Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1532695
22 cgw j a n u a r y • f e b r u a r y • m a r c h 2 0 2 5 1 80-degree immersive video has breathed new life into VR, solv- ing issues 360-degree video experiences were running into. Now, dual fisheye lenses mean the stereoscopic 3D effect is much better, with less expensive post production. Cinema cam- eras provide better resolution and color. Directors can stage crew behind the camera and guide the general direction of the narrative. My team at Light Sail VR has been behind the production and post production of some of the most successful and groundbreaking live action immersive films, including The Faceless Lady, a six-part TV show for Meta in collaboration with Crypt TV that proved narrative VR can tell compelling stories and feel like premium TV. Our music series Red Rocks: Live in VR was nominated for an Emmy, and we've worked with incredible music talent, like the Foo Fighters and Sabri- na Carpenter. With huge investments by Meta and Apple into 180-degree im- mersive video, a clearer picture is starting to emerge. Audiences love experiences that feel premium. They want professional productions with crisp images, beautiful cinematic colors, and high-fidelity audio. They want to be transported to unique places—backstage at a concert, flying over the volcanos of Hawaii, or watching an NBA game from the best courtside seat. Luckily, the technology is being devel- oped to support this. The next few years will see exciting hardware announcements that will continue to help creatives in this space. The recent stereo- scopic lenses by Canon and Blackmagic Design's new URSA Cine immersive camera, made in collaboration with Apple, are watershed moments in immersive production, which will allow the quality of content to rise even further. New headsets beyond the Apple Vision Pro are rumored to come to market next year, which will further grow the available ecosystem for content. Today, post production in immersive is still in its infancy. We lack the ability to confidence monitor inside a headset without jumping through endless technical hurdles. Many plug-ins are slow or have to be rolled from scratch in order to accommodate various resolutions and lat-long projection formats. Only in the last few years have the combination of CPU, GPU, and storage media become fast enough to handle playing back 8K, 60fps media in realtime. Post production pipelines will also become more streamlined with faster hardware and more robust immersive editing tools, such as high-quality, re- altime headset support. New workflows designed from the ground up to handle the unique challenges of immersive filmmaking, which requires high frame rate, high resolution, and robust stereoscopic tools, will help shorten production timelines and streamline budgets. The hype of being on the bleeding edge of media is always excit- ing, but oen so challenging to wrangle from a technical perspective. Now that the medium has begun to mature, the renewed focus on achieving quality cinematic visuals and de storytelling means cre- atives can finally innovate on a wide range of content to be seen by VR's steadily growing audience. Based in Woodland Hills, CA, Light Sail VR is a creative studio that spe- cializes in immersive media storytelling: lightsailvr.com SHOWCASE THE FUTURE OF VIRTUAL REALITY: CINEMATIC IMMERSIVE 180° VIDEO BY MATT CELIA CREATIVE DIRECTOR, LIGHT SAIL VR Matt Celia: Creative Director, Light Sail VR