360 Degree Video Drones FAQ - Turkey Red Media · PDF fileLike ground based 360 degree video,...

360 Video Production V2.5: 15th May 2017

© Turkey Red Media Ltd www.TurkeyRedMedia.com

360 Degree Video FAQ’s



Introduction Technology is in a constant state of motion in video industry and even more so in the drone and

visualisation industry, that doesn’t mean marketing, visualisation and production companies need to

adopt every new trend, but one thing you might want to pay attention to over the next 12 months,

is 360 video and in particular 360 degree aerial video.

It’s a different form of storytelling, one of the most important things to consider with 360-degree

video, or “spherical video”, is that creators approach this format as an immersive experience rather

than a typical video. Unlike traditional videos including aerial videos, viewers have control over what

they see.

Simply, the viewer controls the recorded camera angle by tilting and panning on their computer or

mobile device via the video player. This can be an excellent tool for publishers that want to deliver

an immersive rich media experience: You could give your audience a fully interactive look at tourism

destination, castle, a house for sale, a new building, or even a sports or special event as examples.

Like ground based 360 degree video, aerial 360 can bring a whole new perspective and viewing

experience.

Like most new systems, there are some pitfalls, 360 video produces some amazing footage, but

because it’s a new technology there are some production downsides and challenges.

Drones for 360 degree video and camera systems At the present time there are no production / retail drones or 360 video camera rigs for them. If

required a 360 Degree Video drones will need to be built, developed and maintained specifically for

this purpose.

Cameras

The best 360 camera setups currently for drones, are built around multiple GoPro setups, with GP3,

GP3+ and GP4, with the 3+ and 4 being the preferred cameras. Although there are some consumer

360 degree video cameras, these tend to be low quality, HD or 4k system with small sensors. Several

high end systems are in development, but are thought to be either too heavy for drones or

extremely expensive at this time.



For good quality affordable 360 video a minimum of 6 GoPro’s will be required for video with no

stitching holes and good overlap. The weight of a good 6 GoPro rig and mount will be around 1.2kg.

Several mounts / holders are now available off the-shelf which lends them to drone mounting.

Airframe

The drone air frame needs to be designed specifically to carry the video camera payload for 360

degree video. Hexacopters make for a very good platform for this, they have a good power to weight

ratio. Hexacopters also give some level of redundancy should a rotor fail in flight, this coupled with

dual batteries give some level of confidence of your valuable 360 degree video gear.

Weight

For the UK market it is desirable that the drone be designed and built to stay under 7kg total weight.

This allows for flights to be made legally in urban areas and controlled airspace by a suitably licensed

and insured operator.

Drone in view

As much of the aircraft and its systems needs to be kept out of shot as possible, batteries and other

devices should be carried above the level of the rotors. A long pole carrying the camera pod should

be fixed directly in the centre of gravity under the aircraft. Too long a pole the camera pod will have

a pendulum effect; too short and too much of the drone will be in shot. Keeping the airframe a single

colour, mostly black makes it easier to mask the aircraft out in post if required. Although it is

relatively easy to patch the drone out in post, it is possible to have an extra camera mounted on top

of the drone, this can be dropped into the video in post, due to the distance from the rest of the

camera parallax may be an issue if subjects are too close.



Keeping the operator out of shot

Unlike other forms of aerial video it is near impossible to keep the operator out of shot, one of the

main reasons for this is that the pilot, by law must keep the drone in view at all times. This therefore

requires some thought to the positioning of the flight personnel during recording etc.

Landing and taking off

As most video pods are attached to poles hanging low underneath the drone, landing the drone can

be a challenge. Hand launch and landing is an option, or a specially designed landing support is the

preferred method for safety reasons.

Powering the camera systems (normally GoPro)

Most camera pods will consist of 6 or more GoPro’s, which are well known to be power hungry,

especially if Wi-Fi control is enabled. It is therefore recommended that the GoPro’s be powered from

the drone’s main batteries using suitable adapters and cable loom. There is nothing worse than one

of the GoPro’s shutting down in flight, or locking up due to a low or faulty battery.

Vibration

As will all cameras mounted to drones, vibration is a killer, “jello” can be a real problem and a

suitably designed vibration mount for the video pod is required. Hard mounting of the pod and

mounting pole can eliminate the “pendulum” effect, but the video will be un-useable, therefore

there is an optimum design of the mounting plate to comprise on this factor to get the cleanest

possible video.

Lighting

Low sun or strong contrast days should be avoided for 360 degree video, especially aerial. The

cameras pointing towards strong light sources will always be over exposed, even light is better for

360 videos, and for aerial work high sun position is preferred. A good 360 camera rig will have the

ability to fit ND or UV filters which helps manage rolling shutter which can cause issues when

stitching.

Camera Settings

All camera settings must be the same, settings are limited on GoPro’s, but typically GoPro’s will be

set for 1440p, 48fps and Protune, and manual WB. Higher frame rates are preferable as less

susceptible to rolling shutter.

NADIR

Nadir in 360 videos refers to an area not shot completely and appears as a “black hole”. Some 360

degree video pods on drones do not have cameras views facing upwards. This is acceptable where

the subject matter is below the level of the drone, however when shooting architecture or

visualisations such as fly through, then a full 360 view is desirable. For pods with no NADIR then the

drone can be “painted out” in post with masks as required, or if required clients logo’s inserted. Or

an extra GoPro / camera mounted on top of the drone.

Camera Levelling / Gimbal

Unlike normal cameras a full sphere is captured, and it is possible to level and stabilised in post

without loss of resolution and quality. However for moving shots a gimbal / stabiliser is preferred as

this minimises the amount of work required in post. Shaky shots result in headset viewers feeling

sick through motion sickness.



Drone Control frequencies

If using the GoPro Wi-Fi remote to trigger the cameras and start and stop recording, then for safety

reasons it is not recommended to use 2.4 GHz for control of the drone. (This is the normal control

frequency for most drones). For UK use, 459 MHz is a much safer alternative, and has an added

advantage that it does not suffer from issues such as multi-pathing in urban areas.

Video feeds.

To enable framing and monitoring of the drones systems in flight, a flight camera and on screen

display will be required, this is normally broadcast to the ground video monitor and pilot view using

5.8 GHz.

Editing and workflow.

While some consumer cameras do the stitching on board the camera, others require that you use

post-processing software. Programs like Kolor (acquired by GoPro), Video-Stitch, and PTGui are

popular for stitching. At the time of writing this blog, Kolor would seem to have the edge with its

Autopano Video Pro software, this coupled with Autopano Giga for stitching and preparation.



Editing this spherical content will differ from other video projects, but once the footage is stitched

together, you can use popular video editing programs like Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro etc. to edit

and colour correct. The main difference is the creative process for editing. It is not assembling a

sequence of shots to show an audience, but rather a 360-degree image that the viewer will have

control over when watching. You have to keep this in mind from beginning to end—from

brainstorming and storyboarding to shooting. The stitching and editing workstation needs to be very

powerful and capable of coping with editing 4k+ video as well as the heavy rendering for stitching.

Viewing 360 Degree Video

Online

Facebook: Now includes ability to upload and view 360 degree video, playback requires a suitable

browser such as Google Chrome, quality is lower compared to the viewer on YouTube. Max

resolution on Facebook is 1440p. Facebook by far is the best place to get the most views of your 360

video, many will view them on a tablet or mobile phone.

YouTube: Now includes ability to upload and view 360 degree video up to 8k, playback requires a

suitable browser such as Google Chrome. In reality most viewers will struggle to view resolutions

greater than 4k, unless they have a fast internet connection.

Mobile & Tablets

IOS: Kolor / GoPro offers a free player; most devices will playback HD, IPhone 6 is required for 4k

playback.

Android: Kolor / GoPro offer a free player, most devices will playback HD, newer quad core smart

phones required for 4k playback.

Desktop: Google Chrome, VLC Media Player and Windows Media also support 360 video playback.

Headsets

Google Cardboard

Don’t discount the Google cardboard concept as being gimmicky, far from it, it. More professional

looking versions are now available from @£10 upwards at online retailers, and these offer a great

immersive experience at low cost, as long as you have a compatible smart phone. Typical supported

smart phones include Apple’s IPhones, and Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3, 4 Edge and S6.



Samsung Gear

This headset is probably the best value for money versus performance and user experience at this

time. It is compatible with the Galaxy S6 edge+, S6 edge, S6, S7, S7 Edge and Note 5 Smartphones.

5.7 inch (143.9mm) Quad HD Super AMOLED (2560×1440)

Oculus Rift

Most 360 video players support the Oculus Rift, the Dk2 later version being the better of the two

headsets offering fully immersive viewing. Early DK1 headsets can suffer from motion sickness and

poorer quality.

HTC Vive

The Vive is similar to the Oculus above and can play 360 Video.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCPuw0vPBg8kCFUf8DgodiFgM6A&url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2014/12/09/samsung-is-now-selling-the-gear-vr-headset-for-200/&psig=AFQjCNEw692nFfr1oC3orbLja0kc-s9dtg&ust=1447164466673453



Video Domes

Video domes using multiple video projectors are the ultimate way to view 360 aerial videos. These

are fantastic for tradeshows, visualisation for construction and development projects. The downside

of video domes, are that they are very expensive and require very high quality video content,

typically 8k +.

Summary Just like live streaming, virtual reality technology has been around for some time now. However,

timing means everything when it comes to technology. With YouTube and Facebook investing in 360

video, both publishers and viewers will have the opportunity to distribute and 360-degree video

content to the masses to watch.

Another reason we think aerial 360 video will take off, is that it does not require viewers to wear a

virtual reality headset like it did in the past. While the headset option is there and promises a more

immersive experience, the audience doesn’t need to wear one in order to enjoy spherical video. This

simplifies the viewing experience and maximises the audience as the potential viewers do not need

to invest extra equipment to watch the 360 content.

To maximise the audience for 360 degree content, at the current time many platforms and devices

struggle with more than 4k resolution. Utilising 4k with a standard 120 degree FOV results in a

@1.3k pixel view port, which is slightly less than full HD. To attain a true 4k field of view requires

12,288 x 6144 pixels, a resolution that few devices can realise at the present time.



Cameras offering 4k resolution such as the Samsung Gear VR camera, Nikon and Theta S, can only be

described as consumer quality, for professional productions 6k+ is preferred for a good quality

experience.

If providing your audience with this type of immersive experience makes sense, then keep an eye on

360 degree video.

Turkey Red Media – 360 Video Production Capability

Turkey Red Media can offer both ground and aerial 360-degree video services.

At the time of writing we have a number of 360-degree video pods as listed below:

GoPro Omni, 6 x GoPro 4 Black, Genlocked, (8k max stitch)

6 x GoPro 3 Black (6k max stitch)

6 x GoPro 4 Black, (8k max stitch)

10 x GoPro 4 Black, (12k max stitch)

Stablised (Gimbal), 11 GoPro 4 Black, (12k Stitch)

Stabilsed 3 Axis gimbal for Kodak SP 360 Duo or Samsung Gear VR

3 x Kodak SP 360 4K (6k max stitch)

Samsung Gear VR

Whilst each GoPro records audio we prefer to use separate high quality audio recorders as

below:

Zoom H2N spatial audio recorder

Zoom 6N with wireless lapel mics for voice overs etc.

All of the cameras and pods listed above can be attached to our drones or ground based tripods. We

have two drones capable of carrying the 360 pods, our main aircraft is a custom DJI S900 with an 11

GoPro 4 Black pod on a 3 axis gimbal. We have a CarbonCore H950 with GoPro Omni used as a

backup. Both drones employ redundant designs and dual power supplies, and will recover from

propeller or motor failure. Flight times vary from 7-14mins dependent on batteries, temperature

and location. Each aircraft is designed to be under 7kg in weight, this is to allow for legal flights in

urban areas.

Turkey Red Media is also Google Certified and can create 360 imaging for Google street view and

virtual tours.



A backpack / rucksack attachment, monopod and car / vehicle mounting system is also available to

create walk or drive-through’ s. Our stabilised can also be handheld or vehicle mounted

Stitches from all of our pods can be up to resolutions of 6/8k with the GoPro 4 pod capable of 12k.

(Resolutions higher than 1440p cannot be shown on Facebook, 8k is possible on YouTube. 360

stitches are normally rendered in RAW or ProRes at high bit rates).



We use a mixture of tools and workstations to stitch the video streams, the main stitching software

utilised is Autopano Video Pro and Autopano Giga, we use Mettle for object placement, MochaVR

for tracking and stabilisation and Premier Pro for colour correction and final editing.

About the authors: Turkey Red Media is a licensed and insured commercial drone operator based in

the West of Scotland, UK. It provides aerial imaging and video services to TV, Media, and Video

Production, as well as providing aerial surveying services. The company also specialises in aerial

panoramic imagery including 360 degree video, having developed its own custom aircraft for this

purpose. For more information visit www.TurkeyRedMedia.com

360 Degree Video Drones FAQ - Turkey Red Media · PDF fileLike ground based 360 degree video,...

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