The Insta360 One X is amazing, but working with the media files can be really frustrating. With all this potential, what’s the best way to get your files from the camera through editing to YouTube? And, what does GoPro have to do with this?
GoPro plug-in download: https://bit.ly/2RwfSxX
Insta360 One X LUT download: https://bit.ly/2C9fITh
Content segments
2:55 Using the Insta360 One X Mobile App
5:06 Using the Insta360 One X Studio desktop application
7:16 The One X Adobe Plug-in
7:40 Installing and using GoPro’s VR plug-in for the Adobe suite
9:15 Managing keyframes and velocity with the GoPro plug-in
12:47 Using the GoPro VR plug-in with Bullet time for amazing effects
14:25 Installing and using the Insta360 One X LUT for color correction
19:22 Working with .insv, mp4 and LongGOP media and why file conversion might help
Most content creators aren’t using the 1X for 360 videos. Instead this camera really shines when you shoot in 5.7 k and then reframe your shots to 1080, adjusting the camera movement, framing and focal length.
There are a bunch of different ways to do that. If you own a 1X you’ve probably discovered that none of them are… well… perfect. They each involve compromise. So let’s talk about how to get the most from each option, and when to use an alternative. It can be a little confusing so I will show you four options… the mobile app, the Studio 1X desktop app, Premiere plug-ins and finally file conversion.
For flexibility and control, download, install and use GoPro’s VR plugins for the Adobe suite. The results are often better than what you get from the One X Studio application and they work in both After Effects and Premiere.
The easiest and most accessible way to prepare your footage is to use the Insta360 phone app. You can transfer your footage via WiFi or connect a cable to your phone. Once the media is on your phone you reframe the footage the way you want it, and save it as a new MP4 file. One problem is the Insta360 1X app does not let you control compression settings or format when exporting your new file.
This camera creates source files in a proprietary format. These .insv files are essentially an mp4 file that maxes out at 120 mega-bits-per-second. Not great, not awful, but because its MP4 its compressed. Now when you transfer this source file from the camera to the app, reframe you shots and then export it, you will be creating a new, even more compressed mp4 file using that already compressed source footage. But wait we’re not done if you plan to use this new file as source footage during editing because it will eventually be compressed at least one more time when you output your final video. That’s at least 3 rounds of compression. Some with no control over codec or bitrate.
The lame export process doesn’t mean you abandon the mobile app. Especially since some key features like motion blur on hyperlapse, optical flow and some slomo features are only available here. What it really means is asking yourself the question, “can I accomplish what I want later in editing using the original file?” If yes then I skip using my phone. If the answer is no, because I need motion blur for example, then I am outputting from the app.
A second production path is using the Insta360 Studio desktop application designed for working with 1X media. But forget trying to run the most recent 1X Studio application on a laptop. The software is unstable, it freezes, it crashes, media won’t play smoothly, if at all. And like the phone you still have to recompress files for output. The experience with my desktop computer is better, mostly because it is a custom made, enterprise-level beast designed for 6K editing. Most folks just don’t have that kind of horsepower available. Additionally, the studio software is missing many of the best functions you find on the mobile app.
I would love to show you the Insta360 1X Adobe plugin. They advertise it as if it already exists. But I’m not finding it. Even after repeated installations of the 1X Studio desktop app.
That’s why I gave up and went to a plug-in that works. GoPro. As I said off the top, download, install and use GoPro’s VR plugins for the Adobe suite. You won’t have motion blur for hyperlapse, I still use the mobile app for that, but I have greater control over my framing, the fluidity of my keyframes, my color correction and can even get better results with bullet effect.
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