I can't make up my mind how many controls to include.

I notice quite a few tours don't have the up/down/left/right buttons and instead rely on the user mousing around the scene. But when I've invited some people who've never used panoramas online to have a look they have trouble realising you can click on the screen and drag. Even if a message tells them about using the mouse they seem very clumsy and given the choice always prefer buttons.

So I think I should include them.

And if there's an audio file I think there should always be the chance to mute. And if it rotates then it's good to allow people to stop the rotation so they can study a particular feature. Of course there needs to be full-screen option. And what's the point of running in reasonably high-resolution of you don't offer zoom in and out ? How many novice users are going to figure out they can use the + or - keys, or their mousewheel ? Almost no one I think.

So I've got this big panel of controls like this....

http://www.multimediaaction.com/princes.html

But to me this is now starting to feel cluttered. I have also included a "hide controls" button, but that's yet another button.

What is the feeling about the number of controls ? How many do you include and why ? Have you tried out your controls on novice users ? has anyone commented on your controls (or the lack of them) ?

Someone must have some thoughts on this ? Surely it's a fundamental aspect to the entire presentation of any panorama or tour ?

That's similar to my experience: most people have no idea how to control the panoramas. Which makes me wonder about panos where there are basically no controls. I wonder how many people land on them, look at the main static picture - or maybe watch it rotate - then exit ...

Well, with the greatest respect, on my 1920px monitor it's impossible to scroll because it displays the entire scene.