards, options
- Test & launchOne link
Plan or idea
If you have an architectural plan or a floor plan, we work from it. If not, you describe the space or leave the design to us.
3D space
The space becomes a 3D space true to its dimensions.
Products and interaction
Your products go into place; info cards, product options and, if needed, shopping are added.
Test and launch
Everything is tested; your space is launched with a single link.
The price is set per project, based on the size of the space, your product range and the interactions you want.
Your next step
Write your goal in one sentence and look at what you already have: a plan, a few photos or just an idea. Those two are enough for a first conversation.
When you’re ready, answer the four questions in the Quote Wizard and we’ll prepare a quote for you.
