01Prep
Before the tour
The more that's built before filming, the faster the reel comes together.
- Get the tourbook early. Learn each stop and ask the broker to flag priority spaces, the client's favorites, and any finishes or amenities to feature.
- Build the edit first. Open a copy of the reel template, load the client intro, type every label straight from the tourbook, and lay out the spaces in tour order.
- Check the buildings. Ask which ones restrict filming (bring the Meta glasses) and whether anyone on the client side would rather stay off camera.
- Pack. Pocket and glasses charged, cards cleared, ND filters if you have them, lens wiped.
02Capture
On the tour
Think about the finished reel in every room. Each shot should establish the experience, explain the space, or highlight something memorable.
| Shot | What to get | In the edit |
|---|---|---|
| Exterior | Glass towers and standout facades, when the schedule allows. | 1 shot |
| Lobby | Always. Essential in attended, higher-end lobbies. | 1 to 2 |
| Open work area | One clean wide that shows layout, scale and light. | 2 |
| Wet pantry | A wide and a close on the finishes. The rise up from the floor at 1185 Avenue of the Americas is the reference. | 2 |
| Meeting rooms | Look in, then look out to the office. One wide where several line up. | 2 |
| Views | Standout views and recognizable skyline. | 1 to 2 |
| Details | Entry lighting, fixtures, finishes. | Half-second hits |
| People | One real moment per space: the client reacting, the broker pointing something out. | 1 |
| Finish reference | Only what the broker points out in another suite. Keep it brief and footnote it so it never reads as another option. | Brief |
That's 8 to 12 shots per space, which fills 20 to 30 seconds on its own.
Move on your own
You don't need to stay beside the brokers. Move ahead or hang back to catch rooms empty and compose slow, clean shots. Check the next stop with the broker, then use your judgment.
03Camera
Slow, level, deliberate
The edit can move fast. The camera shouldn't. Treat every reel as a commercial for the office.
DJI Osmo Pocket settings
- Resolution
- 4K. Leaves room to straighten and reframe in a 1080p edit.
- Frame rate
- 24 fps for people moments. 60 fps for walkthroughs, glides and pans, slowed to 40% in the edit.
- Color
- Normal. Skip D-Log M; it needs grading time the turnaround doesn't have.
- Gimbal
- Tilt Lock for walkthroughs, camera pointed level. Follow for pans. Never FPV indoors.
- Exposure
- Lock it in each room so it doesn't pump as you pass windows.
- Shutter
- With ND filters on, double the frame rate: 1/50 at 24 fps, 1/120 at 60 fps.
- Orientation
- Horizontal. Always.
Moving the camera
- Walk at half pace. If it feels too slow, it's right.
- One move per shot: a push, a glide, a pan or a rise. A quarter turn takes about 8 seconds.
- Hold 2 seconds before and after every move. Those holds are your cut points.
- Keep verticals vertical. Camera level, at chest height. Pointing up or down bends every wall and window.
- No whips or quick reframes while rolling. Stop, reset, roll again.
Meta glasses: only where the Pocket isn't allowed
- They record vertical. Turn your whole body, not your head, walk slowly, and hold each view for 3 seconds.
- In the edit, crop to a 16:9 band and fill the frame. If the shot needs the height, center it over a blurred, darkened copy of itself. Never two copies side by side.
- Footnote it: *Limited footage due to building privacy policy
04Cut
Structure and timing
Attention matters. Give each space enough time to make an impression, then move on.
- Per space: 20 to 30 seconds. Longer when the broker flags a favorite or a real amenity package, up to about 40.
- Full reel: 1.5 to 3 minutes. Past 3:00 only for 6+ spaces or amenity-heavy tours.
- Shots: 2 to 3 seconds, details half a second. Anything over 4 seconds needs a reason: a view, a reveal, a favorite.
- Lead each space with its best shot: the exterior, the lobby or the view.
- Repeats earn their place. Two similar angles of one room, keep the better one.
- Between spaces, a straight cut or your one standard transition. The address title announces the new space, so skip interstitial cards and give the time to the spaces.
Runtime budget
| Spaces | Target runtime |
|---|---|
| 3 | 1:07 to 1:37 |
| 4 | 1:27 to 2:07 |
| 5 | 1:47 to 2:37 |
| 6 | 2:07 to 3:07 |
| 7 | 2:27 to 3:37 |
Spaces × 20 to 30s, plus about 7s for the intro and end card. A short tour can land under 1:30. Don't pad it.
05Graphics
The house style, saved once
Your intro, labels and end card are the look. Save them as one template so every reel matches and you only retype the text.
-
1Intro, 3 to 4s
Client logo, animated, on the client's brand color. Then straight into the first space.
-
2Each space
Stacked address on the opening shot, then the floor and price lines for the rest of the space. Wordmark top right the whole reel.
-
3End card, about 3s
White n+ over the final shot, then fade to black. Choose a last shot with depth or darker tones so the mark reads.
Label spec
| Line | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Address title | Number on its own line, street below. All caps, words spelled out. Opening shot of each space. | 123 EXAMPLE STREET |
| Floor line | White. Entire or Partial, ordinal floors, suite after a comma. | Partial 17th Floor, Suite 1701 |
| Price line | Yellow serif. Monthly ask, then SF. Whole dollars, lowercase /mo, a space each side of the bar. | $48,500/mo | 7,200 SF |
| Footnote | Smaller yellow serif, starts with an asterisk. For finish references, restricted footage, add-on finishes. | *Featuring sample buildout |
| Watermark | nomad wordmark, top right, whole reel. Same size, spot and opacity every time. | Saved in the template |
- Every label comes from the tourbook and gets checked against it before export: address, floor, suite, rent, SF. The same space carries the same label in every reel.
- Keep text readable on bright floors with a soft black gradient along the bottom third (about 35%) or a light shadow on the text.
- Several floors: Entire 11th, 12th & 13th Floors. Two floors: Entire 17th & 18th Floors.
Label formatter
Type the tourbook details, check the preview, then copy each line into the template.
- Address title
- Floor line
- Price line
- Footnote
06Sound
Music and levels
Your music picks set the mood. Keep choosing them, and finish the mix the same way every time.
- -14 LUFS
- Peaks at or under -1 dB
- One track
- Ends with the music
- One track for the whole reel, or two joined on a beat. A track never ends and restarts mid-reel, and there's never dead air.
- End with the music. Let it resolve or fade under the end card.
- Levels: -14 LUFS integrated, peaks at or under -1 dB. In Premiere: Export, then Effects, then Loudness Normalization.
- Licensed for commercial and social use, so any reel can go to LinkedIn without being muted.
07Ship
Export, sign-off, turnaround
Speed keeps the spaces fresh in the client's mind.
Export
- Frame
- 1920 × 1080, 24 fps (23.976)
- Video
- H.264, VBR, target 16 Mbps. About 250 MB for 2 minutes.
- Audio
- AAC, 320 kbps, stereo
- File name
- YYMMDD_Client_Tour.mp4
- Master
- Keep the 4K project and master in the client folder.
Sign-off
- Draft link to the lead broker on the tour.
- Broker approves or sends notes.
- Final link to the client, same day.
Turnaround
Deliver within 1 to 2 hours of getting back to the office, working toward under 30 minutes. The prebuilt edit and shooting in sequence are what get you there. Wrap editing by 5 to 6 PM; late nights shouldn't become the expectation.
08Extra
Beyond the recap
The client reel comes first. Once it's covered, look for what else we can use on LinkedIn, Nomad Network and our other channels.
- Look for: mic'd-up conversations in the van, cinematic arrivals and departures, and short moments that show how we guide clients through a search.
- Bring ideas. You have room to experiment; the bar stays clean, professional and specific to Nomad.
- Client privacy first. Anything that identifies a client, their buildings or their terms stays off social until the broker clears it.
09Check
Before you send
Run this on every reel. It resets for the next one.
Why this matters
Every reel travels further than the tour
These videos are shared with leadership teams, colleagues, and sometimes family and friends. A strong reel helps people understand the spaces and leaves a lasting impression of how we work.
Your work supports the relationships that lead to repeat clients, referrals and closed deals. Some brokers may also choose to share a portion of their commission in recognition, particularly when clients call out the videos and the tour experience.
We want to keep building something recognizable as Nomad: our people, our access, our attention to detail, and the way we take care of clients.