Last April GoPro showcased their VR solutions at NAB 2016, now they are showing the final product, Omni,  which will begin shipping to pre-order customers and be available to new customers this month.

ProVideo Coalition mentioned the Omni system previously, along with other professional solutions from GoPro, but this is a good time to get back to the Omni system as it is about to reach the market. Omni is, according to GoPro, much more than just a six-camera capture rig designed for GoPro cameras. Omni is an end-to-end content creation ecosystem that, by accelerating the time from capture to publish, will allow content creators to capture and publish more, higher-quality content.

Built around the HERO4 Black model, the six-camera rig is “very special” because at its core lives a synchronization mechanism that allows all six cameras to act as one. Power on the primary camera, and you power on all-six cameras. Adjust the shooting mode on the primary camera, and all cameras automatically, and instantly align on the same mode. Omni is the most sophisticated six-camera rig available to professionals and aspirational consumers interested in shooting spherical content.

According to GoPro, these are some of the key highlights of the hardware:

• Pixel-level synchronization: the synchronization mechanism at the core of the Omni allows capture to be so exact that each camera is synchronized to the pixel level, enabling a clean and expedited stitch within minutes.
• Error-proof shooting: Because Omni will not let you shoot without a fully synchronized rig, with all cameras in the same mode, and functioning SD cards, you, the shooter get to spend more time considering the creativity of your shot, and not worrying about the reliability of the technology – Omni enables creativity with piece-of-mind reliability on the technology front.
• Heat dissipation: Due to its aluminum frame, Omni specifically draws heat away from the cameras, increasing thermal performance for improved run time.
• Versatile power options: Omni’s design also allows you the choice to power the rig with an external battery pack (included in the all-inclusive package), or from the individual HERO4 Black batteries. It also allows what we call “battery ghosting” – to power the rig only with external battery power, removing the HERO4 Black batteries for further heat dissipation.
• Durable, modular parts: Omni’s physical structure is made from rugged aluminum, exhaustively tested to withstand multiple falls. In the event that a panel or camera is damaged, the modular design allows for the easy and quick replacement of panels and parts, including the 1/4-20 mounting points.
• Metadata / SD Card management: Stop marking your SD cards to know which camera the data from each card belongs to. Metadata recorded onto each file and SD card from the Omni synchronization mechanism allows for worry-free data transfer and content management. Drop the cards out of Omni, plug them into your USB hub and notice that each card is automatically organized by camera into a neat filing system. And don’t worry about which camera you place the cards back into. The metadata will always know the proper sequencing for each file.

Because the Omni is a complete system, once you’ve captured your images it is time to do something with them. That’s where, true to the motto “Capture. Stitch. Share. Enjoy” the Omni offers a tool to preview, stich and publish content: the Omni Importer. The Omni Importer is included free with AutoPano Video 2.5 software, but only functions with content captured on the Omni rig. Just plug your SD cards into your USB hub (included in the all-inclusive Omni package), open the Omni Importer and, as GoPro says, “prepare to be blown away”.

What Omni and the Omni Importer have done for creatives is transform the workflow. Produce quality content more quickly than ever before. GoPro says that if you “used to using Kolor Autopano Video to do all of your stitching” you’ll like the Omni Importer, which “will now get you 90-100% of the way there and now you can use AVP and new NLE plugins manually fine tune you stitching, geometry and colors.”

When it comes to share,  GoPro is enabling VR content creators with a free player for desktop, web or mobile. Featuring the ultra-cool “Pinch to Little Planet” feature, this player is optimized for high quality VR, 360 and spherical content and allows for viewing on any platform (desktop, mobile, web, headset). The GoPro VR player and the GoPro App.

This is GoPro’s offer when it comes to VR. An entire ecosystem that GoPro says is its first fully integrated product that will capitalize on the power of the GoPro VR platform.

Order your GoPro Omini system at Filmtools.