[RNLD] 360 video cameras

[Randy J. LaPolla]

Hi All,
I asked some colleagues of mine who have been using 360 degree cameras for Conversational Analysis. They mentioned that their audio recording is not that great, and they do have an issue with fish-eye vision when played on VLC. They also mentioned that the bhp one mentioned in this thread is too cumbersome to use.

Randy
-----
Randy J. LaPolla, PhD FAHA （羅仁地）
Professor of Linguistics, with courtesy appointment in Chinese, School of Humanities 
Nanyang Technological University
HSS-03-45, 48 Nanyang Avenue | Singapore 639818
http://randylapolla.net/
Most recent books:
The Sino-Tibetan Languages, 2nd Edition (2017)
https://www.routledge.com/The-Sino-Tibetan-Languages-2nd-Edition/LaPolla-Thurgood/p/book/9781138783324 <https://www.routledge.com/The-Sino-Tibetan-Languages-2nd-Edition/LaPolla-Thurgood/p/book/9781138783324>
Sino-Tibetan Linguistics (2018)
https://www.routledge.com/Sino-Tibetan-Linguistics/LaPolla/p/book/9780415577397 <https://www.routledge.com/Sino-Tibetan-Linguistics/LaPolla/p/book/9780415577397>



> On 14 Sep 2019, at 3:54 AM, Bradley McDonnell <mcdonn at hawaii.edu> wrote:
> 
> Dear all, 
> 
> In case anyone is interested in using 360 video cameras, I received a very informative response from Mark Sicoli. I have included it below with his permission. 
> 
> Thanks to Lise Dobrin for forwarding my message to him!
> 
> Brad
> 
> On Wed, Sep 11, 2019 at 12:17 AM Sicoli, Mark A (mas8ad) <mas8ad at virginia.edu <mailto:mas8ad at virginia.edu>> wrote:
> Hi Brad,
> 
> This was forwarded to me by my colleague Lise Dobrin. I’ve been using 360 cameras for a few years mainly supervising student fieldwork use and exploring the affordances for analysis in my multimodal interaction seminar. I’m currently developing a VR viewing platform that would allow a class (or other group up to 20) to simultaneously view 360 footage through VR headsets for group discussion/workshopping of video from the inside so to speak. It would support subtitling, laser pointing, communication between viewers, and some coding. It will be freely available when it’s done (we’re hoping to be testing this fall and sharing in the spring). Some uses I’m looking forward to are advisor/student meetings where we can work with fieldwork videos, group data sessions, and participatory methods with community members using immersive playback.
> 
>  
> 
> I have not used the camera you linked to, though it looks right for the job both in terms of video and sound. The files are large and the image area large as well so usually HD images don’t seem quite as HD as standard framed video (because distributed over larger space). Though what you are looking at seems as good as things get. I generally recommend that fieldworkers also have a standard framed video camera in their toolkit whether a camcorder or one of a variety of sport cameras and also another point of sound capture in a digital audio recorder. One caution is to check the recording time of the units. Some devices have very short recording times (1/2 hour or less) and others longer so check into that before purchasing to be sure the imagined use matches capability (also another reason to pack a standard video camera as well).
> 
>  
> 
> I do like the way the little orbs of the 360 camera units attract less attention to themselves generally than tripod/camera/mic assemblages. They can of course be set up on tripods, but can also just sit on a table.
> 
>  
> 
> More editors are able to work with 360 video to edit and export 360 content in archivable formats, and to convert the video-in-the-round to ELAN friendly formats like rectilinear (unrolled) video. And allow a user to select rectangular framed segments to export as clips or edit a “tour” where one can export rectangular framed video that follows action around the 360 space.
> 
>  
> 
> Let me know if you have any questions. All in all I think packing a 360 camera will have positive benefits for language documentation projects and ethnographic research and should become a standard tool in our field kits. The format adds useful affordances especially when paired with VR headset viewing from the POV of the camera affording a better perspective in interparticipant/object relations in the space, tracking eye gaze, deictic gestures, ability to immerse viewers in your field site and to revisit our own fieldsites in a way that would prompt memory and new insights beyond fieldnotes, audio recordings, or standard framed video.
> 
>  
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Mark Sicoli
> 
> -- 
> 
> Dr. Mark A. Sicoli
> 
> Assistant Professor
> 
> Department of Anthropology
> 
> Interdepartmental Program in Linguistics
> 
> University of Virginia
> 
>  
> 
> Acknowledgement: We at UVa are on land under the traditional custodianship of the Monacan Indian Nation. We honor their elders past and present.
> 
>  
> 
> 
> --
> Bradley McDonnell
> Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
> Book Review Editor, Language Documentation & Conservation <http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/>
> Organizer, International Conference on Language Documentation & Conservation 2021 <http://icldc-hawaii.org/>
> 
> 
> On Tue, Sep 10, 2019 at 2:01 PM Bradley McDonnell <mcdonn at hawaii.edu <mailto:mcdonn at hawaii.edu>> wrote:
> Dear all, 
> 
> I'm interested in buying a 360 video camera, such as this one <https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1382310-REG/vuze_vuze_4k_3d_360.html>, and using it in a documentation project primarily to record conversations, which would of course be transcribed in ELAN. I'm curious about any advice in purchasing one and/or positive/negative experiences using such a camera and processing/archiving its video files. 
> 
> Thanks, 
> Brad
> --
> Bradley McDonnell
> Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
> Book Review Editor, Language Documentation & Conservation <http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/>
> Organizer, International Conference on Language Documentation & Conservation 2021 <http://icldc-hawaii.org/>
> 

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