Have you ever seen 360 videos before? It’s stunning! Unlike any regular video we have seen, a 360 video is recorded in all directions. It captures everything and gives you a complete 360-degree view. It’s one of the latest video forms and it allows you to appreciate everything from a brand-new perspective. Are you new to 360 videos? If you want to know more about the video, then this article is precisely what you need! Just read on.
Part 2: What's the Difference between 360 Video and VR?
Part 3: What Format is 360 Video?
Part 4: How do I Make 360 Video?
Part 5: How to Watch 360 Video?
Part 1: What is 360 Video?
Let’s define 360 videos first before everything else. 360 videos, also known as immersive videos, or spherical videos, are videos that are shot from all angles at the same time with an omnidirectional camera or using multiple cameras setup. Compared to the regular video, 360 videos have no fixed frames to limit your view. The camera is pointing everywhere,
offering you a cinematic experience like sitting in the director’s chair. With 360 videos, you are the center of the action! You can choose to look up and down, or all around, exploring the scene from whatever perspective you would like.
While traditional videos are still the mainstream, 360 videos free you from space and distance by liberating your eyes. Surrounded by sights and sound, you are no longer a watcher but part of the scene. The purpose of 360 videos is to create an immersive experience with a full 360º x 180º panoramic field of view. The video can be played on your computer or any projector setup with a sphere. These days you can find a slew of 360 videos on YouTube, or Facebook, which allows you to view the video in the “magic window.”
Part 2: What's the Difference between 360 Video and VR?
While 360 videos offer people an immersive experience just like virtual reality, so what’s the difference between them? Admittedly, given these two videos provide you with a captivating experience as if you were part of the scene, they are sometimes used synonymously. However, there are a few differences in terms of creation, photography, and the ways you view these videos.
1. Creation and photography
A 360 video is made by live-action shooting with physical cameras, just like the traditional videos. Whereas VR video is created within the digital environment using computer technology. Besides that, the way they are created also differs greatly. 360 is shot in a linear timeline which follows the filmmaker’s camera movement, while virtual reality is more of a space that allows users to access a series of events or experiences.
2. Story and content
With 360 videos, the story must be shot to capture the attention of viewers. Just like how they made traditional videos, the filmmaker still controls the physical location of the camera to direct a story. Whereas in virtual reality, the story is used to motivate users to travel independently. The viewer’s physical location is not controlled by the director, which means viewers are free to move as they like.
3. How to watch
360 is more accessible as you can find them on most video-sharing platforms, which means you can simply watch it like normal videos using a computer or mobile phone. But with VR, you will need to have a headset that can offer you a truly immersive experience. Even though 360 videos liberate your angles, viewers are limited to the camera movements. Virtual Reality, on the other hand, offers an immersive world that you can walk around.
Part 3: What Format is 360 Video?
Even though 360 video is novel in a way that frees our perspective, it is not difficult to access 360 videos. As aforementioned, 360 videos are made just like traditional videos with cameras, so they share the same format, mostly MP4. You can find the 360 videos in MP4 on YouTube. The 360 video is a non-interactive format, unlike virtual reality that is created specially and requires serious headsets, 360 video is like normal videos that can be seen in 2D or 3D.
Part 4: How do I Make 360 Video?
Now you have learned what a 360 video is, are you tempted to make one yourself? It’s not as hard as you imagine, as long as you have decent cameras and some basic shooting skills as well as a good story! Now let’s get into things.
Dedicated camera
To make 360 videos, you will need either an omnidirectional camera or a dedicated camera with multiple camera lenses, which allow you to capture everything simultaneously. Additionally, video stitching, a method that is used to separate and merge footage into a video piece is also required. Video stitching can either be done by the camera itself or with a special program, which is an analyzer for visual and audio, as well as a synchronizer to put separated footage into a 360 video.
Content-wise
Given 360 videos offer a spectacle of omnipresent view, the viewing experience is more highlighted here. However, before you shoot a 360 video, there are a few principles worth noting when it comes to the stories.
- 360 video offers viewers moments that are hard to visualize, so try to create a captivating video that can build a sense of awe.
- Emotions help to build a connection between your video and audiences. Remember to lead the audience to a world and make them “be there.”
- Try to catch your audience’s attention, it can either be sound or visual that helps to incite their interest and “look around.”
Part 5: How to Watch 360 Video?
360 videos are normally viewed via computers, mobile devices, or VR headsets. They are now available on YouTube or Facebook, and you can just watch them as you normally would. Click the Play button, sit back, and you are good to go. It is worth noting that 360 videos allow you to change the viewing perspective by clicking or dragging in the video screen, which makes it a bit tricky for some devices or media players. Here are a few tips to help you watch 360 videos better under different circumstances.
Windows PC
Windows’s default movie player, Movies & TV, supports the “look around” feature by clicking and dragging the image. Simply open a 360 video and see if there is a compass-like gizmo in the top right corner. If yes, it is a 360 video that allows you to “look around” by dragging the image.
Mac PC
Mac’s default media player, QuickTime, doesn’t support 360 videos natively. So you will need to get a third-party player, like the VLC player for Mac, if you want to have the “look around” experience.
Web browser
Most web browsers these days support 360 videos. You can watch 360 videos on YouTube or Facebook with a “magic window” that supports the “look around” feature. Simply click and drag the image on the screen. If you want to watch the 360 videos with a bigger screen and a better viewing experience, you can download the videos from YouTube using Leawo Video Downloader. It’s the most professional software that can download videos from websites like YouTube, Hulu, Vimeo, Facebook, etc.
Leawo Video Downloader supports 1000+ video websites, including almost all the video hosting sites and video streaming sites with M3U8 links. With Leawo Video Downloader you can download YouTube videos with quality guaranteed at a fast speed. If you have been using Twitch, you can download the Twitch VOD video if you want to watch them for offline access. Besides that, you can save the Facebook live streaming videos onto your computer when you want to keep the videos for future playback.
Mobile devices
Most mobile devices, like smartphones, support 360 videos and the “look around” feature natively. The built-in sensors such as the gyroscope can be used to pan the video with the orientation of the device. You don’t even have to touch the screen, simply move your phone and you can “look around.”
VR headsets
If the 360 video is in 3D, then watching it with VR headsets is better if you want to have an immersive experience. Some VR headsets are based on PC, like Oculsu Rift, HTC Vive, etc, while some are mobile-based, such as Google card and Samsung Gear VR. These VR headsets rely on a PC or smartphone as an operating device to watch 360 videos. Besides that, there are a few standalone VR devices that allow you to watch 360 videos with all-in-one devices. You will need to transfer the footage to the VR headsets and play it from there.
The Bottom Line
That’s everything you should know about 360 videos. Are you going to watch one or make one yourself? There are loads of 360 videos on YouTube, as the platform introduces the video in 2016 and hopes to offer the front row experience to most people. If you haven’t seen a 360 video yet, just download the YouTube video with Leawo Video Downloader if you want to have a better viewing experience offline!
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