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This slick new 360 format choreographs the video with the viewer’s movements

Hillary K. Grigonis
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PanoMoments - Demo
Videographers now have a new format to experiment with without spending money on more gear. PanoMoments is a short-form 360-degree content that coordinates the movement in the video with the viewer’s position. After funding on Kickstarter, PanoMoments software launched to the public on Thursday, February 1.

The effect is similar to a living photo, but in 360 where the motion in the scene depends on the viewer’s position within that video.

As the viewer clicks around the 360 view — or looks around using a virtual reality headset — the motion in the scene coordinates with that user motion. The effect is similar to a living photo, but in 360 where the motion in the scene depends on the viewer’s position within that video. For example, if you have a 360 video of a bunch of kids jumping off a pier into the water, as you pan to the right, that jump starts. Stop moving and the video stops. Move to the left instead, and the motion plays out in reverse.

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PanoMoments works with any 360 camera that shoots in the standard, stitched equirectangular format. The format works best when the video is shot from a stationary, or unmoving, position, and videos between 5 and 10 seconds in length work with the software. Moving shots still have their place, however, and create more depth using motion parallax, the company says. Timelapses are also compatible. After creating the living 360 image with the software, the content is then available from the PanoMoments viewer for sharing. Playback is possible on VR headsets, smartphones, tablets, computers and even 60-inch screen advertising kiosks.

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PanoMoments’ creators said that the format allows for creatives to control which part of the video the viewer sees from which direction. “We see PanoMoments as a creative VR medium and have always been driven by the desire to see what the community’s imagination can bring to the format,” PanoMoments CEO Dustin Kerstein said.

PanoMoments’ public launch follows a successful Kickstarter that raised more than $10,000 at the end of 2016 to help bring the software to market. The startup is based in New York City.

PanoMoments is free to try with a basic membership with 20 GB of storage. Embedding PanMoments into another site is only available with the pro membership, which includes 500 GB of storage for $10 a month.

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Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary K. Grigonis
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
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