Self-recorded 360 deg video playback horribly choppy inside Rift

[sumdevil]

My daughter has wanted a 360 degree camera from the first time she put on the Rift because she wanted to capture the whole memory of something and then relive it.  She saved money for over a year and finally got one (the Madv Madventure).  It works great for what she wants, in that it does take good 360 video, and she can play it on any PC we have and look around with the mouse and see everything, and it plays great.

However, when she gets in the Oculus and tries to play the video with "Oculus video", it is incredibly stuttery, choppy, and just generally unviewable.

Watching any other videos in Oculus Video work fine.
Watching her videos while not in the Oculus (using just a mouse to look around) work fine.

Are there any suggestions for things I can try so that her recorded videos play smoothly and normally while in the Rift?

thanks

[LZoltowski]

What bitrate is the video? It could be too high.

[sumdevil]

Would that info be available in Windows by looking at the properties of the video file?

I know she hasn't adjusted the default settings, and I can only find "4k" as the description of what kind of video it takes.

I don't know if she post-processes the videos at all and might be able to adjust the bitrate there.

[LZoltowski]

Just found Oculus Video recommended specification, this applies to submissions but should be of relevance here:

The following are the recommended specifications for videos hosted on Oculus Video.

• Container: MP4

  • Enable Fast Start

• Video Codec: H.264

  • Progressive scan

  • Key frame distance: 2 seconds (2 x frame rate—e.g., 60 for 30 fps content)

• Resolution: 4K to 6K

  • Recommended resolutions:

    • Monoscopic 360:

      • 3840 x 1920 (4K)

      • Up to 6144 x 3072* (6K)

    • Stereo 360:

      • 3840 x 3840* (4K)

      • Up to 6144 x 6144* (6K)

    • * These resolutions are out of the standard h.264 profile/level specifications, but are supported when uploaded to Facebook. See “Encoding 6K video for Facebook” below for encoding tips

  • We recommend a 2:1 (1:1 for stereo) aspect ratio, but others are supported (e.g., 3840 x 2160, which is 16:9).

  • If you are uploading large 6K videos (or file size is greater than 5GB), please notify us in advance so our team can help you process the video.

• Frame Rate: 30 or 60 fps

• Bit Rate:

  • 4K: 40-60 megabits/sec, or 300-450 MB/min

  • 6K: up to 133 megabits/sec, or 1 GB/min

• Pixel Format: yuv420p

• Color: Full range (0-255)

• Projection Format: Equirectangular

• Audio: MP3 or AAC audio, at 128 kbps or higher (for stereo audio; see Spatial audio support, below, for more information)

• Spatial Media Metadata: 360 videos require spatial media metadata in order to be processed correctly when uploaded. Here are some useful tools for injecting metadata:

  • Spatial Media Metadata Injector

  • Adobe Media Encoder (encodes and injects)

  • FB360 Encoder (part of Facebook 360 Spatial Workstation; combines video and spatial audio)

• Marketing Metadata: When uploading the video to Facebook, please also add a title for the video and upload a custom thumbnail (at least 1280x720) in the upload dialog box.

[LZoltowski]

Have a look at the specs above, yeah you should be able to right click on a video and go properties, then the details tab.

[sumdevil]

I'm not sure the technical level that the camera allows you to dive into, I'll have to get into it and see if any of those settings make sense.  Or it could also be something adjusted post-processing perhaps.  Thanks for all this detail, I'll see what I can find.

[LZoltowski]

Most likely you will have to re-encode the video in a video editor, something like Adobe premiere or Handbrake 

[sumdevil]

Ok, thanks!  I'll post here if I figure anything out.

[kojack]

I have a Xiaomi Mi Sphere (the same camera as the Madventure, just black case instead of orange. Same hardware and same software).

I haven't done much with it, but the default video output (after converting to a panorama using their software) is 3456 x 1728 at 30Hz with a bitrate of 42,808kbps. It plays fine in Oculus Video.

My first guess would be that your computer is on the borderline of performance, where it's fast enough to play the video fine on the desktop, but just below the level needed to play it in VR (which is more intense).

(It's a great little camera, but it's strange having to hide behind things when I take a photo so I don't appear in the shot) 🙂

[sumdevil]

That must require a heck of a PC then, because my machine doesn't really struggle with any VR games.  Of course, it has a 1070 card which helps, but probably doesn't help in this case.  I can check the CPU usage next time we try the video.

If it really is poor performance, then why would it play all of the other videos in Oculus Video just fine?