Photography News Issue 38

Photography News | Issue 38 | absolutephoto.com

20 Technique

As new and exciting as 360º and VR cameras are, to traditional photographers used to working with regular stills, they can seem like a very alien concept. But don’t worry, PN is here to show you why taking the leap is just as fun as it is challenging, and this month we look at editing footage from VR cameras... Leap into VR shooting Part 2: EditingandSharing

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Last month we looked at the basics of VR and 360º shooting; why it’s an exciting newway to capture the world and the kinds of specialised camera you need to do it. We also looked at the similarities to traditional shooting and the fact that, after you get used to the idea that you’re just using a very wide-angle lens, there’s very little to be scared of and a lot to get excited about. But of course there are differences, and particularly when it comes to editing and sharing shots. After all, althoughcameraslikethoseinKodak’s Pixpro series can be used in a wide- angle point-and-shoot way, it’s when they’re employed to create proper VR content that they really come into their own. That’swhatwe’ll look at this time out, showing how immersive 360º and VR footage can be produced after shooting, via easy editing steps. Getting the footage Most 360º and VR cameras are sold with video in mind, rather than stills, andwhenyouseewhatthey’recapable of creating that’s not surprising. Results are amazing, and the wide- angle viewputs the viewer right at the heart of the action, so whether you’re taking part in sports, adventure or simply walking through a spectacular location that you want to record for posterity, by recording it in 360º you’ll have a highly detailed, lasting, and interactivememory. When shooting video you’ll find all the stuff you’d expect in a high-end DSLR’s or CSC’s movie mode. You pick the resolution to record at, which could be full HD (for the original

Pixpro SP360), or 4K (for the SP360 4Kand new4KVR360 camera). You can also decide on the format, and with the Pixpro models, this means either shooting in the full spherical (Globe) mode or Front view. In the former you can then process the video into an exciting array of styles, more on which below. There are time lapse and high-speed video modes, too, so you can shoot in glorious slow motion, or show the passage of time, all with the luxury of a 360º view. Back-to-back shooting To fully cover the scene and create an immersive view in VR, you need to combine the footage from two lenses. So, when using single-lens cameras, like the SP360 and SP360 4K, these need to be mounted back to back; but the new 4KVR360 can record a front and back view simultaneously using its twin lens design (see right). In the examples on this page, shot during the Sosh Freestyle Cup sports festival in Marseilles, two SP360 4K cameras were mounted on the skydiver’s wrist using a mount and wrist strap. Set to the Globe capture mode, which produces spherical 2880x2880 pixel footage, the footage was then stitched and exported as aVRmovie. Stitching your 360º footage The stitchingof the spherical footage is done inKodak’s free Pixpro 360 Stitch desktop app, and it’s surprisingly easy to use once you give it a try. You just load up the two files, then make sure they match up using the Calibrate and the Frame Timeline options; the

As immersive as youwant it You don’t need to throw yourself out of an aeroplane to make the most of a VR camera, but check out Kodak’s Pixapro Facebook page to see why it was completely worth it. Whatever you choose to shoot, the footage can be stitched and uploaded to your favourite social media sites in minutes, where it can be viewed in an immersive VR style, just by scrolling around with the mouse.

former lets you pan, tilt and vary the distance and angle to match things up, while the latter is used to address any lag between starting the different recordings. Using the preview as a guide in either its 16:9 or global view you can quickly get a good alignment. Just like editing a still photo, you also need to make sure your sequence is looking its best, which means making tweaks to the colour and contrast, and this is done using the Effect button, which lets you make changes to the brightness, sharpness, saturation and contrast. Editing and exporting Also free to download is the regular Pixpro editor, which lets you use a single 235º view in a variety of styles. There’s Pano, which gives a full 360º panoramic effect, Dome with an arching view, and Segment, which pushes thevideo intoa ‘front andback’ view from the original 360º capture, so in theory you can put the camera on your dashboard or handlebars and film yourself driving as well as the road ahead, all in one video output. Something else you can do is trim the beginning and end of the footage

to tighten the action, just as youwould withanormalmovie,whilethere’salso the ability to record ‘live’ navigation around the 360º view. In this way you can play the video, then press the Record button to start capture. You thenscroll around thevideoas though you were turning your head through the view and hit Stop when you’re done, before exporting the file. This is really handy if you’re creating a movie that’s more of a walk through than a fully interactive VR type, where you guide the view around the wider composition. High- res stills can also be grabbed straight fromthe video using the camera icon. Sharing your adventure Whether you’re exporting straight from the Pixpro 360 Stitch app, or from the regular editor, you can either save your videos as regular files, or upload them to websites that will allow full VR-style interaction, including your Facebook profile and YouTube channel, adding titles, descriptions and also controlling the privacy settings of the video.

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Quick and easy editing To edit your spherical footage, all you need is Kodak’s free Pixpro 360 and Pixpro 360 Stitch apps. In its simplest form you can simply export to a video file or social media website (1), but there’s also the option of using fun modes like Segment which sandwiches the front and rear views, and trimming the footage (2). In the Pixpro Stitch editor (3), two separate spherical captures can be aligned and then exported, and in either of the packages it’s possible to tweak the Sharpness, Contrast, Brightness and Saturation (4).

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