BEST 3D Spatial Audio Workflow for Meta Quest & YouTube VR | FB360 Encoder NO FFmpeg Error

[@hughhou]

[ UPDATED in 7-1-2023 - 100% working ] For anyone having a tough time installing the FB360 Encoder - FFMpeg error or can't render correctly - please try these fixes: 1. Use this link to download the whole install package (NEW 2023 solution - work for both Win 10 / 11 and MacOS 😍): bit.ly/3CUcrGn 2. FFmpeg has to be version 3.2 not higher or lower. 3. GPAC version has to be 0.08.1 4. Python version has to be 2.7.x not 3.x.x Hopefully, all these tips help anyone having trouble. Mac, it is easier than PC as well. So if it is still not working, borrow an old Mac from your friends :) [ UPDATE in 12-1-2023 - 100% working V2] Here is a link for another dist from my personal G-drive: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gWWvKAsQt7DGb1Em0WQTFnnNrSAPAfuW 1. Just install and no need to worry about FFMPEG, it will install for you. It will just work. 2. GPAC 0.8.1 : drive.google.com/file/d/16QYbAeg_HkwMmhYhfE26E_0hT8yPYNHi/ 3. Python this version work for me: www.python.org/downloads/release/python-2718/ 4. Install all three components, go to FB360 Encoder - Options - Preferences - point your python path and GPAC path to your installation folder paths and you are good to go. Comment here if you still having problem.

[@georgecawood3457]

Hey Hugh trying to figure this out and the link doesn't work- help?? (on a mac)

[@karenwhiteg]

Hugh link is not working😥 Have u ever worked the whole sound design only with noisemakers? avoiding all the tricks and annoying hacks to make FB360 work?

[@marting974]

Link is not working, can't makes FB360 work on Mac :(

[@KelvinChiuFilms]

Link isn't working :(

[@mitsuperboy]

Hi Hugh I just did these steps on windows 10 and its say no ffmpg installed where shoud i put ffmeg in windows to make it work? Tim

[@hughhou]

For example concert created with this workflow on Meta Quest 2: creator.oculus.com/community/3081175775539139/231962938894494/ (listen with a nice headphone please on Meta Quest 2)

[@hughhou]

There are not many ambisonic concert examples except the official Oculus production. I hope after this tutorial, the more spatial audio VR experience is popping up. Audio help further remove motion sickness and provide real immersion. Well worth the trouble to do it right!

[@stargazer_video]

Very happy to have an update on this. I wish there was an alternative by now to FB 360 encoder. I use AudioEase for the same process. Have you tried it? It looks like basically the same workflow we use.

[@hughhou]

I have not use AudioEase yet but I will check it out. Thanks for the tips!

[@QuidProQuoGroup]

Amazing video! thank you so much!!! Extremely helpful!

[@hughhou]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ShinilPayamal]

Thanks for the awesome video.

[@hughhou]

You bet!

[@TonyWhitehead]

Looking forward to this.

[@hughhou]

It is out now :)

[@ten_kim]

Thanks!!!

[@dagdaanu1157]

Brilliant! Thank you

[@hughhou]

Glad it is helpful!

[@sturm3n]

Really looking forward to the next tutorial describing how to do all of this with Davinci Resolve!

[@hughhou]

Coming soon!

[@captteemo9133]

@@hughhou I am still waiting :( Thanks for your awesome tutorials by the way!

[@MINRoadkill]

@@captteemo9133 I too would like to have this tutorial done in Resolve.

[@PP3D]

Excellent tutorial Hugh, thanks a lot.

[@CharlesVerron]

Thanks Hugh ! This is a very informative tutorial, we'll recommend it to all folks wanting to learn the 3D audio workflow.

[@lixinzhao6987]

很好！明白！

[@worldscalephotography]

Awesome as usual!!! :) would love to see a tutorial on how to do it in FL Studio or Resolve

[@Virtuonaute]

I'd love to see a resolve tutorial too! I wish spatial audio could be done straight in resolve!

[@paloaltoinfo]

Thanks for your work Hugh, I hope to have the opportunity to get some kind of workshop from you in Los Angeles (I’m from Italy but I’m planning a trip to LA) Unfortunately I’m having troubles with my audio workflow ‘cause I only have my macbook M1 😅 Hope to get someone fix this lack of encoder issue for apple M1 machines soon, or my brother’s gonna kill me ‘cause I steal his PC for encoding all the time 🤣🤣🤣 Have a nice time, and thanks again for your tutorials 🙏🏻

[@VortexBH]

Would love if you could do a follow-up video to the one you did a year ago on how to remove the nadir of a 360 camera underwater housing using BorisFX Mocha Pro, would appreciate it!

[@hughhou]

Good suggestion. So busy I have not get into the ocean yet lol.

[@VortexBH]

@@hughhou Yeah, it's fine! Cant wait for the tutorial ;)

[@benleete1595]

Hugh do you use Final Cut Pro at all? Your videos are excellent and unique in this field, but a lot of us video folks use FInal Cut and any tips on Mac workflow you can give would be great.

[@hughhou]

Final Cut Pro is not as complete a solution as Resolve and Premiere + AE, but I will do one for sure in the near future.

[@benleete1595]

@@hughhou Yes I agree. Software for 360/180 work is very lacking on the Mac in general. But folks like me are very tied to FCPX for editing and the 8K rendering on the Mac M1 Max is awesome. I find I have to combine a Mac and PC Workflow to get the best of both worlds at the moment. Any tips from you as such an expert would be great :)

[@keithmartin9413]

@@benleete1595 Final Cut does handle things such as 3D titles in 360 really well. I've been trying this in Resolve, and while I love the software's incredible power the workflow for doing titles in 360 in Resolve is insane. Stuff I can do quickly and easily and render out fast in FCP takes a *huge* amount more effort to set up and many hours to render in Resolve, and much of the time the render fails. Sure, "get a more powerful computer," I get it. But doing literally the same task in FCP with the same clips is totally fine.

[@RelaxingReality]

Has anyone noticed that spatial audio on the latest iOS and KZbin App no longer works? This must be a recent issue because spatial audio worked perfectly fine before. Now, when listening on the iPhone, the sound is locked and won’t change as you move your head or drag/scroll the screen.

[@marting974]

This tutorial would be perfect with an ambix track added to the equation :P. Unfortunately FB360 not working on Mac, and can't wait for the Davinci Resolve workflow, didn't find a way to do it in DR properly yet.

[@hughhou]

I am working on it. But anywho, you need to learn the Reaper part. Reaper is free.

[@marting974]

@@hughhou Yep, thanks to your tutorial the DAW workflow is fine and easy. Except the encoding part with FB360, I can't make it work on Mac. On the other side I'm able to get Ambix audio tracks correctly in premiere but after export with VR/Ambisonic options activated, there is no head tracking of the audio when the video plays in the headset. Does the audio always needs to go trough a DAW and encoder to get the correct spatial metadata ? Thanks again for all your ressources ! top top !

[@HadeerOmars]

did you figure it out? I am also facing the same problem @@marting974

[@ViciousXUSMC]

I am used to having a auto file that come sin 4 tracks for the entire environment (Ambisonic A or B First Order) I guess this was created just using two stereo microphones for each instrument rather than a single microphone that records ambisonic for the entire environment? So we are manually creating the spacial audio with the plugins. If you already have first order ambisonic from a Zoom H3N or something, how much can this process be simplified?

[@BradWilde-x7s]

Any ideas for getting Ambi Eyes working with a Quest 2 on Mac? lol... probably too much to ask

[@hughhou]

Is it not working on Mac?

[@BradWilde-x7s]

@@hughhou I haven't been able to successfully connect my Mac to the Quest 2, so can't monitor the mix in VR with Ambi Eyes. I actually just spoke to the founder, and this is unfortunately a known issue with Mac due to lack of support for VR headsets. Everything else with your workflow works wonderful on my Mac though, so thank you!

[@TasmanRichardson]

Hi Hugh, question please, but first, thank you for all this excellent info and for hosting the tools! I'm on mac pro m1. I'm trying to run FB360 Encoder but it says my ffmpeg isn't found. I tried to copy the 3.4 folder to usr/local/Cellar etc. but I can't find any location to start with called "usr". do I need to make a directory for this in the root of my mac HD? thank you!

[@hughhou]

Have you try just use the direct package in my pinned comment? It should install everything without problem …

[@MINRoadkill]

I have been trying for days to get my ambisonic video to work on DeoVR but this tutorial no longer works. Any ideas as I also tried their tutorial which uses matroska but then my final render contains no audio.

[@hughhou]

This video works 100% on Meta Quest and even on Pico system now like Neo 4. But the problem is NOT the workflow - it is DeoVR. Last time I check, they don't follow Meta standard - I also don't think Meta suggest content release on DeoVR or any other third party players - as they do not utilize 100% hardware level acceleration playback. I forgot the technical term, but Meta said in their docs only official Meta Quest TV utilize their hardware correctly - including their patented TBE ambisonic format. The only way is to down your channels from 10 TBE to KZbin 1st order ambisonic 4 channels. I believe DeoVR support KZbin ambisonic format at least. I think it is a running problem tho Deo having audio issue. I don't use DeoVR at this moment so I don't really know the technical format for them. I will suggest posting your content on official Meta Quest TV which is a correct way to be viewed on Meta Quest headset. Third party players are always a wildcard as it sit on top of Meta API

[@MINRoadkill]

@@hughhou Sorry to keep bothering you Hugh, but is there any way to upload VR180 to KZbin with a stereo headlock track along with ambisonic? I can do it with a 360 video, but can't find any tutorial for VR180.

[@EnzoMusician]

Hi Hugh, I can't use FB360 Encoder as my computer has an issue installing Gpac Mp4box. Have you come across this issue before? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I've got a VR deliverable in 2 days and I have no idea how to render spatialized audio without the FB360 encoder. HELP

[@hughhou]

Just saw this. Did you solve it? I never run into that issue

[@alvr-multimedia]

It's imposible to convert the file. FB360 Encoder get error every time. I'm working in mac and i have spent one day to do nothing. Your tutorial seems very good, but sadly don't work.

[@hughhou]

What mac version are you? M1 might have some issue right now. I will dive back into Mac and figure out a Mac focus workflow. If you can use Intel Mac can you try it again?

[@alvr-multimedia]

@@hughhou I am using Intel Mac. The problem appears when I want Encoder the file. The Encoder return a FFmpeg error. Moreover, if I export from Reaper in 16 channels, the metadata injector doesn’t work. It only works in 4 channels files and, if I have 6 or 16 channels I can’t select the Spacial Audio checkbox. Thanks a lot

[@marting974]

@@alvr-multimedia FB360 doesn't work on Mac for me as well. Saying that, you can reassign your 16chan master mix to 4chan et then use Premiere pro to add the 4chan mix to your video by using the correct configuration and export with VR ambisonic presets, it will inject the correct metadata. Premiere support 1st order only for now. I havent been able to find an alternative to FB360 to encode video with 2nd or 3rd order audio and correct metadata. In the Quest2, oculus file viewer play 1st order correctly but must of the VR viewer app require 2nd or 3rd order mix.

[@MattParson]

Is Logic Pro X good for mixing spatial audio?

[@hughhou]

Yes, definitely. As long as it can do VST and have at least 16 channel output. I believe Logic does but you should double check.

[@MattParson]

​@@hughhou I just posted my first 360vr footage from my GoProMAX. The first problem is by default KZbin makes the footage look really bad. I have you to always set the highest playback which is a few clicks. I would imagine viewing not taking these steps and watching it at regular resolution. I hope KZbin makes the platform better.

[@arjenringers]

Hi Hugh, first of all many many thanks for all your support. you converted me from an simple x3/phone editor to a Insta360 pro II/premiere editor. However all seems to end with the FB360 Encoder that I can not get to work. I copied the files you provided in the directory as you indicated, tried to install FFmpeg separately, installed previous versions of FB360 encoder and have done this on two different computers, but the FFmpeg error keeps appearing. I don't think we will solve this easily but is there another tool where I can combine the audio and video track?

[@hughhou]

Have you seen my latest pinged comment to down all these files and installer? Also only use PC to install them

[@hughhou]

Use this google drive link the dist zip folder

[@arjenringers]

@@hughhou I have downloaded all files from your google drive link in the description. I did not see a separate installer in there, just 3 PC files to install for windows and the directory with FFmpeg files that I need to past in. Do you refer to another google drive link?

[@bryantalexey]

Hi. Thanks again for your channel. That's great! Can I ask a question - I have a Canon R5C + 5.2Fisheye and ZOOM h3 VR - can this be synchronized somehow? Maybe you know a way to make this bundle work by pressing 1 button? So that when you start recording on Canon, recording of 3d sound on Zoom immediately starts?

[@keithmartin9413]

I think there is no way to do this, even with the Bluetooth adaptor in the H3-VR. You'll have to rely on having a visible and audible clap and aligning that in post.

[@JG-yn7tl]

Hello Hou, I absolutely love your videos. I want to shoot the most realistic 360 videos with a lot of the shots focusing on items or people within 5-8 feet of the camera. On a budget of 6,000 dollars (could do 6,500, prefer 6,000), what camera should I buy? I am looking for the best quality for playing via virtual home theater on the Meta Quest 2 (which will hopefully soon become a Meta Quest Pro).

[@JG-yn7tl]

Sent you a message on fb

[@keithmartin9413]

Sounds like 3D-180 video would deliver the best impact. See if you can get a Canon R5 (or R5C?) plus the Canon RF 5.2mm f2.8 dual fisheye lens for your budget; it should be just about do-able. The content I've seen in headset that was shot with this camera and lens is stunning, and that is definitely in part because this is a great hardware solution.

[@aaronparys1750]

Thanks Hugh !!.....Where is the Download Link's ?

[@hughhou]

The download link is in the description. For the software just google Reaper and Noisemakers - I don't include it b/c I don't want people think that is affiliate links. I don't get paid from neither of them or anyone - fully unsponsored :) Just make it for the love of Spatial Audio.

[@aaronparys1750]

@@hughhou ok thanks .. Found it!!

[@syntheticsolace]

Do you have this tutorial for Pro Tools?