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Hi all,
For a project at work we are creating a room with 6 projectors, creating a 50 foot / 15 meter projection.
The complete desktop will be around 9600 x 1080 pixels.
Now, we also need to buy a camera to record the video.
I looked into it (many hours of googling) and the problem seems to be that I cannot find panoramic cameras. I can only find VR 360 or VR180 cameras and they record so much more that it is just a shame to throw away more than 50% of all the pixels that are out of the picture.
Since it is such a big area, I really need effectivly a 4K panoramic video.The insta360 Pro 8K seems very good and I can imagine buying this one, but I will throw away more than 4K (of the 8K) that I do not use, and then the picture quality will be too bad to spread of 6 projectors.
Does any one know of a 360 camera that can record panoramic (so no top/bottom). I am looking for the same end result you get when you record a panoramic picture with your phone. But then a video of course :)
Maybe there is a way to connect several cameras together and still enjoy auto stitch or post-process stitch so that I still get the same end result?
Any other tips are greatly appreciated.
Demesmaeker
With “panoramic” you mean cylindrical projection?
What field of view do you want to capture? 360 degrees?
Afaik there are no such cameras anyway and despite having to crop upper and lower parts, cameras that capture the full sphere are your best bet.
Depending on your ambitions for the project there might be a chance someone has or can build a camera array that will cover a circle for a cylindrical projection, but in that case you’d also have to learn to stitch the footage or find someone to do that for you.
First of all, thank you for your fast answer!
I added a picture of how it is going to be (Quick drawing)
3rd party software will correct all the overlaps, so Windows will think there is only 1 screen connected that is very wide. I already got this to work in a “test lab”. This will not be the problem.I can buy a 360 VR 8K camera, record in a room and then project in another room (the room with the projectors, as in the picture), but the picture quality is going to be so bad!
The reason is that a 360 VR 8K camera records in good quality, but so much is being thrown away, because I am also recording the floor and the roof and both will not be used. So many pixels gone. more than 50%! So 8K becomes less than 4K, and since I am dividing the “less than 4K” over 6 projectors, I have nothing left of the original 8K quality. If only I could record 8K in panorama and project it also in panorama. Then I would have no loss.
This is why I am looking for a way to create a 11520 x 1080 (or 9600 x 1080)-video using a different way.
Because of VR cameras are very wanted right now (Probably because of the gaming and p0rn industry), and panorama videos are not that interesting, I am having a hard time finding the right camera(s)/software combination to do the trickI do not need 360 degrees. But I Think 270 cameras probably do not exist, so then 360 is the closest.
If you would have any more ideas or “loose ideas” that could make me think of something else, please let me know.
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Let’s try a different approach.
Firt specify what you want to capture and the horizontal and vertical field of view.Cropping top and bottom from a spherical projection won’t cost you anything as you can’t show that anyway. But if you want to reamove part of the horizontal 360 degrees, then of course your resoloution will be less. Current off the shelf spherical cameras hav up to 11k on the horizontal view.
But if you just want to capture an extended field of view you also cold use any 8k Red or two of them or any other array of 4k cameras.
But again, this all depends on the scope of what you want to capture and/or to show.
Ok I have to be more clear. Thank you for not giving up on me :)
The room we are creating is an exercise room. Where students will learn how to do things in real Life. Of course, there is no interactivity there, so the real reason is just to create an atmosphere. Students can focus on a real patient in a real bed, but on the walls around the bed, you could see other patients, Medical stuff hanging on the wall, a windows maybe, things like that. No one will be focussing on the walls, but at the same time I do not wish a 480 x 320 picture / projection :)
The thing I want to capture is a surroundig of a room, and project those surroundings into the projection room. We will of course try to find a surrounding that looks like it fits the final destination.
The projection will be 1,50 – 1,80 meter vertical and cover all the walls (totally around 15 meters) except for one (as in the picture).
What I meant with “that it costs” is that the chip(s) that is(are) recording the video is used for the whole picture. If the video would be a lot of 16:9 videos/chips together, the end result would fit my wishes a lot more.
I was looking into combining serveral GoPro 4K cameras and stitch the videos together, but a lot of software companies that create stitch software for Panorama (Kolor / orah.co) quit their work.
Maybe you can give advice now you see the whole picture? We can spend around 4000 EUR on the camera(s).
Friendly greetings,
HenricusNow we are talking :-)
But if you want to create an atmosphere, rather than showing some content people need to follow, wouldn’t it be sufficient to show still images, or is video mandatory.
In the first case you’d save a lot of cost and will gain superb quality.
And yes, you even could use Gopros.
For stitching look at Mistika VR, or if it’s not excessive rather find someone to do it for you. Spoiler: Expect a steep learning curve.Hi Jürgen,
We will start with still images. But the teachers are saying that they want movement as well.
Like when Medical students are busy rescueing a person, then “bystanders on the wall” are starting to distract the Medical personal by screaming or crying.The steep learning curve has already started. I have lots of experience in IT, but this is new to me. Fortunately, I am very interested, so I will do whatever it takes.
Do you want me to show you how it all looks when we are done? (around May/June this year)
Friendly greetings,
HenricThe best? 360VR I presume? Probably the Insta360 Titan (11k instead of 8k)
I know this is an old thread. Though, sometimes projects are delayed or take a lot longer than expected. If it is complete, please let us know how it went.
If it is not too late to contribute, before there were 360 deg, specialized cameras, I recall reading about multi-camera rigs.
It sounds like you only need to do this a few times. So, I wonder if you might simply use multiple cameras. Mount the Arrange them in the same orientation and position as your your ideal view point (probably around 5′ from the ground, and roughly in the center of your VR room. The film your subject. Since you have two projection, pairs, I would do two separate rigs,each with a pair of cameras facing opposite directions. They may only need the equivalent of a 35mm lens, to cover the area of the wall you are trying to project onto. The goal is to have the same lens angle of coverage as your projectors.
Note that I don’t think you can use your 360 cameras to project the way you have your projectors arranged and use the same footage. You are asking your video projector to show the view point from a person that was standing several feet away.
So, even if you get your 360 deg camera, you probably should shoot your footage from two separate spots.
And rather than have your projectors try to merge their images, assume they are broken up by a column in the room. That is not an usual real situation anyway. Just put a real column (can be painted cardboard tube used for carpets) between the two screens on each side.
Also, you are probably going to have a lot of ambient light in the room that will tend to wash out the projection. So, you may need to get some ambient light rejection screens, and very bright projectors. Also, try to keep the patient’s light arranged so it doesn’t spill out any more than necessary.
-Joe
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