Ten lessons learned about VR filmmaking at DeoVR

DeoVR is fast-becoming established as the number one source of fascinating and engaging VR content online today. Over the past year, we have been uniquely positioned to understand how creating VR films works and where we are headed. Here are ten lessons we have learned about VR filmmaking over the past year. 

1. There is a huge demand for well-made, interesting VR videos. Many people love to kick back and watch videos in VR, as it offers a whole new experience that puts the user in the driving seat. However, at the moment, there's a lack of cool stuff to watch.

2. Not enough people know how to shoot VR properly. Even videos with multi-million-dollar budgets don't get much traction. Instead, we see that content aimed at niche interests does especially well. Need proof? Simply look at how much people are excited on Twitter, Reddit and other platforms about VR games. We would love to see that kind of reaction for VR videos one day.

3. DeoVR connects all the great VR creators and communities. Together we are figuring things out - such as video formats and how to make engaging VR content. There is genuine magic and excitement happening in the community driven eco-system we are building.

4. Adding haptics is a huge priority for VR videos. The impact of the visuals is greatly amplified by proper use of haptic technology, putting the user actually ‘in’ the scene, both visually and through sense of touch. We know our users are skilled at making things like this work and we will be releasing official support soon.

5. Passthrough is a major step forward for VR. Film using chromakey so viewers can watch it in color in their home surroundings using the Oculus Pro and Pico 4. We will make a separate post on this fast-moving topic as we are currently in the final stages of establishing the format for VR. This is a very popular element of VR and worth closer analysis. 

6. You can make money from your VR videos by uploading them to DeoVR. We sell Premium subscriptions so there is an established source of income and your videos will be compensated proportionally to the time watched. 

7. We are soon to be releasing the Build Your Own Journey feature. This is a progressive tool allowing users to build engaging and interactive stories accross DeoVR’s VR catalog. 

8. The Quest Pro, Quest 2 and Pico 4 are the most promising headsets when it comes to VR. Old models such as Cardboard and GearVR are completely dead.

9. We will be announcing VR filmmakers hackathons all over the world to figure out the best VR content to help take this amazing technology to the next level.

10. DeoVR is funding cool projects. First and foremost, we are looking to discover the very best content to put in front of our 50,000 daily VR users. Pitch us your ideas and be part of the upcoming VR revolution. Mail us at creator@deovr.com. 

Join the discussion over at the DeoVR forum. Rest assured, we read every post.