Changing video formats

[a.warringa1]

Hi, tried the demo and I really like the interface compared to other players. But I can't get it working correctly. I downloaded a bunch of vr videos from youtube (all different kinds of formats. 180, 360, sbs, top/bottom). In other players I can choose modes like 180, 360, Youtube and whatnot.
In HereSphere I tried every possible combination but 99% of the videos don't show up correctly. Most videos are shown in 2 horizontal parts, where the bottom part shows the video sideways. In other videos the video is split into 4 vertical parts.

I don;t have much knowledge about all the formats, in Skybox for example I click on 180, 360, Youtube or whatever until the video shows correctly. In Hemisphere I only see a handfull of choices under Format options and no combination shows the video correctly.

Please help, for the rest I love this program. Will buy it immediately if I can get this working correctly.

[Tricks]

Yikes! epilepsy warning on first vid guys! :)

[HereSphere]

The zooming/warping effect is due to the autofocus system (which corrects the projection and improves the stereo image by matching your IPD and head orientation), but the video needs to be properly calibrated for it to work well. The Itzy video has issues with the aspect ratio, lens, stitching, and stereo alignment. I've created some settings for the Itzy video to correct the issues. Download the hsp file from the dropbox link, and then paste it into the same directory as the video and make sure it has the same name. Then when the video is playing in HereSphere, go to the advanced video settings and press the import hsp button that's next to the "Global Settings and Tools" text. When the correct settings are applied, the stereoscopic affect should be much better, and there should be less distortion of the image (the original video has lots of distortion at the edges of the frame). Also make sure the autofocus feature is enabled when using these settings, because the cameras use a very wide IPD, and they need to be corrected by the autofocus system for correct viewing.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nhulpxnhzm42dct/%5BVR%5D%20ITZY%20%27WANNABE%27%20VR%20CAM%20%E2%94%82%40SBS%20Inkigayo_2020.4.5.hsp?dl=0

If you want to rotate the video, you can hold the grip button and then use the thumbstick.

[a.warringa1]

Thanks for this, I dropped the file in the same folder (name is the same as the video), to the right of the Globals settings and tools option are 2 icons. First is an arrow pointing downwards, seconds icon is a disc. Both buttons don't do anything when I click on them..
Edit - after this post I noticed I can get a description with the grip button :) I imported the file and it seems a bit better, but still not as strong steroscopic as in the other players, I also get a warping effect when looking at the logo.
Ofcourse I don't care about one specific video, but it might be worthwhile to check out how the other players manage to play this one perfectly.
But I'm extremely pleased that I'm able to play Youtube vids now so you just made another sale :)

[HereSphere]

Redownload the file, place it in the same folder as the video, make sure both are named the same except for the extension (copy and paste the name if necessary, because even one character off will make it not work). Play the video in HereSphere, and press the icon with the down arrow. Do not press the save icon, since that will overwrite the file. You should see the lens and stitch settings change. If the stitch settings are already non-zero, then the player might have automatically loaded the hsp file (which happens when you rename the video, since it thinks it's a new video).

[a.warringa1]

Yup that is exactly what I did. I did see the settings change after loading the hsp file. You don't get a warping/zoom in effect when looking at the logo after loading this hsp file?

[HereSphere]

It's supposed to fix the stereoscopic effect (meaning things should appear more at the correct scale and depth). The autofocus helps with keeping the scale correct and the images aligned, especially as objects get closer to the camera or when you tilt your head or look side-to-side. The videos are recorded using two stationary cameras that are pointing straight forward. If you turn your head to look at the side of the image (or tilt your head), your eyes rotate with your head and they're no longer aligned with the camera positions, so it causes you to see double vision. The autofocus feature corrects this by using depth information. You can test this by getting an equirect and fisheye video where an object gets very close to the camera, and then tilt your head and toggle the autofocus feature on/off.

If you want to get rid of all of the warping and zooming effect, disable the autofocus and motion feature in the advanced video settings. However, the setting file that I gave you won't work well when the autofocus is disabled (because it's calibrated for the wide camera IPD used in the video).

If you want to keep things simple, just disable the autofocus and motion, and then adjust the stereo alignment yaw until you feel like the stereo image is right to your eyes.

[Tricks]

Messaggio originale di a.warringa1:

Thanks for this, I dropped the file in the same folder (name is the same as the video), to the right of the Globals settings and tools option are 2 icons. First is an arrow pointing downwards, seconds icon is a disc. Both buttons don't do anything when I click on them..
Edit - after this post I noticed I can get a description with the grip button :) I imported the file and it seems a bit better, but still not as strong steroscopic as in the other players, I also get a warping effect when looking at the logo.
Ofcourse I don't care about one specific video, but it might be worthwhile to check out how the other players manage to play this one perfectly.
But I'm extremely pleased that I'm able to play Youtube vids now so you just made another sale :)

Seems I'm not the only one who was made unsure due to the lack of feedback on certain buttons ;D

@HereSphere:

I've just noticed a discrepancy with the icons for saving global presets.
In advanced settings the icon for saving is a floppy disk, in basic settings the icon is different. I'm on the beta.

*Btw what was your thought process for determining the video uses a high IPD? I changed 'Right' to the default 6.5 which changes the image a tiny amount, but when watching the experience seemed basically the same. Nevertheless your value could be technically more correct, and I'd like to be using more correct values if possible. Would be nice to hear about your process for determining that.

**As to Whirligig having better 3D, the overall experience seemed the same to me, apart from its worse interface ;)

***I tried OP's SVP app which converts videos to 90fps and it seems to work really well on a 30fps vid that I have. Tested using Whirligig, because it seems to only work with DirectShow. 30fps is hugely noticeable in VR so this is a very handy feature. Another bonus for when you implement DirectShow stuff later :)

[a.warringa1]

Messaggio originale di Tricks:

**As to Whirligig having better 3D, the overall experience seemed the same to me, apart from its worse interface ;)

Hey Tricks, could you check that Itzy video I posted both in Whirlygig and in HereSphere? The difference is quite huge for me. On the other hand I tried some SBS videos and there the effect is better with Heresphere. That second video I posted - I don't think I ever saw such a great stereoscopic effect, that beginning of the video and watching it in HereSphere.

[a.warringa1]

Messaggio originale di HereSphere:

If you want to keep things simple, just disable the autofocus and motion, and then adjust the stereo alignment yaw until you feel like the stereo image is right to your eyes.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll experiment some more with it.

[Tricks]

Messaggio originale di a.warringa1:

Messaggio originale di Tricks:

**As to Whirligig having better 3D, the overall experience seemed the same to me, apart from its worse interface ;)

Hey Tricks, could you check that Itzy video I posted both in Whirlygig and in HereSphere? The difference is quite huge for me. On the other hand I tried some SBS videos and there the effect is better with Heresphere. That second video I posted - I don't think I ever saw such a great stereoscopic effect, that beginning of the video and watching it in HereSphere.

Hey :) I was using the Itzy vid to test, seemed the same to me!

So is itzy 3D in HereSphere but just 'less'? or does it just look really flat?
The girls are 3D to me

@HeresSphere

One good thing I noticed in Whirligig is that you can hold down the seek button to continue seeking, A seek bar appears while the button is held so you can see where you will end up. Then you release and the video jumps to that spot. As opposed to HS method where you have separate buttons for short/med/long seeking.

Gotta say I kinda like the Whirligig style, since it only needs 1 button and 1 click to do bigger skips. Dev please check it in Whirligig see if you like it :)

[a.warringa1]

Messaggio originale di Tricks:

Hey :) I was using the Itzy vid to test, seemed the same to me!

So is itzy 3D in HereSphere but just 'less'? or does it just look really flat?
The girls are 3D to me

It's 3d in HereSphere, but with Whirligig or Skybox the 3d is much, much stronger. But I'll play with the settings some more as the dev suggested, hopefully I can get the same results in HS. I agree with your points about the controls in Whirly btw :)

[X4 (ADAM)]

Messaggio originale di a.warringa1:

I use SVP which includes SVPTube2 when you choose that option while installing it. All the downloaders i tried so far didn't download the YT videos in steroscopic but SVP finally does :) Going to experiment with your suggestion now to see if I can get it working. I have no idea about videoformats btw so all the cubemap thingies go way over my head ;)

Hi man! Thanks for talking us about SVP and SVPTube2... this is a GREAT tool for stream videos downloads!

And... since i'm here, i want to thank the devs for adding support for YT 360 videos! This player is becoming better and better!

[HereSphere]

@Tricks
For the stereo alignment right/forward/up settings to work properly, the autofocus feature needs to be enabled, since these settings depend on depth information. The closer an object is to the camera, the stronger the effect.

Just to make sure, the IPD in the "Global Settings and Tools" group should be set to your actual IPD in cm. The player also uses that information to adjust the stereoscopic effect to match your eyes.

The issue with the Itzy video is the video is stitched so the background never converges. I think the wide camera IPD makes the image look too small, so the producers manually adjusted the stitching to make it look larger. If you pause the video with the autofocus feature enabled, it will show depth readings overlaid onto the image. The original settings make it so everything is super far away, and the algorithm can't detect the background because it doesn't converge.

Your perception of depth might be different from mine, though. So if it doesn't look 3D to you, then you can make adjustments to the video until it looks right. I'd suggest adjusting the stereo alignment right setting and/or the stitch shift x settings to control the 3D effect.

I'll consider making a "hold-to-seek" key binding. Thanks.

[a.warringa1]

I messed around a lot with the settings you mentioned but I still can't get it quite as good as in Whirlygig. In other non-youtube VR 180 SBS videos I have the same issue, when looking around, especially in the direction of the corners of the screen, everything is warping/zooming a bit. In Whirlygig and Skybox the same videos are completely stable.

[HereSphere]

Are the toggles for autofocus and motion disabled? After toggling these off, make sure to reset your position/orientation by holding the grip button and pressing the menu button.

To further minimize the amount of shifting, you can set the IPD in the global settings group to manual, and then then set its value to 6.5, so it matches the default camera stereo alignment right setting. You can also set the autofocus distance override to its max value of 1000cm (when autofocus is disabled, it focuses on a distance of 200cm away from you). With these settings, I get about the same amount of warping as Whirligig or Skybox.

If you want a similar adjustment as Whirligig, play with the autofocus distance override setting (which is similar to Whirligig's radius setting) and the IPD setting (either the one in the global settings or the stereo alignment right setting). Also make sure that the aspect ratio is set to 2 for SBS equirectangular/fisheye videos.

For the Itzy video, what are your settings in Whirligig (radius, stereo offset, FOV, etc)? If I know what you perceive as a better 3D effect, I could try to find the corresponding HereSphere setting.