360 camera advice??

[dbini]

Hello Izzypeeps,
slightly off-topic, but can anyone recommend a good 360 camera for filming dance, both indoors and outdoors? budget is around 500€. they seem to have become less fashionable over the last year or 2, so is it worth getting something new or looking for second hand?
thanks,
john

[bonemap]

@dbini

I did quite a bit of research at the beginning of 2020 and opted for a Qoocam 8k.
https://www.kandaovr.com/qoocam-8k/index.html

Some of the qualities are that it has internal disc storage as well as SD card and the camera handles low light well. I like the ergonomics of the camera and it can be previewed and operated through its own wifi hotspot to mobile app. The desktop app downloads and renders the equirectangular files ready for editing. Rendering the files for use in PremierePro, AfterEffects or Final Cut takes some time but then the quality appears good.

Here are some outputs from the camera:

https://youtu.be/30rT5QZx92o

http://www.bonemap.com/spine/multi/extinct.html#seventh-scene&uid=scene-7

http://www.bonemap.com/spine/page2.html

I also paired the camera with an ambisonic audio recorder

https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/handheld-recorders/handheld-recorders/h3-vr-360-audio-recorder/

best wishes 

Russell

[mark_m]

@dbini

I can damn with faint praise the GoPro Max...

The camera works OK, the images it produces are good in decent light, and not to good in poor light. Yes, it's like other GoPros in that it has its own Wifi and you can control the camera with a phone app. And that's as far as it goes. There are lots of settings on the camera that you can't control with the app, exposure compensation for a start, so that becomes very frustrating. I find using it frustrating as nothing is intuitive... and I run out of patience quickly while navigating the menu on the camera

GoPro's video editing software for the camera is rubbish: the camera has been available for over two years and there are still a lot of shortcomings with the player / editor app. It's like GoPro decided to get into the 360 market, and then commissioned some not very bright people to write the software to support it. There is a Facebook group that gets the beta releases, but I do feel like the Max is a poor cousin.

There is a plug-in for Premiere that lets you edit the footage directly on the timeline. You can even add a VR headset and edit 360 like that. It works, but again not hugely intuitive. Or maybe I just don't have the patience any more to sit down and learn something new!!

Note I have never used any other 360 camera so I can't compare it to others.

[LPmode]

@mark_m

I have an insta360 one x2. It has a good set of editing, tracking and reframing programs for phone and computer. It only streams through a phone as it's using a BT/WiFi handshake and I couldn't get the live stream on a computer tho. All the other caveats for low light dual lens 360 apply 

Here are a couple of shots I took

https://photos.app.goo.gl/H7sg...

[troikadawn]

Hello folks,

This may be an ignorant question but can you use a 360 camera as a live feed in Isadora? Then project it in a wrap around way with multiple projectors. Someone has to have been doing that already. Can I get some knowledge/intel on that?

thanks so much - Dawn

[DusX]

@troikadawn said:

Then project it in a wrap around way with multiple projectors

 If you have a 360 camera which will stream a equirectangular formatted image, you can easily map that to the inside of a 3D model of a sphere. I haven't found any camera that does this, but I haven't looked a around much. If not, there is likely some GLSL code that can covert the 'fisheye' style format to equirectangular some where (again I haven't seen it).

If you want to do this with NON live footage, most cameras come with tools to convert to different formats, including equirectangular, which sets you up for mapping the texture to a sphere.
Just remember, you need to view the texture from INSIDE the sphere.

[bonemap]

Hi Dawn,

@troikadawn

This 360 camera is designed for streaming: https://www.kandaovr.com/qoocam8k-enterprise/

I have a version of this 360 camera that I am pretty satisfied with (despite the name and not being a big brand).

Best wishes

Russell

[DusX]

@bonemap said:

camera is designed for streaming

 What format is the video it streams? Is it spherical still (fisheye) or is it equirectangular?

[bonemap]

@dusx

Hi,

It streams ‘live stitching’ equirectangular h264 and h265. There is an ‘enterprise’ model that has an rj45 socket for network streaming and a hdmi port. I don’t have that model to provide first hand experience. I have the standard Qoocam 8k device.

There appears to be a couple of other 360 cameras that do live streaming. But I have to say it is not an area that I feel like I have any expertise.

Here is a link to a YouTuber ‘Creator Up’ who specialises in comparing 360 cameras for live streaming:

https://360rumors.com/360-live-streaming-comparison-qoocam-8k-enterprise-vs-360-anywhere/

Best wishes

Russell

[troikadawn]

@bonemap @DusX 

Hey thanks everyone! The terminology is a bit above my pay grade, but I can learn. Warmly, Dawn