Back at Google I/O few months ago, the company has announced an initiative called Jump which is meant to drive the creation of contents for virtual reality. As part of the initiative, Google has planned to release a blueprint that details out on how to build a proper camera rig that is suitable to shoot 360-degrees contents.
However, there is another option for content creators that prefer to have a ready-made rig. This is where the new GoPro Odyssey comes into the picture.
As mentioned earlier on, Google Jump’s rig is made out of 16 cameras which is the reason why Odyssey has that many HERO4 Black cameras with custom firmware in the set. Apart from the 16 cameras and circular panaoramic capture rig, the Odyssey set also comes with 16 array BacPacs, 16 microSD cards, a Zoom H2N microphone, and a custom-built Pelican case.
Once loaded, the rig apparently weights at around 6.57 kg. After conversion by the Jump’s assembly, the final result from this rig will be a 2k x 2k over under panoramic MPEG4 video with a bit rate of 150 Mbit/s or users can also opt for 8k x 8k resolution at 600 Mbit/s.
However, Odyssey will be made available only to select professionals which will have to apply for it from GoPro. Not to forget, the rig doesn’t come cheap at USD 15,000 (RM 64,868). Hence, you might want to wait for this six-camera Spherical Array instead.
[Source: GoPro]
