GoPro’s Six-Camera Omni Virtual Reality Rig Goes On Sale August 17th

If you are interested in creating 360° VR content, then perk up your ears. GoPro’s Six Camera Omni will be available for sale on August 17th for $5,000 USD. 

The Omni is a six-camera rig that relies upon pixel-level synchronization. This synchronization allows the six cameras to act as one. If the user adjusts something on the primary camera, the other cameras will adjust accordingly. The Omni cannot function unless all of the cameras are in the same mode and functioning SD cards are in place.

omni display

The camera is made from aluminum in order to dissipate heat, withstand falls, and rig components can be easily replaced if necessary. The Omni can be powered through an external battery pack or from the individual HERO4 Black batteries. The HERO4 Black batteries can be removed to further dissipate heat. Users will also be able to quickly preview, edit, and stitch their content.

The Omni Importer is part of the all-inclusive package. It features AVP 2.5 software and works only with the Omni rig. Users will be able to insert their SD card into their USB hub and preview stitch, rename, trim, color correct, stabilize, and render their images. The Omni Importer “will now get you 90-100% of the way there”.


Users can also utilize AVP and NLE plugins to manually stitch their images. Plugins for Adobe Premier enable users to view their content on an Oculus headset as they edit. The plugin “reframe” will allow users to render their content in 2D. Once they are done editing, users can share their content on the GoPro player or app.

snowboarder

$5,0000 is a huge chunk of change, but cheaper and more accessible than GoPro's $15,000 Odyssey package or Facebook's $30,000 Surround 360 platform. The Omni rig will be available by itself for $1,500 to customers who already own HERO4 Black cameras. These customers, however, will need to make sure to install Omni-specific firmware.
Tags:  camera, gopro, VR, nasdaq:gpro