360° Video

Owned by Jason Tocci (Unlicensed)
May 24, 2017

VirZOOM Arcade allows you to record 360° videos of your activity when playing on a PC. A 360° video is one that has been recorded in such a way that the viewer gets to control where the camera looks. When viewing one on a web browser, you click/tap and drag around the video to look around. If you’re viewing on a phone, like with the Facebook app, you can tilt the phone to look around. And if you’re viewing from a mobile phone with VR capability, you can use a built-in viewer like Samsung VR on Gear VR, or a free app like Skybox on Daydream.

To start recording while you’re playing with a VirZOOM bike on PC, on your left-hand handlebar controls, press the left arrow (←), and then the down arrow (↓). If you’re using a handheld controller, use left d-pad, then down d-pad. When you’re done recording, hit the same buttons again. (Recording 360° videos from VirZOOM Arcade is currently only possible on PC, not PS4.) Both video and audio will be captured.

Your movie will be located in a “Gallery” folder, appearing automatically after you finish recording, in the same folder as your VirZOOM executable file – most likely C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\VirZOOM.

To share 360° videos online, you’ll want to first check Google’s support page on adding metadata, and add on Windows using 360 metadata tools. You can edit your video using standard video editing software, like Windows Movie Maker. (Social media services that don’t yet support 360° video, like Instagram and Twitter, will just show them as traditional, two-dimensional movies.)

Videos are most comfortable when you’re purposeful about how you record them, doing your best to avoid triggering simulator sickness. Le Tour gameplay on a relatively straight line is great, but a curvy Racecar track may make your audience uncomfortable. Some tips to remember:

  • Avoid heavy turning
  • Avoid quickly accelerating or stopping
  • Aim for constant speed in one direction
  • Start recording when you see a path straight ahead
  • End recording just before unavoidable turns

Note that videos are captured at 20 frames per second, and your framerate will drop a bit while you record in VirZOOM Arcade. This is the only indication you'll get that video has started recording; there is no other on-screen indication.

Tag us in your posts. If you post to Facebook or YouTube, please feel free to tag VirZOOM so we can see and reshare your creations.