This article will cover how to capture and upload 360 degree photos to the classrooms.uconn.edu website.
Ricoh Theta X
This is the Ricoh Theta X, a 360 degree camera equipped with an LCD screen.
Captures videos and photos
Contains a USBC port to charge and transfer files.
Utilizes two resolutions for photos: 5.5k and 11k.
Has a 5-second timer option
Can configure the shooting settings and change the shooting mode, but the default settings out of the box work well for what we are using this for.
Includes a shutter button that is located at the bottom of the device - the big half circle button.
\uD83D\uDCD8Instructions
Taking Photos
Turn the classroom system on and select PC to display the computer on the projector/monitor.
Set up the tripod in the center of the classroom.
Place the Theta X on top of a tripod by screwing in the bolt to the mount hole.
Press the power button on the right side of the device to turn it on - you should see a green light on the button and the lcd screen will turn on.
Make sure the resolution is at 11k.
Set the timer for 5 seconds.
When you’re ready to take a photo, click the big half circle at the bottom of the device (you may want to run out of the room).
You’ll hear a sound indicating that your photo was successfully taken.
Retrieve the camera and turn the system off.
Ricoh Theta Application
The Ricoh Theta Application is used for capturing, browsing, and uploading photos to the RICOH360 Cloud. This is an optional tool and not necessary for use.
You may need an account to view photos from the cloud, but the application can be used to view spherical images taken from the device.
With the phone application, you can remotely click the shutter button to take photos while being out of the shot.
You can also update the firmware with the pc application while connected via USBC cable.
Ricoh Theta Application Download Page
Transferring Your Photos
Connect the Theta X to your computer with a USB C cable.
Open File Explorer and navigate to Ricoh Theta X, which should appear on the left side of your files.
Click through the folders RICOH THETA X\Fixed storage\DCIM\100RICOH and you’ll find the photos you’ve taken.
Save these photos locally or to a SharePoint folder, the device itself has about 48GB of storage.
Uploading Photos to Flickr
Navigate to flickr.com, log in and click on the upload file button on the top right of the page.
Select the file or files you wish to upload (you can do multiple at once).
Rename the file to the room name.
Click the blue Upload Photos on the top right side of the page.
Changing Photo Resolution
You’ll now see your photo in your Photostream on Flickr.
Flickr will compress the resolution of the photo by default, so we will need to change it.
Click on the photo you wish to upload to your website.
On the bottom right of the page you’ll see options to filter, share, download etc. Click on the share button.
From the share menu, click on the Embed tab, and make sure the resolution is set to Original.
Copying Static Link to 360 Degree Photo
On that same Embed tab, copy and paste the text in the text box into a text editor or notepad.
Look for and copy the link that ends with .jpg
This is the link that you will insert into your Aurora website.
Inserting Link in Webpage
This will apply to the classrooms.uconn.edu site. There may be variation on how the page is set up.
On the http://classrooms.uconn.edu website, while logged in as Webmaster, edit the page you wish to insert the photo and paste the link into 360 View URL text box.
Add the image in row below from your files, which will create a thumbnail for the room.