Why 360 walkthroughs and video can be great for your next project

We are now officially living in the future. With all sorts of cameras on the market including mirrorless, cine, smartphone, drone and 360 cameras going all the way up to 8k! We are truly spoilt for choice.

In the past 360 was clunky and the picture wasn’t that clear, especially in VR mode. The editing process was also finicky and finding the best program to edit your content on was challenging, but now 360 imagery and video is getting more and more popular and with the technology getting better and better us as consumers can finally rejoice.

Why use 360 you may ask?

First of all, its immersive 360 can capture your entire surrounding showing off that new building or a new park, your expo. It’s also a great way to reach your audience now that COVID-19 is a global pandemic.

And because of this it makes it a point of difference. People enjoy the fun of either clicking through an interactive space and when you’re in VR mode you are then transferred to a whole other world. It can paint your brand in an entire other light.

What you need to consider before you go out and start shooting.

You need to do your research. I wouldn’t recommend just going out and buying a 360 camera without looking into what camera you are buying and why.

Different 360 cameras are used for different things. if you’re not using the correct camera and programs your end result won’t look good. Things to consider are if you’re shooting inside/outside, do you want to shoot live? Are you capturing still images or video? And how am I going to capture the content? Am I going to hold the camera on a poll or leave it on a tripod?

GoPro and Insta360 cameras are the easiest to work with and come with editing and stitching software free to download. For me, going through my own 360 journey the best result in image quality and ease combined would be the Matterport software and camera. 

The Matterport camera which also has its own editing and stitching software and ranging on who much you want to spend will determine the look of your end result. At Newcast, we love using the Matterport camera because it’s very high quality (134 megapixels!) but also does all the hard work for you.

In terms of platforms, there are a whole heap out there, it all depends on what you want to be able to do with it, and how much you’re willing to pay. 

Kuula is good for simple walkthroughs. It works more as a picture gallery, being able to click through to the next image and check out the world around you. You can add in buttons to link you to the next image, and also add in text to different spots to add detailed information. Kuula is free for your first couple of 360 projects, then you will have to pay for more.

Cupix is another platform that’s very user friendly, but I would only recommend using it for displaying on desktop or mobile, as it doesn’t work effectively inside VR goggles.

Matterport is its own platform which is great – it has a ‘doll house’ feature where you can see the whole layout as if it’s … a doll house! You can also utilise text points in this system, and use a measurement tool as well. It looks incredible inside VR goggles.

Matterport expectedly works best with its own camera content, and does cost after you do one project.

360 and VR technology is constantly changing and upgrading every day, so keep researching and enjoy your VR journey like we have at Newcast. Check out our most recent 360 walkthrough here.