We are always REALLY excited when a business comes to us interested in taking video up a notch by using our 360 VR technology.
CoolDrive, a premier supplier of auto parts, did exactly that a few months ago with their V8 Supercar!
360 Virtual Reality Video Production at Melbourne’s WeMOV
360 Virtual Reality (VR) is changing the future of every industry. From training new employees who will work in high-risk situations in a controlled environment, to creating an engaging experience for home-buyers or tourists via immersive virtual tours, there are no limitations to how this new technology can be used.
For a demo of this video technology, check out our We Make 360 VR page where you can experience VR tours, and examples of 360 video and panoramic photography being utilised within hospitality, retail, schools, hospitals and more.
CoolDrive’s Hot Lap Video
Main Challenges and Solutions of this Video
CoolDrive came to us wanting to put together a video that allows customers to experience what it’s like to be in a V8 Supercar, so what better way than with immersive VR technology?
PRODUCTION
Timing and Access Challenge:
Working within the constraints of an official V8 Supercar trial race, we had limited access both in terms of space and time to the vehicle and had to work closely with a team of 7-10 people (mechanics, engineers and others), including the driver to prepare, install and monitor the VR rig between laps. We had only minutes – often less – between laps to refine and check the rig, with numerous other members of the CoolDrive team needing to modify and refine the vehicle in the same small interval.
Timing and Access Solution:
Close communication with the CoolDrive team to ensure that we were able to time access to the vehicle in order not to interfere with the race and pit stop schedule. We talked at length about the processes required during each pit stop and worked out a plan to time our access so as to cause minimum interference.
Virtual Reality in Marketing and Reasons and Ways You Can Use it
Stabilisation Challenge:
V8 Supercars travel at extremely high speeds (3000kmh+?.. a lot!) and thus are subjected to extreme G-forces as well as numerous different types of low (road) and high (engine) frequency vibrations. These vibrations and movement make VR footage unwatchable, so we developed a solution to mitigate them.
Stabilisation Solution:
We made a stabilised rig using pressure adjustable coils to reduce and dampen both vibrations and movement introduced from the G-forces of the vehicle. The rig was attached to the roll cage of the car using numerous attachment points in order to ensure that it didn’t get in the way of the existing mechanical and electronic systems in the race equipped vehicle.
Other Stuff
We were able to do real time stitching of certain laps to get instant feedback on what was and wasn’t working and refine our process, including using a portable VR rig to both view test content ourselves as well as show the client demos (we used the insta360 Pro and Oculus Go headset).
It was pretty fast? And loud. So loud. Gus, one of our Camera Operator’s, thought his eardrums would explode, even with earplugs!… We’ll leave racing and driving V8 Supercars to the pros.
POST-PRODUCTION
Editing
We’ve previously overcome a few hurdles from creating 3D content in the past, so this video was fairly straightforward, especially since we didn’t have to manually stitch the shots together.
Just one long continuous recording of the hot-lap means so long as it’s shot correctly there’s not much else we need to worry about.
One issue was syncing the sound since every take had similar can-engine audio. It was only until we had the driver in to record a VO he picked up the gearshifts were slightly offset, so we knew it was a recording of a different lap.
How to Create a 360 VR Video of Your Own
If you’d like to create a 360 VR video of your own and learn more, feel free to contact us.
