Conversion to 4K 360 video

The original MP4 video file captures by Theta V looks like in 4K resolution, but it is reduced to HD resolution if I convert it to general 360 (equi-rectangular) format using the basic converter. I cannot find any option to keep it as 4K resolution.
I can see many 360 videos in 4K resolution on YouTube and even the demo videos by Ricoh.
How can I generate 4K 360 video from the original footage? Do I need any special software rather than the original Ricoh Theta software provided as default? (My version is 3.1.2)

If you made it in smartphone the video is HD , if stich on desktop you get 4K

2 Likes

Thank you for your reply.
Now I got it. It converts to 2K video if I do it on Windows 7.
It says Windows 10 is required for 4K video conversion.

2 Likes

With RICOH THETA app for Windows® ver. 3.0.0 in win7 you have only 2k but with the last update 3.1.2 you should get 4k in win 7 too

I tried to uninstall all old versions and reinstalled 3.1.2, but now it clashes in converting on my Windows 7 desktop.
There may be some problem in registry.
Anyway it’s working fine on my Windows 10 laptop.
Thank you.

Unfortunately even 3.2.1 converts the video to 2K under Win7 :frowning:
Anyone know of a tool to convert to 4K ?

Also is there any way to convert to a standard “flat” video, that could be useful in some cases. Thanks !

One option is to enable in-camera stitching on the Theta V. You can copy and transfer the ready to go file from the camera to your PC.

Thanks, Theta S here though :frowning:

You wish to upscale or up-rezz or the original video footage from the Theta S to 4K?

Just create a 4K project in your NLE and then place your footage from the S onto the timeline, and make sure to “fill” it completely. (If you are a pixel off, you will get a black hole in the nadir or zenith when uploaded to YouTube.)

I’ve seen people place 360 stills on a 4K size video timeline with music, narration that was pretty interesting.

Thanks for helping. Well I’d like to get the best possible video quality from the original footage. It’s a bit hard to understand why Win10 is required for that !

ok, revisiting this I was actually a bit confused. No 4K from the Theta S of course but I saw a post (sorry don’t have the link handy) where it was said that Win10 stitched in higher quality than Win7. Did I read that wrong ? Thanks !

It is correct but not the Size but the kbit/s
Souse
https://ggnome.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10456&start=60#p45117

Video quality from THETAS 360 Video converted with RICOH THETA application

Better Quality in Windows 10
original_raw 163 Mb16018 kbit/s
win_7er 79 Mb 7692 kbit/s
win10_er 160 Mb 15703 kbit/s

i think You Tube reduce to 8000kbit/s

1 Like

Thank you that’s exactly what I had in mind ! So would you say it makes a difference once the video is uploaded to YouTube ?

1 Like

Yes it becomes 12000 kbit/s
try to download a 1920x960 video from Youtube and check it out

1 Like

ok but I mean with your example, do you see a big difference in quality between the Win7/Win10 versions before and after upload to YouTube ?

Just to close the loop and see if it’s worth my time tracking down a Win10 computer I’m still wondering if there is a visible difference in quality between the Win7 and Win10 files before and after an upload to YouTube ? Thanks !