Spherical 360 Degree Videos
Click on any preview image below and a new YouTube window will open in your browser and you will be able to drag your mouse or finger around in the window to look around the entire scene while the video is playing. If you switch to fullscreen view you may also be able to zoom in or out using the mouse's scroll wheel or using two fingers on a touch screen. The gear icon near the lower right corner of the screen followed by selecting "Quality" will allow you to select the highest resolution offered, preferably "4K" (not "Auto"). Even if your monitor doesn't support 4K resolution, it will still work, as you are only viewing a portion of that 4K image on your monitor. So "4K" just gives you the best resolution for whatever portion of the entire image you are viewing.
The following two 360° video clips were taken in the Galapagos. I included them on this page so viewers could compare the 2 clips and see how two different ways of mounting/holding the Insta360 X4 camera affects the quality of the recording and the 360° experience.
I recorded the poor quality clip on the left with my camera attached to the snorkel above my mask. Since I'm not a very experienced snorkeler, that camera location was not a good choice since everything was recorded from the water's surface. Compare that to the video on the right recorded with the same camera by our Galapagos tour leader Alberto. He hand held the camera and also dove below the water's surface to capture another iguana feeding on the algae found on the underwater rocks.
Previously, my 360° video adventures were with hand held cameras, however I recently purchased an Antigravity A1 drone that records 360° images and videos. So I am now able to take 360° videos from the skies and use the keyframe capabilities found in Insta360 Studio or Antigravity Studio to create standard 2D videos up to 4K resolution (here is a sample from a section of the Rio Grande River near Creede, Colorado). However this page only links to the full 360° videos recorded by the A1 drone, including the original 360° recording along the Rio Grande used to create the 2D video mentioned previously.