Virtual Earth

Ever wondered what the tile in the powder room of a ,000,000 Los Angeles mansion looks like? How about the movie theater(s). Did you imagine that a home with 12 bathrooms really exists? Now you can see them. Dozens of them. And not only in L.A., but in more and more cities by the day.

Cruising dream homes via virtual home tours is gaining in popularity as the quality improves. Virtual home tours are trading up from the old low-rent fish-eye panoramas to images that are a pleasure to view. Factors driving the beautiful new views include:

Professional photography

These are not images taken by real estate agents pressed for time. The photographic images here are rich, properly exposed, well-composed. Some photographers even bill themselves as artistes on a (reaching) level with the architects and designers who made the homes. You may think that’s a stretch, but – each medium has its artistry – view a few of the virtual home tours you’ll find at home tour galleries on the internet, and you may find yourself entranced.

Better design

Virtual home tour designers themselves are getting better. Navigation is more intuitive. In most designs, thumbnails ride above a central viewer. Panoramic views are common – and much clearer and better lit than the panoramics of just a few months ago.

Much competition among home tour companies

Literally dozens of home tour companies are battling in a market free-for-all right now. Those who are winning in any given local market may not even appear in other local markets, so the battle is ongoing, exciting, and has yet to reveal clear national winners and losers. Some of the most interesting home tour galleries to click through are not associated with any virtual home tour production company. The best tour galleries are simply gallery sites with slideshows or links to the best luxury home tours on the internet. Viewers find it convenient and eclectic (the gallery is not limited to just one tour company).

One thing that makes digital recording even more rewarding, and more fun, is Virtual Studio Technology, or VST.

I’m not going to get too technical with my definition here; I couldn’t if i wanted to.

Virtual Studio Technology is software emulation of hardware devices, usually in two categories. Instruments, and effects.

The instrument VST’s can simulate “real” instruments mostly due to another technology called sampling. A real instrument such as a piano is “sampled” by making many recordings of a real instrument. The instrument is recorded playing hard, and playing soft. Different nuances of the instrument are also recorded such as the fret noise of slipping your fingers on acoustic guitar strings. All of this is controlled by a MIDI controller. Usually a MIDI controller is a piano type keyboard, but it can be a guitar, and even a wind instrument. When you play a note on the keyboard, you are actually playing a recording of the note on a different instrument. You can play chopsticks on the piano keyboard and hear it as a harp, a guitar, or even a human voice!

Most of these VST’s come on a CD or a DVD. It is not unusual for the files for a complicated instrument to over 5 gig in size.

There are complete orchestras available including sections and solo instruments, as well as individual instruments from all over the world. This technology is so common that you are hearing virtual instruments on pre-recorded music, on a daily basis.The amazing thing is that if the VST instrument has been constructed well, it really feels as if you are playing the instrument. VST instruments are inserted into special places in the DAW for recording. A VST can cost as little as .00, or many hundreds. There are many great free instruments as well. 

The other main type of VST is an effect. This is an emulation of hardware audio effects such as reverb, delay and compression. There are a vast number of effects available. I should point out that these emulations both for instrument and effects are in most cases very accurate. I own a hardware synth and a VST of the same synth, and they are impossible to tell apart.

Also in the category of VST effects are programs that simulate guitar effects, amplifiers and stomp pedals. You can plug your guitar in dry and add a distortion pedal, delay, and the tone of a particular amplifier such as a Fender.

Many of these effects are added via the mixer view, especially when you are mixing down a finished product. There are special VST’s for mastering as well. These are usually combinations of filters and effects that specialize in making a full mix.

Virtual Studio Technology really completes your digital home studio.