However, there is also the additional option of the dealer360 player plugin, which smartly displays 360° imagery – with users able to drag and zoom, controlling their own view of the product.

But – with both video footage and 360° images available – which option is best for you?

Video

There is no denying that video footage is great for watching action, seeing a turntable in motion and getting a view of the product that cannot be appreciated with still images.

However, there are several drawbacks to using video.

For inanimate objects, there is no benefit to watching a video over simply viewing images – and, compared to still images, videos use a lot of bandwidth while sometimes offering little more than a series of pictures would. This can make videos slow to load on a website and, for potential customers visiting a mobile site, it requires a willingness to use data in downloading the footage.

Not only that but, should something be missed on a first view, scrolling back through is not quite as straight forward as with 360° images, often requiring a second watch.

360°

The dealer360 player works in all the ways that a video does not, making user engagement an attractive proposition.

The images can be panned and zoomed, while the click and drag rotation provides the ability to manipulate the object. Any potential customer is therefore engaged in an interactive way and it may be that they choose to focus on aspects of the images that a video simply would not know to highlight.

That increased engagement and interaction will keep users on the page for longer and increase confidence in the accuracy of the listing. This improves transparency as the dealer can’t hide as much, so the trust level increases.

It also offers the facility of displaying an internal 360° image, giving a potential customer the chance to get a driver’s eye view from inside the car. Potential customers can effectively walk around the vehicle and look over the interior just as they would if they visited the showroom.

To complement the 360° imagery, the plugin also automatically crops a selection of the pictures and enables them to be displayed in a separate, still gallery.

We’re delighted to say that the showroom is now up and running!

Check out these pictures of the offices, complete with a photographic booth.

Diffused or direct?

Diffused light is where a material is positioned between the light source and the object being photographed. This spreads the light intensity and gives a soft light.

By contrast, direct light simply sees the lights shone directly onto the vehicle.

Either can be achieved using our image booths, where LED floodlights are mounted on adjustable brackets on top of the booth walls.

Why diffused?

To diffuse light at dealer360, we cover the entire booth with a white nylon translucent panel. The lights, positioned above, then shine through the panel onto the car below.

This crucially ensures there are no intense reflections seen in the paintwork of the car – as there would be with direct light – while, as mentioned above, the light is evenly distributed. The result of this light diffusion is a smooth satin look.

Why direct?

There are advantages to direct light, too, though. The car is given a glossy appearance and colour is well replicated in images – at odds to the struggles faced with diffused light, unless more light heads are added.

And there are also practical reasons to opt against diffusing the light. The translucent panels have an initial cost and the wear-and-tear of use means they need replacing over time.