Insta360 Studio is a game changer in its ability
to easily stitch, edit, and reframe captivating 360 videos in just minutes. So, in this ultimate
tutorial, I'll show you how to use it to its full potential to get the best-looking shots out of the
footage you've already captured. If you want to learn the technical and creative techniques
behind capturing high-quality 360 videos, I share my exact five-step framework
for how to do it inside my brand new 360 Video 101 course, which I'll link below.
Between Insta360 Studio and 360 Video 101, you'll have all the essentials you need to
create cinematic 360 videos like a pro. So, grab your 360 videos, and let's get started!
Start by heading to the Insta360 website and click on "Downloads." Choose the camera you
own, then scroll down to Insta360 Studio, choose Mac or Windows, and after clicking
download, you'll be prompted to enter the serial number, which can be found in the internal
menu of your camera. So, go ahead and enter it, download, and install the software.
This software is updated frequently, so you'll find the latest version on the website.
Also, once installed, it will automatically prompt you to update. Upon opening Insta360 Studio,
it will prompt you to import your files; you can either import all automatically or
select a targeted range. In your browser, choose all the INSV files that you want to import
and stitch, then drag them over to the software.
Now, at this point, you do have the option
to select all your clips and export them as 360 videos to edit elsewhere. If you want
to do that, just choose "Export Video" here, and I'd recommend H.265 with a high bitrate. In
this tutorial, though, I want to focus on the reframing process because this software
can produce some truly amazing results, and the beauty of it is it's so simple to use.
Up at the top left, you can access your files. The first one is "Local Files," which
are 360 videos stored on your computer or a hard drive. The next one is the "SD
Card" file straight from your camera. Then, in this menu, you can save favorites. To save a
favorite, simply click the star icon next to it, and you'll see your favorites show up
here. Finally, there's the "Export" tab, and we won't be needing this until later.
To choose a clip to work on, just double-click it on the left-hand side, and it will show up
here in the viewer. This is the main window where we'll be doing most of the work. While
there are two options here, "Reframe" and "360 View," 360 View isn't really needed since you can
just view your clip in 360 in the editor anyway.
In the menu on the right-hand side, you can find
various stitching and processing options. So, stabilization will always be turned on by default,
and you want to keep that on to make sure your shots don't shake. There's "Direction Lock" for
shots you want to keep focusing on one direction only. However, I would recommend turning this
off and manually keyframing yourself instead.
Then there's the stitching menu. Most shots you
take will be stitched normally unless you're using a sticky lens guard or dive case. Next is
"Media Processing," and here you can adjust the colors. So, if you want to increase the intensity
of the saturation and contrast, you can do that here. There's "Clarity Plus," which is obviously
sharpness. You won't want to go too far with this, maybe just a little bit if you really want to,
but I'd recommend keeping that off. And then "Aquavision" is for shots taken underwater.
I'd recommend keeping "True Audio" off in most cases. Sometimes it may help you
improve the quality of a voice, but I found recording the sound properly to begin with
far outweighs what these filters can do. Next, you can add a logo to the nadir. So, if you want
to display your camera information at the bottom, which you probably don't, you can also add a
custom nadir if you have a circular logo you want to add right there to the bottom.
If you recorded GPS data with your clip, you'll find the "Stats" option appears, and this
allows you to add custom graphics that display your speed, elevation, direction, distance,
and so on, which will obviously be a great choice for sports but not for everyday shots like
mine. Next, there's a project management option, and what this does is it allows you to create
multiple versions of the same clip. So, let's say you want to edit the first one in a specific
style, like a time-lapse, and then the second one is just played back at normal speed and reframed
in a different way. You can have two different variations here without having to undo the first
one. Finally, there's the "Info" tab, and this displays various information about your clip,
including the resolution, frame rate, and so on.
Now going back to the files section, one
feature worth noting is the "Auto Frame" option. By clicking this, the software will
automatically try to detect shots that it thinks could be suitable. However, this software doesn't
have the creativity that you're going to have, so don't expect miracles. Once it's done, it will
present you with a carousel of potential shots that could work. So, here it's reframing down
towards me, there's a shot of the Harbor Bridge, not bad, a shot of two random people walking
behind me. Yeah, these aren't really super good, are they? So, while there are heaps of options
here, they're seemingly random, just wanting to track random people, therefore I can't really
recommend Auto Frame at this point in time.
The bottom of Insta360 Studio is your timeline.
So, as the clip progresses, it will move from left to right. And the first place I always start
before editing a clip is setting the in and out point. This refers to precisely when the clip
is going to start once you've exported it. So, to set the in point, you can either drag this
white line across or a shortcut is clicking this button here, "Mark as trim start." Likewise,
you want to go to the end and by referring to the thumbnail above the playhead, you can tell roughly
where the good stuff starts and ends. I think it's going to be about here, so I'll repeat the
process, and this time I'll click the other one, which is "Mark as trim end." Now, everything
within this white section is our usable footage.
You can adjust the playback volume here, and as
a side note, this isn't the actual clip volume but rather what plays back as you're editing.
Personally, I like editing in silence, so I keep it off, but if you're working with sound,
feel free to turn it up. On the right-hand side, you'll find a magnifying glass plus and minus.
What this does is it increases and decreases the size of the timeline. So, sometimes when you're
adding a lot of keyframes, it's good to zoom in close so it becomes easier to edit since you can
see it more clearly. Above that is a full-screen option if you want to play back your edits in full
screen. Above "Full-Screen" is the snapshot button if you want to take a high-quality snapshot
of your 360 video and turn it into a photo.
Then above "Snapshot" is aspect ratio, and it's
important to be aware of which aspect ratio you're editing for. The vast majority of videos will be
16x9, which is suitable for most video players like YouTube. However, 1:1 has also become more
popular since it provides an equal amount of horizontal and vertical space. And then, to
take it to the extreme, there's 9:16, which is fast becoming a popular aspect ratio for really
utilizing big phone screens. I personally wouldn't bother with 4:3 or 2.35:1 since there aren't many
devices where these aspect ratios will look good.
Now, the most common button you'll be pressing is
the keyframe button. What this does is it saves the viewpoint that you see on-screen, and clicking
it fixes it in place in your edit. By the way, to actually manipulate your 360 videos, there
are two ways to do it. The easiest way is just clicking and dragging, but if you want finer
control, I'd recommend using this menu here, which will automatically pop up after you've made
a keyframe. This allows you to manually adjust the pan, the tilt, the roll, the field of view, and
the fisheye. And I find sometimes dragging with a mouse, you can't quite get the field of
view or the fisheye settings that you like, which is where I'll move to doing it manually,
so I can make those little one percent tweaks.
There are also some default perspectives
you may want to choose. So, "Default" is a default point of view. Then there's "Crystal
Ball," I don't know who would ever use this, but it's there. There's "Tiny Planet," and
if you actually are making tiny planets, I'd recommend doing it this way by clicking "Tiny
Planet" instead of just going to default mode and zooming all the way out, because that's when that
crystal ball shows up, whereas "Tiny Planet" mode fills the sky around the tiny planet. Then
there's "Natural View," which is a bit more zoomed in. But essentially, these four are just
combinations of all of these settings here.
Now, whenever you make changes to your viewpoint,
and the playhead on the timeline is positioned over your keyframe, any changes you make here are
going to be automatically saved. So, if you do make changes further in the timeline, don't forget
to add a new keyframe so it saves that viewpoint in place. Now, let's try doing some keyframing, so
changing the viewpoint significantly as the video unfolds. So, right here, I'll be starting with
this one. I've already saved the keyframe. I'm going to play the video a little bit and stop.
I'm going to create a new keyframe, but this time I want it to be a tiny planet. I'm going to
move my mouse so it reframes it. Now, when I move the timeline back, there we go, it's transitioning
from the first viewpoint to the second. From here, simply repeat the process, adding as many
keyframes as you think works well with your edit. If you ever want to adjust a keyframe,
just click on it and you can adjust it either with the mouse or with the manual controls.
Now, moving on to transitions. If you click the line between two keyframes, this brings up a few
transition animation options. So, instead of just a plain transition from one viewpoint to another,
you can give them a bit more character. There are four options here to choose from. Personally, I
found "Fade In" and "Fade Out" to look the best, so definitely play with the transitions to see
what you like best. There's also nothing wrong with just a plain dissolve, which will transition
between the two viewpoints at a consistent speed.
If you're ever not quite happy with
your edits and you want to start fresh, you can reset your timeline by going to "Edit" >
"Clear Current Edit Data," and after clicking OK, there it goes. Everything else in the top menu
isn't really needed since you can get most of this stuff within the actual editor. Also, if
you close and reopen Insta360 Studio with the original files from the SD card, the software will
save your previous edits. If you want to make any changes a bit later, all right, that was a simple
one. Now, let's try something a bit trickier.
Next, what I want to do is have the viewpoint
fixed on me as I walk around. To do that, choose the "Deep Track" option, and with your mouse,
draw a box around the subject, which here is me. I'm going to choose "Center the Target" because
I want to be centered in the middle of the frame, and start tracking. Now, it analyzes the clip to
detect my movements throughout. Playing that back, it seems to have done a good job. However,
the angle's a bit wide, and that's causing it to look like it's bumpy. To fix that, click on
the yellow bar, and here we can adjust our field of view and fisheye. So, clearly, it's just way
too fisheye right now. I'm going to drag that to zero and change my field of view to a little bit
wider. And there we go, that's looking better.
Now, you can also use this on moving vehicles. So,
let's try tracking this guy here on the bike. I'm just going to repeat the process with "Deep
Track." I'll select him, center the target, and start tracking. And this also works on cars,
boats, and most other kinds of vehicles. Now, when I play that back, the camera is moving
perfectly with him in the center of the frame from one side of the camera to the other.
If you're not happy with the tracking, just click the yellow bar, and then the trash can
icon to delete and do it again. Or you can simply manually keyframe the exact same framing using the
keyframing workflow from before. This will require a bit more work when you're changing directions.
So here, I'm going to add a few keyframes so it keeps up with my movements. And playing it
back, that is still really smooth. In fact, that could potentially be better than deep track.
So, every shot will be slightly different, and you should try tracking based on what produces the
best results. Sometimes it's manually keyframing, and sometimes deep track will do the trick.
Deep track will be better suited to scenes where the camera is on a monopod and the
subject is moving around it or near it.
So, here I'm going to select myself the
same way I did before, track the clip, and then playing it back, you can see the camera
follows me almost as if there was someone here pointing a camera directly at me. And that's
resulted in much smoother framing. I filmed this clip on Sydney's Cockatoo Island, which is
an amazing historical backdrop that I use for a lot of my 360 Video 101 course. Here, I was
filming the exposure section of the course, where I share my best techniques for
setting exposure manually in order to achieve perfect dynamic range every single time.
So, if that's something you'd like to learn how to do, I'll link the full course down below. Now,
Insta360 has just added a brand new feature that, personally, I've been waiting a very long time
for. You know, sometimes when you're reframing, you're not sure if you've got your shot perfectly
symmetrical. It may look like it while reframing, but after export, it's slightly to
the left, slightly to the right, or lacking symmetry in another way. Well,
I'm happy to say that's just changed. Now, if you navigate to "Window Guides," there are now
four different guides you can choose from to help you better compose your shot for symmetry.
So, you've got a grid line, breaking the shot up into nine. There's a center point where
the yellow icon represents the dead center of the frame. Crosshair, which does a similar
thing, except it adds another line vertically and horizontally. And even a diagonal
crosshair. With these kind of guidelines, there's no way you won't be able to get perfect
symmetry with every single shot, whether it's when using a tiny planet perspective or a more
conventional perspective. And don't worry, these won't show up in your exported videos, and you
can even turn them off by unchecking "Enable."
Now, I'll show you how to make a hyperlapse, and
one of the best features of Insta360 Studio is it allows you to add artificial motion blur, which
helps enhance the sense of movement and makes any sped-up shot look epic. Editing a hyperlapse
is super simple. I've started by adding the in and out points, and now I'm going to choose the
"Time Shift" option. Highlight the entire clip, and now it prompts you to choose a speed.
Most hyperlapses work well at 16 times, and as you can see, that's shortened the timeline
quite a bit. The original clip was 2 minutes 29, and now it's just 8 seconds, and this
will make it much easier to keyframe.
So, I'm going to stay fixed on the bridge for
the first part of it, move the timeline forward, create another keyframe, move forward again, and
I want this hyperlapse to finish around Luna Park, which I know is there. So, I'm going to point it
in that direction midway through the clip. So, repeat the process until you're at your final
destination. Here, I'm adding a little bit of zoom to make it dramatic. Overall, the less
amount of keyframes you can add, the better, because this will mean when it's playing
back at 16 times speed, you're not going to notice those transitions. Whereas if you
had, say, 20 keyframes on the same clip, if even just one of them is slightly off,
it's going to cause a very obvious bump.
By default, it will add motion blur to your clip.
If you don't want it, just uncheck that. However, I would strongly recommend including it because
that's what makes this effect so good. Finally, export your clip to view the
full motion-blurred hyperlapse. Slow-motion shots have a very similar workflow
and if you are going for a slow-motion effect, I would strongly advise that you actually shoot
with slow-motion settings to begin with. Here, you can see I shot it at 100 frames per second,
which will make the motion so much smoother. To apply it, I'm just going to repeat the
time shift process, although this time, instead of sliding to the right, I'm going
to slide it to the left to slow it down.
I'd recommend half speed for either 50 or 60 FPS
clips. Or if you really want to go very slow, then go to one-quarter speed. Let's take a look. There
we go, 100 FPS. I'll set my keyframes, and voila!
If you do want to make last-minute changes to
your clips, one important point to know is that anything that appears on the timeline, whether
it's keyframes, in and out points, or speed, can also be adjusted after the fact. So, I can just
drag this out point, I can select this hyperlapse and drag it across to cover more of the clip,
and you can do the same with your keyframes if you want to move them up and down the timeline.
Now, once you're happy with your reframed clip, you'll want to hit the button down the bottom
right, which starts the export. In the "Export Reframe Video" menu, firstly, I'd recommend
choosing the H.265 codec. This will produce higher quality. Give your clip a name, choose your save
location, I'd recommend 100 megabits a second, and feel free to type in a custom resolution. I
like shooting and editing in 4K, so I'm choosing 3840x2160 for slow-motion clips like this one.
You won't need to change this menu since I've already slowed it down four times, which
equates to 25 FPS at one-quarter the speed. Then go ahead and hit export.
I hope this video brought you value and takes your Insta360 footage to the next level.
Insta360 Studio is so powerful and will become very easy to use once you get the hang of it,
which shouldn't take long. There are, however, many other workflow aspects you'll need to master
in order to get the viral-worthy reframed 360 videos you are hoping for, like choosing
the right camera gear, camera settings, the best shooting techniques, creative ideas,
and so much more. Inside my 360 Video 101 course, I cover all of the essential tips and shortcuts
you'll need for success in all of these areas. So, if you enjoyed this tutorial and want to learn the
other aspects of making viral-worthy 360 videos, just follow the link below to enroll in
360 Video 101. I hope to see you there.
