My Raw Editing Workflow For 360 VR Photos

UPDATE 2/7/2024 As of the 2024 update to Photoshop, most of the 3D capabilities leveraged for this tutorial have been removed by Adobe, so it's back to the classic method if you're using up-to-date Photoshop. I outlined my process here a few years ago: • How To Remove A Tripod... but I've made some refinements to this technique that I'll be sharing in an upcoming video that helps avoid the small amount of detail loss from the Polar Coordinates wrap/unwrap.
In this episode I outline my RAW workflow for 360 / VR photos from capture all the way through to final export. From the difference between Stereo-Spherical and Rectilinear images to the advantages of editing with 3D Spherical Panorama Layers, this one's got all the goodies if you're jumping into the deep end with 360 editing. Enjoy!

[@william8049]

I don't know why you don't have more views. This is the best 360 workflow tutorial out there. It's 2022 now!
It needs an update because Adobe dropped most of the 3D functions, and even though they have the "sphere panorama" option,
it doesn't work correctly anymore. I'm sure that is driving everyone nuts thinking they are doing something wrong.
everyone let me save you some time, and DON'T USE PHOTOSHOP ( check time stamp in case Adobe brings back the 3D functions)

[@drewcain]

Thanks William, and Yes, Adobe killed 3D so for anyone who's updated their PS, this is now irrelevant I guess. I have an older workflow here on my channel that uses Polar Coordinates, which does still work but results in very slight image quality loss. I'm working on a new workflow that will still be viable with just Photoshop, but I think a Flexify + Photoshop combo workflow is probably going to be my new personal flow. Thanks for your comment.

[@robert-zech]

Thanks for your video! Was very helpful to me 🙏🏻

[@kuwaitsignal]

Great video Drew thank you!!

[@Lunacrater]

Well done!

[@TechAbhijat]

That was so helpful. Thank you so much.

[@CJA934]

Thank you very much for the time and quality you put on your videos.

[@drewcain]

Thank you!

[@VadimMityura]

Simply and Great!

[@doctordarre]

tnx

[@DannyPeron]

thanks for the tips!

[@RobbieCornelius]

Thanks for this

[@gabrielpludwinski4090]

Would love to see your workflow for combining exposures, thanks Drew.

[@gabrielpludwinski4090]

You should also make a video providing your insight on comparing One X2's HDR, AEB, Pureshot, modes and how what might be best for certain scenarios. There is a lot of paths to take concerning the overall workflow so seeing yours would greatly help me and many others. Thanks

[@Inyuasha6]

Great video, really helped me out 👍

[@drewcain]

Glad to hear it!

[@maxobermeier922]

Very nice video, thank you:-)

[@MylonasFilms]

cool vid man

[@passionate_photographer]

very informative video……..great

[@rickkremer0525]

Great tutorial. So, I was wondering. Have you tried recently to do this with the new Photoshop 2022, specifically trying to stack DNG night shots taken with the One X2? When I stack the DNG, i get some awful seams throughout the image. Thank you, Rick

[@JohnMRaggio]

Liked the video. Thanks. When you say "rectilinear", I think you mean "equirectangular". That is the 360 format in a single image as compared to the double fisheye view or stereoscopic view. Rectilinear I believe is just a standard image.

[@drewcain]

Yep, I think you're right John. I could have used you 5 months ago when I had the wrong word stuck in my head :)

[@franciswong26]

Thanks for your video! How about the metadata after processing?

[@kberwager]

Nice video! Do you have a technique to add zoom kinda like if a rover slowly drives into the 360 photo? Or add a zoom effect into the 360 photo without it looking super distorted? I use a remote control rover to shoot 360 video but wanted to simplify and just use 360 photos and just add a movement/zoo effect. Let me know if it’s something that can be done???

[@21lottel]

Hi … I love your tv cabinet. I was wondering who did it for you?

[@mattisrobowski]

The 3D-Workspace in Photoshop doesn't work anymore... What would you consider the best Way to remove a tripod now...?

[@AlanBennettphotography]

Great question! Drew, any ideas for this please?

[@mattisrobowski]

@@AlanBennettphotography here is the solution! Works even better than the 3d workspace in my opinion! th-cam.com/video/iRtUcW6itRY/w-d-xo.html

[@william8049]

Look for Affinity Photo tutorials (that was my answer so far)

[@natalyyordan9141]

Thank you for this video, I have one more tip with apply image and fill tool for my workflow. :)
But I still cannot figure out why my all RAW panoramas (saved in DNG), after editing in Lightroom and having a decent look while in rectangular form, turn into horrible look when converted into 3D in Photoshop. Something happens will all the colors during conversion, and they become extremely oversaturated and harsh. When I open up rectangular spherical map of that photo it looks exactly same as was before, so it only happens in 3D. This way it makes it impossible to do some final edits.
One more strange thing that when I export all files in JPEG from Lightroom in sRGB color space, then 3D mode works fine without these tweaked colors. All this puzzles me, have you faced same problem before? Any ideas why this might happen? Obviously it destructs my work. Thank you

[@drewcain]

Hey Nataly! The only thing I can think of for your RAW to 3D color issue is that maybe your colorspace in Lightroom is off (try to keep them in sRGB), also, make sure you are using an 8bit bit depth, I've had higher bit depth images cause issues when features like 3D.

[@zvjezdanalastre]

I have the same problem

[@mkc1rrc]

Cant I simply convert to jpeg into the VR headset using the insp files? (if I'm not concerned with the professional looking tripod delete stuff that is)

[@drewcain]

Of course, that's always an option if you don't care about the tripod. In that case you can export the .jpg straight from Insta360 Studio and drop it right into your headset.

[@carlitosliontv4590]

any idea why I can't see the stiching and calibrate options on my insta360 studio. Im on a MacBook Pro. I have try deferent versions old a new updates and NOTHING !!!! any advise anybody? Thanks

[@drewcain]

Hey Carlitos, I have no idea why you wouldn't have a Calibrate button showing up. Are you editing a RAW or .INSV file? (not that that should make a difference). Have you tried to message Insta360? They've been pretty responsive to emails I've sent them in the past.

[@carlitosliontv4590]

@@drewcain yes I have try raw and jpeg, no luck. I will try to contact them. thanks for you time. Great work on your channel. greetings from Puerto Rico.

[@Chriswoodworker]

Does all this still work in Photoshop 2024?

[@drewcain]

Good question. As of the 2024 version of Photoshop, Adobe has sunset the 3D features this tutorial relies on, so it's back to the traditional way of doing this for now. I outlined that process a few years ago -- here's a link to that video: th-cam.com/video/iRtUcW6itRY/w-d-xo.html ... I've since refined this process a little bit to reduce the slight bit of detail shift created in the Polar Coordinates wrap/unwrap steps and am hoping to put together a quick new tutorial in the near future.