360° Video playback with VLC¶
Warning
Not to be confused with 360° and 3D video. A 360° Video emulates a free point of view and a 3D video projects depth of perception.
360°(degree) display is a process of emulating an omnidirectional video shot while at the same time creating an immersive effect on the viewer. They are shot using either a single camera with multiple lenses or a platform with multiple cameras. It is processed to ‘stitch’ the footage in multiple angles and render them into one single media file with a ‘free view’ to experience virtual reality .
These are different 360° video displays based on projection methods:
Equirectangular - A type of projection mapping different portions of an image originally viewed in 360° into
Fisheye - A type of projection which emulates strong distortion with extremely wide angles of view. It is termed after the belief that a fish views the underwater world in a similar fashion.
Cubic Mapping - A type of projection where different portions of an image is stitched onto the layout of a cube.
Out of all these, VLC supports 360° videos that use Equirectangular type of Projection.
How to playback the 360° video¶
Open VLC Media Player and go to and browse to the directory of the video file and double click to open it (or) Press Ctrl+O and choose the video file to open it.
After opening the file, you can experience the 360° video by using any one these methods.
Method 1¶
This method uses the Mouse for navigation in the video. Hold the left-mouse button and move vertically to change vertical viewing angle and horizontally to change horizontal viewing angle. The scroll button can be used for Zooming In/Out.
Method 2¶
This method uses the keyboard keys for navigation in the video.
Action |
Keyboard Key(s) |
|---|---|
Zoom In/Out |
Page Up/Page Down |
Vertical View Angle |
Up/Down Arrow |
Horizontal View Angle |
Left/Right Arrow |