360-degree VR footage needs to be super high resolution to let you look around a nicely detailed landscape, and now Insta360 has an all-in-one rig, the Titan, that gives 11k/30fps resolution using eight micro 4/3rds sensors and Flowstate stabilization.
The Titan, released at CES, claims to be the first standalone 360-degree camera to manage 11k resolution. It can also do 8K at 60fps or slow-mo in 5.3K at 120fps. Its large micro 4/3rds sensors offer much greater detail, dynamic range, low light capability and color accuracy than the smaller sensors on consumer-grade gear; the Titan supports 10-bit color and offers impressive image capture in night scenes.
Stabilization is handled by Insta360's FlowState algorithms, which use inertial measurements during shooting to calculate exactly how to compensate for motion shake and tilt for a smooth image output.
The Titan comes standard with a "Farsight" live monitor system, which lets you direct a shot remotely. Remember, these things shoot in all directions, so in the past there's been a lot of people hiding behind trees after yelling "action!" The Farsight system is a transmitter/receiver that can be plugged into a tablet.
11k footage is an avalanche of data to deal with, so Insta360 has also built its own playback technology to go with the Titan. CrystalView is capable of reading these enormous video files, and rendering only the parts that a viewer is watching, in real time. Thus, the company claims even a regular smartphone will be capable of watching footage shot on Titan.
We look forward to learning more – this kind of tool could be a critical step towards figuring out how the heck virtual reality can be used in storytelling. The easier it is for creators to get their hands on these kinds of tools, the faster things will develop.
Source: Insta360