The following article pertains to Player V2. For Player V7, see 360 & VR.
About
The 'video360' plugin and VR are included in the Kaltura v2 Player, which supports 360° video and VR on both desktop and mobile browsers for any kind of motion - mouse, touch, device motion, and keyboard keys. Immersive videos, also known as 360 videos, 360-degree videos, or spherical videos, are video recordings of a real-world panorama, where the view in every direction is recorded at the same time, shot using an omnidirectional camera or a collection of cameras.
Kaltura supports navigation using the mouse or keyboard (using WASD keys) as well as touch on mobile devices.
Use cases for 360 / VR are varied and include university lectures, conferences, sports events, and more.
Kaltura provides the following infrastructure to upload and play 360 / VR videos on both web and mobile devices:
Ingestion and requirements
- Ingest your asset as usual, via either the KMC or APIs.
- 360° / VR videos can only be viewed when the 360 / VR plugin is enabled. To learn more, click here.
- Tag the entry “360”. Tagging the entry is required as the player will only enable 360 navigation on entries that are tagged "360". For more information, see Adding 360 tag.
Playback
The Kaltura Player will play inband multi-audio tracks based on the underlying delivery format.
- Dash
- HLS
- HSS
- H264 CODEC is supported.
Supported Browsers and OSs
- Chrome, Safari, Edge, IE11 on Windows 8 and up
- Firefox on Windows 8.1 and up
- Chrome on Android 4.3 and up
- Chrome on Mac 10.11
Supported VR headsets
- The plugin has been tested with Google Cardboard, Daydream, Indie VR, and Gear VR.
VR Flashvars
- "enable_vr": true, // vr enabled (default); This means the VR plugin is enabled and 360 videos can be watched i n VR mode
- "auto_load": false // do not start with vr mode (default): When auto_load=true, the video will load in VR mode (i.e., in split screen mode compatible with a VR device)
Notes
- For viewing 360 videos in Safari on MAC / mobile iOS Devices, the following UI variable needs to be set on the player forceSameDomainOnIOS = true. For more details, see Adding UI Variables. In addition, the video should be served from the same domain.
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Using the 360 plugin on Safari, IE11 and Microsoft Edge requires configuring CORS header. If you are using Kaltura’s Backend, we have already configured this for you. If you are using remote storage, please contact your CDN provider to configure CORS headers.
- The Player does not currently support mixed playlists of both 360 and non-360 content. All entries in the playlist must of the same type.
- VR is only available on 360 entries and only when the 360 plugin is enabled.
Setup
To enable the video 360° / VR plugin in the Kaltura v2 Player
- Verify that you are using Kaltura Web Video Player 2.54 or later.
- In the KMC select the Universal Studio.
- Select a player from your player list.
- Click the Plugins icon and check the 360 videos checkbox.
- Save the Player Settings.
- Choose a video entry that is tagged as 360. For more information about tagging entries see How to add or remove tags to or from a KMC entry?
- 360 and VR are now enabled on your player.
- If you wish to disable VR, use the vr=false //vr disabled flashvar.
- To reanable VR, use the vr=true //vr enabled flashvar.
- To load the entry in VR mode automatically (i.e, in split screen) use the vrMode=true flashvar.
- To watch a video on a VR headset, you will need to click the binoculars icon, highlighted in red above, which will enter stereoscopic view, and put the device into a VR headset.
The following is an example of a 360 video.
