Why Overcapture has 'so much potential' for content creators in the field

Journalists sent out into the field often have to produce more than one piece of content at a time. If, for example, they are covering a protest, they might be asked to film a news package for television, carry out 'vox pop' interviews for the radio, produce a 360-degree video and update social media channels.

Let's face it – it is no surprise that reporters, often working as a 'one-man-band', can become overwhelmed.

Overcapture, the process of shooting an entire scene with a 360-degree camera and then cropping the video for use in a traditional fixed-frame video, might be able to lessen the load.

Sarah Redohl, media journalist and editor at Immersive Shooter, explained that with Overcapture you can arrive at the story, start shooting with your spherical camera, and take the best bits in post production later, giving you more time to live tweet, post vertical video Stories and carry out any interviews with your smartphone or traditional camera.

"Instead of using the camera on your phone to shoot something, you're using your phone as a magic window to the 360 world you've just shot," she said.

"It has so much potential for content creators – it's a totally different beast than just cropping a video – you can pan and follow a moving object or get a really wide angled shot."

You can connect your camera to your phone, then use the Insta360, Rylo or the GoPro Fusion app to re-shoot the video, choosing the 16x9 shots that you want for broadcast or social media.

Getting a smooth pan, exactly 360 degrees from the same spot, is also much easier to do in this way, without needing a lot of stabilisation equipment – or a steady hand.

"I put my 360-degree camera on a monopod into my backpack, which shoots over my shoulder – it's hands-off, you forget that it's there, and then when you need B-Roll, you have plenty to choose from," she says.

Still, Redohl does recommend taking notes out in the field while you are shooting to reduce the amount of post production time you will need to look for the right shot.

"The starter kit depends on your budget but also the quality you are expecting to get," she said.

"The Insta360 One is $300 and shoots 4K 360 video and the app is really good, with smart track where you can tap an object and follow it moving through the scene when you reshoot.

"If you have $700, I would recommend the GoPro Fusion, which shoots in 5.2K, which lets you crop in a bit tighter."

Redohl notes it is important to understand that the resolution of 360-degree cameras will be lower in quality than audiences are used to with fixed-frame video.

"People are going to be a bit surprised by the resolution, because they hear the word 4K camera and are expecting a very high-resolution image, but what you crop out isn't 4K," she said.

"4K refers to the 4,000 horizontal pixels that go from edge to edge of your shot – but in 360 there's no edge, so those pixels are spread across the entire sphere, so it will look lower in resolution.

"We really need an 8K camera available for less than $1,000 – I think that is where the next iteration of 360-degree cameras will be.

Listen to the podcast with Sarah Redohl here, and get a more detailed look into the Overcapture process here.

Are you using Overcapture in your newsroom? Has another video technique made your workflow easier out in the field? Let us know @journalismnews.

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