Working with 2D elements in immersive media production

Understanding these basic principles when adding titles and 2D graphics will help to generate graphic elements that are legible in VR and positioned correctly for stereoscopic content.

DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere have built in features that take a 2D image and place it into the 360 space. This is the best way to add titles and picture-in-picture effects. To accomplish this in another NLE such as Sony Vegas or to access additional capabilities, BorisFX makes a suite of VR tools that can help.

When creating motion graphics or titles it's important to follow these guidelines for best quality:

• To minimize the aliasing of fine details, create the canvas or sequence size of your graphic at a 1:1 square ratio with the height of your final sequence size equal to the height of a single eye’s resolution. This aspect ratio and resolution seems to work best with the reprojection done by the plug in. For example, if you are targeting 5760x2880 as your final resolution, create your graphics in a sequence that is 2880x2880. If working in Top/Bottom stereoscopic you should still create your sequence for a single eye; still 2880x2880.
• All graphics and text should be centered in the canvas. Failure to do so will cause the projection to be incorrectly distorted on the sphere, as shown below.

When creating motion graphics or titles it's important to follow these guidelines for best quality:

• To minimize the aliasing of fine details, create the canvas or sequence size of your graphic at a 1:1 square ratio with the height of your final sequence size equal to the height of a single eye’s resolution. This aspect ratio and resolution seems to work best with the reprojection done by the plug in. For example, if you are targeting 5760x2880 as your final resolution, create your graphics in a sequence that is 2880x2880. If working in Top/Bottom stereoscopic you should still create your sequence for a single eye; still 2880x2880.
• All graphics and text should be centered in the canvas. Failure to do so will cause the projection to be incorrectly distorted on the sphere, as shown below.

• The graphic or text should be as large as possible without reaching the edge of its image canvas. This will give you the maximum resolution when resizing the 2D image. A large graphic won’t lose any quality if shown very large in the scene, and it will simply get sharper if it is scaled down. If any part of the graphic reaches the edge of its canvas (glows or drop shadows can be particularly tricky) a line will be visible where it is effectively cropped off.
• Export your motion graphics or text with an alpha channel.

Once the assets are ready they can be imported and positioned in the sphere.

When working with stereoscopic media, be sure to also place the graphics in z-depth by using the convergence or disparity slider. It is strongly recommended to have VR headset preview enabled when checking the depth of 2D elements. Incorrectly placing these will make the video uncomfortable or difficult to watch.

If access to a compatible VR headset is not possible, using an anaglyph view and some basic Red/Cyan 3D glasses can help you make a rough estimate of the distance before exporting to check a render on a headset.

To access anaglyph mode in Premiere Pro:

1. Select the wrench icon in the program monitor
2. Choose VR Video -> Settings
3. Change the stereoscopic view to "Anaglyph"

To access anaglyph mode in DaVinci Resolve:

1. Go to the Fusion page
2. Click the three dots at the top-right of the media preview
3. From the Stereo submenu, make sure Enabled is selected

To access anaglyph mode in Final Cut Pro:

1. Show the 360 Viewer
2. Open the Settings menu at the top-right of the viewer
3. Choose Anaglyph, Anaglyph Monochrome or Anaglyph Outline