National Geographic

360 Labs worked for Sherpas Cinema to provide post production support on this 4-part series for National Geographic. The series “Into Water” highlights the important work of 4 scientists in and around one of the planet’s most important resources, water. In collaboration with Google and YouTube, the project was shot with Google JUMP camera systems in stereoscopic 3D 360.

We were asked to help with rigging and shadow removal in stereo on all 4 films. We worked on both 6K and 8K per eye stereo footage to seamlessly remove tripods, drones, straps, rails, shadows, and rigging. We also provided support on compositing of a shot that transitioned from underwater to above water. The shots involved in these films provided unique and interesting challenges in all environments including inside vehicles, under water, on drones, and moving on tracks.

Every effect applied to stereo 3D footage has to be applied for both the right and left eye, and it’s very important that it matches the perspective perfectly with the correct convergence. Inconsistencies in paint-outs can lead to discomfort and eye strain for the viewer. For this reason, stereo 3D 360 post production can be very time consuming and challenging, usually taking at least twice as long to work on than traditional monoscopic 360 video.

We were very grateful to have the chance to collaborate with Sherpas Cinema here on some of the most beautifully captured 360 footage we’ve ever seen. All 4 of the films can be viewed through YouTube VR where they’ve been watched over a million times. In our opinion, it’s definitely a must watch VR film series.