Marzipano - free

By Marzipano
Related apps
Compatibility
Z1 V SC2 SC S
360° media viewer.

Hi! I decided to take some time this week to figure out what program was best for my needs to share my 360° media. Today I’m focusing on the Marzipano web tool website. 

I used the Ricoh Theta SC Hatsune Miku to capture my photos/videos and an iPad Pro to edit them. I am interested in trying out different 360° programs in order to find what fits my needs best; something quick, efficient, and optimized for social media.

Initial Thoughts

The Marzipano Tool takes you 360° images and turns them into a web app which can be exported as a zip file. It uses Marzipano to view them. One key point is that all the work is done in the browser. Nothing is uploaded to a server somewhere. Filenames, orientation, and other settings can be easily adjusted. If you want, you can edit the exported HTML, CSS and JavaScript to further customize your new web app.

 

Here you can see the different available settings as well as the process of an upload. I like that you can decide whether or not your images will autorotate! This is a major plus in my book. 

There is also an option to set an initial view. Note that this image of myself is somewhat distorted. This can be attributed in part to the angle at which the photo was taken, causing my thigh to wrap. Not my best angle. 

 

You can see here in this image that I was able to batch upload and process my images. 

Marzipano Test with RICOH THETA Images

Thank you to Craig Oda (@codetricity) for working with Marzipano to provide a demo on GitHub. From Craig’s demo:

This is a virtual tour demo of RICOH THETA images built using the Marzipano Tool.

The character is inserted into the 360 image using the RICOH THETA SC Type Hatsune Miku camera and app. This was a special edition RICOH THETA SC that I used for evaluation of the impressive software that was built for the camera.

Set Default Position of Each Image

Set the first view of each image you upload.

screenshot

Info Pop-up Boxes

You can easily add info boxes to your virtual tour.

Info

Add Navigational Arrows

The navigational arrows function like Google Streetview. You can move between pictures easily.

Navigation

Auto-Rotate Image Spheres

Set images to auto-rotate or pause the rotation.

auto rotate


 

In summary, here are my pros and cons for the Marzipano web tool web tool:

 Pros

 Cons for End Users

  • Simple
  • Can set focal point
  • Can turn off auto-rotate 
  • Can batch upload images
  • Quick uploading time
  • Designed for developers, not end users
  • Requires some level of integration in a web page to view
  • Requires some level of programming to customize (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)
  • Cannot be shared on social media

 

Concluding Thoughts

If you are an end user, Marzipano web tool is not the right choice for you.

If you are a developer working with 360° images, the Marzipano Tool takes you 360° images and turns them into a web app quickly. You can edit the exported HTML, CSS and JavaScript to further customize your new web app. The Marzipano Test with RICOH THETA Images demo here did not take long to set up and view. 

Marzipano is a Google repo (though not an official Google project) so that may be a positive, though it’s unclear what it’s current status is.

More Information

Video on how to use Marzipano with the RICOH THETA Z1 is here:

https://youtu.be/uWUXAtwFB08

Video on how to host Marzipano for free is here:

https://youtu.be/CPT32xPG9wA