Virtual Tours

Instant Fusion

Paul Clifford will celebrate his 5th anniversary in September as Head of Production at Instant Fusion, having joined the company in 2002. Coming from a background of creating Virtual Tours for Thomas Cook, Paul has now shot hundreds for the Instant Offices website - allowing users to view offices without leaving their desk. We catch up with Paul to find out more about Virtual Tours and reflect on five years at Instant Offices.

What is a Virtual Tour?

A Virtual Tour is a realistic photographic representation that can really show all aspects of a building in a much more thorough and effective way than still photography. The viewer feels as though they are moving around the building - in effect taking a tour of a building from your desktop. You can see a typical example in the bottom right of the screen.

How do the Virtual Tours you do differ from Virtual Tours done by other companies?

There are lots of different ways you can create Virtual Tours which is why there is such a large range of formats and quality. Our Virtual Tours are created "flat" which means they do not bend or curve with the "fisheye effect" that you may have seen on other Virtual Tours. These fisheye Virtual Tours can work very well for large open spaces such as beaches which I shot for Thomas Cook. However, in smaller indoor areas, they don't work as well because the viewer is not interested in seeing ceilings and carpets in great detail and they don't give a true reflection of the space. If you're looking for a Virtual Tour, it's important to have a look at the person or company's previous work, as I have seen some horrendous examples of Virtual Tours!

Also, I pay great attention to detail when making a Virtual Tour, such as ensuring walls are not distorted or altered - some Virtual Tours I have seen have walls that look yellow and bendy instead of white and straight! I try to make sure that the lighting is correct, so there are no blasts of light or large shadows, and that you can see everything clearly.

What are the best and worst aspects of the role?

The best aspect of the role is that I spend half my time in the office and the other half out which is a good mix. I get to see lots of different areas of the UK and meet lots of people such as business centre managers, who have been very pleasant and friendly to work with. Probably what gives me the greatest satisfaction though is having spent hours working on a Virtual Tour and then being able to look at the finished product.

The worst part of the job is standing in the rain taking photos and waiting for vans to leave the front of buildings! Also, to make sure the Virtual Tour looks as good as possible, I sometimes have to tidy up dirty offices and move lots of furniture.

What was the most interesting Virtual Tour you have done?

I've shot lots of Virtual Tours for Instant Offices, but also for Instant Fusion which have included derelict banks, National Trust properties, hospitals, schools, hotels and restaurants. So you never know what's coming next! I am interested in buildings generally, so it's great to have opportunities to shoot iconic buildings such as the Gherkin and Tower 42.

Paul Clifford is currently working on Virtual Tours in Central and Greater London, replacing some of the old Virtual Tours done by Instant Tours (the company Instant Offices previously used for Virtual Tours) to bring them up to date and ensure they are the same quality as other Instant Fusion Virtual Tours. Paul is also shooting new Virtual Tours that will feature on the websites of major business operators such as MWB, MLS and eOffice.

To find out more about Virtual Tours and Instant Fusion, and to see examples of Virtual Tours, please click here.