Spatial
Video
PRE PLANNING
The original group project plan revolved around visiting a theme park of some description, either with roller coasters or wildlife so that we could give a documentary style video about a location, or several in the same vicinity.
As a team we settled on visiting Paradise Country behind Movie world and filmed some of their wildlife and high foot traffic locations. Unfortunately we ended up filming with the camera underneath the microphone as we had jumped the gun a little and gotten over excited. This left us with footage that I was unable to use as an amateur with the software. My team mate was quite comfortable in the software and chose to use our original footage.
My backup plan involved a helmet with an attachment point for the 360 Go Pro and my bike!
RESEARCH
I really love the videos you can find of people traveling to other countries and recording their motor/speed variety sports such as;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzGPmg4fFL8
Travis Rice and his snow skiing adventures, or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Hi4NbGTKQ
Skills with Phil exploring an old quarry turned bike park.
The sense of adventure these videos express while bringing their audience with them is just a very fun experience, which really is what I'm looking at doing. I want to create an experience that people can enjoy watching while having the ability to look around. The focal point is the environment the audience is traveling through and this method of filming lets them look in any direction that interests them without them missing out.
"70 minute Virtual Cycling in 360° VR Spain to France 4K Video"
This video is a 70 minute virtual tour through Spain/France is particularly exciting for a number of reasons. The footage is incredible, shot in high quality so it feels less like watching a video and more like visiting the place yourself. Secondly there are several people in the comments making reference to using VR video's like this as interesting backgrounds for indoor bike workouts.
When I initially came up with this plan I wasn't quite sure how I would add points of interest into a bike ride, just that I needed to make sure the ride was through an interesting location. When I got home an checked the footage I was actually quite impress with all the visual points of interest throughout the park.
FIRST ATTEMPT
CRITICAL EVALUATION
This video is the first time I have setup, recorded and edited 360° VR footage and I think it came out quite interesting and well structured despite that. The captured footage itself is very simple and doesn't require a lot of fiddling. When I was viewing the footage to see what I could add or splice into it I decided that it didn't really need anything and if anything, the video, for it's purpose of exploration could only be made better by being a single take without a transition.
The transition itself is jarring because I've combined both video's backwards and the daylight feels off. I started recording this video at 7am and the sun doesn't break through the clouds until about 10 minutes after I start recording making both video's have drastically different lighting.
The editing is simplistic but I think this goes to the strength of the footage as it makes the experience flow well without feeling disorienting.
The audio of the video falls flat when the wind starts to pick up in the ride, I've managed this slightly by introducing after the fact sounds to boost interest in certain areas. I think the attempt achieved the effect but could have been done with more intent to really up the ambience.
To improve this style of video I would get a microphone that doesn't blow out when recording windy sound, perhaps place it closer to the front wheel so it can pick up the lovely spoke turning and crackle of the surfaces being ridden over. For the video itself I do believe a single recorded experience would work better or an over the top editing style that splices multiple parts of the ride in sync to a soundtrack.
FINAL
Spatial
Audio
PRE PLANNING
For the audio portion of the assignment, I knew from the outset that I wanted to reflect and respect the Aboriginal themes present throughout Bimbimba Park. The park features naturalised elements like burnt logs, native animal sculptures, and bush-inspired climbing structures. To maintain thematic consistency, I decided that the audio should complement and enhance what was visually being experienced during the bike ride.
Given that the assignment's focus was on spatial video, I knew I would be working with ambisonic audio. However, I wasn't initially sure how to make a simple ride through a park feel engaging purely through sound. This led me to lean into the cultural theming of the space. I incorporated didgeridoo elements in areas with strong native architectural features, and layered in a rich ambient bed of native bird sounds such as cockatoos, kookaburras, and pigeons. Directional audio cues were used to highlight points of interest, with bird calls panned toward specific sculptures or landscape features to subtly draw the viewer's attention.
Research
While researching, I found very limited practical examples of 360° audio use in similar projects. As a result, I drew inspiration from cinema and the way theatres use sound to guide emotion and atmosphere. I aimed to replicate that same situational awareness and mood-building in a VR context, focusing on matching sound to sight in a way that would feel intuitive and immersive. The idea was less about technical fidelity and more about narrative enhancement, making sure each moment in the park felt connected and cohesive.
Process
Initially, I attempted to record custom audio from a speaker placed in multiple locations, but I quickly realised that this method was both impractical and unintuitive for a 360° context. When played back in headphones, I found it difficult to determine the source direction of the sounds, which was especially challenging given my personal sensory sensitivities. The lack of a visual interface for spatial audio in Premiere Pro made this task more difficult. Something similar to the XYZ rotation handles found in 3D modelling software would have helped tremendously.
Ultimately, I returned to a simpler solution. I selected and arranged royalty-free sound clips sourced from Pixabay.com, focusing on clear, high-quality recordings that felt natural within the park environment. On my final edit pass, I applied the ambisonic settings from a neutral, forward-facing position. While editing, I avoided using tilt and roll controls due to their unpredictability and lack of visual feedback, and instead focused on horizontal panning to position audio cues relative to the viewer.
A significant hurdle came when I accidentally enabled the binauralizer setting, which downmixed the audio to stereo. I found myself confused and frustrated that my spatial edits weren’t having any effect, only to later realise that this setting was the issue. Disabling it brought clarity back to the editing process.
Critical Evaluation
Despite the technical frustrations and time constraints, I’m genuinely pleased with how the final audio track fits within the overall video. The spatial cues feel appropriate to the environment, and the Aboriginal theming, particularly the didgeridoo soundtrack, helps solidify the mood and ties the experience together in a way that feels respectful and grounded.
There’s still much I’d like to improve. I wasn’t able to explore tilt and roll functionality in full, and I suspect a deeper understanding of those tools would have improved the sense of immersion. Given more time, I would have liked to experiment with recording and designing my own soundscape entirely, one tailored from the ground up for the space and purpose of the project.
That said, for a first attempt at using spatial audio in a 360° context, I feel the outcome is pleasant, cohesive, and thematically on point. It’s a strong starting point for future projects, and one I look forward to building on with more technical proficiency.
FINAL
Fox and Nightcrawler
Final Project
Pre Planning
To begin this project, we developed a clear concept: two characters interacting in a surreal, artful manner. From the outset, our aim was to reimagine the familiar through the lens of the strange. With this in mind, we chose the Southbank Parklands as our primary location. It’s a culturally active and well-maintained space, often bustling with life, which made it ideal for a project exploring hidden meaning and perception in familiar environments.
We visited the site in advance to sketch a basic floor plan, mapping character entrances and exits and identifying areas for prop placement. These props would contribute to the absurdity and visual intrigue of the final film. We planned to shoot at night, using low lighting to our advantage while avoiding crowds. We also scheduled alternate shooting dates in case of weather disruptions.
A few days before filming, we finalised our script and selected props. One humorous detail was the inclusion of a dictionary as Fox’s reading material, intended as a subtle, blink-and-miss-it visual gag. The Nightcrawlers costume was handmade by my mother, Kitty, and cost around $80 to produce, a detail that highlights the personalised and handcrafted nature of the work.
Research
Our visual and narrative style draws inspiration from a mix of horror game aesthetics and avant-garde storytelling. Games like Five Nights at Freddy’s and Dead by Daylight influenced our use of glitch effects and environmental tension, while the narrative absurdity has roots in Looney Tunes and surreal theatre. We wanted the project to sit somewhere between unsettling and ridiculous, evoking both tension and humour.
We also explored conceptual ideas behind the use of cryptids and myth. In this project, cryptids aren’t merely strange creatures, they are symbols of how people interpret the unknown. The character of Nightcrawler acts as an outsider, unfamiliar with the setting, while Fox represents someone used to the surreal becoming ordinary. This dynamic allowed us to explore themes of familiarity, curiosity, and the human tendency to create meaning in otherwise mundane spaces.
The 360 format plays an important role in reinforcing this concept. By giving the viewer control over where to look, we mimic the same decision our characters face: what to pay attention to, and what to ignore. The viewer becomes complicit in the act of noticing (or missing) key moments. It challenges passive consumption by requiring active, self-directed observation.
Sound was also a crucial consideration. Drawing from immersive audio principles, we used ambient cues to gently guide the viewer’s focus without overt direction. This helped maintain a sense of presence while reinforcing the strange, immersive tone of the environment.
Process
The filming process went smoothly. We captured all necessary footage and audio in one evening, only re-recording a few shots due to costume visibility issues. Fortunately, the overcast sky kept the park relatively quiet, allowing us uninterrupted access to the space.
Video Editing
The editing process was complex but rewarding. I initially tried applying glitch effects to each clip individually, but this quickly became messy and inconsistent. Realising that nesting allowed effects to be applied uniformly across multiple layers, I restructured the timeline. This made it much easier to manage masked elements and to overlay effects, such as the “thrown cup” that needed to appear behind Nightcrawler using a feathered still image.
Learning to use nested sequences was a breakthrough, it allowed greater control and reduced visual clutter. By the end, I had achieved a more cohesive glitch effect that followed Nightcrawler throughout the video.
Audio Editing
Editing audio was comparatively straightforward, though synchronising it with the 360 visual orientation was more challenging than expected. Spatial audio doesn’t automatically rotate with the video’s directional focus, which made placing sounds precisely a matter of careful trial and error.
One technique that proved useful involved duplicating and reversing audio to extend its length. Ambient sound from the location was combined with a bubbling stream sample from a previous project to fill the environment with texture and mood.
