Category: GoPro

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Life In 360°: Going Bike In Time

Something about the last couple of weeks has led me to write, what seems like an endless discussion about time travel and virtual reality (VR). Don’t ask me why this has happened, I seem to be stuck in some sort of time loop. Maybe this is the darkest timeline after all. Is Biff Tanner President yet?

Life In 360° / 360 Degree VideoWith so much emphasis on the past and future recently I thought it might be an excellent idea to step away from our tendency to focus more on recent 360 degree videos and instead actively search out one from several years ago that we have yet to cover. Fortunately, I didn’t have to go far back through the Google-based time warp to come across one that might well be up your street. Sadly, however the 2015 video from GoPro was actually covered by VRFocus at the time in what I would imagine is one of Peter’s earliest stories.

Instead we’re going to back to 2016 and a topic we actually visited twice on Life In 360° at the time. We covered that year’s Tour de France event from two different viewpoints in June and July that year. First there was the video from Team Sky showing the team training in the run up to the event. That was followed a month later by a video from the organisers of Le Tour themselves. However, GoPro also did their own video of proceedings, being an official supplier to the event.

GoPro have an interesting relationship with 360 degree cameras, whislt keen on the technology they are aware it might not be something the average member of the public would be interested in. “I don’t think it is a 360-camera consumers want.” Said CEO Nick Woodman earlier this year. “I think consumers want an incredibly convenient way to capture and share their lives and want that footage to look mind-blowingly beautiful and professional. If it happens to be a 360 camera that enables that, they will buy that.”

Let’s joint them as they have us take in the atmosphere from the Peloton and some of the more unique perspectives from the Tour de France. VRFocus will be back next week with more Life In 360°.

GoPro VR: Tour de France

Watch Le Tour de France like you've never seen it before! Enjoy this 360 degree atmosphere from the Peloton and stay tuned for more unique perspectives from the Tour!

Posted by GoPro on Sunday, 10 July 2016

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GoPro Fusion 360-Grad-Kamera: Preis und Launch angekündigt [Update]

[Update] GoPro schließt einige Informationslücken zu seiner 360-Grad-Kamera GoPro Fusion und schaltet die Vorbestellung auf seiner Webseite frei. In Deutschland wird die Kamera 750 Euro kosten, der Hersteller will sie bis zum 30. November 2017 ausliefern. Die GoPro Fusion bietet mit 5.2 K eine höhere Auflösung als beispielsweise die Samsung Gear 360 oder die neue Ricoh Theta V mit 4K, ist allerdings auch deutlich teurer. Das jüngste Modell der Theta-Serie ist derzeit für knapp unter 450 Euro beispielsweise bei Amazon erhältlich.

Originalmeldung:

Der Marktführer für Action-Cams will neues Terrain erobern: Die GoPro Fusion nimmt 360-Grad-Videos auf und bietet mit 5,2K eine höhere Auflösung als beispielsweise die Samsung Gear 360. Vor dem großen Launch hat der Hersteller jetzt erste Exemplare an wichtige Content-Ersteller ausgeliefert und freut sich auf interessante Inhalte sowie wertvolle Informationen.

GoPro Fusion: Die 360-Grad-Virtual-Reality-Kamera

Nach der Vorstellung der GoPro Fusion im April hat der Hersteller ein Programm aufgelegt, um Content-Ersteller mit der 360-Grad-Kamera zu beglücken. Mehr als 20.000 haben sich um ein Exemplar beworben, letztlich hat GoPro aber lediglich zehn ausgewählt. Dazu gehören Schwergewichte wie das USA Today Network, FOX Sports und Getty Images, aber beispielsweise auch der Reiseblogger Louis Cole. Die weiteren glücklichen Empfänger sind The Golden State Warriors, AccuWeather, Digital Domain, Legend 3D Inc., Rapid VR und RYOT. Der CEO von GoPro Nicholas Woodman verspricht sich neben spannendem Content auch wichtige Rückmeldungen von den Erstellern, um noch an Feinheiten zu feilen, bevor die GoPro Fusion später in diesem Jahr auf den Markt kommt.

Mit der GoPro Fusion versucht das Unternehmen, einen neuen Markt zu erobern, nachdem die Umsätze bei Action-Cams schwächeln. GoPro selbst bezeichnet seine 360-Grad-Kamera als Virtual-Reality-Kamera. Das äußerst kompakte Gerät besitzt zwei Linsen, die Auflösung fällt mit 5,2 K höher aus als bei anderen Consumer-Kameras wie der Ricoh Theta S oder Samsung Gear 360. Die Bildrate der GoPro Fusion liegt bei lediglich durchschnittlichen 30fps. Erste Tests bescheinigen der Fusion aber bereits eine sehr gute Bildqualität. Besonders angetan zeigen sich einige Berichte vom Overcapture-Modus. Dieser erlaubt es, einen Videoausschnitt in Full HD aus der Rundumsicht zu extrahieren und die Kamera damit auch als schnöde Action-Cam zu gebrauchen. Praktisch: Wer bereits Zubehör zur normalen GoPro Hero besitzt, braucht kein neues anschaffen, da es mit der Fusion kompatibel ist.

Wer die GoPro Fusion erwerben will, muss sich gedulden: sie soll zwar dieses Jahr erscheinen, allerdings nur in ausgewählten Märkten. Einen Preis nannte das Unternehmen noch nicht, auch bei den technischen Spezifikationen gibt es derzeit ein Fragezeichen, zum Beispiel ist das Seitenverhältnis der 360-Grad-Videos noch nicht bekannt.

(Quelle: RoadToVR)

Der Beitrag GoPro Fusion 360-Grad-Kamera: Preis und Launch angekündigt [Update] zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

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Life in 360°: Surf’s Up with GoPro

This week for Life in 360° you’ve got me rather than our illustrious community manager Kev who usually does this column, as he’s taking some well deserved time off. To start the week off we’ve selected a new 360-degree video from action camera supremos GoPro, with a behind-the-scenes look at Taylor Steele’s new film Proximity.

Featuring actor and surfer Dave Rastovich alongside six times world surfing champion Steph Gilmore as they record scenes for the film, the video sees the two driving across arid terrain to find that piece of glorious coastline that harbours the waves they need.

As quite a few surfing videos tend to play out, there’s beautiful footage of the pair carving up waves and making it look effortless. That’s not all though, with the camera going underwater to get a glimpse of the local wildlife.

As always come back on Wednesday for another Life in 360° by VRFocus.

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GoPro Fusion für 5,2K VR Videos vorgestellt

Das Unternehmen GoPro enthüllte kürzlich die Fusion Kamera, mit der sowohl Aufnahmen für VR als auch konventionelle Foto- und Videoaufnahmen möglich sind. Die sphärische Kamera kann mit einer Auflösung von 5,2k aufnehmen. Um die neue Kamera zu testen, können sich Interessierte bewerben, um im Sommer 2017 eine der neuen Fusion Kameras zu erhalten. Die Kamera soll voraussichtlich Ende 2017 dann auch käuflich zu erwerben sein.

GoPro Fusion

Innerhalb des ersten Quartals von 2017 sah es für GoPro eher bescheiden aus, denn Gerüchten zufolge musste das Unternehmen über 200 Stellen kürzen. Nichtsdestotrotz veröffentlichten sie die neue Kamera Fusion. Die sphärische Kamera ist in der Lage in einer Auflösung von 5.2k mit 30 Bildern pro Sekunde Aufnahmen zu tätigen.

Laut dem CEO Nicholas Woodman ist es möglich mit der neuen Fusion jeden Winkel gleichzeitig aufzunehmen. Die neue Kamera sei wie sechs herkömmliche GoPros in einer neuen Version. Des Weiteren „präsentiert die Fusion sowohl bei herkömmlichen Foto- und Videoaufnahmen als auch bei VR Videos den neuesten Stand der Technik“. Zumindest laut dem Unternehmen.

Die Kamera besitzt auch eine OverCapture-Lösung, die den Nutzern die Möglichkeit bietet, konventionelle Videos und Fotos in HD-Qualität aus den sphärischen Aufnahmen herauszuschneiden. Die genauen technischen Daten sowie Informationen über einen Preis sind bisher leider noch nicht veröffentlicht worden.

Wer Interesse an einer Fusion Kamera hat, kann sich hier bewerben, um eine der begehrten Kameras zu erhalten. Die erste Welle soll an ausgewählte Personen, darunter bestimmte Unternehmen, Agenturen und professionelle Anwender, im Sommer 2017 ausgeliefert werden. Dadurch möchte das Unternehmen das Potenzial der neuen Kamera erschließen und zudem demonstrieren, was damit möglich ist. Wir drücken euch die Daumen!

Wie die Aufnahmen aussehen können, zeigt dieses von GoPro veröffentlichte Video:

Die Fusion soll mit den bisher verkauften Aufsätzen und Accessoires für die Vorgängermodelle kompatibel sein. Der Verkaufsstart soll gegen Ende 2017 beginnen.

(Quellen: VRscout | GoPro official | GoPro Youtube)

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GoPro Launches Pilot Programme For VR Fusion Camera

Intrepid filmmakers who wished to make a virtual reality (VR) film using GoPro cameras didn’t really have much option save for using multiple cameras and painstakingly stitching the footage together. GoPro are now planning to change that with the introduction of the Fusion camera.

The GoPro Fusion is a spherical camera which is designed specifically to capture footage for immersive experiences, though it can also capture non-360 footage to a high standard. Content creators can apply to participate in a pilot programme for the Fusion that will include various companies, content creators and industry professionals in order to further refine the GoPro Fusion.

“Fusion is just that, the ability to capture every angle simultaneously…as though you had six GoPro cameras fused into one,” said GoPro founder and CEO, Nicholas Woodman. “Whether filming for VR or traditional fixed-perspective content, Fusion represents the state-of-the-art in versatile spherical capture.”

Content creators have the option to capture either VR footage using the Fusion’s 5.2K resolution, or by utilising a solution termed OverCapture, it is also possible to capture non-VR footage in HD quality in traditional formats without sacrificing quality.

The pilot programme for the GoPro Fusion will be rolling out in Summer 2017, and content creators can apply to be part of the programme from the GoPro Fusion website. GoPro hope to have a number of Fusion units available for limited commercial release by the end of 2017. There is currently no work on what the price point of the units will be, nor of when the full commercial release is planned for.

VRFocus will continue to bring you news on the GoPro Fusion and other VR capture devices.

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GoPro’s New VR Camera Looks A Lot Less Confusing

GoPro’s New VR Camera Looks A Lot Less Confusing

Back in March we wrote about the reports that GoPro was making cuts to its VR division in an effort to refocus its core business. That much may be true, but the company still has a new VR camera on the way.

The company this month announced Fusion, a new device capable of capturing both 360 degree and traditional video content in up to 5.2K at 30fps. There aren’t many images of the device available yet, though it looks very different from the traditional square-shaped HeroCams we’re used to seeing. You can see some of the first panoramic footage captured with the new device below.

Overall we’re impressed with the quality of the footage, especially the lack of visible stitching or a dead spot at the bottom. Of course, we haven’t gone hands-on with the camera and its creation tools ourselves to judge just how easy it is to make this type of content.

The camera will also allow users to record in 360 but then cut out a traditional still/video from the spherical content.

Fusion is a very different beast from GoPro’s past VR efforts, which were decidedly aimed at the professional market. These rigs, including the Omni, which captured 2D content at 8K, and the Odyssey, which captured 3D footage, used a set of 8 and 16 Hero4 cameras respectively. They captured some impressive video, though the Omni alone started at $4,999.99, pricing it way out of many people’s budgets.

That said, we don’t know how much Fusion will cost yet, and GoPro has so far only announced plans to roll out the camera via a pilot testing program this summer. A limited commerical launch will take place before the end of 2017. Could this be the definitive 360 degree camera? Or its Samsung’s new Gear 360 set to steal the throne?

Either way, make sure to check out our guide for how to get the most with your money when it comes to 360 cameras.

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Timecode Systems Unveil New Technology for 360-Degree Video

Timecode Systems has revealed a new method to combine two of its products, the SyncBac Pro and Blink Hub to make filming virtual reality 360-degree footage easier.

The SyncBac Pro is an accessory for the GoPro camera system that allows wearable cameras, professional cameras and audio devices to be wirelessly synchronised together using long range RF signals. Blink Hub is a device which enables remote monitoring and control of camera systems. A new update coming to the Blink Hub will introduce a virtual reality feature that allows several GoPro cameras to be treated as if they were a single camera.

In a statement, a representative of Timecode had this to say: “Over the past few years, more and more video production companies, advertising agencies, and broadcast networks have started experimenting with VR filming, but integrating 360-degree content into professional production workflows has been time-consuming due to the manual process of synchronising the multiple streams of non-timecoded footage. The main challenge of using 360-degree content more in television is being able to capture and produce VR content to the same standards, and with the same efficiency, as mainstream multicamera filming methods. Whether there are six or 24 cameras in a spherical array, this solution takes the guesswork out of VR filming by making it easy to view, monitor, and control every camera centrally from a single screen on any smartphone, tablet, or Mac.”

Timecode system will be demonstrating the new technology at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, which will take place on 22nd-27th of April at the Las Vegas Convention Centre.

VRFocus will keep you informed on further development in 360-degree filming.

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Report: GoPro Is Making Significant Cuts To Its VR Efforts

Report: GoPro Is Making Significant Cuts To Its VR Efforts

Action cam company GoPro seemed well poised to play a leading role in VR video, but instead it’s apparently already scaling back.

Forbes is reporting that the company is making “significant cuts” to its work in VR in the latest round of 200 layoffs, announced last week. A source apparently told the site that “no one is left” to oversee this side of the company, not is professional broadcasting technology. The VR division has reportedly already suffered cuts during an initial round of layoffs late last year.

GoPro’s VR slate included two rigs that accommodated multiple Hero4 cameras. The first was the Omni, a six-camera rig launched last August capable of capturing 2D 360 degree footage in up to 8K. It’s aimed at the professional market but still costs a hefty sum, and even the rig without the cameras costs $4,999.99. Its other rig, the 16-camera Odyssey, captures in stereoscopic 3D but is only available to “select industry professionals”. We see plenty of custom, 3D-printed rigs using GoPro cameras, too.

A slate of VR videos shot with these rigs are available on GoPro’s YouTube page, including the one above.

GoPro says that its layoffs will help it refocus on the company’s core operations and emphasise profitability. It sadly doesn’t sound like VR will play much of a role in the company anymore, though there are plenty of other offerings on the market between dedicated 360 cameras and other professional rigs built by companies like IMAX.

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Life In 360°: Swimming With Wild Dolphins

We’re all at sea for today’s dip into the world of 360 degree video. Which comes not from an individual or studio, but from video camera makers GoPro themselves.

Join diver Jim Abernethy below the surface for a close encounter with a pod of wild dolphins. It’s a whole new world down there, so why not spend a couple of minutes with some of nature’s most amazing creatures.

Life In 360º returns on Friday for our final video of the week. What will it be? We’ll see you on VRFocus then, to find out.