Matterport 3D camera

I've seen numerous Facebook posts by home builders with "tours" from this camera. Wondering if anybody has any experience with it? The photos and tour look great. Good white balance, good dynamic range, but not overdone either.

Here's an example tour of a home. I've previously shot this same home with standard photos so was surprised to see this tour:
https://my.matterport.​com/show/?m=WJt2sHd2cw​W

It's fairly expensive, and there's a monthly cost involved, but these tours and 3D panoramas are great for listings. These are the best that I've seen...

I produce 3D tours via Real.Vision. Similar results, but instead of the dollhouse model you get a highly detailed floor plan. Equipment is a Canon camera along with a fisheye lens (Canon or Sigma) and a panoramic head ($300).
Good Luck!

Hmm. The locations in that tour aren't 3D. They're just 360 panos. The model of the entire house with the cutaways is 3D, but as you move around the actual house you're basically just switching between spherical panos. That aint 3D. If it was 3D you'd be able to move around the locations in first person like a game!

You can make 360 tours like this with a DSLR or even simpler, a cheap 360 cam like a Samsung Gear. If you want a cheap solution to 3D scanning, then take a squiz at Agisoft Photoscan.

Here's a brief tour knocked together quickly from Samsung Gear pics. You can add hotspot navigation points, information, videos etc to locations:

http://tdu.massey.ac.n​z/scott/waterfront/

Here's a work in progress done using stitched images from a 7D2:

http://tdu.massey.ac.n​z …/geog_trip/fiel​dtrip.html

If you really want to get into 3D scanning, that too can be done with a regular camera. Check out Agisoft Photoscan. This one was done using a 7D2 and 50mm macro:

https://skfb.ly/68tFr

Spacemunkie wrote in post #18466872
Hmm. The locations in that tour aren't 3D. They're just 360 panos. The model of the entire house with the cutaways is 3D, but as you move around the actual house you're basically just switching between spherical panos. That aint 3D. If it was 3D you'd be able to move around the locations in first person like a game!

You can make 360 tours like this with a DSLR or even simpler, a cheap 360 cam like a Samsung Gear. If you want a cheap solution to 3D scanning, then take a squiz at Agisoft Photoscan.

Here's a brief tour knocked together quickly from Samsung Gear pics. You can add hotspot navigation points, information, videos etc to locations:

http://tdu.massey.ac.n​z/scott/waterfront/

Here's a work in progress done using stitched images from a 7D2:

http://tdu.massey.ac.n​z …/geog_trip/fiel​dtrip.html

If you really want to get into 3D scanning, that too can be done with a regular camera. Check out Agisoft Photoscan. This one was done using a 7D2 and 50mm macro:

https://skfb.ly/68tFr

The Matterport is in fact 3D and uses laser scanning to generate the model. Take a look at the blue mouse "pointer circle" and you'll notice it aligns to every surface, furniture included. I speak from experience as I've got a Matterport unit. Can also generate full floor plans within 1/4" accuracy. Cool bit of kit but photos are nowhere NEAR what a professional can achieve with a professional DSLR and lighting setup. If anything it's a complimentary system but definitely not a replacement.

evo5ive wrote in post #18472007
The Matterport is in fact 3D and uses laser scanning to generate the model.

I think that Spacemunkie meant real-time 3D - as in a 3D environment that you can walk around freely, like Call of Duty or Quake, rather than just moving between hotspots that show a 3D/360 view.

evo5ive wrote in post #18472007
The Matterport is in fact 3D and uses laser scanning to generate the model. Take a look at the blue mouse "pointer circle" and you'll notice it aligns to every surface, furniture included. I speak from experience as I've got a Matterport unit. Can also generate full floor plans within 1/4" accuracy. Cool bit of kit but photos are nowhere NEAR what a professional can achieve with a professional DSLR and lighting setup. If anything it's a complimentary system but definitely not a replacement.

Business-wise, does the Matterport system generate more income than its cost? What is your price point for a Matterport house shoot?

I'd like to know this as well. Also, what are the monthly costs? This is a bigger concern than the up-front cost.

I work with a Matterport camera, I've owned one before and now work with the newer pro2 that's given to me by one of my clients. After you buy the camera you need a subscription to do anything with it, it starts at $50/month for the basic option, you get 3 free models processed per month and I think about 100 models hosted at a given time, the subscription packages scales up depending on how much business you're doing. I think rather than selling it on its's own, I found it much easier to just add it as a somewhat inexpensive add-on to clients who are already using you for still photos. Most agents i've talked to can definitely see $200 - $300 of value out of this and once I got the hang of using the system I could knock out a 3000sq-ft home in like a little over an hour. Some people sell this service for like $300-$500 but I didn't have any success there myself.

Yep, agree 100%. On its own I'm not sure how successful it would be but as an add-on when I'm already doing photography and/or videography of a property then it's a decent sell.

Dan Marchant wrote in post #18493166
I think that Spacemunkie meant real-time 3D - as in a 3D environment that you can walk around freely, like Call of Duty or Quake, rather than just moving between hotspots that show a 3D/360 view.

Precisely! The opening view of the entire house is 3D, but the zoom-into-room views are 360 images. A 2D equirectangular image wrapped around a sphere ain’t ever going to be 3D. If those views were 3D you’d be able to move around and see behind stuff...

It's like Google Earth for your house...

joooowan wrote in post #18506361
I work with a Matterport camera, I've owned one before and now work with the newer pro2 that's given to me by one of my clients. After you buy the camera you need a subscription to do anything with it, it starts at $50/month for the basic option, you get 3 free models processed per month and I think about 100 models hosted at a given time, the subscription packages scales up depending on how much business you're doing. I think rather than selling it on its's own, I found it much easier to just add it as a somewhat inexpensive add-on to clients who are already using you for still photos. Most agents i've talked to can definitely see $200 - $300 of value out of this and once I got the hang of using the system I could knock out a 3000sq-ft home in like a little over an hour. Some people sell this service for like $300-$500 but I didn't have any success there myself.

Hi,
How far apart are your scans?
3000sqft takes me several hours, perhaps because I do more scans per room, or maybe your newer model does a quicker job.

nathancarter wrote in post #18537020
Hi,
How far apart are your scans?
3000sqft takes me several hours, perhaps because I do more scans per room, or maybe your newer model does a quicker job.

newer model doesn't actually work faster (what a let-down that was). Although the latest update it alerted me of an option for the camera to "spin faster" but I couldn't find it in the settings menu.

How far apart... as far apart as I can while still makes sense to walk through a room without seeming like the viewer just took a leap or is doing babysteps, so usually ~1 to 2 scans on small bedrooms, a living room might be about 3-6 scans. Stairs I try to scan every 4-5 steps.

Had a realtor mention this "solution" to me today, she seemed most interested in the floorplan that it generates, but I thought I'd look here to see if anyone else had used it.

Anyone want to comment on how the market is developing for this type thing?

I have been close enough to the RE market to know that they have tried to do 3D tours for a couple of decades yet it still doesn't seem to be something that is considered necessary in most markets. I'm kinda bandwidth limited at the moment, but I didn't have the patience to let the thing load.

Anyone seeing this shift the market away from stills?

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #18680990
Anyone seeing this shift the market away from stills?

I don't think stills will go away for a long time. The simplicity of a simple photo grabbing the attention of the buyer is still needed. Video Walkthroughs, "3D" walkthroughs, panoramas, etc are used in conjunction with stills after the potential buyer has already been sucked in with a few photos.