What Does A 360 Camera File Do

Have you e'er wondered how a 360 camera works? You might be considering using or buying your first 360 camera just want to know how these strange looking devices produce immersive media like 360 photos and videos.

To put information technology merely a 360 camera uses ii or more lenses to capture every inch of the environs around yous. Software and then takes the images shot with each lens and "stitches" them together to create a seamless single image. In this post I'll explain in more depth the realities of using a 360 photographic camera and exactly how they work.

People accept been creating 360 media for a very long time, however up until recently the equipment required was very expensive and it was mostly limited to industry professionals. 5 years ago information technology was very unlikely that y'all would have watched a 360 video or viewed a 360 photo. Fast forward to now and YouTube is full of immersive 360 videos and anyone can upload a 360 photo to Facebook.

So what happened? In 2015 Ricoh launched the get-go all-in-1 360 camera, the Ricoh Theta M15. This started a whole new camera category with dozens of easy to use, relatively cheap cameras beingness release. The current crop includes the GoPro Max, Insta360 One R and Ricoh Theta Z1. 360 cameras are now very much part of the mainstream.

The Rising of VR

The popularity of 360 cameras coincided with the rise of VR as a product category, and this is non a coincidence. VR and 360 cameras become hand in mitt. The best way to view 360 media is in a VR headset, which offers the immersive experience that the cameras are designed to provide.

Having said that, 360 media is not the aforementioned as VR. Different VR, 360 photos and videos are real life recreations where as virtual reality is the reverse, it'southward non real at all. A similar comparing would be filming a brusque video of yourself on your phone or creating an animation of yourself. You would be able to view both on your phone only they are non the same thing.

In most VR experiences you are complimentary to roam around the made-upwards envirnment whereas with 360 video you are restricted to the position of the camera. VR also has depth whereas virtually 360 media is two-dimensional (although in that location are a few 3D 360 cameras available).

How They Piece of work

A typical consumer 360 camera features two lenses on opposing sides of the camera torso. Some more professional 360 cameras accept more than than two lenses but in the interests of keeping things simple I'll focus on two lens setups.

360 cameras use fish eye lenses to capture effectually 200 degrees of image per lens. Combined each lens will capture around 400 degrees which, manifestly, includes some overlap. Subsequently the footage is captured software will work out where this overlap is and work to make the image seamless. This is sometimes washed automatically inside the camera but sometimes requires you lot to use desktop software or a telephone app.

Stitched 360 images

Usually the seam volition not be visible, or barely so. Different cameras accept different success rate at creating a seamless stitch line and this is something to consider when buying a 360 camera.

Sensors

360 cameras need to be pocket-size, meaty, affordable and easy to use if they are to exist attractive to the consumer market. It's for this reason that the majority of 360 cameras use small lenses that are unremarkably used in activity cameras and fifty-fifty webcams.

You will struggle to replicate the dynamic range and color saturation that you're most probable used to seeing in video shot with a DSLR or fifty-fifty your phone. At the moment the engineering science is not there for more advanced sensors to be inexpensive and small enough for a 360 camera. A notable exception is the Ricoh Theta Z1 which uses dual 1 inch lenses and is well established as the best 360 camera for photography.

Thankfully pretty much all 360 cameras offer full manual control much similar a DSLR. You can adjust exposure, shutter speed, ISO and in some cases aperture to get the accented best quality out of your camera. Some 360 cameras also offering RAW shooting and HDR.

Re-framing

While 360 cameras were originally envisaged as immersive capturing devices, that is capturing 360 photos and videos to exist viewed on a VR headset, they have become arguably more than pop every bit action and vlogging cameras.

Re-framing is the act of taking your 360 video and turning information technology into a "normal" video just with keyframes telling the camera where to look at any one time. A reframed video ofttimes looking similar someone has moved the camera when in actual fact the camera has remained even so the whole time.

Here's the deviation between an immersive 360 video and a re-framed video shot with the same 360 photographic camera:

Immersive

Re-framed

Each 360 photographic camera comes with an app that allows you to re-frame your footage speedily and hands.

I hope this short history of 360 cameras and how they piece of work has answered whatsoever questions you might have. Information technology tin can exist a flake confusing for those who have just started thinking most using 360 cameras, but trust when I say they are not much unlike from recording with a normal camera (and in some ways, even easier!).

Check out my YouTube aqueduct for more 360 camera tips equally well every bit review and guides.

The 360 Guy

Owner of threesixtycameras.com. Author, lensman and videographer. You tin can see my YouTube channel for guides of how to shoot 360 video. I've written for The Times, Digital Photography School and Sunday Express.

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