Nokia’s Ozo 360 degree camera is one of the most recognized offerings in a niche market, but it’s been missing a big piece of the puzzle until now.
Previously, anything recorded with the company’s $45,000 stereoscopic camera could be edited with its Ozo Creator on the Apple Mac Pro, but not on PC. That changed late last week, however, with the release of a Beta version of the software for Windows 10 PCs, which accompanied the launch of version 1.3.0. As part of the update, stitching time has also be reduced by 25 percent on Mac and 50 percent on a PC running the recommended specs.
Elsewhere, the update adds support for rendering MP4VR files, introduces an automatically optimized timeline based on a video’s length, and allows you to export both fisheye and stitched footage with a single action. It also helps to improve the colors captured by the camera’s eight 2K sensors and there’s a mirror preview feature that lets you watch content inside a headset, which is only available on Windows 10 right now.
Other Ozo software such as its wireless control app, Remote, and its video preview service, Preview, are also now available in Beta on Windows.
Head of Presence Capture Guido Voltolina told TechCrunch that Windows 10 support become necessary as “the Apple platform hasn’t been involved with the newest HMDs”. OSX still doesn’t support major headsets like the Oculus Rift, so allowing filmmakers to edit 360 movies on an operating system that will then let them view that content is a big bonus for Ozo.
You may well have already seen some VR films shots with Ozo. Promotional content for this year’s Suicide Squad was shot with the camera, for example. Nokia is hoping that simplifying its editing software and making it more accessible will help establish it at the dominant product in an emerging market, especially since it slashed the price of the camera by $15,000 back in August.
