There Are Virtual Tours, Video Slide Shows And Video Tours
And Then There Are
TROPICOMEDIA CINEMATIC VIDEO TOURS

Virtual Tours

We don't live in a virtual world and houses are not bought with virtual money, then why are so many still trying to sell their homes in today's highly competitive market with outdated virtual tour technology?

Online virtual tours, once the darling of the real estate industry and home sellers was actually trick technology for a time when Internet video streaming was simply impossible due to the Internet's slow speed and minimal bandwidth. Virtual tours were actually meant to only be a temporary "band-aid fix" for the Internet's lack of video bandwidth back in the 90's. Well Internet video is finally here, but old habits die hard - including bad ones!

Caldwell-Banker, Century 21 and many other real estate giants are now turning away from virtual tours and returning to their full motion video roots. Why? Because full motion (real, not virtual) video tours are proven to work better than any other medium when it comes to showcasing properties!

Virtual tours, as opposed to full motion video tours, are actually just a smoke and mirrors magic-trick, done with a one dimensional STILL PHOTOGRAPH that gives the viewer the "illusion" of motion and depth when in truth they are simply looking at a one dimensional still photograph one small section at a time (left, right, up, down), like looking at a photograph through a small magnifying glass or keyhole. Why not just show the entire photo and be done with it? And who tours a home by standing in the middle of each room spinning around and around in a continuous, dizzying circle?

Let's face it, online virtual tours were NEVER a real replacement for true full motion video. We merely accepted it - because it was all we had at the time.

The concept of virtual tours was actually a giant leap backward for showcasing real estate because at the time of its introduction full motion video had already proven to be the most effective way to showcase homes and reach the most buyers. However, getting your house showcased on one of the very few real estate television shows of the time was a marketing feat reserved for only a few.

Video Tours

All full motion video tours are not alike. Most are not much better than a virtual tour because they showcase disjointed rooms and do not give the viewer any true perspective of the scope of the property, and more often than not they are shot by amateurs with less than broadcast quality equipment.

A video tour should not be a room by room tour only, but a complete home "walk-thru" tour. A home is not just a bunch of disjointed four walled rooms, it has hallways, coves, passageways, staircases, overlooks all connected. A prospective buyer not only wants to see video of a bunch of rooms, but get a feel of the layout of the home.

A TropicoMedia video tour is shot by professional camera operators with extremely expensive, professional broadcast and cinematic quality equipment (the lens alone on one of our cameras cost more than most videographer's cameras). The final production is like taking an actual fluid motion walk-thru of the property, from one room to the next, down the hallways that lead to each of the rooms, up the stairs (if applicable) and through every nook and cranny of the house. A prospective buyer will get the same type of feeling as if they were actually on the property. THIS TYPE OF TOUR CAN AND HAS SOLD HOMES WITHOUT THE BUYER EVER PHYSICALLY BEING ON THE PROPERTY!

The Choice Is Yours
Produce A Low Budget B-Movie Or Epic Blockbuster

Today's Internet has leveled the playing field, now everyone can showcase their home in the proven format that works - full motion video. The only question remaining now is who do you get to produce your video?

Just like television and motion picture industry producers, who you get to produce your video tours dictates the style and quality of your production. At Tropicomedia we use all state of the art broadcast and motion picture quality equipment, including cranes, track & dolly systems, Canon DSLR's for establishing shots and film-look depth of field shots, to capture your property in pristine, beautiful, cinematic high definition, but state of the art equipment is just the beginning. IMAGINATION and an eye for dramatic cinematic shots to showcase properties in their best light and angles are our number one tool!

RULE #1: Don't Do-It-Yourself
VIDEO TOURS - AMATEUR VS. PROFESSIONAL

These days just about everyone has a video camera, either a dedicated HandyCam or a cheap phone camera, we've seen amateur video tours shot with both, but this doesn't mean that just because someone owns a video camera they're a professional cinematographer. Oil paints and canvas are also cheap, but oil paints and canvas does not a Michelangelo make. A camera in hand does not a professional cinematographer make either, as we can all see by the many amateur, shaky, blurry, dark, grainy, poorly narrated real estate video tours being produced - even in HD.

Marketing and selling a home is a serious undertaking, not something that should be left to to just anyone with a camera just because video cameras can now be had so cheaply. Your video tour will be up against some stiff competition in the video tour arena, as some heavy hitting professional video production companies have entered the field.

BE PROFESSIONAL - IMAGE IS EVERYTHING

We all know the temptation to try and market homes on the cheap, even when there are tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and in many cases, millions of dollars on the line, but a poorly shot, poorly narrated video tour will not only result in negative returns, but reflect on the professionalism of the broker. A broker may have several video tours online, but after the prospective buyer views a couple of poorly produced tours they will look elsewhere for more professionally produced video tours. Your video tours should not only showcase your properties, but be entertaining and pleasant to watch.

Unprofessionally shot real estate video tours do not sell homes as effectively as a professionally produced, edited and narrated video and they serve no one, including and most importantly all of your prospective buyers. That's why we developed the One Price Fits All Budget Plan to compliment our more expensive cinematic plans. Now everyone can afford professionally shot, edited and narrated real estate video tours, and for those who desire an even more discriminating real estate tour we offer our Cinematic-per-square-foot packages.

* CINEMATIC TOURS are ideal for mid-size to large, million dollar estates and are shot in the meticulous style of an actual motion picture. Cinematic video tours are much more, highly detailed tours that can take from one whole day to two days to shoot and require much more shot planning and artistic cinematography, more crew man power to handle the motion picture type equipment such as cranes, track and dollies, lights etc., but the end result is an exquisite HD video tour that showcases large homes and estates like no other medium.

* ONE PRICE FITS ALL BUDGET PLAN is not shot in the pain staking style of the cinematic tours but more like a television production with one or two SteadiCam camera operators. This is the ideal video tour for most small to mid-size homes (2000-5000 square feet). Most importantly, the end result is still a high quality, fluid motion, HD real estate video tour, far superior to most other companies. All narration is performed by former #1 Los Angeles radio personality and the voice of many movie trailers, Damian Anthony, KIIS-FM, KDAY, KJLH, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. and more.