Virtual Reality Video Production
Ethos Media is proud to offer 360/virtual reality capability to our video and photo production services. The two terms “360” and “Virtual Reality” or “VR” are somewhat interchangeable when referring to content that gives the viewer camera control of the video or photo. While there is a technical difference between the two, realized primarily when the viewer is wearing a viewing headset, the benefits of this interactive technology are the same. The format gives viewers a unique viewing experience every time the content is looked at meaning that it can engage people on a whole different level when used with the right content. It has three times the conversion rate and 30% higher repeated view rate compared to traditional video. Check out our thoughts on some of the primary ways 360 / VR content is used in today’s marketing!
Interested in Interactive Virtual Tours for Residential or Commercial Real Estate? Click Here!
Residential Property
A residential virtual tour video produced with our Insta360 One X camera with basic text overlays, nadir logo, and royalty-free background music to build atmosphere. Recording of both video and photo content for most will homes will take up to an hour including interior rooms and front/backyard exterior shots.
Event Coverage
Using 360 video for event coverage can allow people to experience the magic unlike any other form of digital advertising by placing viewers right there in the room. Have us record an entire event or just highlights from different activities where we can then pair up content with royalty-free background music and branding.
Commercial Virtual Tour
Fundamentally the same as a residential property virtual tour, this video demonstrates the use of voiceover of which can act as a narrator or guided tour. Ask us about having on-camera tour guides to enhance the viewing experience and let us select a professional from our wide network of spokespeople.
Creative Advertising
Some things are just meant for virtual reality, like a hot air balloon ride! If you service or facility is such that it makes sense for people to look around in all directions, take advantage of the benefits of this type of video! You’ll come as close to simulating the experience of actually being there as any form of digital media can provide.
360 Photography Examples
Explore What VR Video and Photos Can Do
About Virtual Tours
Did you know that virtual tours can be hosted online with interactive hot spots that link to text descriptions, images, and even YouTube videos? You can also design them with thumbnail image navigation links and other features through various hosting sites. Interested in learning more? Check out this blog post of ours with details on platform capabilities and other useful information.
FAQs About Virtual Reality
When discussing 360 and actual VR, you’re talking about the difference between “monoscopic” and “stereoscopic” footage. To put it simply, the former has the appearance of traditional, flat video but with 360 viewing capability. The latter creates an effect in 360 similar to that of 3D television which is something only appreciated fully with a headset or googles. It’s our recommendation that you stick with traditional 360 video or photos unless you specifically plan to showcase your content primarily on headset displays.
There’s no denying 3D video was a fad that was picked up by a lot of consumer tech companies and then dropped after a period of time. The reasons why it failed and consequently why 360 content is here to stay comes down to a few basic things:
- 3D video required glasses, 360 content does not.
- Limited content available in 3D (mostly movies), 360 content has a wide range of content from creative to commercial.
- Outside of theaters, 3D was only available on specially designed TVs. 360 can be viewed on desktops, mobile devices, and is compatible with many online platforms including YouTube, Vimeo, and most social media platforms.
- Filming 3D was expensive due to specialized camera rigs. 360 camera technology is considerably more affordable.
Because there is no depth of field in 360 video, viewers are able to look at everything in focus. Accordingly, we export all 360 content in a minimum of 4K resolution to maximize sharpness of the image with the confines of online platform compression. Please note that any public online platform such as YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo will compress any video content uploaded to their site making lower resolution viewers less able to distinguish finer details.
Let’s say you want to show your 360 content to a viewer offline, like in a 1-on-1 meeting. Several free programs exist that will play 360 video or photo content in the manner in which it is intended to be seen. For your convenience, we’ve linked you to some of these:
VLC: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
Insta360 – 360 Video Player (Scroll Down and Look for the Player Option): https://www.insta360.com/download/insta360-one
Movies & TV App (Comes Pre-Installed on Windows 10)
Lighting
- With some exceptions, it’s best to film 360 video in a place with optimal ambient lighting.
- Several steps can be taken to light a particular subject or object while obscuring the appearance of the light itself. Contact us for details.
Audio
- Wireless lavalier mics are a must to capture clean audio as the appearance of an overhead boom mic would be distracting.
Teleprompter
- There is no practical way to obscure the appearance of teleprompter, so spoken dialogue must be memorized or ad-libbed by the presenter in 360.
Production Setup
- Because 360 looks in all directions, the production equipment setup is considerably less than traditional video meaning the shoots can be ready to go much faster upon crew arrival.
While our answer is “yes” it can be live streamed, our recommendation actually is that you don’t at this point in time. Because optimal 360 viewing requires high resolution playback, at least 4K or higher, the amount of data required both to stream that and for viewers to download it seamlessly is beyond what is cost-effective.
Instead, we simply recommend a traditional recording and rebroadcast on your choice of channels. If you need fast turnaround, let us know and we can accommodate such requests.