You can see many 360 degree videos in social media like Facebook, in which you can pan around and view everything in the surrounding of the camera, as the video plays. These are full 360 degree videos captured using special equipment.
By special equipment, I mean specialized cameras which have multiple lenses to capture different angles at the same time. The thing about 360 video is, it is not as easy to capture it as it is to view it. There are things you should know before going on an adventure to capture 360 degree videos. Remember these points when you are out there to purchase 360 degree video rig because you will have to regret later if you don’t.
The hardware required for 360 degree video capturing
This is not something you can do with your smartphone. Don’t get the 360 video confused with 360 degree panorama still images. Multiple cameras are definitely required for video capturing unlike still image capturing. You can create 360 still images on any smartphone. One might argue that a number of lenses in the camera means better 360 videos. The fact is, it’s not that simple to define it like that. A large number of things are at play here.
Choosing the right hardware based on your requirement is important. There are 360 degree cameras available in a wide range of price. Choose from them based on your requirement. Not every camera covers the whole surroundings. Though they might be able to cover the whole horizontal plane, some vertical parts may be left off of the video due to the limitations of the camera you are using. Go through the specs in detail and choose what you want.
There are two ways to make a 360 degree video
There are different ways to make a 360 degree video. You can use cameras which were made for this purpose only so that all the processes like capturing, stitching etc. will be done by the camera itself internally. This is the easiest method, as all you have to do is point the camera and click the button to capture. No need to worry about post processing and all.
Or you can go with the painful method of capturing the surroundings with the individual camera pointed at a different direction. In the end, you will have to stitch them together with your own hands, using software available to sew 360 degree video together. How the final output looks like will entirely depend on your stitching skills.
Depending on the method you choose, there are many cameras available. There is even these third party hardware available, in which you can attach many Go Pro cameras and capture. This gadget requires you to press the capture button on all the cameras simultaneously.
Size of the camera rig matters
You’re probably going to create 360 videos when going on an adventure or outdoor trip. I mean, what’s the point of having 360 degree video graphic hardware if you are just using it to make videos of your backyard and home interior.
Portability is a big factor here. You can’t transport if the equipment is too heavy. Gladly, there is much small and portable hardware available. Ricoh Theta S is one of the portable gadgets. There is a chance that you won’t get superior quality out of these gadgets, but something is better than nothing right.
How do you stitch it together?
If you are going with the painful manual method of 360 degree video capturing, in the end, you have to stitch it. There are many tools available to do this. Kodak offers a tool for Mac systems. The working is pretty simple actually. The software recognizes audio in every individual video clip to synchronize them. After getting the playback time synchronized in all the videos, the stitching process takes place.
Users have observed that when combining the videos, objects, and people that come from the edge portion of each video seems to be disappearing. The tool offers manual editing options by which you can correct these small errors.
Resolution might go down post processing
Most of the cameras out there advertise they record in HD or full HD resolution. It is a fact up to an extent. They record in the resolution in which they said they would. But after the stitching is complete and the video is rendered in 360 degree, you might see a degradation in quality and resolution. This might be due to the post processing done after recording. The combining process may be the reason for degradation. People have been complaining that the 1080p video they captured looks like 360p when viewed. This is something you might want to keep in mind.
One tip we have to offer is, to capture in maximum possible resolution. Many people just don’t look at the camera settings. Most of the time, it will be set to record in medium quality. Just change it and record in the highest resolution the camera offers.
GoPro cameras have been said to be the most consistent ones in terms of resolution.
Uploading it onto the web
You can upload these videos to Facebook and YouTube. Just like they do with any other ordinary video, the quality will be slightly lost during their compression. You won’t be able to view it in as good as you saw it on your desktop or handheld the device. There will be definitely a difference in quality after uploading. The only way to counteract this is to upload videos in as higher resolution as you can.
The final words
After going through everything we have described above, you must have understood by now that a large number of things are there to consider when making a 360 degree video. Everything from hardware selection to uploading it onto the web needs to be done carefully in order to obtain the best results possible. Happy 360 video recording.
Do I miss anything? What is on your mind, share your thoughts with our readers by commenting below!
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