Convert the footage to Equirectangular?

THETA Media
21

Sorry @codetricity and @jcasman , I do not understand,
I edited these sets:

{"name": "camera.setOptions",
    "parameters": 
	{
    "sessionId": "SID_0001",
    "options": {
		"offDelay": 65535
    	}
	}
}


{"name": "camera.setOptions",
    "parameters": 
	{
    "sessionId": "SID_0001",
    "options": {
		"sleepDelay": 65535
    	}
	}
}

Yet it continues to stop recording after 30 min. now 25,02 min It is not possible!!!
What is that wrong? the battery is OK, the temperature is normal. Help me;-)
I have to be able to make a recording of at least one hour, the APP tells me I have 2.30 hours to spare.

File generated .mp4
25:02 min
1280 × 720
1,134,622,011 bytes
the internal memory was empty at the start of the recording

I do not know what to do, it takes more than one hour stream is now only the internal recording.
thank you all

22

Just to confirm, are you saving a video file to the internal memory of the camera?

If so, the camera specifications limit the continuous shooting to 25 minutes at 30fps with the video file saved to the camera

I thought that the problem you were encountering was that the camera would shut off after 30 minutes of a live stream to YouTube.

Do you need one continuous video file? Or, can you take a series of 25 minute clips? You can use the API to start, stop, and download the video file to a computer automatically. There would be a gap of about a minute between clips.

23

Hello, you confirm, log in memory of the Theta, the problem that I can not access the room (it’s a play on stage) and since I have to charge the Theta with usb I can not connect to the wifi, I guess I have to give up, because sin it was a good solution.

In addition the maximum length of the USB cable is 2 mt, well it does not work.

thanks to all aid.

24

If you plug the THETA into an external wall charger or USB battery pack, you can connect to WiFi. The WiFi is only disabled when you plug the THETA into your computer. :theta:

25

Excuse me I had not tried, by doing so it could work. thank you.
Ivano

1 Like
26

Best of luck. I find this new ability of 360 video to capture audience reaction in a play or concert fascinating. When going to a play, there’s a certain value of seeing the reaction of the audience from time to time. Of course, the person is viewing it from one direction primarily, but it is a new experience to see what else is around outside of the field of view of a normal video camera. It’s this ability of giving the viewer a choice in viewing more that is fascinating. it also creates the desire to view the video multiple times and focus on different angles for different sections of the video.

My son takes videos for his high school and he’ll use 5 HD cameras at different perspectives. I wonder what people will do with multiple 360 camera, almost like switching perspective from the actor to the audience to the stagehand.

It’s all very new and experimental, but fascinating. Would be curious to see a short clip of the video if it’s available.

27

Hello, it my idea is to put at center stage at the camera and make the viewer elect and choose the actor to watch, as soon as I did I am attaching the video. thanks again for everything.
Sorry for English but use google translator.

Bye

1 Like
28

The English translation is working out great. Good luck.

29

This is the stand that I will use, I got it from a bracket for bar code readers, if this can serve.
Hello

IMG_4384.jpg2448×3264 904 KB
IMG_4385.jpg2448×3264 1.08 MB

30

Hello @codetricity, @jcasman , as promised, I am attaching the link of the tests of the show, I’m still working on the position and on the titles to the final show.
(In some countries it is not visible for youtube copyright)
greetings Ivano

Link

31

This is great. After watching your video test, I just realized that having
the camera in the center of a stage could great a different experience
that is fresh. Normally, the audience has to be only on the side of the
stage and the actors have to speak only in one direction.

In traditional acting, when the actors speak to each other, it is usually
as if the audience is off to the side. With this type of technique, the
audience can be in the center of the play. With normal cameras, there’s
been a lot done with fly-in camera angles, but with 360, the audience can
engage more and fly the camera view themselves.

It’ll also be interesting when technology for panoramic sound gets more
mainstream.

We’re at the early pioneering stages of a new way to work with the
audience. So refreshing to see stuff from creatives guys like you.

32

Hi. I’m looking to convert externally recorded Theta output to Equirectangular editing and final output.

I want to be able to record a music event of over 1hr. My intended solution is to put the Theta S into Live stream mode and capture the HDMI output using an Atomos Ninja 2 SDD video recorder. I’ve tested this and had some success but there are issues to resolve.

  1. I recorded 1hr 47min as a continuous test. The duration was dictated by the Theta battery life. For some reason, if I supplied power to the Theta USB socket I couldn’t get the HDMI output to record on the Ninja. I’ll need to test this further. Still, that battery life is fine for my purposes. The Theta is basically in a live preview mode so it’s not using much power.

  2. This produces a gigantic file (98GB) as the Ninja records ProRes 422 10bit. This retains all the quality of the camera output and will allow more options during an edit if that is needed but processing the entire file would obviously take considerable time. As it’s just video (.mov), notes from a shoot could be used to ‘pre-select’ sections of the recording so processing could be done in batches.

  3. For some reason, the audio is running at what sounds like double speed? For the project I’m planning the audio will be recorded separately anyway but having a guide track on the original would be best for sync’ing it. Is this a bug in the HDMI output? (firmware is 1.8.2)

  4. The recorded HDMI output is 1920x1080 twin fisheye mode and needs converted to Equirectangular. This is where I’m stuck because the Theta app won’t accept the footage either as ProRes or transcoded down to as near identical specs as I can get to the camera’s normal mp4 output. Is there any way to solve this or any software that would allow manual stitching?

Thanks.

1 Like
33

Hi David You can try MAGIX Pro X it can do 360 Stitching with preset Ricoh THETA

360 Stitching preset Ricoh THETA.jpg2560×1562 364 KB

Note PC only

2 Likes
34

Thank you for the tip! I’ll give that a shot.

Cheers!
David

35

have you considered using UVC FullHD Blender (free software from RICOH ) to stream the output to a PC or Mac in equirectangular and then use something like OBS to save the output as an equirectangular file? The USB cable used for streaming should charge the THETA S while you are streaming. (You may need a powered hub).

In this article, I saved a short clip with OBS to my computer from live streaming, then was able to upload it to YouTube.

This article about the RICOH R Dev Kit may be interesting. It outputs equirectangular from the camera.

36

Forgot to say we did first get the the 360 stritch funktion after two automatic uppdates

1 Like
37

Thanks for posting these great first-hand experiences with different software.

38

Hi Svend.

I tried Magix Video Pro-X for stitching the raw Theta output I’d recorded
from the HDMI output. It does have a Theta preset and has some simple
controls to make adjustments but all my attempts had one segment in the
equirectangular output inverted. It’s obviously still a bit buggy but
possibly worth considering in future. It does seem expensive, though.

I think I’ll have to shelve plans to record the hdmi output and go down the
streaming route.

David

1 Like
39

Thanks for
​these suggestions, Craig.

I’ve run a test today with UVC Blender and OBS and it works pretty well. No
issues with audio timing and fantastic that you get a decent
equirectangular output in real time. I think I’ll have to go this route but
it presents practical problems for the shoot itself. I won’t have power at
the location so I need a rig that will run 60-75min on battery power. Also,
hiding a laptop is a lot harder than concealing something the size and
weight of a small paperback. That’s why the Ninja would have been great,
even it required more post-processing; It makes the shoot rig really
compact and flexible. (I’ve attached a pic of Theta & Ninja. I would use
the Theta on a stand and the Ninja tucked away at the base. Near enough
invisible). Still, compromises will need to be made. My problem now is that
my own laptop is rubbish so I’ll have to blag one off someone else.

Do we know if longer USB leads have any impact on picture or sync?

I’ve not had an opportunity to look in detail at the Ricoh R Dev Kit but
assume it will only work with that camera’s output. Hopefully a sign of
what’s going to be possible with the 4k camera.

Cheers

David

​
Theta & Ninja2.jpg
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B61H0tPIR_VfR3lNaU15dXQtY3c/view?usp=drive_web
​

Theta & Ninja2.jpg675×1200 104 KB

2 Likes
40

You can power the THETA off a battery that can supply 1.5 amps. This is the type of battery people use to charge tablets on the go. maybe you can power one from someone? it must supply 1.5amps, which is higher than most batteries that people have for consumer devices.

The longer USB cable will add more resistance. You may be able to use it if the USB cable is connected to something that is plugged into wall current. You will eventually reach a maximum length of the USB cable that is usable. I don’t know what that limit is.

If the ambient temperature is high, you may need to blow a fan on the THETA if you’re streaming for a few hours. If it’s indoor with air con, should be okay.

1 Like