New modern templates and skins for virtual tours on Pano2VR

[NickDev]

Hello! Is it planned to add ready-made new modern skins and components in the near future? There is a great lack of variety, and most importantly new modern templates for virtual tours on Pano2VR. For example, now I have several tasks regarding the functionality of the virtual tour interface and I don’t know yet how to do it better:

1. Transitions between panoramas like in matterport, i.e. when the mouse moves, the circle also moves and when it is in the area where there is a transition point, the circle becomes precise and you can click on it to go to another panorama.

2. Implementation of the functionality of switching between panoramas while preserving coordinates. When you click on the button in the menu, reload to another panorama as unnoticeably as possible and in the same position of coordinates there should be a change from one panorama to another, i.e. more details there are 3 panoramas exactly the same, only they have different floor colors and to change the floor color the user clicks on the button of the corresponding color and another panorama with a different color is displayed, but with the same coordinates, so that the user can see only the change in the floor color and it is not very noticeable that he has switched to a completely different panorama.

3. Implementation of the functionality when clicking on the button to download a picture of a screenshot in this position of the panorama for saving.

And what non-standard tasks do you encounter when creating your virtual tour templates? Perhaps in this topic can work out a way to create new modern templates by compiling a list of the most necessary new functionality?

[NickDev]

Is it possible to implement functionality like in 3dvista, when by pressing the configuration buttons you can change the colors of the floor, wallpaper, furniture, doors, etc.? for example, like here virtual staging without switching to a completely full different panorama https://storage.net-fs.com/hosting/2727323/454/

[soulbrother]

Yes, it is possiblew to create such overlays, without using a complete panorama.

It could be the same prociple, as I did years ago with this project:
https://ggnome.com/2017/09/pano2vr-wild-dieter-lukas/

[Hopki]

Hi,
Here is an example: LINK.
It is just changing the colours of the kitchen unit doors, but can also as easily be the floor and the table tops as well.
This was built using patches converted into pinned images, and then using actions to show and hide the pinned images.
If you are using renders then this is quite simple to do.
The only thing you have to do is make sure no one image is larger than 1024px in the longest edge so you do not crash mobile browsers.
Regards,

[ErhartC]

I also miss a lot of features and have the impression that pano2vr lacks some modern look and feel components compared to for example 3dvista.

On the other hand you can make a ton of them by yourself - what I regard as a strong point for pano2vr. But (at least in my case) it can take a long time to find solutions and sometimes solutions are a bit cumbersome when using it frequently. A ready made skin with new features would be a nice and welcome update in pano2vr. And very important - explanation for users HOW the components are working and why.
This I miss the most.
Tutorials are a good way for learning. But what I miss is a comprehensive overview of the principles skins are working. It took me a long time with try an error to find out some fundamental ones.

For example:
It was not clear for me, what skin-elements in a broader sense are bound to just one node and what are 'universal'.
A button which you want to have in just one node you have to draw not in a node but in the skin --> button is visible in all of the nodes. Then I found out, that man have to exclude it in all but one node with conditions...
That's not very intuitive.

Or:
An audio-file playing just under certain circumstances in one node. You put the audio file in that node, but start it more or less with global conditions in the skin-editor.

In my way of thinking, this was a long time unclear and therefor I did not even think, something could be possible.

Some examples of (small) solutions in my tours (but I am making those only just for fun and I am not a photographer or developer - so tours could leave behind a non professional impression):

• You can (sometimes) switch with a button (on the top - arrows up or down in my case) to one or more panoramas. And if they are taken at the same place (as you want it to be) - no problem. It can preserve even the pan and tilt. If the images should not being displayed in the thumbnails man can exclude it with tags. With that you can have (in my opinion) exactly what for example a 'live-image' with for example day/night-effect could do in 3dvista. And you do not have a problem with image-size. And this could be even automatically with long transition time. But again - this is not very intuitive.
• Transition effects like (1) automatically turn to a specific view point after transitioning or (2) zoomout-effect after switching nodes from a specific point after the default morph-transition
• Coloring the last node-hotspot where you came from.
• Make the skin more responsive - for example automatically changing size of the components of the skin. It takes in my opinion a lot of work, try and error. But it works.
• Using pinned images for automatically open or close doors (It's a solution you find in the tutorials). With that, man can 'color' floor surfaces, change surfaces, ... In this case, you have to work with variables, conditions and probably tags. Variables to preserve the state (surface xy), tags and conditions for showing the buttons in the right node and showing the right image (for example with the right surface).
• A bit of gamification: for example pick a key which opens a door and reveal new tour-hotspots. Or klicking on a leader which then will be positioned right and reveals some tour-hotspots.
• more of them which I cannot remember

In my experience key to those functions are TAGS and CONDITIONS, VARIABLESand raw-functions built in the skin-editor.
And in my opinion, MORE of this raw-functions could be necessary. Or some options for existing ones.

For example:
- Option for audio-transition when switching audio to a louder or more quiet state.
Why? With this you could for example very easily change audio-level for distinct nodes and distinct audio-files without breaking the immersion.

A lack of proper examples (or ready made skins) in the help-section and ready made solutions hinders users (at least myself), to recognize some great possibilities in PANO2VR in the first place.

For example:
What can you really do with skin-proxies?
This small addition opens a wide range of new possibilities I recognized after month of using PANO2VR. (I am not sure, if the proxy is necessary in all of the examples due to writing out of my memory):

• Make areas in the tour which for example show a new surface. Or play some sound when the mouse is over. Or reveals buttons when the mouse is over. Or toggle door open/closed.
• 'Bind' multiple visible polygons and reveals then all at once when the mouse is over or being clicked.
• Reveal a/the polygon after some time automatically to show for example an arrow highlighting a specific location in a node for the user under certain conditions.

Some of the 'solutions' you will find in this tour:
https://burgen.erhartc.net/ruine-frauenburg/

Or this:
https://burgen.erhartc.net/ruine-steinschloss/

If I really would be able to help - just ask.