What does “Mirino” mean?
Mirino is derived from the Italian word and refers to the viewfinder that one looks through to view an image.
What services does Mirino offer?
Mirino is not just a photography company. It is a one-stop shop for any media you may need. Our team of photographers, graphic artists and web experts can help you create any media package you can think of from shooting photos to layout, design, printing and web development
What can VR’s be used for?
The possibilities are endless from retail, real estate, action sports, tourism and hospitality, education, entertainment, destinations, architecture, maps, museums, major life events. 360˚ of possibilities.
How do you make VR’s perfect?
It’s not easy. It takes the right equipment and knowledge to get the perfect VR. Mirino makes sure to have the right person for each part of the process. Its starts with the panoramic photographer that uses the correct gear for the shot, an expert graphic artist that utilizes the best software and applications possible for final touches, and a web developer to program, customize, implement and preflight your VR to avoid any viewing issues. We have a cutting edge team that is passionate which shows in our results.
Can Mirino create a website for me?
Yes, Mirino has a team that can accommodate any of our clients’ needs.
Are there discounts for multiple shots?
Yes, we give price breaks for clients who purchase multiple VR’s at one time.
What is a VR?
A “VR” or Virtual Reality Panoramic is a term that means the viewer has an interactive experience through a viewfinder such as a computer. A VR technically must allow the viewer full control of what they want to see. This gives the viewer a perspective of feeling like they are actually there or immersed in that moment in time. Imagine, 360° of possibilities.
Why do some VR’s on the internet look pixilated or grainy?
The answer is simple, equipment and knowledge. Mirino uses the best Full frame camera and lenses on the market combined with years of media experience.
Are VR’s made with a still or movie camera?
A still camera is used to obtain the 360 degree panoramic shot. With a fisheye or wide angel lens, overlapping images are taken at precise increments and then a computer technician using special software stitches all images into one panoramic picture.
What kind of Camera do you use?
Mirino uses Canon’s EOS 5D SLR with a full frame-sensor combined with the best lenses available. A full frame camera has results that look the closest to film. This gives our clients the best results possible.
Why would I choose a lens that requires fewer images to produce the VR?
Fewer images allow for fewer seams when stitched together and ultimately fewer problems. In situations that have movement and people in them there is a chance of ghosting or doubling of images. These can usually be corrected by our graphic designer, but this can be costly.
What can increase the cost of a VR?
A standard VR is shot in an environment where there is nothing moving. However some situations will have moving objects and or people which makes it much more difficult to have a perfect stitch resulting in no ghosted images. There can also be low or bright light situations requiring a HDR VR. Also VRs can sometimes be shot in unusual locations and or time consuming to shoot. For example shooting Sean Whites Gold Metal run at X Games13 vs. shooting a house on any given day. It comes down to time, location, and degree of difficulty.
What is a HDR VR panoramic?
HDR stands for high dynamic range and refers to an image that contains a very large degree of exposure values. Meaning that multiple shots at different exposures will be needed in order to get the different range of lighting. Three or more exposures are required in order to combine them together to make one perfect photo. This process adds more information that was lost, giving a result that only the human eye can achieve.
What are the 3 different types of VR’s?
Cylindrical
The cylindrical VR is 360° around horizontally by 110° or less vertically. This is usually taken with a wide angel lens that does not distort the image. When the VR is viewed on a computer the user cannot go straight up or straight down.
Spherical
Spherical VR is 360° by 360° and is usually taken with a fisheye lens. The user can view in any direction desired, including straight up and straight down.
Object
Object VR’s consist of a series of images shot in sequence and then converted into an interactive digital file. The end user is able to have full control of the movement of the sequence.
What’s the difference between wide angle and fish-eye VR’s?
There are two different types of lenses you can shoot a VR panorama with; a wide angle or a fisheye. A wide-angle lens is flat and has little or no distortion and is usually 14-16mm wide. A 16mm lens would require a minimum of 8 shots around and 2 rows, or 16 photos, to obtain 360°x360°. However a fisheye has a convex lens and can have a wider angle up to 8mm. A fisheye image is usually distorted due to its convex lens. An 8mm lens only requires 3 shots to obtain 360°x360°. However, the more pictures that are taken, the more data or higher resolution there is in the VR. By using the correct lens for the subject matter we are able to get the best shot every time.
Both can be printed but fisheye shots look better on the computer and wide angle looks better for print. It all depends on what you will use it for.
How do I put my VR on the Internet?
Your finalized VR can be hosted on our server and a url or link is emailed to you. You can also have a file made in either Flash, Quicktime or Java. We have made it as easy as possible for our clients to post their VR’s on the web.
What is a Virtual Tour?
A virtual tour is a series of VR’s that are linked with hotspots which allows the user to navigate from location to location.
What is a Hot Spot?
A Hotspot is a clickable link within the VR to another destination such as another VR, website, still photo, movie, map, pricing or any other data that needs to be made available. The hotspot can be sized and placed anywhere within the VR.
Can I add sound to a VR?
Yes, you can record live sound when VR is taken, add background music or add narration to enhance the experience.
What is autorotation?
Autorotation automatically starts rotating the VR when it opens to show the viewer the image is interactive. You can also choose the speed from slow to fast.
Can I display a VR on a plasma, projector or other media players?
Yes, you can display your VR on any device that will hook up to your laptop or computer. VR’s cannot be run on a DVD player because they do not have the ability to navigate.
Can I print a VR?
Yes, VR’s can be flattened and printed in any size. However cylindrical and spherical panoramas will look slightly different because of the lens used. Hi-resolution panoramas can be printed up to 8 feet wide if needed.
I already have photos. Can I use them for hotspots?
Yes, we can incorporate any media you may already have.
What size are the files?
Finished files set at the highest resolution can be around 15-20 MB depending on the amount of information in the shot. Any file can be made to a specific size all the way down to 250k. We have found that 1 to 2 MB files have great resolution and can be easily loaded and/or emailed via internet. The larger the file the more detail there is when you zoom in.
What type of file is the finished VR?
Files can be exported in QuickTime by Apple and Flash by Adobe and or Java.
What screen size can they be displayed in?
Besides full screen VR’s can be made to any specific size you need