How can I edit Ricoh Theta 360 videos?

ClayJ

Newbie Joined: Sep 05, 2015 17:35 Messages: 11 Offline

Solved by

Sep 05, 2015 23:57

I have a Ricoh Theta camera that produces 360 videos (full spherical videos). You can post them straight to youtube and they are recognized and processed as a 360 video so during playback you can pan around through the video and look all around.

The mp4 files are 1920 x 960 resolution which is 2:1 aspect ratio. They have 15 fps.

I've used ffmpeg to slice, dice, and paste the videos into some nice videos, but I woudl like to add titles and transitions.

I've tried some very simple experiments by adding a clip and just trying to publish it. But no matter what I do, it always comes out with black bars top and bottom which squashes the video a bit. It's not that noticable but it's still annoying.

Summary - I want to import 2:1 aspect ratio video and output 2:1 aspect ratio video.

WHAT I'VE TRIED

Project is set to 16:9

I created a custom mp4 publishing profile, then edited profile.ini to change the resolution to 1920 x 960. It had black bars top and bottom.

I changed the aspect ratio of the video clip to 16 x 9, then produced with my custom profile. Still black bars

I added a mask to the video clip (might not have done it right), Still black bars

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 06. 2015 09:34

James Dotson

Senior Contributor Location: Tennessee Joined: Aug 24, 2009 20:40 Messages: 3066 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 02:07

Were the black bars actually in the video or just displayed that way in the player? How does it look in the preview window of the edit screen? __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

James Dotson

Senior Contributor Location: Tennessee Joined: Aug 24, 2009 20:40 Messages: 3066 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 02:09

Did you restart PD after you edited the custom profile? __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 03:34

It sounds like you're doing the right kinds of things.

Could you post a sample clip from the camera so we can experiment with it? If the clip is under 30MB, you can use the blue Attachments button under the forum text editor. If the sample is bigger than that, please upload it to a cloud folder (OneDrive, DropBox) and post the link.

Once Jaime-esque and I and other members can play with it, I'm sure we'll be able to find the right settings to use.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 06. 2015 03:34

ClayJ

Newbie Joined: Sep 05, 2015 17:35 Messages: 11 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 09:18

Here is a sample video of what I'm working with

For grins, here's a video I took a few months ago and posted to youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n_ZdFopnmU

If the video looks like a stretched out panorama, then your viewer doesn't support youtobe 360. Try an iphone or android with the latest youtube app, or the latest version of Chrome. Youtube only introduced 360 support in April of 2015, so not all viewers support it yet.

Filename	R0010411.MP4	Download
Description	Sample video from Ricoh Theta
Filesize	3563 Kbytes
Downloaded:	717 time(s)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 06. 2015 09:18

ClayJ

Newbie Joined: Sep 05, 2015 17:35 Messages: 11 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 09:40

For those that are interested, here's the raw footage straight off of the Ricoh Theta camera, before it was post processed by the Ricoh application. It only takes a minute or two to turn a 3 minute raw video into the 2:1 aspect ratio video.

Filename	R0010411.MOV	Download
Description	Raw video from a Ricoh Theta camera
Filesize	3587 Kbytes
Downloaded:	612 time(s)

ClayJ

Newbie Joined: Sep 05, 2015 17:35 Messages: 11 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 09:42

Here's a more interesting clip. This is a clip of riding on Iron Mountain Road near Mt Rushmore. These bridges are called the "Pig Tails" and they are as fun to ride as you'd think they are.

BTW, I am using powerdirector 13 ultimate on Windows 10 64bit.

Filename	pigtail.mp4	Download
Description	Ricoh Theta video riding the pigtails in South Dakota
Filesize	29838 Kbytes
Downloaded:	505 time(s)

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Sep 06. 2015 11:31

PlaySound

Senior Contributor Joined: Dec 02, 2010 10:26 Messages: 2031 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 13:01

I did tests with their raw video (original) seems to PD13 not support the video 360, and format 2: 1 (not sure)

Here also will not play properly in MPlayer, MPClassic, QuickTime Player also downloaded to YouTube video

Other more experienced members can clarify this issue AMD-FX 8350 / 8GB DDR3
SSD SUV400S37240G / 2-HD WD 1TB
AMD Radeon R9 270 / AOC M2470SWD
Windows 7-64 / PD16 Ultimate

ClayJ

Newbie Joined: Sep 05, 2015 17:35 Messages: 11 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 13:16

I only included the raw video for curious individuals, I have no need to modify it in any way. It does play ok in Videolan (vlc).

I think I figured out how to do what I need to do. Here's a quick video I made to test it. https://youtu.be/k8VNsUwjq14

Create a new mp4 publish profile from 1920 x 1080. Then edit profile.ini to change it to 1920 x 960 and frame rate to 15

Restart powerdirector and add my video clips.

Add my video clips to the timeline, then change the attributes of each video clip to 16:9 aspect ratio

Add titles, transitions, etc.

Publish the video using my modified profile

Use the youtube metadata app to add metadata to the new video

Upload the video to youtube.

I might not have needed to put the video into 1920 x 960 format because youtube doesn't actually seem to require it. My big issue was black bars top and bottom. So setting the clip attributes to 16:9 is the real magic to uploading the videos to youtube without black dots (bars) top and bottom.

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 13:22

I've had some success: I can produce a video that's fullscreen at 1920x960 and has no bars at the top or bottom, but YT doesn't recognize it as a 360 degree clip. Here's the sample clip (you'll need to watch it on directly on YT to see that it has no bars):

I think it may require the video to be encoded with the "isom" codec, so I'll see if I can find a simple post-PD approach to producing to that format.

BTW, the key to removing the bars is to select the clip, click on Keyframes and expand the yellow Clip Attributes control, then uncheck the Maintain Aspect Ratio box and manually type in a 1 in the H scale box then hit enter. Set the scrubber at end of the clip and right-click on that keyframe and choose Duplicate Previous Keyframe to keep the size from changing as it plays.

I just saw your post, and I'll try the YT metadata app to see if that will tell YT that it's a 360 degree clip.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 06. 2015 13:23

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 13:43

Here's a working *version* straight from PD then tagged as a panoramic clip with the 360VideoMetadataTool. No "isom" codec needed

EDIT BTW, the new Microsoft Edge browser and regular IE11 in Win10 both natively support the 360° YT viewer

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Sep 06. 2015 13:47

PlaySound

Senior Contributor Joined: Dec 02, 2010 10:26 Messages: 2031 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 13:51

Quote: I only included the raw video for curious individuals, I have no need to modify it in any way. It does play ok in Videolan (vlc).

I think I figured out how to do what I need to do. Here's a quick video I made to test it. https://youtu.be/k8VNsUwjq14

Create a new mp4 publish profile from 1920 x 1080. Then edit profile.ini to change it to 1920 x 960 and frame rate to 15

Restart powerdirector and add my video clips.

Add my video clips to the timeline, then change the attributes of each video clip to 16:9 aspect ratio

Add titles, transitions, etc.

Publish the video using my modified profile

Use the youtube metadata app to add metadata to the new video

Upload the video to youtube.

I might not have needed to put the video into 1920 x 960 format because youtube doesn't actually seem to require it. My big issue was black bars top and bottom. So setting the clip attributes to 16:9 is the real magic to uploading the videos to youtube without black dots (bars) top and bottom.

Thank you for clarification. AMD-FX 8350 / 8GB DDR3
SSD SUV400S37240G / 2-HD WD 1TB
AMD Radeon R9 270 / AOC M2470SWD
Windows 7-64 / PD16 Ultimate

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 14:24

Quote:

Create a new mp4 publish profile from 1920 x 1080. Then edit profile.ini to change it to 1920 x 960 and frame rate to 15

Restart powerdirector and add my video clips.

Add my video clips to the timeline, then change the attributes of each video clip to 16:9 aspect ratio

How did you change the ratio of each clip? Did you use the H/V scale keyframes or did you do it a different way?

I might not have needed to put the video into 1920 x 960 format because youtube doesn't actually seem to require it. My big issue was black bars top and bottom. So setting the clip attributes to 16:9 is the real magic to uploading the videos to youtube without black dots (bars) top and bottom.

I think you're right. In my project after setting the keyframes to restore the aspect ratio I could produce to the standard 16:9 1920x1080/30p profile and there were no bars. So it looks like you can cross steps 1 and 2 off the list!

Also, congratulations on figuring this out - mostly on your own

ClayJ

Newbie Joined: Sep 05, 2015 17:35 Messages: 11 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 14:58

Quote: How did you change the ratio of each clip? Did you use the H/V scale keyframes or did you do it a different way?

I right click on a video clip in the timeline. "Set Clip Attributes" - "The aspect ratio of the video is 16:9"

Once I do that, the video fills the entire 16:9 preview window, then it gets scalled back down during production. Or as we've already said, let it be a 16:9 video.

The only thing I'm still trying to figure out is how to play the video using the Ricoh Theta player, then I can watch the videos offline. I haven't found a 360 video player other than the Ricoh Theta viewer.

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 15:14

Got it. That's a quicker method than what I found, and it does exactly the same thing because if I check the H scale in the keyframe attributes, it shows as 1.000 after applying your fix vs. the original setting of 0.889.

In 4 years of using PD and making over 600 videos, I'd never even noticed that menu before! Thanks for sharing your knowledge

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 06. 2015 15:15

ClayJ

Newbie Joined: Sep 05, 2015 17:35 Messages: 11 Offline

Sep 06, 2015 16:35

I just found "Kolor Eyes" from google. It's a 360 video viewer that seems to work pretty good. The only problem for me is that you can't "fly" around the video using the keyboard. You can turn left, right, up, down, back, front with arrow keys, but no smooth panning.

I also found that I have to leave the video in 19:6 aspect ratio or it puts a big black bar as part of the sphere. there's probably some metadata being set that I can't see.

Anyway, i seem to be able to edit spherical videos to my heart's content now and it upload to youtube just fine, and I can view it locally (so I can show videos without internet access).

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 06. 2015 16:36

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

Sep 07, 2015 06:12

Really interesting read - thanks.
Dafydd

ClayJ

Newbie Joined: Sep 05, 2015 17:35 Messages: 11 Offline

Sep 08, 2015 11:32

I guess I'm not totally finished with this topic. The videos I produce work in many places, but not all, and I believe that's because PowerDirector is tagging the videos with the wrong aspect ratio. Even though the video is 1920 x 960 which would be an aspect ratio of 2:1 (with square pixels), it is being tagged as a 16:9 video with rectangular pixels.

The original videos produced by Ricoh Theta show the following attributes

Stream #0:0(und): Video: h264 (Constrained Baseline) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p, 1920x960 [SAR 1:1 DAR 2:1], 12037 kb/s, 14.98 fps, 14.98 tbr, 14985 tbn,29.97 tbc (default)

but the videos produced by PowerDirector show the following attributes

Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p, 1920x960 [SAR 8:9 DAR 16:9], 15612 kb/s, 14.98 fps, 14.99 tbr, 30k tbn, 29.97 tbc (default)

SAR stands for "Simple Aspect Ratio" otherwise known as PAR or "Pixel Aspect Ratio"

DAR stands for "Display Aspect Ratio"

I need to figure out how to make PowerDirector output a video stream with a SAR of 1:1. Or I need to figure out how to change SAR and DAR in the produced video without re-encoding the whole video.

I don't see anything obvious in the profile, but I also don't understand all of the fields and their potential values.

ClayJ

Newbie Joined: Sep 05, 2015 17:35 Messages: 11 Offline

Sep 08, 2015 12:18

More info that I've found.

It appears that PAR can be set in both the mp4 container, and in the actual video stream itself. Setting the PAR in the container alone doesn't seem to the correct solution as many viewers are even more confused if the container doesn't match the video stream.

Since modifying PAR in SPS may change stream length, it is not possible to apply in-place but a full remux is required.

That means that a post process change of the aspect ratio is possible, but could be time consuming. It would be better if I can figure out how to get PowerDirector to do it right in the first place, but I've been unable to figure that out yet.

There is actually allot of discussion on the forum about Pixel Aspect Ratio, but I've found no discussion about setting or changing it pre-production.

ClayJ

Newbie Joined: Sep 05, 2015 17:35 Messages: 11 Offline

Sep 08, 2015 16:22

I found a patched version of ffmpeg.exe that will get me by for now.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=152419

Roozhou patched a version of ffmpeg so that it will demux the video stream, modify some of the video stream attributes, then repack it without actually re-encoding the video. It modified one of my files in less than a second, so I'm pretty sure it didn't re-encode the whole thing and loose any clarity, and when it was done, the file worked everywhere that I want it to.

It's still an extra step that I wish I didn't have to do, but it finally lets me put out a video in exactly the format that I want, and not be forced into 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio.

I never could find any real documentation on the profile.ini settings, so it's still possible that there's a way to tell PD to put out a file with square pixels regardless of resolution.