7 Reasons We Don't Recommend Matterport 3D1158
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Gerhard private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I found this interesting one-sided we specialise in video only is the "best solution" for selling real estate article. I myself was looking into producing high end quality video productions after witnessing the horrific so called property marketing videos that are just images put into motion, with either robot voice overs or shady camera work. or a drone flying for 2 minutes over a property. ( Boring!!! ) The one thing these companies forget is that they have less than 60 seconds to hook a potential buyer or they click away from that listing. And also the video has a termination point and does not get the clients to engage.Secondly to produce something worthy of Hollywood, cost a lot of $$$. I believe that one needs the other , but my feedback on Matterport from the industry is that they like this more than video, better WOW factor and a fast turnaround time. http://hubmediacompany.com/7-reasons-we-dont-recommend-matterport/ |
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JCHAFE private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I agree with your points, especially the killer turn around time. Biggest drawback I have encountered so far is the lack of options when dealing with 2 apartment homes with no continuity. Also, I have lots of builders who want them for their residential spec homes, and also management companies who want me to do all their different apartments in their buildings, but they do not want to continually pay a monthly fee to keep them hosted. They want the file in case I go out of business in 2, 5 10, years. Just getting a link ties my hands in these cases. The site you linked to, sounds to me like the owner of the site is trying to protect his livelihood and doing a poor job...lol |
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Dennis_N private msg quote post Address this user | |
| He may be wrong but he has some valid points. Especially about dark 3D showcases (lets face it MP shot quality can't compete a good DSLR with proper lighting setup for photography) and load times (they need to do something about that), and clients who use firefox, which is known to crash on mobile devices. | ||
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Chankane private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Though I inderstand the point of too much information, adversely, wouldn't comprehensive information of the property be ultimately preferred? Slideshows and videos along with music, can create emotions in which may determine a buyer into taking that leap, however wouldn't it be better to be well informed prior to taking that leap? I think HUB Media is feeling the pressure... But they do have valid points. For the now... |
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krp private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Being able to tag the tour would be helpful and what would really be cool is the ability to add a voice over when they click on a scanned spot. Either way... technology is moving so fast that if MP doesn't continue to push hard and fast with more ways for us to be creative, something or someone else will. Also... I have heard many people talk about lighting issues and have always wondered if all the post processing is done automated or does MP have a post department that either looks at the finished product to make adjustments or can they be made if requested? |
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Zephyr Cove, NV |
Maria private msg quote post Address this user | |
| That post was funny. I liked how the author Stephen Garner wrote "...as a real benefit for hotels,vrbo builders, landlords where the customer cares more about the size or layout of a room than how pretty or functional it is." Yeah because a home owner doesn't care about these things. Personally we use and recommend Matterport as a way to supplement video and photography as these other options do not provide all the information and are often deceiving. Video and photography do provide a fantastic opportunity to connect with buyers on an emotional level. Home buying can sometimes be impulsive and emotional process but so too is it based on logic and practicality. People realize videos and photography can intentionally or unintentionally hide or muddle information. This information, whether it be the proximity of a kids room to the Master bedroom or a sense of the actual room size, is information often missing in photography and videos and buyers know it. As any agent knows you can't "sell" a house, the house has to fit the buyers needs and tastes and be priced properly within its market. It's the agent's job to find a home that most closely aligns with the buyer. Yes a beautiful video and photography may entice buyers to view a property but that does not mean they will like what they actually see. Matterport may have an impact on the number of showings a property will get by screening out some of the people who would never write an offer on the property after seeing it in person or it can increase showings. Matterport can increase showings by motivating people to take action sooner rather than wait until they can take the time off to spend a day "house hunting". If they find something online and have reasonable reassurance that the home is what the want they will take action when the home is available rather than wait until they are available. This later point is something we see a lot of here in our resort community of Lake Tahoe. Our buyers like most know a photo or video can be deceiving and our buyers may not want or may not be able to drive up to look at a home based on some pretty pictures or video because they do not have a sense of what the home is really like or if it's functional for their purposes. Matterport gives buyers this information. It gives one a sense of being in the space with the ability to tour around the home yourself and explore it as you would as if you were actually there, and that experience does connect on an emotional level that's real. A person sitting at their desk in San Francisco may be more likely to make that trip up to the lake or make that phone call if they know the pictures the saw do the property justice and that the home meets their needs. And when that buyer gets to see the home in person, they won't be dissappointed. So for us, we see this as a tool to supplement traditional tools like photography and videography. |
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Dennis_N private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Maria you have a lot of good points there, and I'm actually going to steal a few of them for my clients! It is true that real estate photography and videography tends to treat real estate like a telemarketing product which its NOT. People will definitely want to go to the property before they buy it, and if the photos don't do it justice, no amount of marketing skill on behalf of the agent will convince them to not walk away. In that regard, MP is an honest marketing tool. It shows the property as it is with most of the visual information needed for a buyer to make a good decision. |
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CarlosFHdz private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I know most of us are Matterport evangelist and it's fun to see the feedback to the article. The guy has some valid points, but it also a naysayer of the future tech and where it's going. It reminded me of a few quotes. The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty—a fad. - Advice from a president of the Michigan Savings Bank to Henry Ford's lawyer Horace Rackham. Rackham ignored the advice and invested $5000 in Ford stock, selling it later for $12.5 million. This `telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a practical form of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us. - Western Union internal memo, 1878 I'm sure that he would have had a similar post if all he was doing was photography and then video came along. It's more about not understanding it. We don't know how the future will turn out, but as a buyer, seeing the 3D tour helps tremendously. Maybe that may be a motivation in the next few years once these buyers are going to sell. They'll remember the 3D tour that helped them make the decision and that reinforced that decision after they saw 20 houses, and decide they want to have a 3D done to help prospective buyers. We believe photo and video are important as a marketing tool, but MP helps to add context. When looking at pictures or video, a buyer is trying to stitch those images in their head about the floor plan and the size, trying to understand how big or small a room is on a wide angle shot. MP helps.I don't believe it is here to replace any of those 2, yet. Also, I understand that most people will want to step in the property physically before buying, but I've purchased my last two residences one, sight unseen, and the other based on photos. Only after the contract was accepted did I visit. This was due to a hot market, and my inability to visit the homes within the first 2 days after they were listed. What I'm saying is that if I had MP, it would have been much easier to make that decision for someone like me. |
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PieroBortolot private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Gerhard don't write in this forum We all have a camera And we bought for a reason you don't wrote |
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Zephyr Cove, NV |
Maria private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by PieroBortolotI am uncertain as to your point. Gerhard was merely pointing out some of the opposition Matterport owners and consumers may hear from "competing" technology such as video and photography by presenting us a blog post by a Stephen Garner. He himself was not criticizing Matterport in anyway. Personally, I think what Matterport provides is something that should be combined with professional videography and photography. The writer Stephen Garner, has it wrong in my opinion and should be looking for ways to work together and either cross promote or include Matterport for his customers. |
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 WGAN ForumFounder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host Atlanta, Georgia |
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Gerhard My guess is that the author recognized that his existing and potential clients were searching on "Matterport", so he wrote a post with Matterport in his headline and body to get some of that in-bound traffic (and then make his case). I've done that with this article, Photographers Switching to Matterport 3D Showcase from Google Business View  ...I did send the author an email to let him know about this thread and invite him to join the discussion. If he does join the discussion, thank you in advance for being polite. Happy Friday, Dan  |
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Hubmediacompany private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Hi this is Stephen, the author of the post you're all commenting on, thanks for the invite Dan. I think a few things need to be cleared up. 1) just because I don't care for Matterport in its present state doesn't mean I have something against it, I believe I stated The technology is amazing I just don't like the information it conveys or the way it's conveyed. 2) you act as if matterport is hard to use and therefore I am against it in someway, that I'm scared of the future. Nothing could be further from the truth. I could easily buy a camera today and use it immediately I choose not to for the reasons in my post . 3) we work with some of the top agents in Phoenix. When matterport first came out I contacted them, showed them a tour (with no opinion) and asked if they saw value in it followed by would you like us to offer this to help you grow your business. All of them except two said "no". 4) I believe someone clearly stated what I believe already, matterport is a complement to not in place of a cinematic video tour 5) i'm not opposed to purchasing one in the future once some of these issues are taken care of. It's painful to watch the load speed and crashing. 6) I stated in the article one of my clients is using it because other agents are not, I think that is a good unique selling proposition. Judging from the number of people in this forum that own this camera, the number of companies already offering in my market, I would question whether or not your market is becoming saturated. If yes, what will you do to separate your self from your competition? Anyone can operate Matterport. There will be other technologies that are better and faster and cost less than Matterport, 80 at that point I will purchase one. But it will be dependent on my ideal client being the real estate agent wanting the service and currently the consensus is, they don't. |
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Hubmediacompany private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Oh and 1 more thing: I think it's ridiculously over priced and I'm not crazy over the monthly fees to host. | ||
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StevenHattan private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Hubmediacompany Thanks for your post! :-) Anytime there are objections, it's good thing if we can learn from them and grow. |
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krp private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Pricepoint keeps every Tom, Dick and Harry from going out and buying one which enables us the ability to make money with the technology. The bad news is that the price of technology will always go down and to stay relative in a constantly moving market we have to keep moving with it. |
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Zephyr Cove, NV |
Maria private msg quote post Address this user | |
Quote:Originally Posted by Hubmediacompany Glad you could join the conversation which was brought about by your post. First, I totally agree with your statement #2, "I could easily buy a camera today and use it immediately". but partially disagree with your last comment about it being over priced. The only thing that has kept others joining the Matterport club is price. I should note that it is cheap compared to similar devices. We were looking Faro's Focus3d which is amazing and creates highly detailed point cloud models, but it is $45k and is not nearly user friendly to get the same finished product. I love Matterport and feel it is worth the costs for our situation. Our clients can't stop taking about it and showing their friends. I personally am happy with the results and do not feel the limitations of the finished product outweighs the advantages. Like I stated before we use this in conjunction with traditional marketing tools like photography, videography and drones. We bought Matterport for a tool to market my husband's listings and decided that it would probably be cutting edge for only a couple of years. We figured because it was a big investment combined with our belief that we will soon face more competition from other operators, other camera technologies and newer versions of Matterport, that we should offer it to others as well, while Matterport is still unique to our market and as a technology. As a listing tool, we belief at least two listing agreements were obtained because we were able to highlight the advantages that we could offer by providing this to his clients along with traditional media such as photography and video. One sale easily covered the cost of the camera. As an owner of a business providing a service I can sympathize with your statement about the price: "Oh and 1 more thing: I think it's ridiculously over priced and I'm not crazy over the monthly fees to host.." This is not because I feel the technology, service product and software is not worth it but rather that for most users in most markets they will not be able to recoup the cost of the camera and earning a living from providing this service alone. My reasons for this follow some of the comments you've made and some of my own observations. First lets look at this from a business prospective. More or less, I've seen people sell their service for around $0.10 a sq/ft. The average home according to the 2010 US Census Bureau is 2,169 sq/ft. If a person invest $5,000 to start a Matterport service business they will need to sell their services 23 times at an average of $216.90 per job to recoup their capital expenditures not including their operating costs and time spent selling the service. This will be increasingly difficult to do because of the following four reasons. 1.) The market is for this technology is new and we as service providers have to create the demand for the service by introducing it to others. This means we have to work harder and longer just to get people to see the value. Fortunately this will eventually swing the other way as this and similar technology becomes more common place. 2.) Matterport is easy to use. It is pretty easy for anyone to use Matterport well without formal training or special skills making it easy for others to easily compete. 3.) Matterport will face competition from competition other camera makers and from newer versions of the camera. In fact Google just teamed up with Lenovo to provide a new phone that will integrate project tango capable of producing models in similar fashion as Matterport. Even Matterport has their Matterport Mobile 3D Capture While these will not compete directly, this shows that competition is coming and prices for the devices will be cheaper. 4.) Matterport service providers will faces competition from different technologies. Virtual Reality (VR) is grabbing headlines and while Matterport is capable of providing a VR experience via Samsung Gear, it is not truly compatible nor seamless. Matterport will face competition from 360º videos with many technology players already in the market which can provide a quality VR or interactive experience. While these technologies are not directly competing, they will spread real estate marketing dollars thin. Again as a business, compare Matterport with videography, photography, or drone operators. A quality DSLR or video camera with appropriate lighting ad editing equipment or a drone can costs a little more or less than Matterport but requires substantial skill and training to use properly. This prohibits many people from being able to compete with these other marketing tools. Photographers, videographers and drone operators have the advantage of being able to differentiate themselves form their competition solely with skill and talent, of which, little is required to operate a Matterport camera. Videographers, photographers and drone operators also do not need to spend as much time convincing people of their services value to be able to get business. Videographers, photographers and drone operators do not need to spend as much time at a project and could possibly perform more jobs in a day than you can with Matterport. It takes me approximately 45 minutes to an hour to capture a 1,000 sq/ft of space. A house can be professionally lit and filmed or photographed in that amount of time. Videographers, photographers and drone operators have less exposure to technological obsolescence. Lenses, lighting and tripods last virtually forever and cameras have reached a point where upgrades are not necessary to obtain acceptable pictures for real estate purposes. For these reasons, experienced photographers, videographers and drone operators will have more time and find it easier to recoup the costs of their investment. Of course these service providers are also facing increased competition from cheaper easier and newer technologies allowing amateurs to compete. Cheap quality DSLRs and video recorders, HDR settings, quality camera phones and inexpensive drones and cheap and free editing software and services are putting pressure on these providers too. Can we make a living selling Matterport services? Certainly. But we will have to diversify in an increasingly crowded market to maintain sufficient service volume to be profitable. Remember we have little control over quality so we need to focus on volume and we have ever increasing competition as this is a new technology. We also need to either provide other services or partner with other service providers to complement the work they do to provide a complete media package to showcase a property. I currently think too many Matterport operators and owners are too busy targeting real estate professionals and missing key markets. Us as professionals need to push outside the real estate agent box. This technology and service offers value. We need to partner with other industries such as insurance, crime scene documentation, event space planning, historic property documentation and preservation, architectural studies, interior decorating. We need also to promote this directly to homeowners. Like most businesses, Matterport service providers do better when we increase our volume of service we provide. |
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Hubmediacompany private msg quote post Address this user | |
| Hi Maria, this is one of the best, most thought replies to any comment, not just mine, I've ever read. I like the way you think. I can see you clearly get it. Good points. | ||
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al9901 private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @Hubmediacompany @Maria I think that you both have articulated what I wanted to say perfectly. I have stopped using Matterport altogether. Here are my reasons: 1) The price. I have opened up the camera and had a really hard look to find where this other $3000 that my company spent on this technology might be lurking. I can find batterpacks, 3 carmine sensors and a few connectivity components. Even to buy all these parts in retain would not cost anywhere near $4500. 2) The price AND the solution. For what you get, you would expect some pretty hefty features that you could customize and even build your own extensions to. Yes, the camera is so simple and easy to use, but so what if it is difficult the first few times to learn to use it? The intention is to do many, many jobs over a long period of time, so who really cares if the software is difficult to use? Customers want customization, they pay for creative talent, and if anyone with a 3D camera can produce the same result, what other than price separates one MP photographer from another? Give me a desktop app, where I can really manipulate and edit, and with a bit of effort, really master and make my own. Don't give me a slow, shiny, fisher-price style web back-end, especially with this 2.0 showcase where you have to go between two in order to access the features. 3) The "Professional DSLR of 3D" claim. OK, so it has the price tag of a professional camera, but in no way can you say in 2015 that this is the top-end of 3D showcasing. It might be the maximum resolution for the Carmine 1.09 sensors but 3D has been moving steadily forward; there are plenty of other (even cheaper) 3D capture solutions that are far superior in quality. The photos are OK, but for the high-end market or for more than just real-estate, they aren't there yet. As above, editing some raw 360 photos to make them stunning is worth the effort to win bigger jobs that pay 10x what realtors have been offering. 4) It's inflexible. While it may be simple, it certainly is not interesting. Very little work is exciting, but this is not the point. Move something during a scan? Hope for the best. An ajar door moved and now you don't know it's exact position? I know your pain. Yes, planning the capture meticulously eliminates these, but it also means that the space must be absolutely empty during capture; effectively writing off retail and hospitality where other people might be around. Can't you pause a scan? Can't you edit the 360 photos to remove the guy looking through the window at what you are doing? It's so time consuming waiting for the right moment to start and then having to scrap it because the cat or people that ignored your message on the door to keep out step into view. 5) No API. Every 3D service seems to have an API. Why? Because it lets you make the changes you want to the service. Matterport have been hinting at this for almost 2 years, yet NOTHING. IF you want people to use the service then they need to be able to make the customization for their customers; I can't tell you the number of pending offers my company has for work and big contracts when they get a feature that they want, one that could be done in a matter of days and really show the power of 3D marketing. But Matterport don't see any value in moving this along. Whether it's legal, technical problems or they just don't think its a priority, they are holding back the development of the platform and they adaptation into more than just basic real estate. 6) And finally; their attitude. Dropped projects, features that were promised but never made an appearance. If you don't have a fairly certain idea that you can deliver, don't get peoples' hopes up. Sure, failures happen and things change, but at MP far too many exciting promises are just being swept under the carpet, and some stay or even buy MP just to get these great extras. Matterport in 2014 were a completely different outfit. They talked one on one with camera owners, they gave people what they wanted. Yes, they are vastly larger, but they have replaced their ingenuity and willingness to listen to feedback with drones that spout out meaningless drivel. "This is very important and we are certainly looking into that possibly in the near future" is not an answer, but it is something I have heard from CSRs all the way to senior people in the company. If you don't think feedback is important or relevant say that instead. Don't lead people on. In short, Matterport had the right idea; a 3D showcase from start to finish. But they haven't kept up with the most important changes or given people the option of developing add-ons to break into other markets, and there are plenty of other gigs in town. |
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