flash360

Thanks to Ren Yifei who pointed out this virtual tour of a Brazilian Hotel using FFP and a host of plugins. One cool feature is the Day and night options. Shame it makes you view it fullscreen - I don`t like being made to do anything

Here are a few buttons and a transparent line you can download for free to use in any of your projects…..

Download here:

Below is an example xml of how you can insert them into FlashPanorama Player

<hotspots>

<global onStart=”external.autorotator.disabled=1″ onEnterFullscreen=”full.alt=exit fullscreen” onExitFullscreen=”full.alt=enter fullscreen” onOver=”glow=3.1,600;glowColor=#000000;glowBlur=30; depth=20″ onOut=”glow=0,600;tint=0,600;”>
<spot id=”info” alt=”show info screen” smartScale=”1″ static=”1″ align=”BC” salign=”BC” staticX=”-300.5″ staticY=”-5″ url=”images/black_i.png” onClick=”infoscreen.visible+=1″/>
<spot id=”left” alt=”move left” smartScale=”1″ static=”1″ align=”BC” salign=”BC” staticX=”-225.5″ staticY=”-5″ url=”images/black_l.png” blockMouse=”1″ onPress=”pano.panKey=-2,500″ onRelease=”pano.panKey=0″/>
<spot id=”right” alt=”move right” smartScale=”1″ static=”1″ align=”BC” salign=”BC” staticX=”-150.5″ staticY=”-5″ url=”images/black_r.png” blockMouse=”1″ onPress=”pano.panKey=2,500″ onRelease=”pano.panKey=0″/>
<spot id=”down” alt=”move down” smartScale=”1″ static=”1″ align=”BC” salign=”BC” staticX=”-75″ staticY=”-5″ url=”images/black_d.png” blockMouse=”1″ onPress=”pano.tiltKey=-2,500″ onRelease=”pano.tiltKey=0″/>
<spot id=”up” alt=”move up” smartScale=”1″ static=”1″ align=”BC” salign=”BC” staticX=”0″ staticY=”-5″ url=”images/black_u.png” blockMouse=”1″ onPress=”pano.tiltKey=2,500″ onRelease=”pano.tiltKey=0″/>
<spot id=”zoomOut” alt=”zoom out” smartScale=”1″ static=”1″ align=”BC” salign=”BC” staticX=”75″ staticY=”-5″ url=”images/black_m.png” blockMouse=”1″ onPress=”pano.zoomKey=-2,500″ onRelease=”pano.zoomKey=0″/>
<spot id=”zoomIn” alt=”zoom in” smartScale=”1″ static=”1″ align=”BC” salign=”BC” staticX=”150″ staticY=”-5″ url=”images/black_p.png” blockMouse=”1″ onPress=”pano.zoomKey=2,500″ onRelease=”pano.zoomKey=0″/>
<spot id=”auto” alt=”start/stop autorotation” smartScale=”1″ static=”1″ align=”BC” salign=”BC” staticX=”225″ staticY=”-5″ url=”images/black_a.png” blockMouse=”1″ onClick=”external.autorotator.disabled+=1; pano.pan_v=0; pano.tilt_v=0; pano.zoom_v=0;”/>
<spot id=”full” alt=”enter fullscreen” smartScale=”1″ static=”1″ align=”BC” salign=”BC” staticX=”300″ staticY=”-5″ url=”images/black_f.png” onClick=”fullscreen(-)”/>
<spot id=”infoscreen” alt=”Info” url=”info.swf” static=”1″ visible=”0″ onClick=”visible=0″ onOver=”" onOut=”"/>

<spot id=”bottomline” url=”bottom.swf” static=”1″ staticX=”114.50″ staticY=”-31.20″ salignX=”-0.23″ salignY=”0.50″ depth=”-6″ soundpan=”0.34″ buttonMode=”0″ blockMouse=”1″ />

</global>
</hotspots>

This has been brought up allot, and it has always been a concern for those in the real estate business. This is less of a concern for creators of interactive VR as the subject is of higher value.

Story here

Don`t ask cause I can`t explain! This post is blatantly a way to get the tags ass and naked etc onto my tags! She is either in need of physical help (as the car has just ran into her) or mental help (if she is just getting her shopping out) either way I thought it was worth a post.

VIEW AN INTERACTIVE PRODUCT SPIN HERE

Features at a glance:

• 15.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
• 6.3fps continuous shooting, max. burst 90 JPEGs with UDMA card
• DIGIC 4 processor
• ISO 100-3200, expandable to 12800
• 9-point wide area AF
• 3.0” Clear View VGA LCD with Live View mode & Face Detection Live AF
• Magnesium alloy body, with environmental protection
• EOS Integrated Cleaning System
• HDMI connection for high quality viewing and playback on a High Definition TV
• Full compatibility with Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX-series Speedlites

Goto DPreview for tons of info!!: http://www.dpreview.com/

Have you ever noticed that herds of grazing animals all face the same way?

Images from Google Earth have confirmed that cattle tend to align their bodies in a north-south direction.

Wild deer also display this behaviour - a phenomenon that has apparently gone unnoticed by herdsmen and hunters for thousands of years.

In the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences, scientists say the Earth’s magnetic fields may influence the behaviour of these animals.

The Earth can be viewed as a huge magnet, with magnetic north and south situated close to the geographical poles.

Many species - including birds and salmon - are known to use the Earth’s magnetic fields in migration, rather like a natural GPS.

A few studies have shown that some mammals - including bats - also use a “magnetic compass” to help their sense of direction.

Dr Sabine Begall, from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, has mainly studied the magnetic sense of mole rats - African animals that live in underground tunnels.

“We were wondering if larger animals also have this magnetic sense,” she told BBC News.

Dr Begall and colleagues first decided to study the natural behaviour of domestic cattle.

The researchers surveyed Google Earth images of 8,510 grazing and resting cattle in 308 pasture plains across the globe.

“Sometimes it took hours and hours to find some pictures with good resolution,” said Dr Begall.

The scientists were unable to distinguish between the head and rear of the cattle, but could tell that the animals tended to face either north or south.

Their study ruled out the possibility that the Sun position or wind direction were major influences on the orientation of the cattle.

Dr Begall said: “In Africa and South America, the cattle (were) shifted slightly to a more north-eastern-south-western direction.

“But it is known that the Earth’s magnetic field is much weaker there,” she explained.

The researchers also recorded the body positions of 2,974 wild deer in 277 locations across the Czech Republic.

Their fieldwork revealed that the majority of grazing and resting deer face northward. About one-third of the deer faced southward.

“That might be some kind of anti-predatory behaviour,” speculated Dr Begall.

Willy Miller - a Scottish cattle farmer - remarked: “I’ve never noticed that my cows all face the same way.”

Cows are social animals: “[They] all sit down before it rains [and] huddle together in a circle formation during blizzards. But from a cow’s point of view, that’s just sensible,” he told BBC News.

Professor John Phillips, a sensory biologist from Virginia Tech University, US, commented that this sixth magnetic sense might be “virtually ubiquitous in the animal kingdom”.

He added: “We need to think about some really fundamental things that this sensory ability provides in animals.”

The challenge remains for scientists to explain how the animals behave in this way - and if Scottish cattle are the exception to the rule!

In the game of interactive virtual tours, most of us have a few goals. One goal I’m sure that we all have is “one day I’ll create a perfect virtual tour 200 metres in the air”

Most of us will never realize this unfortunately, either lack of time, money, or the fact that buying a remote helicopter for a business seems just wrong! The guilt!

Anyway - here is a company that are doing it just right! And there is even a video of them doing it.

I`ll leave the little competition for a while - thanks guys for the submissions. Only a few more to go - spread the word - we need 15 to wrap it up!!

OK - A little light relief here, this video brings to a snippet of what I have been looking at for a while for flash virtual tours. Its coming on quite nicely, however its not ready for preview outside the office!

Great news here at Flash360! We have some goodies to give away, and all your have to do is join the fun!

1st Prize -

A commercial license from KRpano - one the best performing flash panorama player. Example here. You can find more information on KRPano here and download a trial.

PLUS 12 Months Hosting from Flash360 and Eleven2 - with 150MB Space and 5 GIG Bandwidth and features unlimited practically everything.

2nd & 3rd Prize:

12 Months Hosting from Flash360 and Eleven2 - with 150MB Space and 5 GIG Bandwidth and features unlimited practically everything.
What do you have to do to get these prizes?? Use the comments section of this post to link your funniest/crazyest/strangest panorama! If you don’t have one - then make one and post the link!

Thats it! Simple eh!

The competition will run until there are 15 entries - so you have 1 in 15 chance of winning!

Winners will be picked by Klaus - the clever bod behind KRpano. Points for individuality, composition and downright silliness!

Good Luck and get clicking…

Panoramas can by presented in Quicktime, Java, Flash or whatever you choose.