How to make 360-degree videos and upload them to YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo

You can upload 360-degree videos to YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo, but to do so you need to follow a very simple procedure

Making 360-degree videos is the trend of the moment. On the various social it is increasingly easy to find this kind of footage. Also because they are fun and often go viral. They are also widely used by companies and businesses. But let's see how to make and publish 360-degree videos on social networks like Facebook and YouTube.

Before understanding on which platforms to share this kind of 360-degree videos, let's understand how we can make them the best and in a simple way. There are basically two ways to make such footage. We can use commercially available cameras that have this functionality like the Nikon KeyMission 360. Or we can make this kind of shooting by using the appropriate applications to be installed on our smartphone. Both on Google Play Store and App Store alternatives for 360-degree videos are not lacking.

Platforms where to share 360-degree videos

Now let's move on to the most fun aspect, or sharing with friends. There are basically three platforms that are most used by users that also support 360-degree footage. We are talking about Facebook, Vimeo and YouTube. On these three services it will be very easy to share your panoramic videos and you don't need to have great skills to do so. If you're a frequent Twitter user, remember that Periscope also allows you to shoot live with the 360-degree feature.

How to upload 360-degree videos to Facebook

Uploading a 360-degree video to Facebook is really easy. To do so, just go to the area dedicated to our posts and choose to upload a file under Photos and Videos. To ensure that the video uploaded optimally go to Advanced Settings, within the settings of the video, and check the box next to the voice "This video was made in 360-degree format". In this way we can also adjust the video manually so that it is not formatted incorrectly. At this point the game is done, just publish it to see it on our page or on our profile. Remember that Facebook supports 360-degree videos with a maximum size of 5GB.

How to upload 360-degree videos to YouTube

Sharing 360-degree videos on YouTube is not complicated, but you have to be a bit more careful than when you do the same on Facebook. First of all we have to verify that the file we are going to upload contains the metadata for 360° shooting, otherwise it won't be compatible. This means that if the 360-degree camera doesn't automatically include this information, you'll need to download the Spatial Media Metadata Injector app for YouTube. This app is available for both MacOS and Windows. Once you've done this, just launch the application and select the item "My video is 360°". This way YouTube will be able to read it as a panoramic movie. At this point save the video and give it a name. Afterwards just go to the YouTube home page, log in to our account, and upload the new 360° video as if it were any other video uploaded so far. Be careful, this kind of footage takes a while to format and upload. So let's make sure we have time before starting the process. Then remember that 360-degree videos uploaded to YouTube are only supported within certain browsers, such as Chrome, Opera, Firefox and Internet Explorer.

How to upload 360-degree videos to Vimeo

Vimeo has been working hard to ensure the highest quality of videos uploaded to its users, so much so that the service even supports 8K. Uploading 360-degree videos on this platform works very similar to Facebook. So, first we go to our profile and click on the appropriate item to upload a new video. At this point we choose our file and check the box that says "This video was made in 360 degrees. The platform will ask us if it is a monoscopic or stereoscopic video, that is, if it was made with a single camera or with multiple devices. At this point, if we are familiar, we will be able to use various advanced functions to edit the video otherwise we will just set the default features and upload the video. Before publishing, remember to include a title and tags. The 360-degree videos on Vimeo are also compatible with some VR headsets like the Samsung Gear VR and Google's Daydream.