360 photo and video support

Sep 08, 2017

We've got a Ricoh Theta 360 degree camera which we're using to create immersive learning experiences.

I'm trying to find out if Storyline 360 has support for 360 photos but having 360 in the product name makes searching hard!

106 Replies
Alyssa Gomez

Hi Chris! I haven't seen any examples of 360 photos and 360 videos here in the forums, but it would certainly be worth testing. I would recommend uploading the photos/videos to a web server, then embedding them in Storyline using a Web Object.

Be sure to come back and let us know how it turns out!

Nicholas Sargent

Yes, my colleague and I trialed CenarioVR (Trivantis) and I saw a webinar for Adobe Captivate. Both had features and platforms to import 360 photos or video, then overlay hotspots that "live" in that 360 perspective. Each had triggers to perform actions like going to a new scene or panning to an object somewhere else in the 360 environment. Since we partnered with Articulate, using the 360 platform, and also would like to create these 360° experiences, we're hopeful that Arlyn will be telling us of "the new 360° feature in Articulate 360." 

Chris Reynolds

Would it assist development if we gave examples of how we'd expect to use 360 photos and videos?

My plan is to use 360 photos for orientation and compliance purposes. I work for a geographically-dispersed health service so these are likely uses:

  • Showing agency nurses the layout of a ward prior to their first shift.
  • Showing staff the building evacuation routes for remote sites before attending (this would not replace real evacuation training, but would be a placeholder in the period between entering the building and receiving that training)

I've done some work editing 360 video in Premiere Pro. That software shows the full 360 canvas as an equirectangular image. This allows me to use the normal Premiere Pro tools to layer text and graphics over the top.

Using the information provided at https://www.360rize.com/2015/02/4k-vr-360-video-what-is-it-and-how-can-i-produce-it/, a video which is viewed at 1024 pixels wide (common for many SCORM packages) would require an equirectangular image of 4096 by 2048 pixels.

If Storyline could provide a special slide which requires an equirectangular image to be used as the background, then the standard Articulate tools could be used to add labels, hotspots, triggers and timeline-based events.

When the slide is rendered (i.e. viewed in preview, or exported for web or LMS) then it is shown in a player which allows the learner to pan around the image.

The following extra triggers would be useful:

  • The ability to centre on a particular point of an image. For example, the learner clicks a button labelled "fire extinguisher" and the view pans to centre on the fire extinguisher
  • The ability to choose whether the player has buttons to control panning, whether the learner drags the image to control panning, or both or neither.

In theory, this technique could be used for video too.

 

Russ Sawchuk

I have a Ricoh Theta 360 camera and am exploring the use of 360 images and video. I got Captivate 2019 to develop and test out possible new elearning approaches. It is very easy to import the 360 images or video into Captivate and add markers to it.

There are certainly many exciting possibilities for using this software, not only for training / education, but also for virtual tours of museums, historical buildings, tourist attractions and homes for sale. So this combination expands the number of potential clients that I can serve.

However, one note of caution. I notice that working with 360 images/video requires a lot of computing power. So unless StoryLine becomes available in a 64 bit version, I don't see the 360 degree option being workable / feasible on the present SL 32 bit platform. (One thing I really love about Captivate (64 bit) is that there is no lag when using the timeline; with SL I have to wait 3 to 7 seconds every time I want to synchronize voice over with animation).

Russ

Chris Reynolds

That's a great point. If I accidentally put too many high-resolution images onto a slide, Storyline will usually crash. I've got 32Gb of RAM in my workstation, but Storyline's stubbornly refusing to access more than the 3Gb limit of a 32bit application.

360 images and photos could exacerbate this issue.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi David,

Thanks for checking in! It's not a feature we've added to Articulate 360, and we're keeping a close eye on how folks are using it within their e-learning courses.

I'm sorry to hear you'll have to leave and use Captivate for that feature alone. If you can share any examples of what you end up creating with it, our team would be interested in taking a look! 

Immersive Solutions

Hi Ashley.

We have been creating a number of these 360/VR experiences for clients already and working them into successful learning programmes. I'm happy to share some live examples showing the functionality we use and limitations in our tools that we'd be excited to see as features.

We've used Trivantis and Captivate, (and are regularly assessing other programs as they appear) but neither allow the flexibility we need in terms of design. So we are using a number of tools to get the experience we want for learners.

There have been a few requests from staff for examples, so please reach out directly if we can help. I'm a fan of your other products, and would love to be able to leverage some of the features of Storyline in this space.

MP.

Gregory Taylor

Hi, Im at the 6 month mark of waiting for 360 functionality for pictures and videos  in Articulate. I have moved on and have developed several 360 SCORMS in a competing software, ending in -A-T-E. It is very user friendly and I can create a 360 SCORM in less than 10 minutes with a photo.

I cant share my work, as my company prohibits that, but its easy to find examples. I was an avid Articulate user for many years, hope they catch up soon. Maybe you could get a subscription to the other software and play around...

 

Best,

GT

Robert Sanford

I agree, 360 video and photo functions is a must in today's world.  Technology is ever changing and this is something that could add so much interactivity to E-learning!  I work in the railroad industry and I'm thinking of uses for training for new employees so they can experience dangerous job tasks without having to be put at risk.