Google now allows users to upload and view 360 degree videos to YouTube, reports Forbes. Currently, it supports or is planning to support the following cameras: Giroptic 360cam, IC Real Tech Allie, Kodak SP360 and Ricoh Theta. However, the company also mentioned that it would accept videos created by users using their own custom camera rigs and 3rd party stitching software like Kolor Autopano. 360 degree videos basically mean that users can “watch” a video in any direction, along with the perspective that it was initially shot in. These videos would be accessible on the Chrome browser and on the YouTube app both on desktop as well as Android (Jelly Bean and up) mobile. The company mentioned that support for iPhone, iPad and other devices was on its way. It also plans to make available the 360 degree videos through virtual reality platforms. A playlist of 360 videos is available here. How To: Users need to encode their video at a high resolution using YouTube’s specifications. This feature will support videos with a frame rate of 24, 25 or 30 frames per second. The company mentioned that support for higher frames was “coming soon”. The video file needs to include certain metadata to enable a 360 degree playback. This metadata can be obtained from Google’s metadata generator app or by running a Python script on the video file. Since “YouTube Video Editor and Enhancements” tools would not work on desktop or mobile to convert a non-360 degree video file to…
