Tutorial: How to stitch Insta360 Pro2 underwater 360/VR videos with Mistika VR

Written by Axel Busch on 10 April 2021
Mistika VR Version 10.2.0 on Windows 10 Pro

Mistika VR is the fastest and most popular professional 360 video stitching software in the market. It is available for Windows and macOS. A trial version can be downloaded from the SGO website after registration. The trial version is fully functional for 14 days.

In this brief introductory tutorial, we’ll cover how to import, orient, and stitch 360 videos recorded with the Insta360 Pro2 camera. We skip some of the advanced features like Edge Points and Key Frames.

Preparation

The very first step is to copy the recordings and project files from the camera’s memory cards to a suitable storage medium for editing. A 6-port USB 3.0 hub with microSD-card readers is highly recommended.

The storage/editing medium does not have to be an internal SSD, even inexpensive external USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt SSDs are more than fast enough for the data rates involved in stitching 360/VR video from the Insta360 Pro2. But internal or external “old-school” hard drives will slow the stitching process down - unless it is a fast video production RAID array.

Remove the 6 micro-SD cards from the base, as well as the SD card from the battery compartment, and copy all files onto a SSD drive. A complete project folder will be typically named something like “VID_20160212_004459” and includes a total of 14 files.

If you’re missing the xxx_lrv.mp4 and pro.prj files, these can be found on the SD card in the battery compartment.

Step 1: Review the preview file for relevant segments

The Insta360 Pro series cameras save a pre-stitched preview file onto the SD card. We recommend that you watch the preview file and write down any interesting segments that you would like to stitch. This allows you to stitch only the relevant segments rather than the whole video, and can save a lot of time for longer recordings.

The preview file does not include any 360 meta information and will not play as a 360 video when watched in the free VLC media player. However, we find that “feature” quite helpful for reviewing and selecting segments, as it’s easy to see the whole area at the same time.

If you want to watch the preview file in 360 mode, you can use the free Spatial Metadata Injector program to correct the meta information, or use a different player like the free GoPro VR Player.

Step 2: Create a new project in Mistika VR

After launch Mistika VR shows the Project Manager screen. Click on “New Project” and enter the name, format, and frame rate.

The name can be anything you like.

The format field defines the target resolution (width and height) for a monoscopic 2D render. You can later choose to render in stereoscopic (3D), then the exported video will be twice as high or wide, depending on your export settings.

Here are the supported resolutions for some of the most popular 360 video platforms:

• Vimeo supports only monoscopic 2D videos with a maximum resolution of 4096x2048.

• Facebook supports monoscopic 2D videos up to 5120x2560 and stereoscopic 3D up to 5120x5120.

• YouTube supports monoscopic 2D videos up to 7680x3840 and stereoscopic 3D up to 7680x7680.

• Headjack and DeoVR support monoscopic 2D videos up to 8192×4096 and stereoscopic 3D up to 8192x8192.

The default frame rate for Insta360 Pro2 recordings is 29.97 fps. If you’re unsure about the frame rate, look at the property details of a recording, for example “origin_1.mp4”.

Click “OK” to proceed to the main screen.

Step 3: Import files into Mistika VR

To import files you can simply drag the six individual camera files “origin_1.mp4” to “origin_6.mp4” into the “Clips Stack” pane on the left-hand side.

Mistika will then present you with the “Camera Stack Options” dialog. Fill it like this:

• Tick “Files Per Segment” and set value to 6

• Tick “Use Default Preset” and choose “Insta360Pro2_3840x2880.grp” from the list for 8K|3D recording with the Pro2

Click “Continue” to return to the main screen and you will see the imported clips on the right as well as a preview of the stitch in the center.

In the middle of the screen you can see the stitch preview. You can double-click on the preview to toggle Full Screen mode. Mistika VR also offers a few useful overlays that help you make sense of how the stitch is being put together:

• Tap the “1” key on your keyboard to toggle the Camera overlay.

• Tap the “2” key on your keyboard to toggle the Feather Overlay.

• Tap the “3” key on your keyboard to toggle the Grid Overlay.

If you like, you can watch the tutorial video on basic operation.

Now is a good time to press “Ctrl + S” to save the project.

Step 4: Import stabilization data

First, click on the timeline to set the play head to a position where the scene is typical for the segment you’d like to render. That helps Mistika VR calculate the best stitch parameters based on that position.

(Screenshot Mistika VR main screen with overlays and play head)

• Click on menu “Stitch” then “Use Insta360Pro Calibrate”

• Click on menu “Stabilize” then “Import Stabilization Metadata”.

This applies the flow-state stabilization data recorded by the Insta360 Pro2 camera. You might have to re-orient the view after importing stabilization data, we come to that in the next step.

Step 5: Adjust orientation

Now is a good time to orient the scene. The first thing you want viewers to see should be in the center of the scene. If you have not done already, click on the timeline to set the play head to a position where the scene is typical for the segment you’d like to render. That helps Mistika VR calculate the best stitch parameters based on that position.

• Double-Click on the preview to toggle Full Screen mode.

• Alt + Drag: Rotate

• Ctrl + Drag: Change Yaw, Pitch, Roll

If you like, you can watch the tutorial video on realigning the horizon.

Step 6: Set stitch parameters

After we have chosen the best time in the scene and oriented it, we can start configuring the stitch parameters. Here are three basic settings that will calculate an optimized stitch based on the current scene:

• Click on menu “Positions” then “Improve Offsets”

• Click on menu “Positions” then “Improve Angles”

• Tick “Use Optical Flow”

• Set “Stitch Feather” to a value that avoids ghosting of subjects crossing the seams. Something between 5 and 15 often works quite well.

To further control the stitch, you can place “Edge Points”. These tell Mistika VR to always use the view from a specific camera for a certain area and such adjust the stitch line. That can be useful for preventing that a stitch line passes through a difficult to stitch object, or to “hide” subjects that appear in one camera but not the other. We’re not covering the use of edge points in this introductory tutorial.

If you like, you can watch the tutorial video on optical flow edge points.

Step 7: Adjust color

When filming underwater, color changes significantly with depth and also distance from artificial light sources like video lights. That means color correction is almost always required.

Use the “Temperature” slider and “Green Tint” slider on the “Output Camera” pane on the very right to adjust the overall color of the final render.

Depending on your screen size and configuration, some sliders might be hidden and you might have to increase the size of the “Output Camera” pane before you can access them.

If the lighting changes significantly during a segment, you can use key frames to use different settings at different times. We won’t cover this technique here. If you like, you can watch the tutorial on key frame animation.

Step 8: Adjust clip start and end

By default, Mistika VR will render the whole clip. To render only a segment, set In and Out markers. To do this, position the play-head at the time where you want the segment to start, and press “i” on the keyboard (or use the right-click menu). Then position the play-head at the time where you want the segment to end, and press “o” on the keyboard.

After setting in and our markers the timeline shows a yellow bar between them, and Mistika VR will only render that segment.

If you’re exporting a clip for later editing rather than viewing, we recommend that you add an additional 4-10 seconds at each end.

This completes the basic adjustments, and we are ready to render!

Step 9: Render (Export)

Click menu “File” then “Render” to open the Render (Export) dialog. Here you can adjust the export file type, codec, and options.

• File Type:

  • Choose “MP4 Movie” for uploading to YouTube

  • Choose “Quicktime ProRes” for further editing in FCPX, Premiere Pro, or DaVinci Resolve

  • Choose “MP4 NVidia Movie” for all other platforms, especially for VR Goggles

• Stereo:

  • Choose “No Stereo” for 2D

  • Choose “Top/Bottom” for 3D

• Tick “Inject Spatial Media Metadata”

With a click on “Config” you can adjust the bitrate (quality). The higher the bitrate, the more information is saved for every frame and fewer compression artefacts are visible. The default choice is reasonable for static shots. If there’s significant movement in the scene, then we recommend to increase the bitrate.

Click on “Render” to start the stitching process.

Mistika VR will show a render progress dialog. Wait until it is complete, then open the target location and view the video.

If you use the free VLC media player to watch your 360 videos, it might not recognize the render as a 360 video even though “Inject Spatial Media Metadata” was ticked during export. Use the free Spatial Metadata Injector program to correct the meta information.

We also recommend using the Spatial Metadata Injector program before uploading a 360 video to YouTube. If you have problems running the original version on your Mac with Apple processor, try our version: SpatialMediaMetadataInjector-v2.1.1.dmg

Render settings for Oculus Quest, Pico 4 etc.

Playback on Oculus Quest 2, Pico 4 and newer

• 3D-360 (Stereoscopic):

  • Resolution: 5760x5760

  • Output Format: MP4 (H.264/H.265)

  • Codec Type: h265 codec

  • Bitrate: 130 Mbps

  • Frame Rate: as recorded (default 29.97)

• 2D-360 (Monoscopic):

  • Resolution: 8192x4096

  • Output Format: MP4 (H.264/H.265)

  • Codec Type: h265 codec

  • Bitrate: 130 Mbps

  • Frame Rate: as recorded (default 29.97)

Playback on Oculus Go and Oculus Quest

• 3D-360 (Stereoscopic):

  • Resolution: 4096x4096

  • Output Format: MP4 (H.264/H.265)

  • Codec Type: h265 codec

  • Bitrate: 100 Mbps

  • Frame Rate: as recorded (default 29.97)

• 2D-360 (Monoscopic):

  • Resolution: 5120×2560

    • Go/Quest support maximum of 5760x2880

  • Output Format: MP4 (H.264/H.265)

  • Codec Type: h264 codec

  • Bitrate: 100 Mbps

  • Frame Rate: as recorded (default 29.97)

More from the Mantis Sub Academy.

With the Mantis Sub Academy we want to provide a set of free resources to help you getting started with creating 360/VR content. Here are some more articles:

• Top 8 tips for shooting underwater 360/VR videos and photos

• How to setup Insta360 Pro2 and Mantis VR housing to shoot underwater 360/VR video

• How to shoot underwater 360/VR video with the Insta360 Pro2 and Mantis VR housing

• How to stitch underwater 360/VR video with Insta360 Stitcher