Greg & Tracy Welch (Step by Step 3D) - Openhaus Pro Podcast #5 #matterport

TRANSCRIPT:

Carson Clement: Hey everyone, thank you so much for joining us again. I'm here with Greg and Tracy Welch from Step by Step 3D. They are in Las Vegas, Nevada. And like we said last time we chatted on here, we just want to build a bigger community for us, you know, for MSPs and just 3D industry professionals in general. So there's a need for us to link arms and talk about the industry and help the industry grow together and know that there's other people out there that are have similar type businesses or that are kind of doing, you know, going through the same challenges or finding the same thing. So we think Openhaus, there's a lot that we can learn from each other. And so that's why we invited Greg and Tracy Welch to come on in and tell us about step by step 3D and just kind of how they got into the industry in general. So Greg and Tracy, would you mind just kind of introducing yourself and step by step 3D for us.

Greg Welch: As far you want to or virtualization? Okay. Well, yeah, we've been in since and with it in with Matterport, if you will, since 20, beginning of 2016, somewhere in there, we both come from a real estate background and that camera was obviously kind of pointing in that direction, pun intended there in the beginning. And so we picked it up and quickly realized that it would, you know, it had a business behind it.

And so almost simultaneously created step by step 3D in addition to the real estate. And really, it's it's pulled us away from the real estate as brokers to really focus on step by step 3D, pretty much nonstop sense and really took it for a ride during the COVID years here in town, it was just nonstop. We had set up some automations and stuff like that for ordering for a lot of that.

So we almost weren't taking calls. It was just nonstop. The order came in and we were running to do the work and we've expanded on that with Matterport, got into the photography side of things, also got into some pulsars. So like street View mounted camera on the car as well as being okay with kind of broaden the horizon there you know the only thing and drone but really it's just all geared I think for the most part around the Matterport platform and and the photography that I kind of.

Tracy Welch: I think so we we enjoyed the direction that the company is going and the industry is going. Um, again, like I said, it was first just real estate and then we started doing a lot of businesses we've done this was Center for the Performing Arts out here in the beginning, which was just a wonderful experience for us to be able to bring that support to customers visiting and people who live here.

But venturing into the the more as a business aspect of it and trying to capture places that are unique in that people wouldn't be able to experience otherwise, I think that's just the most fascinating part of it. And so we just are addicted, I guess.

Greg Welch: Yeah, yeah. Addicted to. Revisting old projects, you know, even years ago, you know, as we were very big on showcasing it on a site as opposed to, you know, burying it and or whatnot. So we find ourselves I remember when we did that, remember hiding right there. You know, it's a big game of hide and seek. Oh, yeah.

Carson Clement: That's awesome. Yeah, I think we don't talk about that enough. And I think that when you get away from just the real estate use case where usually these models can have a pretty short lifespan that they're needed and you get more into like the business to business, the models can be pretty evergreen. And I think what we've chatted a lot with businesses is like for one example we did so I'm here in Waco, Texas, and we were fortunate enough to do some projects with Magnolia and some of their fixer upper houses.

And what's cool is that forever they'll now have a digital version of that house that even for just reminiscence purposes, you know, to be able to go back and step back inside that project that they poured their heart and soul into is pretty cool. Just like an archival standpoint, you know?

Tracy Welch: Excellent, excellent. Yeah. We have a builder that we work with out here and they just do every single model that they build. We scan for them and they in the beginning they said, we want to build our library. So even if it's the same model they did across town, but it's decorated and outfitted differently or has a slightly different look that that wasn't in the other one.

They scan it and it's all for building their libraries so that they can see what they've done throughout the years and go back and look at them, obviously, probably for deeper purposes. And we think but but yeah, so the but that's great that you were able to preserve those experiences for them.

Carson Clement: Yeah. Yeah, totally. I think what we've experienced too, like with a real estate customer, it makes a lot of sense. Like this purpose of this space is so someone can preview the house without needing, you know, to be there physically. But sometimes it's hard. I think our experience at least to help businesses see, you know, the ultimate value of a 3D, you know, digital twin.

And I think sometimes like each one has such varying, you know, benefits that they might get. How do you guys at step by step 3D, you know, put real estate aside, like when you're trying to communicate to a business why they should want a digital twin, what do you do? What do you tell them? Like what have you seen be successful?

Greg Welch: You know, it's hard to put a, you know, it to explain it to a business, you know, when it was just so minimally tagged and and, you know, and pop ups were minimal and it's also hard. We had done quite a few where we would promote, hey, this is how you can promote situations inside of with tags, videos, whatnot.

And then we'd finish and they wouldn't follow through on there. And we're like, If you give us the content, we can put it in. And so it was, it was they wanted it, but it, it was lackluster after, you know, they got it. They're great. They posted it. Never. And like we still have work to do here and you guys are gone silent.

Tracy Welch: And in most most of them, just one of the the entrance into Google Street View. So take it or put it on Google Street View where Google sees it and brings maybe more folks to their website that way. So we found somewhat put it put it on there and then wouldn't do anything with the tour and like there's so much more you can be doing.

So it is a struggle. It's sometimes it seems that, you know, the business sees it or they don't necessarily get it. But a lot of times if you can let them know that there's there's so much more that they can do with it, for example, it's probably getting easier. In the past, like I said, we were just like, okay, we'll do it to put it on Google or, you know, just more eyes on your and people who are timid or afraid to go like Dennis offices or places that we did escape biology, you know, a place where, you know, people are like, wait, what is that?

Greg Welch: I don't I think there's a challenge to.

Tracy Welch: Be locked in there. And so while we scanned it so that we weren't giving away the actual rooms and what you could do in there was just entrances, short peeks into the rooms.

Greg Welch: And like the natural scenario, you know, a lot of kids are or there's just that anticipation this allows and a lot of the businesses would call us and say, we're just trying to.

Tracy Welch: Take away the fear.

Greg Welch: The fear. That was an actual verbiage I was using a couple of times. You know, she said it's getting easier. You know, a lot of the skins that have come out, as we call them, is really what it was. It was just giving a little more flavor to it. I'm super hyped about Openhaus, I got to tell you.

I mean, and you're glad to hear that. But I mean, we are really just just pumped with what we're seeing. Seeing some of the additions to it and a lot of them on YouTube and watching some of the stuff I've missed. Yeah, yeah. But we see major potential weather. So yeah.

Tracy Welch: We're changing the game.

Carson Clement:Yeah, I think I think you brought lots of good points. I think the base case is like, hey, this can help with SEO and Google demonstrated that. I think you can read lots of different articles about how basically if you have a street view inside of Google Maps, you know that those listings can be preferred and they receive higher engagement.

Carson Clement
So I think that's a really good point. You know, when someone's like trying to communicate this to a business, there might be lots of different, you know, benefits that they might be kind of chatting about that are nice. But then it's kind of like at the very least, like this will help increase your SEO presence and just your engagement through Google.

And I think you brought up another really good point about just the that psychological, you know, experience that it can be to like go visit a place for a new tie for the first time. I think of like going to a church building you've never been to for the first time. We're going to a new school or like a child going to the dentist, like we can all kind of relate to that experience.

Like especially if there's a group of people that will be inside that building, it's it's pretty daunting. And so being able to show someone or letting someone see like, hey, this is what it's going to look like when you walk through those doors. Can definitely you know, bring down some barriers there and, you know, add value to the business for sure.

Tracy Welch: Yeah. We used to tell folks here, the more and the more that you have to do on your website, the more the more that they can go and interact with and stay on there and interact with. Tour helps with that. Also with the Google.

Greg Welch: Yeah, yeah, yeah. To stand on a page and all that helps is that.

Tracy Welch: But but the biggest thing was that that unknown. I've gone to a few places and I was like, Wow. I had no idea that it looked like this. I had no idea that it was like this. Well, that's that's pretty cool. I want to go see that but ends up getting on online.

Greg Welch: And that's where like the, you know, the increased tagging and that sort of thing that's happening with a lot of the scans and including ours. And I had to use a scan and everybody. Oh, that's.

Carson Clement: Great.

Greg Welch: I think you know, well, we're looking at yours is more of a building block to it, not just an overall. I mean, you know, like I was talking with a peer the other day and we're talking about, you know, like Matterport should really only be 25% of this experience, what you put with it, you know, or tag it with, you know, and and what you do with it can be so much more can be the other 75%. So yeah, I look at Matterport as being the whole shebang. Here you go. Walk away. We should look at that. It's just a small piece of what we're building and what we tie it to.

Carson Clement: So quarterly real.

Greg Welch: Quick or increasing that that experience when they're walking through that church or that building is, you know, not necessarily need to keep them in the tour too long. You can take them to so much more and bring them back to it, which has to do with a pop out, a slide up show on the left side, which to me is a game changer.

I like being able to interact with multiple tours. You can have a dozen tours. This is a way to keep them on one page and jump them around and tell them, well, you can.

Carson Clement: You can sing our praises this whole time. We'll have to invite you back. You know.

Greg Welch: Let's just like real.

Tracy Welch: So we're actually actively working on something, a project with your two projects actually with your. Yeah, so and our business is well one's business, one's maybe not necessarily all the same.

Greg Welch
Actually the one in the background. Yeah.

Tracy Welch
So yeah. So it's, it's kind of at the top of our mind right now as far as what.

Carson Clement
And I think that raises a good point about just this smart move that Matterport made. I think, you know, because Matterport really applies to just so many different industries, like literally anything that's built. And now even with the Pro three, it's like you can also scan out large spaces. You know, we're not just talking about buildings anymore. And so from manufacturing facilities to schools to real estate to just, you know, archeological archeological sites, you know, like there's just innumerable use cases that Matterport can be used for.

And I think they did a great thing by opening up the SDK and the API and allowing partners like Openhaus and tredis and others to come on and build solutions on top of those. Because now those specific business use cases like Matterport just doesn't have the bandwidth to be able to build solutions for literally every use case.

And so people like us can work with people like you to, you know, kind of solve some of those things for sure.

Greg Welch: Yeah. Yeah. Working on their platform, you know, if that's their focus, just nail that thing so that we the, you know, the, the provider don't have issues with it on site, you know, and some of the features that just come out recently are just wonderful. But, you know, they get a little glitches here and there where we've got, you know, a few complaints and you get a kickback and now it's fixed.
So, I mean, it's an evolution. What don't you. I'm not knocking out, actually. Enjoy it.

Carson Clement
Yeah. So one more question I wanted to ask about was when you look towards the future of 3D in general, what gets you excited? Because I think there's a lot of stuff happening. You know, the eventual, you know, broad consumer adoption of VR, you know, the new Pro three camera, that whole metaverse concept. I just think there's so many different hot topics right now that relate to the 3D industry. When you just think about like the future of step by step 3D and, you know, this industry in general. What what has you guys optimistic or excited about it?

Greg Welch: That's a tough one. I mean, there's, you know, subscribing to so many different feeds and with so many things, you know, from line art to the outlook that what is it to be? There was some series, you know, and I'm like, okay, I'm not going to catch all of those. I'm going to miss one, you know, and, you know, I'm just in general, I like where it's going because it's something I, you know, I dig into and I'm all with, you know, that's my that's my book at night is, you know, what text coming out and what short read can I do?

And I'm just, I think excited in general for the direction that this is all going, what step by step might play a role. And it's tough. You know, growing a business is not easy. And, you know, we're we're looking at growing pains. You know, you can't grow unless you bring somebody on. You can't grow unless you have that new piece of technology.

You know, where we got early on with, you know, having the bulk and then the Matterport, you know, and we're like, okay, we don't pro three has to tie into this. You know, it's I think consistent we have consistent work.

Tracy Welch: But yeah, yeah. And I think I think what we're struggling with right now is just how can we grow? Because we need to. Because what we're seeing is that obviously 3D is here to stay and it's more and more people are adopting it and utilizing it for different things, um, for so many industries that it's just become. When we first started, I mean, you threw around the word Matterport or 3D virtual tours and people really didn't know what you were talking about.

We go out there now, we hear a lot more people. Oh yeah, I've seen the Matterport, I've seen that in that walk through thing. And we're getting fewer. Oh, my gosh. I've never heard of that. You know, we're getting fewer of that. So it's getting more and more widespread adoption. And I think as a business, you try to figure out, okay, there's so many different avenues that you can direct your attention and focus and pathway to.

There's so many different that trying to identify that route that we want to go on. We've got our hands in a lot of different pots and we're trying to figure out how narrow that, you know, just to find that direction for the two of us and how we want to go.

Greg Welch: But yeah, there's only so much tech you can in a smaller company utilize. And I think we've met that cap with, like I said, the car mounted camera, the back of the Matterport and the photographer were like, You want me to fly light? I, you know, so yeah, there's, there's limitations there. But growing is no easy task.

Tracy Welch: But exciting but it's.

Greg Welch: Exciting. Yeah. Yeah. At the same time, you know, we, we whiteboard everything and, and snapshots and start over, you know, what the hell that didn't work. Grab it. Let's go again. Let's see. Yeah.

Tracy Welch: Yeah. So when you you're kind of humming along and then you get this call for this, you know, major project and you're like, Oh, my gosh, can we do this? How are we going to do this? This more how? What platforms doing it. Yeah, what camera what what do we need to do it. And we just got done doing a large three did project and it was great, it was a lot of hard, tough work, but we completed it and it was an awesome achievement. So yeah, so there's, there's a lot going on and a lot of lot to be excited about the think.

Carson Clement
Definitely and I think it's really helpful to to be in such a fast growing city. I think from what I understand, I think Vegas, you know, the area in general is growing. And so I think as businesses and just homes and things grow in Vegas, it's good to be in a region that has some momentum. And it's.

Greg Welch: Interesting city. You know, I look at Vegas and if you look at it from an aerial view, Vegas casino industry and you compare it to a big, you know, an L.A. or Chicago, you know, is tiny. It really is. And so your strip business, you know, is is its own beast. And then you have basically the suburb business, all the, you know, supplementary things that support that. You and everything from a chiropractor to to a liquor store, you know, they're everywhere. And so which is similar across the states. But we do have that that casino industry, that's a it's a tough bag to crack. But, you know, we've definitely found a few ways in it here and there. And yeah.

Tracy Welch: But every time we get like a newer, like the Raiders coming here and, you know, a new sports team and we kind of think, oh, you know, I mean, what can we do for them? The contact list is so long of who for us to contact and how we can be of service. So yeah, I think it's.

Carson Clement:Yeah well we are short on time. It flew by. We'll have to have you guys back on to to chat more. I have lots of questions I will say for next time, especially about so my wife and I, we both also work from home and so I would love to chat about that. We don't work together on the same business like like y'all do. But I just think we get to kind of have some really interesting conversations about what works for you guys and all of that. So we'll save that for for next time. But how can people find you guys on online?

Greg Welch: It's pretty easy. Step by step three, decomp by the short. As I could make it on almost every social network, it's at step by step three. We were able to be lucky enough to maintain that. Other than that, thank you too. But working on that. Yeah. So yeah, that would be the way.

Carson Clement: Perfect. Okay. Well, Greg and Tracy, I appreciate the time so much and looking forward to continued conversations.

Greg Welch: Thank you for having me. Yeah, thank you for letting you know, having us on and and working with us.

Carson Clement: Definitely. Good. Good things.

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