Innovation in the world of spherical and 360-degree video has come to the point where single devices can capture, stitch, and output immersive content in real time. Project Beyond accomplishes just that, and packs it into an attractive yet portable “unibody” chassis.
Since Project Beyond features a unified design, there is no need to fiddle about with multiple action cameras, as is the case with many conventional spherical video rigs. Rather, Project Beyond houses an array of cameras, configured in a ring formation, to capture seamless 360degree video from eight angles. To keep artifacting at a minimum, Project Beyond analyzes the scene and processes the overlap points between the individual angles to stitch a seamless 3D composite 360-degree 4K video stream. The cameras are positioned to mimic human eye spacing for natural-looking 3D footage, which is compensated for lighting and color differences between the cameras. To complement the eight video angles, eight microphones capture surround-sound audio. Video and audio are painlessly recorded to a single memory card, minimizing the time and cost to create 360-degree content, and making file handling and synchronization a breeze.
Project Beyond’s capabilities take it even further when live streaming is the end goal. When connected to its dedicated stitching appliance, 3D 360-degree video from the camera can be streamed over the Web with minimal latency. If your production requires more control after the fact, all the video streams can be recorded separately to internal media for post-capture stitching. This option is preferable if you’re on a slower production schedule and have the means to process multiple streams of high-resolution video simultaneously.
In all, Project Beyond is shaping up to be an exciting release in the 360-degree video world. Its simplicity, ease of use, and set it up and go operation is a refreshing departure from slapped-together multi-camera rigs. More details on specs, pricing, and availability are sure to be released as Project Beyond comes closer to production, so be sure to check back later.
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