When it comes to 3D tours and real estate, they are the perfect way to showcase a property that’s for sale. This can be done by using two of the most popular options on the market, Matterport 3D or Zillow 3D Home tours.
3D tours are a great way to make a property stand out from other listings. It provides an immersive experience and creates an emotional connection with the buyer.
In addition, some agents and realtors have been using these 3D tours as marketing tools. Adding 3D tours to one’s repertoire is a way realtors can expand their brand and even market themselves as agents.
Here at Sharp Frame Media, we love offering our clients 3D tours because they are an effective marketing tool that can help you attract more buyers. In fact, 90% of buyers would be more compelled by a listing with 3D tours. Multiple offers mean more opportunities for getting a higher sale price!
Still, it may be challenging to figure out which 3D tour is right for you when it comes to listing your property. So, we’ve made it easier for you by listing the benefits of Matterport 3D and Zillow 3D Homes.
Matterport 3D
Matterport is one of the most immersive 3D mapping platforms that you can offer buyers that allows them to take virtual tours of their homes. Giving them the feeling as if they saw the listing in person!
Benefits:
74% of agents using Matterport 3D win more listings.
Unlike other 3D options, Matterport offers one of its unique services: a dollhouse view. This feature allows potential buyers to view the house from every angle.
Matterport’s 3D tours make it easier for people to find the home of their dreams. They are available to anyone with an internet connection and can be embedded on a website or emailed to friends, family, or colleagues.
All Matterport 3D Tours are compatible with any VR device. So you can have an immersive experience on your phone, PC, or VR headset and be able to view the tour at a scale of up to 10 meters.
Zillow 3D Home
If you currently have or are looking to have a listing on Zillow, you will want to consider adding a 3D tour option. With Zillow 3D Home tours, listings get specialized exposure on Zillow with premium placement. But that’s not all!
Benefits:
According to Zillow, listings with a Zillow 3D Home tour got, on average, 43% more views on Zillow than listings without
With 3D tours on Zillow, you can easily create a branded link that is easy to share with your friends or colleagues. It also helps you gain more visibility on the MLS and other websites.
In addition to your 3D Zillow listing, you’ll also receive a high-resolution JPEG file of the floor plan that can be published outside of Zillow.
With zero hosting fees, Zillow 3D Home is the most affordable option on the market.
Your Zillow 3D Home tour will never be deleted or archived from Zillow!
Sharp Frame Media has the knowledge, experience, and resources to provide photos and videos that show the best of your property. We have photos to prove it! Visit our website www.sharpframemedia.com to view our photo gallery!
At some point, we all go back to our roots as part of our growth. For us, that place is San Antonio, TX. Being that San Antonio is our hometown, we like to stay tuned to the real estate market there. When looking through listings online, we noticed a need for higher-quality real estate photography in the area and its surroundings. This was our motivation for expanding Sharp Frame Media in San Antonio.
The city of San Antonio, Texas has a rich story to tell. With its beautiful Hill Country and historic founding, being one of the oldest Spanish settlements in the state, Sharp Frame Media is pleased to announce our real estate services are expanding into the Alamo City.
Past, present, and future Sharp Frame clients can expect the same high-quality photography that we guarantee! Sharp Frame knows there is no such thing as a cookie-cutter or average listing, and with San Antonio being ranked as one of the top 10 “hidden gem” housing markets by the National Association of Realtors in 2022, making your property stand out is our top priority.
San Antonio’s real estate market is particularly unique. So, let’s look at some key elements that will shed light on what makes this Texas city stand out from the crowd.
Population
According to Roofstock, the River City is one of the top 10 major metropolitans that experienced one of the biggest population growths within the past decade. On average, 66 people move to San Antonio per day, making it one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities.
Job Market
According to the city’s local news, San Antonio has increased the number of six-figure jobs available by 167% between 2015 and 2020, leading the city to outperform other major Texas cities within the same category.
Real Estate Market
In 2020, San Antonio was listed as a top 5 city to make a good home investment in. Today, the city’s real estate market is expected to outperform other Texas cities.
Strong Renters Market
The San Antonio Business Journal named the city one of the most stable markets for renters. In fact, 39 percent of the city’s occupied housing units are rent-occupied households.
Quality of Life
With the cost of living just two percent above the national average, San Antonio is a beautiful and sunny place to live with plenty of fun activities to stay busy such as The Alamo, San Antonio River Walk, SeaWorld, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas.
Why Partner With Sharp Frame Media.
With over sixty-five 5-Star reviews on Google, we pride ourselves in going above and beyond for all our clients, and we back our work with our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee Policy. In addition to our promise of great quality and service, here are some additional benefits of partnering with us:
Free Property Websites – All of our photography packages include a free property website which can easily be shared to promote your listing and gather leads.
Access Photos On The Go – Realtors can access their listing photos on the go through our Aryeo app.
Next Day Delivery – All of our real estate photo shoots are guaranteed a next day turn around (except for Saturday shoots).
Book Online Anytime – our online booking system allows you to schedule a shoot with one of our photographers which can conveniently be done 24/7.
Blue Skies Guaranteed – No need to ever pay to make your skies look beautiful and blue. You have a shoot scheduled on a cloudy day? No worries, we got you covered.
Competitive Pricing– Finding good quality at a great price can sometimes be tough. Luckily, Sharp Frame Media is offering top quality real estate media at a very competitive price. You can check out the website for a complete service menu: https://sharpframemedia.com/pricing/
Sharp Frame Media will be servicing the following areas in San Antonio: Leon Valley, Balcones Heights, Helotes, Castle Hills, and Shavano Park. Do you have a property ready to list? Do not hesitate to book today. Here is how to get started:
Interested In Booking A Shoot
Book your San Antoniolisting photography online at:
Photography has become a part of our lives. We’re taking images every day, sharing them with friends and family, and quietly encouraging others to do so without even realizing it, resulting in an incredible amount of photos being taken globally.
Pressing the shutter release button starts a chain reaction inside a camera, leading to an image being recorded. It’s a series of events that happen one after the other inside the camera, all triggered by pressing the shutter release button. It’s like a domino effect – smooth and efficient.
Ever wondered what exactly transpires inside a camera during that process of image-making? Did you ever want to know how a camera captures an image? Today, we’ll learn all about that and more.
How Does a Camera Work?
The camera is a light-tight box with a small hole at one end. Light enters the camera through that hole, and an image is formed on a photographic medium. This is the simplest explanation of the inner functions of a camera. However, beyond this simple explanation, about a hundred different processes happen like clockwork.
From Light to Image, How Is an Image Formed Inside a Camera?
Thanks to the arrival of powerful smartphones with built-in camera systems, there is a capable camera in almost every hand around the globe. If the Kodak Brownie brought photography to the average consumer, smartphones have definitely brought photography within everyone’s reach.
Regardless of the make or model of the camera that you look at, it’s essentially made up of three main parts. We can segregate them into the lens, the camera body, and the light-sensitive medium, which converts optical signals into electronic information.
Light rays enter the camera through the lens. They pass through the camera body and hit the sensor at the back of the camera, where the image is formed.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these components to try and find out exactly the role that each of them plays in the image-making process.
Part 1 – The Lens: Capturing Light Rays
The first part of the camera deals with the light rays coming into the camera. It does so through the lens barrel.
The lens barrel has optical glass elements. The job of these glass elements is to accumulate the scattered light rays and funnel them onto the film or the image sensor at the back of the camera to produce an image.
Apart from that, there are some other glass elements that help to focus the image.
On top of these, there are many other elements as well, and they each have specific roles to perform. These include ED elements that help in correcting chromatic aberrations, VR elements to counter image shake, and so on.
One of the essential features of your lens is the zoom function. Not all lenses have that functionality, though. Lenses that cannot zoom are known as prime lenses.
When you turn the zoom ring on the body of the lens, certain elements inside the lens barrel move backward and front. This movement has a magnifying effect on the image. So, when you zoom in, the subject appears larger, and when you zoom out, the subject appears smaller.
Part 2 – The Digital Camera Sensor
The digital sensor is the most essential aspect of your camera. It’s the digital sensor that captures light and transforms it into electrical signals. In the older days, there was photographic film in place of the digital sensor.
I’ll discuss the photographic film right after this.
The digital sensor is made up of a thin board. On one side of the board are an array of light-sensitive photodiodes. The other side of the sensor has the wiring bit.
On some older camera systems, the wiring happened to be on the same side as the photodiodes. This was fundamentally a poor design. This led to a lot of cluttering and resulted in the loss of light and an increased amount of noise.
Modern camera sensors are designed better. They are designed using a stacked architecture that further reduces noise and improves the quality of the images. Plus, the backside-illuminated design ensures that the photodiodes are able to collect a lot more light and, as a result, produce cleaner images. I will discuss in detail how a typical image sensor works in a subsequent heading below.
Camera Film
Before the digital sensor, there was photographic film. The photographic film was popularized and mass-produced during the time of George Eastman. But during the initial days of photographic film, it was not made using a plastic material. Instead, it was made with paper. Nitrocellulose-based transparent film started in 1889.
Modern photographic film is a thin strip of transparent film base with one side coated with a gelatin emulsion layer. Silver halide crystals are used in that emulsion. This silver halide crystal determines the light sensitivity of the coated surface, the resolution, and the overall image quality.
Darkroom
The darkroom is associated with the development and printing of photographic film. It’s an age-old process that has now been rendered useless because of the advent of digital sensors and in-camera image processing.
A dark room is a light-tight room that is used to develop the rolls of film shot.
A series of chemical baths are prepared, and the negative is bathed in those solutions to initiate the development and when the development process is done to stop further development. The first solution is known as a Developer and the second one is a Stop Bath.
Once the rolls of film are developed, they’re then printed using printing paper. An enlarger is used to transfer light through it and onto a photographic paper containing light-sensitive silver halide.
Part 3 – The Camera Body
The camera forms the main body of your photography unit.
In a broad sense, the camera systems can be divided into two segments – (a) those with an interchangeable lens system and (b) those with a fixed lens system.
Both are popular, and both have their advantages and disadvantages. But the first one (those with an interchangeable lens system have become the most dominant).
These camera systems have a lens mount, meaning you can swap lenses and choose which lens to go to in a particular shooting situation. Thus, the name interchangeable lens cameras.
There are two major types of interchangeable lens camera systems currently in use – (a) DSLRs and (b) Mirrorless.
The Mechanics of a DSLR Camera and How It Works
Let’s look at the physics of how an image is formed inside one of these camera systems. Both DSLRs and mirrorless systems have one thing in common: the digital sensor at the back of the camera. They also have one big difference, and that’s the reflex mirror. DSLRs have those, and mirrorless cameras don’t. That also explains why a DSLR has an optical viewfinder, and a mirrorless camera has an electronic viewfinder.
Both camera systems being pretty similar; I will take a DSLR to explain the actual process of image-making in one of these camera systems.
The Lens
As has already been explained before, DSLR stands for digital single-lens reflex. The word reflex stands for the reflex mirror inside the camera. When you look through the viewfinder of a DSLR camera, the view you’re looking at is that which is produced by the light entering the camera and getting reflected via the reflex mirror.
By now, you are aware that the lens barrel allows light to get inside the camera. The lens has a small opening known as an aperture. This aperture size can be controlled using a set of mechanical and electronic controls on a camera.
The larger the opening of the aperture, the more the quantity of light that enters the camera and vice versa.
The Reflex Mirror
After entering the lens barrel, the light hits a reflex camera. This reflex camera is set at an angle of 45 degrees to facilitate the reflection of the light upward at an angle of 90 degrees.
After getting reflected by the reflex mirror, it is further reflected by a pentamirror or a pentaprism, depending on the type of DSLR camera you have. After reflection, the light is then routed through the viewfinder at the back of the camera. This is the view that you can see when you’re looking through the viewfinder.
But that is not all. When you press the shutter button, the reflex mirror sitting in front of the image sensor swings upwards and away from the path of the incoming light. The light now has a clear path towards the sensor at the back of the camera.
The Shutter Curtains
But before that can happen, the shutter curtains need to open. There are two shutter curtains on any DSLR camera. The first one opens to allow light in and reach the sensor. The second one follows right after to close the opening. After the image-making process is complete, both the curtains reset and are ready for the next shot.
The Image Sensor
The final process happens when the light rays reach the image sensor. Each photodiode on the image sensor can be compared to a bucket collecting water. Except, in this case, the photodiodes are collecting photons.
The photons are converted into electronic information. It’s pertinent to mention that each photodiode is covered with a filter that allows only one of the three primary colors to filter through. The rest of the colors are all discarded.
The photodiodes are arranged in an array where the three primary colors – blue, green, and red are collected. Interestingly there are twice as many green filters as red or blue filters. The reason being that the human eye is more susceptible to seeing the green color than the red or blue colors. Having twice as many green pixels allows for a cleaner and more natural-looking image.
The Process of Autofocusing Using Phase-Detection Autofocusing
The process of autofocusing is a relatively new technology in cameras. I don’t have the scope to discuss everything about autofocusing and its history here. I can say that autofocusing on early DSLR camera systems was dependent on the lens mechanism where a beam splitter was used to split the light beams coming into the camera and hitting the main reflex mirror.
After hitting the main reflex mirror, the light was redirected onto an autofocusing sensor at the bottom of the camera. The split beam hit a secondary mirror before reaching that autofocusing sensor. This is a very complex technology that depends on the mechanical efficiency of the camera’s design.
Phase Detection Autofocusing Technology and Its Latest Improvements
The only major setback of the traditional phase-detection autofocusing mechanism is that with the camera in live view mode, it does not work. Camera manufacturers had to rely on the older and slower contrast detection autofocusing mechanism to lock focus in live view mode.
Modern DSLR camera systems use upgraded phase-detection autofocusing technology. The technology uses an on-chip phase detection autofocusing design built onto the main sensor chip.
Canon was the first camera brand with this new autofocusing technology. They named it Dual Pixel Auto Focus. Today a majority of camera manufacturers use the same technology in different forms. You can find similar technology in smartphones.
Concluding Thoughts
The internal process of a camera is a testimony to the ingenuity of the human mind. From its humble beginnings some 2000 years ago, when camera obscura was first discovered, to the modern marvel that’s a mirrorless camera, the technology has come a long way. And with it has evolved the process of image-making.
However, what hasn’t changed are the basic principles of image-making, the rules, and the guidelines. It’s still the human mind where the image is first formed before a camera captures it.
The human mind has constantly pushed the boundaries of what’s possible with a camera. New technology has simply made it easier to capture one’s vision, but it has not been able to eliminate the six inches behind it.
Found this to be an interesting read? Want to know more about how a photography lens works? Check this out.
You might have lots of black and white photos captured in the days of black and white film cameras or just captured in black and white. Are you interested in colorizing these images?
If yes, you will definitely find this article very useful as it describes all the options you have for performing this task.
In this article, you will learn the different websites, software, and application that you can use for colorizing photos.
Generally, photos are colorized applying different layers of colors, often using proprietary technologies, including artificial intelligence in some software. There are both paid and free colorization options. If you are interested in using the service of a professional colorizer for your monochrome images, you can do that also.
Let us get started.
Why do people colorize photos?
Colorization of black and white pictures helps to give life to the old images. It will make you see the image from a new perspective. You can clearly see many differences between the monochrome image and its colorized version. It also makes them appear more lifelike since we see the world in color outside a camera.
Black and white pictures are known to take distractions away from an image. But, when you colorize an image, you will be able to see more details in the picture. For example, you can see the patterns and textures of the old clothing styles.
It is like seeing the history in color. Some black and white photos can be made more visually interesting and appealing to the viewer by converting them into color.
When did photos become colorized?
It is always good to know about the history of colorized images. The first color photography process came in 1890. It is called the “Additive” coloring process. Here, the colors were generated using the mixing of green, red, and blue light.
It was Fredric Ives, an American photographer, who invented the three-colour separation negatives technique with the help of colored filters. This negative was developed into positive with the help of a special viewer called the Kromskop. But, this system was complex and expensive.
Later, Dr Jon Joly devised another technique of generating the negatives with the help of a single filter comprising red, green, and blue instead of separate filters in 1894. This process was employed commercially in the year 1895. However, the results were not successful because of the limited color sensitivity of the plates.
Next, autochrome was invented for getting colors in the image by August and Louis Lumiere. It was the first successful commercial screen process.
How accurate is the colorization of black and white photos?
The accuracy of colorization of black and white pictures depends on many factors.
You have two options when it comes to image colorization. You can either use a software and do it yourself or use the service of an experienced professional photo colorizer. Both these options have got their pros and cons.
The basic process of colorization involves applying different layers of colors to the monochrome image. Some colorization applications are known to do a great job. But, most such software does not come for free. In the case of a professional colorizer service, you will have to pay for the retoucher.
Color cast in the image was a common issue in the old black and white photos. So, the colorization process needs to include a technique to remove these color casts. Only then the accurate colors can be restored to the image. With the launch of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in photo colorizer softwares, it is possible to get an accurately colorized image with little effort.
Software options for colorizing
There are many software out there that are capable of colorizing photos. I will share the most popular and best software that you can use for colorization.
Picture Colorizer from Image Colorizer
Picture colorizer is a popular software for colorizing pictures. It is available for both Windows as well as Mac OS. It comes at a price of $29.95. All future upgrades are free once you get a license. This software is also capable of repairing old pictures with scratches.
AKVIS Coloriage
The AKVIS Coloriage software is capable of accurate reproduction of colors with minimum effort. It supports different image file formats like jpeg, png, RAW, tiff, and PSD. It is an easy to use software that demands no professional photo editing skills.
Adobe Photoshop
As you all know, Adobe Photoshop is one of the most powerful image editors capable of doing lots of complex image editing. You can also use Photoshop to colorize your images.
Consider watching this video from PixImperfect, where Umesh Dinda explains how you can colorize a black and white photo realistically in Adobe Photoshop.
Blackmagic Photo Colorizer
Black Magic Photo Colorizer is available for the Windows platform. It can generate real-life colors with the help of its proprietary TimeBrush technology. It is also capable of coloring Sepia and Infrared images. It costs $49, and the updates are free for one year.
Websites for Colorizing
There are many websites that offer to colorize monochrome images. Some of the popular websites are listed below.
Colorize.cc
Colorize.cc is one good website where you can drag and drop monochrome images and get them colored. But, it does not come for free. You need to select a plan first.
They have three types of plans- Standard, Advanced, and Pro accounts. The standard one comes at a price of $9, Advanced at $29, and Pro at $99. The number of images supported in each of these accounts will vary. You can also give it a try without paying. But, the final image will come with their watermark.
Image Colorizer
You can drag and drop your black and white image to the Image colorizer website and get it colored for free. The site accepts jpeg, png, and .jpeg files. You don’t need to create any accounts here. It supports images up to 3000 x 3000 resolution.
Playback.fm
Playback.fm website offer free colorization of your black and white images. You can click on the “Upload Photo” option and select the appropriate image from your computer and upload it for processing to a color picture.
The uploaded image will be stored in their server for only 10 minutes. The image URL will be only visible to you during this time. Thus, they prevent others from accessing and using your images. So, you need to download the colorized image within 10 minutes. Otherwise, you will have to redo the whole process of uploading again.
Hotpot.ai
Hotpot.ai is an AI-based website that can convert your black and white images to color. Here, you have the option to select the colorization factors like 12, 15, 18, 20, and 25. You will get a small size colorized image with the free option. However, for a full resolution image, you need to buy credits. Their starter plan of 1000 credits per month will cost you $10.
If you are looking for a website option, you will find the above sites really useful.
Apps for Colorizing Photos
You can also use the apps on your smartphone or tablet to colorize pictures. These apps are available for both Android as well as iOS platforms.
Colorize App
The Colorize app is from the Image Colorizer. It is available for both Android as well as iPhone. You can download and use it for free.
Colorize: Old Photo Colorizer
This photo colorizer app is based on AI and deep learning. It does a decent job of colorizing black and white photos.
Colorize- Color to Old Photos
This app is from the Photomyne company. It is available for both Android and iPhone users. If you have hard copies of the old pictures, you can easily capture the digital copies using this app and convert them into color images.
Another great thing about this software is that it can even scan old black and white film negatives and convert them to color. It comes at a price of $59.99 per year. If you have lots of old pictures to convert, then this app will be a good option. You can always give it a try with their free trial option.
Cost to colorize an old photo
There are some websites and apps that offer image colorization for free. You can also go for the paid software and websites. The color reproduction accuracy will be better for the paid ones. The cost of the application will vary for different software.
If you don’t want to use any of the websites, software, or apps to colorize your images, then you can consider using the service of a professional image retoucher who can colorize your pictures. Now, lets talk about the cost of colorization. The actual cost will depend on various factors. Different photo editors charge differently. It will also depend on the condition of your image. If the monochrome image is in good condition, the charge will be less. If there are lots of scratches etc in the picture, then they tend to charge more.
The cost will be less for a single portrait when compared to a group portrait. You can either go for a digital copy of the final colorized image or get the hard print copies along with the digital copies. Some even offer it as a package. In the case of the package, there will be multiple package options, and you can select accordingly.
