Less than a month after Insta360 announced their last partnership, an extremely important deal will allow for virtual reality video in an easy and time-conscious workflow.
The difference between professional and casual VR video is usually in the details. If your stitching is cutting a person in half, then you’ll want custom controls.
Nikon released a trio of new cameras at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, all under a new umbrella called “KeyMission.” While two of them were mostly GoPro clones, the third was arguably the most interesting, and not just for its strange name and looks: The KeyMission360. This camera was the most forward-looking product that Nikon has put out, more so than any potential mirrorless camera or DSLR that’s come out in the past few years. And then it let its 360 ambitions wither and die.
Insta360 aims to immerse consumers deeper into the world of virtual reality with two new cameras introduced this week at CES in Las Vegas. The company known for lightweight, portable 360-degree cameras introduced its eight-lens VR camera and the 6DOF Light Field Camera, a 128-camera array.
Intel revealed more details about its new 8th generation CPUs with AMD’s RX Vega M graphics, and if you’re a VR video producer, avid gamer, or just a lover of fast laptops (like all photographers), you’re going to want to wait for this tech to hit your favorite laptop.
Adobe has called the new additional Effects menu category "Immersive Video." They've made it easier to apply transitions and to add text or logos that look natural to the viewer. I'm a regular screen viewing type of person, and I can't imagine buying some head gear so I can walk around in a virtual space, but in an industry that moves as fast as the video and photography industry, I think we should know what the latest developments are and how the software we use enable us to edit great videos. Clients are going to start asking for 360-degree videos, and you will either be able to do it or not. This video shows what you'll be able to do in Premiere Pro when editing "Immersive Videos."
Garmin, the same manufacturer who probably made your first GPS unit that’s now collecting dust in the glove box of your car, also makes cameras. I didn't know this until I cruised the 360-degree video section of B&H Photo looking for something to replace my 2017 Samsung Gear 360 that I was not so happy with (note to Samsung: a stitch line that moves is a dealbreaker). There it was, sitting under a glass case, the Garmin VIRB 360.
360-degree video is a great way to tell immersive stories. Until recently though, the experience hasn’t been all that accessible. Just to view 360-degree content the way it was meant to look, you’d need an expensive headset like an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive and a fairly beefy computer to run it on like a high-end Alienware or something with a powerful graphics card. This meant that while VR content was being produced in droves, few people were experiencing it the way it was meant to be. That’s about to change. Oculus just announced a standalone VR headset called the Oculus Go.
I love 360-degree video. I've spent a bit of time with a few different brands on the market. While there are many things I love about the medium, the actual cameras aren't one of them. I don’t rave about them the way I do about perhaps a Nikon DSLR or Fuji mirrorless. That's because the manufacturers of these 360-degree cameras aren't making it easy.
The International Broadcasting Convention has just ended, but before wrapping up, there were some serious insights to the future of VR technology. Now, we may be seeing virtual reality being broadcast live in lieu of a regular TV event.
Adobe is updating its video applications and adding new features across the board. Many of these features include improvements for editing virtual reality content, smarter automated tasks, and some other features modeled after Final Cut 7, which Apple announced will not be supported in its upcoming MacOS High Sierra update.
Multimedia professionals rely on solid tools to get the job done, and those tools have typically been Apple’s Mac lineup. But as Apple shifts its focus more to its MacBooks and iPhones, it’s neglected a tiny, but important product: the Mac mini.
There’s a quiet 360-degree battle being fought behind the scenes at Apple and Adobe when it comes to your favorite non-linear video editing tools, Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premiere Pro. Some recent hires hint at an expanding 360-degree video portfolio at both companies.
RED is entering a nearly impossible market, and promises to deliver a smartphone like no other – armed only with their reputation. What exactly stands in their way, and can the RED Hydrogen compete? Here’s everything you need to know about their chances.
The Nikon KeyMission lineup was announced in January 2016 at the Consumer Electronics Show and left many people scratching their heads. Hadn’t GoPro tried this action camera thing before? Overshadowed by the confusing press around the KeyMission 80 and the KeyMission 170, however, was a gem in the otherwise oddball KeyMission lineup, something unique that got lost in the shuffle, the KeyMission 360. It’s a true 360-degree camera that captures spherical video without any gaps in the footage, something that wasn’t as common in consumer 360 cameras at the time. So after many months with the camera, how good is it, and how does it compares to its nearest competition, the Samsung Gear 360?
How far had computer graphics come in the early eighties? "Tomorrow's World," an old show on BBC, shows us just how far the tech had come – and how far it was going to go.
While the phones and VR headset may have gotten the lion’s share of the attention at Samsung’s press event on Wednesday, there was also a new 360 degree camera introduced at the same time: the Samsung Gear 360.
With the prices of 360-degree cameras dropping every day, and more people embracing the medium, it was only a matter of time before more video streaming services joined the 360 party. Showing up fashionably late is Vimeo. The company announced support for 360-degree video on its blog yesterday.
BBC Click shared a video that gives an in-depth look at the tools used by director Gareth Edwards at ILM London to better show computer graphics supervisor Steve Ellis his desired camera angles and movements throughout "Rogue One." Using just an iPad and an HTC Vive controller, Edwards was able to explore the virtual, computer-generated world to find the best shots, which were then communicated to the VFX team so they new exactly how to guide the virtual camera movements throughout the film.
As a photographer, I take and see a lot of photographs. As a photographer who does a fair amount of work for an art museum, I see a lot of art. So, I don't really know how to feel about this new concept I just found out about (via a user-submitted story idea! Go ahead and submit things!) that involves using a mobile device to view a photography exhibit... that has no photographs hanging in it!
Whether it’s all a gimmick or not, photos in virtual reality are amazing. They’re easy to create, and throw your audience into a straightforward, immersive experience. If you haven’t tried making one yet, you should.
Have you immersed yourself in 360 degree technology? What do you think of 360-degree video and its future? Nikon was eager to find answers to these questions by initiating and conducting a "Nikon Life in 360" national survey. According to Nikon's study, you're more than likely to put your hands on a 360-degree camera soon if you haven't yet. Let's find out!
When guests aboard the International Space Station look for a place to escape for a little rest and relaxation, options can obviously be limited. The “Cupola” was built in 2010 to provide astronauts with the best view possible while operating the ISS’s Mobile Services System’s robotic arm (the Canadarm2). The Cupola's seven bay windows allow for an incredible view that's become a favorite for photographers aboard the ISS. Russian Cosmonaut Andrey Borisenko brings us inside the Space Station’s observational dome with the first 360-degree 4K video of Earth from within the International Space Station.
Matterport is a new 3D camera that is designed to scan the interior of homes. The software stitches all of the still images together and creates a virtual tour of the home. Not a virtual tour as in a slideshow that realtors love, but one where you can actually walk through the home yourself. You can look up and down, left and right, move forward, backward, and so on. The technology, even in the state it’s in, is actually pretty incredible and really helps show off the home in a way we haven’t really been able to experience before.
Adobe has released Premiere Pro CC 2015.3. The new welcomed features are something I haven’t yet seen implemented in any other NLE. If you use Premiere, here is a look at what’s new, and if you’re not a subscriber, this might make you consider switching.
From the company that pioneered the use of virtual car reskinning for video use, comes the newest innovation of film technology. The Mill, in partnership with JemFX, Performance Filmworks, and Keslow Camera, launched their new product onto the scene, dubbed "Blackbird." Resembling a mix of a Caterham 7, a dune buggy, and maybe some sort of Batman-esque type vehicle, the Blackbird is a small electric car that has pre-mapped tracking points on it to allow for easy replacement in post.
Getty is the largest stock image provider in the world and it has now decided to become a major player in the 360-degree image and virtual reality space. This week Getty launched Getty Images Virtual Reality Group as part of their core offerings. With an initial addition of over 12,000 360-degree images, Getty is embracing the future of this fast growing sector.
Two weeks ago, SkyPixel teamed up with DJI and launched an aerial photography contest that could win you a brand new DJI Phantom 4 and a Huawei P9 Plus smartphone, along with several other big prizes. Contestants have been invited to submit their best 360-degree aerial photos to the world's largest aerial photography community before noon on June 20, 2016. The submissions have been pouring in, but the best image has yet to be chosen. If you would like to join the fray and take home a brand new drone, check out the details below.
The world of photography and imagery is a rapidly evolving field. As stills and video have been exponentially improving over the last two decades, a more advanced kind of imaging is making it's way onto the scene. Virtual reality is actually becoming a reality, and Fstoppers writer Douglas Sonders is one of the individuals leading the industry. Tomorrow at 2 PM EST, join Douglas Sonders, Alex Chechelnitsky, Ben Nunez, and PJ Morreale for a B&H hosted live discussion as an intro to VR as a medium and a progressive methodology for content creation.
GoPro released a new pro virtual reality camera rig called Omni, which is a cube-shaped system allowing the user to record in 360 degrees. This new frame, made from aluminum, sports a very compact look, and because of the metal used, it promises to be light and flexible under different circumstances. The proof lies in the new trailer released by GoPro. The 360-degree clip showcasing the skills of freestyle skiers and snowboarders in the Tyrolean Alps of Austria was shot with the new camera rig. You can navigate around the video using YouTube's built-in arrow tool or a special virtual reality headset for a total experience.
For an instant, she stares blankly out into the distance as she would for any photograph. But almost immediately, she takes notice. You're there. She turns her head, looks over, and then slowly turns back, looking down at her outstretched legs. Her eyes move slowly, looking down, as her chin lifts her gaze from the top of her legs to her feet. She's admiring herself — for you. She even starts crawling toward you. You turn your head to look around ("Toward me?," you think, but no one else is there). You turn back to her. The clip is over. You can take off your Google Cardboard viewer and go back to flipping channels on your living room TV.
Whether your business is in photography, videography, or the evolving field virtual reality (VR), your job is to create a visual experience for your clients. As VR grows in popularity and in quality, its potential to create more immersive experiences in relation to more traditional media types increases immensely. The effect that systems like Oculus Rift can have ultimately depend, however, on how realistic one can make not only the imagery, but also the user feedback. Castrol EDGE's custom VR solution pushes the limit between what you can expect from a VR setup as it pits two race car drivers on different real-world tracks against each other in the same virtual world.
I wrote about the OZO virtual reality camera that was teased by Nokia earlier this year. Much like Samsung and GoPro, they are taking a big gamble and put a lot of time and energy into virtual reality technology. After months of releasing vague teasers, they have finally announced details on their epic and expensive new camera system. Read below to see the stats.
The porn industry is a bit of an early adopter. It is some of the most consumed content and as such its creators are always keeping current with the latest technology to gain an edge over the competition and to bring the consumers the best and latest experience. As such, it is not a big surprise to see that virtual reality is the next big thing being explored on porn sets.
In case you did not know, virtual reality is a big deal. Thanks to Facebook's recent announcement that you can now upload and play 360-degree videos (they call it "spherical content") to your feed natively, it is now much easier to share your virtual reality videos to the average Facebook-using consumer, which is everyone — even my mom. Read below to learn the significance of this announcement, as well as the capabilities and limitations of Facebook's new player.
So if you've been following my articles the past year, you know that some major brands have been developing either virtual reality headsets, started developing 360-degree content, or announced they are building a VR camera. Well, Samsung finally released more details on their new 360-degree camera system they call Project Beyond. So what makes the new Samsung camera stand out from the pack? Find out below!
Most of us know Lytro for their light field cameras that capture scenes in a way that allows you to refocus an image anywhere you want with the click of a button without having to take a new image. I'll admit, I thought it was a neat trick, but as a commercial photographer, I never saw how it would apply to someone like myself. Well, Lytro has blown me away today with the announcement of their new virtual reality camera system that works much like their light field cameras and allows the user to move within a video environment (not a computer-rendered space) while wearing a virtual reality headset. They have officially changed the game.
Like it or not, 2016 is going to be a huge year for virtual reality content and technology. It seems like every major brand is dipping their toe in one way or another. Even Pixar is creating their own movie studio in order to create 360-degree films. Magazines are no exception for desiring and creating this content. It's a perfect way to immerse their readers into their content. Recently Hearst Publishing's Car and Driver Magazine hired my company, 8112 Studios, to help create their first ever virtual reality car reviews.
As Fstoppers' resident virtual reality content creator, I'm excited to share our most recent project we did for AOL. A few weeks back, the Autoblog/Translogic team flew my business partner and I to southern California and rented out a race track so we could film an awesome 1980s Ferrari that was converted to an all-electric high-performance sports car in virtual reality. They also wanted to interview us on what we are doing in the VR field and where we see the technology going. Learn more and see the actual VR film below!
At this point, you've probably heard that the Virtual Reality revolution is coming. Seemingly every week, big companies are making announcements about dipping their toes into the 360 video technology game. For example: Facebook purchased the class-leading virtual reality headset company Oculus, Samsung released their GearVR headsets that work with their smart phones, and Nokia announced their stereoscopic professional VR OZO camera.
Yes, you've read that correctly. Nokia, the former maker of my favorite cell phone in which I could play "Snake" during high school math class, has entered the hot new virtual reality camera market. A lot of the camera details are scarce, such as pricing and when it will ship to the consumer market, but there are some key functions I am very intrigued by. As Fstopper's resident virtual reality filmmaker, I am hesitantly optimistic. Read below to learn why.
