As demonstrated here, 360-videos use the viewer’s head orientation only to display whichever part of the surrounding the viewer is directed at. The “surrounding” is essentially a flat image warped into a sphere. This allows you to look in any direction while being locked into a fixed point in space.

Virtual Reality experiences use both the viewer’s head orientation and position to place the viewer in a video-game-like virtual world. This allows more freedom of movement than 360 video, but content is currently limited to real-time CGI due to limitations of video-capture technology.

This post will discuss visual effects for 360-videos only. However, much like the rest of the entertainment industry, I’ll use the term “VR” as well when referring to 360-videos.

WHY IS VR SO CHALLENGING

In many ways 360 video is nothing more than a wide format. A 360-degree image is essentially two 180-degree fish-eye lens images stitched together. So it’s easy to assume that the main challenge for VFX in this medium is matching lens distortions and figure out how to review and give notes on effects in 360-degrees.

In reality, the differences between 360-degree and traditional video are so vast that they affect every step of the process in more ways than one. Entering this new realm often requires leaving behind our most trusted tools and fail-safe devices. Our ability to rely on past experience is greatly reduced and even the simplest VFX task can suddenly turn into a nightmare. It might sound like an exaggeration. Is it really that different? -well obviously it depends on the specific needs of your project, but here are a few things to keep in mind:

YOU’VE GOT NOWHERE TO “HIDE”

If you’ve been in the game long enough you know that VFX supervisors rely on a variety of “tricks” that save time and money. Many of them don’t apply to 360 videos: