Working with 360º Video

Learn how create interactive 360º video panoramas that can be viewed on the computer, mobiles, VR headsets and Apple's Vision Pro.

Create an Interactive 360º Video

1. Drag a stitched equirectangular 360º video panorama to the Viewer (or Tour Browser).

   The video will appear in the Viewer with playback controls.

   Pano2VR will automatically extract a poster frame if FFmpeg is installed.

   The poster frame is a normal equirectangular panorama and is used as a preview image. It will be added as the Input Image. If the browser can’t play back the video, it will show the this still panorama instead. You can replace this image

   Pano2VR extracts the first frame of the video per default. If the panorama fades in from black, the poster frame will be black and probably not what you’d like. To pick a different frame of the video, play the video to the desired position, and click the Grab Frame button (right of the seek bar).

   

2. (Optional) Add alternative files. In the Panorama Properties add different resolutions of the main video. This way, the browser will go through the list and play the first video it can play back. Keep in mind that mobile devices have limited bandwidth for playback within the browser. Therefore it’s good practice to include a smaller resolution of the file like, 3840 × 1920. The browser will go through the list and play the first video it can play back.

   ★ Tip  Use the Convert Video feature to create web optimized versions.

3. Set the default view. This is the initial view when the videopanorama opens. Move to the angle you want, right-click and choose Set Default View.

4. (Optional) Add elements like hotspots and sounds to the video just like you would for a still panorama.

5. Add a Web output.

6. (Optional) Add a skin. The video will not play until the user interacts with the panorama. In the skin you can a play/pause button, or even the Seekbar element so you can scrub through the video or play and pause buttons. Download the Seekbar component from our forum.

7. Click the Generate Output button to output the project. The project will automatically open in your default browser using the Integrated Web Server.

   

8. Upload your project to your website or export a package format for a CMS website, or upload to Gnome Cloud. Learn more about exporting options.

Convert Video

Use the Convert Video (cogwheel) feature to create a web optimized version of the video.

1. Select the Video Panorama to be converted.

2. In the Panorama Properties, click the cogwheel next to Alternative Files.

   

3. For Output File, provide a file name for the converted video. Or click, Select and provide and file name and location.

4. Select MP4 for the format. WebM is also a good option, but it’s not fully supported in every browser as of this writing.

5. Choose a video bitrate of about 6000 kb/s. This should provide an acceptable compromise between file size and image quality.

6. Leave the audio bitrate at 128 kb/s.

   

7. Click Convert.

See also…

• Create a 360º Video Tour

• Importing 360º Videos

• Creating a Little Planet Video from Ricoh Theta

• Creating a Little Planet Image