Introduction to 360/VR Projects in Media Composer with Mocha VR
By Jim Bask
In the last 12 months, the 360° video movement has grown rapidly. New cameras, headsets, delivery systems and content seem to be emerging daily. This quick post and video tutorial will cover some of the inherent challenges involved with editing and finishing 360 video.
What is 360 Video?
If you are on Facebook or read the NY Times online, you have most likely seen the video posts.. click on a video and pan around the 360 video. You may own an attachable headset for your mobile phone (Samsung Gear, Google Cardboard, Daydream) or even experienced “immersive VR” on headset wired to a computer (Oculus Rift, HTC Vive).
While VR is a general term for content viewable with a headset, we will focus here specifically on “cinematic VR” or 360 video. 360 video is generally shot with an array of synced cameras than stitched into an equirectangular video format (sometimes called lat/long)
Editing and finishing professional quality 360 videos generally involves a fair amount of post work. The equirectangular format introduces pixel distortion (think of a sphere unwrapped to a flat image) and simplest tasks like adding titles or isolated color correction need consideration.
Some of the most typical tasks include:
- Reorienting footage
- Removing Objects
- Masking for color correction of fixes
- Inserting 2D graphics into 360
- Stabilizing and smoothing camera motion