Can you combine two 360 cameras to create 3D 360?
What about VR180?
Can two 180 cameras be put back to back to create 3D 360?
Will aliens invade planet Earth?
Will I spontaneously combust?
We'll find out all of this, and more,
by the end of this video.
Impending... alien... invasion...
So, I've been posting a lot of videos lately around 3D,
and one of the most common questions I've been getting is
Dear Mr. Ben, is it possible to combine two 360 cameras
to create stereoscopic 3D?
So, I thought today could be the day
to finally do this test.
Here are two Insta360 Evo 360 cameras.
Now, let's take a photo.
(mumbling)
Come on, stay, stay, stay.
(groans)
Alright, that looks good.
Roughly eye-width apart.
Camera A goes on, camera B goes on.
Cheese camera A, cheese camera B.
Wait, that's not gonna work,
'cause unless I fire them off simultaneously,
there's gonna be movement between the two images
and they won't line up in 3D.
This has to work, it has to.
Ready, three, two, one, cheese.
Wait, why am I doing this?
Why use two cameras to shoot VR180
when one is so much easier?
Cheese.
Plus, to be honest with you,
I have no idea how I'd stitch these two photos together.
But wait, Mr. Ben, two 360 cameras side by side
should create 3D 360..
Yes, while technically this experiment should work,
and you should be able to combine
these two cameras into one,
the issue is it's not going to be 3D.
I mean, yes, it will be 3D at the front and back,
but what about the sides?
There's no lenses facing either side,
so how are we going to accurately capture
this side and this side in 3D?
You'll get front and back, but not the sides,
and if you're trying to show it as a 360,
it's going to be like 3D, 3D, 3D, nothing.
3D, 3D, 3D, 3D, it's flat,
and it's not connecting properly,
and that wouldn't work.
If you're doing 3D 360, you need the 3D effect
to continue all the way around the 360,
not just in select areas,
because the images simply won't stitch together.
To shoot 3D properly, you need your lenses eye-width apart,
which is why it works as VR180,
and you can at least see the full 180 sphere,
but to be able to look in this direction
you need the lenses eye-width apart
all the way around.
You can't just have them at the front and back.
So, basically you need four 180 cameras to do this,
so all the lenses are exactly eye-width apart
and you're capturing the full 360 degree field of view.
And, why would you buy four 180 cameras?
That's kind of silly,
when there already exists proper 3D 360 cameras,
like this one here.
This is the Vuze+ 3D 360 camera,
and look, it's got, hang on,
one, two, three, eight lenses,
and it's capturing in all directions simultaneously,
and it stitches it together into one image,
saving you hours of unnecessary post-production.
Is it a good camera?
Eh, it's okay.
It only shoots 4K video,
and the workflow is (facepalm),
but it's under $1,000, and this is the best
consumer option for 3D 360 at this point in time.
Okay, Mr. Ben, but what about two 180 cameras back to back?
That will work as 3D 360, right?
Well, no, little rhinoceros man,
because it's the same principle as before.
You're missing the information on the sides in 3D,
so it's not going to line up,
and also, going along with that hypothetical,
why would you need two cameras?
You're shooting a photo.
You could use one single camera and rotate it,
but you would have to get the placement so precise
to make it stitch properly,
and I failed maths.
I don't know about you,
but that would take a lot of homework and calculations,
and stitching, and post-production, and why?
I did actually see someone
do this on Facebook with success,
but I'm guessing they must have had some kind of pano head
similar to the ones you might use with a DSLR,
where it knows exactly where to place the camera,
and you just click it around
and you can get that 3D photo with one single camera.
So, it's possible, but it's going to take time
to figure out how to do it,
and it's just a way longer workflow.
I think this experiment's a cool idea,
but you need to be super advanced
with your post-production skills
to be able to pull this off,
and is the end result even worth it
compared to shooting proper 3D 180 or 360
with the actual camera that is built to do it?
Spoiler, no, it's not.
Buy yourself a proper 3D camera
and life will be so much easier.
You don't need to buy two 360 cameras
to achieve 3D.
Just buy a camera like this, that shoots both 360 and 3D.
Also, the Evo is pretty affordable,
so there's no need to do things the cheap way.
I'll put a link to the Evo down there,
and do check out my other videos on 3D
because it's an extremely interesting medium,
and this is just the beginning.
3D is gonna become big in the next five or 10 years,
so there's no better time to start than right now.
And, by the way, if you can think of another way
to shoot 3D using two, three, four, five,
100, 1,000 cameras, let me know down there.
And, by the way, aliens will not be invading,
so that's a massive win for mankind, yes!
(rumbling)
(explosion)