Effects for 360 degree video in Video by Zaweba
Rotate sphere, 360 to flat view, flat picture into 360, and blur, glow and sharpen made for 360 footage: the 360 degree effects in Video by Zaweba.
360 degree video records everything round the camera at once, and it is stored as a stretched, flat picture that wraps round at the edges. Ordinary effects don't understand that wrap, so they can leave a visible line where the two edges meet or distort the poles at top and bottom. Video by Zaweba has a group of effects made for 360 footage: rotate sphere, 360 to flat view, flat picture into 360, and blur, glow and sharpen built so the wrap doesn't show.
Rotate sphere
The direction a 360 camera faced when recording becomes the default view for the viewer. If the interesting part of the scene is behind the default view, people may miss it. Rotate sphere turns the whole 360 picture so a different direction becomes the front. It can also correct a camera that was tilted, levelling the horizon.
Keyframing it lets you guide the viewer's starting view over time, which is useful at a cut between two 360 clips: you can line up the important direction in both, so the viewer doesn't need to turn round after each cut.
360 to flat view
This effect takes a normal, flat view from inside a 360 picture, like pointing a virtual camera. It is the way to turn 360 footage into ordinary video for platforms or audiences that don't support 360. Because you can keyframe where the view points, you can shoot once in 360 and choose the framing afterwards, panning to follow the action as if you had a camera operator.
Flat picture into 360
The reverse is also useful. Flat picture into 360 places an ordinary picture, such as a title, a logo or a normal video clip, correctly inside the 360 scene. Placed as a normal overlay, a logo would be stretched and distorted when viewed in 360. This effect bends it the right way so it appears flat and natural from the viewer's position.
Blur, glow and sharpen for 360
The 360 versions of blur, glow and sharpen behave like their ordinary cousins but handle the wrap round edge correctly, so there is no seam where the left and right sides of the picture meet. Use them in place of the standard effects on any 360 footage.
Working with 360 projects
Project settings in Video by Zaweba handle 360 video, including a single picture and 3D top-bottom or side-by-side layouts. View, then VR view lets you look round the picture with the mouse drag and wheel while you edit, so you can check effects from inside the scene rather than on the flat, stretched picture. MP4 and MOV exports carry the Spherical Video V1 box that tells players the file is 360. On the sound side, there is a 360 degree sound mode using first-order AmbiX, and the preview's stereo decode turns with the VR view.
In the Effects tab, effects suited to 360 carry a 360 degree badge, so they are easy to find.
Mistakes to avoid with 360 footage
Using ordinary effects is the commonest. A normal blur or vignette on a 360 picture often looks fine in the flat view and wrong in the headset. Stick to the 360 versions or check every effect in VR view.
Placing titles without the flat into 360 effect is another. Text that looks fine in the editor can appear huge, curved or split in two when viewed properly.
Forgetting the viewer's freedom is the third. In 360, the audience chooses where to look. Use rotate sphere to make the important part easy to find, and keep important moments from happening directly behind the default view.
360 video is its own craft, and the dedicated effects in Video by Zaweba take care of the technical side so you can concentrate on where to point the audience.
