Streetview Kit Instructions
Street View TLK Instructions
What’s in the box:
1x Theta Camera and charge cable.
1x Nexus 7 Android tablet with GPS and Street View app. Charger and cable included.
1x Mini extendable tripod with detachable base.
Watch first to get familiar with the camera and software:
How to turn tablet on (and connect to personal wireless to get updates if needed):
Make sure the tablet is charged, then press the power button on the side (the smaller button).
Once the tablet boots up, connect it to your wireless by accessing the settings app then clicking on wireless.
Select your wireless connection and enter any needed password.
Go back to the app drawer and open the “Play Store”.
Click the three lines in the upper left corner() to open the menu then select “my apps and games”.
If there are any apps that need updating click “Update all” or select the app then click “Update”.
How to turn Theta on:
Turn the camera on by pressing and holding the power button on the side.Make sure the camera is fully charged. If the camera shuts off immediately it needs to be charged.
When the phone is connected to the camera, you’ll see a blue linked camera .
How to connect to the theta (wireless code) and put it in photo mode:
Turn on Wi-Fi on the tablet if it is off. You should see a blue Wi-Fi icon on the front of the camera. If you don’t see the icon on the camera, press the Wi-Fi button on the side. The icon should light up on the camera.
Choose photo mode. You should see a blue photo camera icon on the front of the camera. If you see a video camera icon instead, switch to photo mode using the button on the side of the camera.
Connect the tablet to the 360 camera’s wifi network (which will begin in “THETA” and end in “.OSC”). You should not have to re-enter the password as the tablet has connected to this network before. If you are using your own phone the default password is the set of 8 numbers after “XS” on the bottom of the camera.
Opening the Street View app:
Open the Google Street View app . You will see it on the homescreen or in the app drawer.
When the tablet is connected to the camera, you’ll see a blue linked camera .
How to set up tripod and camera:
Remove the tripod and base from the kit case.
Twist the top of the tripod rail and it will unlock and allow you to extend the length of the rail.
Once extended twist the rail the opposite way to lock it at that height.
Expand the base and make sure it feels stable on its own.
Attach the Theta camera to the tripod by twisting it down onto the ¼ bolt at the top of the tripod.
Adjust the angle of the camera using the twist lock on the side of the tripod trail if needed.
*Feel free to use your own tripod. Please be aware that the included compact tripod can be unstable on some surfaces. You can also use something like a bike/rock climbing helmet with a ¼” mount on top and take photos as you walk.
How to take photos:
To save yourself time, you may want to create or link your existing businesses Google account to the included tablet, or connect the theta to your own device, with your Google account logged in. All photos will then be assigned to the logged in account and you will not need to transfer rights later.
Open the Street View app .
Tap Create +.
In the bottom right, tap Camera .
Take a series of photos. Keep the camera facing forwards the way you would walk through the building(front of camera is the side with no buttons). You may hear a sound from the camera when it takes a photo. Wait a moment for it to process and upload to the tablet, then move the camera forward about 3 feet(indoors) or 10 feet(outdoors) and take the next photo. Start from the entrance of your location and move through the building as if giving a tour. Continue doing this until you have mapped the desired area. If you have areas that stray far from the main path it may be best to come back to those later.
At the bottom, tap Done .
Tips for photos:
Try to keep the camera height at 4 – 6 ft if using your own tripod or a helmet mount.
If you do not use the included base try to keep the tripod rail steady above your head and keep your head down when taking photos.
Tripod: Step out of the way before taking photos or hide behind objects. Note that this will throw off the GPS location of the photo and need to be fixed later before publishing.
Helmet: Make sure to keep your head still and steady when taking photos.
Space the photos about two small steps apart (1 m / 3 ft) when indoors and five steps apart (3 m / 10 ft) when outdoors.
Follow natural paths and walkways so that there is a clear line of sight between the photos.
Start taking photos from the street and keep taking them until you’re inside the place.
When taking photos indoors, limit your collection to 100 photos.
*After you finish taking photos make sure to blur them, correct the GPS location, and connect the photos before uploading
Blurring faces and information:
You can blur parts of your 360 photos to hide details such as faces or license plates. If there are people or information that you don’t have permission to show in your photo, we recommend you blur these elements to respect others’ privacy(the photo owner is responsible for blurring the photo before publishing it). After a photo is blurred and published, the blur can’t be removed from the photo.
Connect photos:
You can connect your 360 photos together using the connectivity editor, so that you can smoothly move from one photo to another.
Open the Street View app .
On the “Profile” tab, find a photo and tap Select.
Tap at least two photos that you want to connect.
To select all photos, go to the top right and tap More Select all.
In the top right, tap More Connect 360 photos.
Your photos will show up on the map as numbered markers. Tap a photo.
Drag each photo to the correct location. Using a layout of your building for reference may help here(especially if you mark the path you took – the pictures should line up in the numbered order they were taken). You can swipe left and right on the photo to see all directions if you’re not sure about its orientation.
Add a connection between two photos: Tap the light line.
Delete a connection: Tap the solid line.
Align a photo: Slide the compass at the bottom of the screen to make sure that the photo markers align correctly.
Save your work: Tap Save .
To try your new connection, open your photo in the “Profile” tab and tap the white arrow. To edit or delete a connection, select the same photos from your collection and tap the lines.
Change location and alignment:
To change the location of a photo, drag the numbered marker to the correct location. 360 photos taken indoors or near tall buildings will probably need their locations corrected.
To fix the alignment of a photo, drag the compass at the bottom of a photo. You’ll know the orientation is correct in the viewer when the numbered circles, representing photos, show up at the right locations in the viewer.
Before saving your connections, you can preview the photo transitions by tapping the numbered markers inside the viewer. If something seems off, adjust the locations of the numbered markers until the alignment looks right.
How to upload:
Open the Street View app .
Under “Private,” tap Select.
Choose a photo or select all photos to publish.
If you have applied blurring, choose if you want to apply the blur to your published photo. Tap More Apply blurring or Remove blurring .
Tap Upload .
Tap Publish. You’ll see your photo under “Profile”.
How to wipe Theta or move photos to your own device when finished:
Plug the theta into your computer using a micro usb cable, wait for the device to install.
Browse to the camera(found under “My Computer” or “This Computer” in Windows) and open it.
Under DCIM you will find all the photos. You can then drag and drop the photos to your computer or delete them to prep the device for the next user.
Transfer photo rights to your own Google account:
If you did not log in with your own account, but want to transfer the rights of the photos you took to a different account follow the instructions below:
Open the Street View app .
Under “Profile,” open a photo that you’ve published.
In the top right, tap More .
Choose Transfer rights.
If your photo has been added to a verified Maps listing, the recipient field will automatically be filled in with the Maps listing name and the manager or owner of the listing will be the recipient. If you want to change the recipient, you can enter an email address. The email address has to be a Gmail account or associated with a Google account.
Tap Transfer rights.
*Note: If you have ten transfers in process, you won’t be able to transfer more photos. You’ll be able to transfer photos rights again when one of your requested transfers is accepted or 60 days have passed, whichever comes first.
Embed 360 photos in your website:
*(must transfer rights of photos to a Google account you own or have taken the photos with the Theta connected to your own device)
You can also embed a photo in your website or blog using Google Maps.
On your computer, open Google Maps and make sure you’re signed in to the same account you used with the Street View app.
Click the Menu .
Click Your contributions.
Click Photos.
Select the photo you want to embed.
Click More .
Select Share or embed image.
At the top of the box that appears, choose Embed image.
Choose the size you want, then copy the HTML embed code and paste it into the source code of your website or blog.
Add your floorplan to your location:
https://support.google.com/maps/answer/2803784?hl=en&ref_topic=3280760
*Instructions from Google can be found here: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/6281877?hl=en&ref_topic=6275604 Some of the above instructions and photos were modified from Google's instructions.