- Interactive VR has been around for a long time.
I remember starting out with simple one shot solutions
like this camera here and it was enough.
All we were doing was delivering to the web.
- On your eight megapixel camera.
- Yeah, it was perfect, you know?
It just made a file that looked good.
We were dealing with computer resolutions of 1024 by 768
and you know it didn't take that many pixels
to fill the screen and that web still exists
we've got smartphones now that are smaller screens
but we've also got 5K computer displays
and for that you need a lot more resolution.
- I agree and normally I think that the megapixel wars
are sort of a myth.
I think an eight megapixel camera is great for most uses
but we're talking about entire 360 degree scenes.
So you can imagine spreading your resolution out
over that whole scene, it really increases the requirements.
So for us that do this kind of thing, we're really excited
about the 36 megapixel cameras and the 42 megapixel,
50 megapixel cameras because we can do more
with less images.
- Yeah it means the ability to take something
like a fisheye lens, capture three or four shots
for a full 360 degree view, and you can do more
with less production time.
Which means you can cover more scenes and get more done
with less shooting work.
- [Man In A Purple Shirt] That's right, what a luxury
with three or four shots, compared to when I started out
using this camera coincidentally, and it took 29 shots
if I recall and actually the result was lower resolution
than my three shot system.
- [Bald Man] So think about what you need
from a camera point of view.
Essentially any modern DSLR or mirrorless camera
that you have access to is probably good enough
and if you're just dabbling in 360 VR,
well a lot of smartphones and the applications
are gonna be good enough to produce web quality results
but I think the big hurdle here is traditional web versus
modern web which we're seeing 4K, 5K viewing rates
and moving into the world of print.
Ron, I'm a big fan that even though my targeted delivery
might be something simple like the web,
the client often comes back and goes
"Can I get a print of that?"
I love that, and they want to blow it up
and put it in the office, right?
- It's true, with the very little amount of printing
I have done, to be honest, with 360s
I don't have a lot of client experience in that area
but I do have a 360 degree image on my wall at home
and it's 42 inches wide.
I shot that on a D200 and it took six shots around
on a fisheye lens and it looks great.
- Yeah so fortunately,
most of these cameras are gonna kick in.
I have done some prints before from this type of content.
It is the type of thing that you want to work closely
with your printer because there's a lot
of dynamic range here.
Speaking of dynamic range, we're gonna get into bracketing
more later but as you're choosing a camera,
make sure that the camera has the ability
to support bracketed shooting, this is gonna go a long way.
Now there is one other type of resolution requirement
and that is what sort of bit depth we're capturing with.
A lot of times we're gonna merge these together
into 32 bit images and the film and television industry
and the animation industry sometimes will use these 32 bit
images for lighting reference, other times for animations.
So the bottom line is,
get the best camera that you have access to.
In order to create 360 degree photos,
you're not gonna need to buy new gear,
at least from a camera point of view
but you will get exposed to some other benefits.
The higher the resolution of the camera,
the fewer shots you may need.
This will give you the flexibility to use wide angle lenses
or fisheye lenses, plus the higher the resolution
of the camera, the more flexibility you'll have
for output.
- [Ron] My current favorite system and my workhorse system
is the Nikon D800 and a 10.5 mm lens and with that
I can take four shots around and get great results.
- [Bald Man] And when you merge those shots together
you're still ending up with something over 70 megapixels
or so, right?
- [Ron] 72 if I recall.
- [Bald Man] Plenty of resolution for just about any
of these outputs we're talking about.
So grab the gear that you have and let's jump in
and start to explore some of the other gear options
that you're gonna need to pull off these shots.