A Question: Why is the transcription of 4k videos to X_er files necessary for Theta viewer playback?

[rdestrube]

Can someone answer this? The 4k video MP4 files from the ThetaV all seem to need to go through a laborious transcription into a new file denoted X_er in order to be played in the Theta programme. ( Camera-stitched or unstitched ) If the original file is played directly in the GoPro spherical programme it plays without stitching, so the _er transformation is necessary. However I can just double-click on an original ThetaV 4K video in W10 and it plays just perfectly without any fuss.

So what is the laborious _er transformation all about? I can imagine that it might have to do with the view-oriented surround sound aspect of playback but surely that would be an extra option selectable from basic playback if the engineers weren’t too anal about everything being perfectly loaded at playback. (?)

[jcasman]

Hey @rdestrube, I don’t have a complete answer for “why.” You might be right about anal engineers. Here’s a link to some comments by @ZZChu (John Chu) who has done a fair amount of work with spatial audio. I believe the transcription process is to properly handle spatial audio.

Audio recording with TA-1 microphone

In order to experience the Spatial Audio in your Theta V recordings, you need to first stitch and process the original footage and play it back via the Theta Desktop application which supports spatial audio playback. While listening with headphones, you should clearly hear the sound fade in and out and blend as you change your view. If you are sharing to Youtube, you must first prepare the file by using the Ricoh Theta Movie Converter. Once uploaded to YouTube, you should clearly hear the spa…