Reporting by Katy Mersmann, Adam Pressler, Reuben Stern and Rachel Wise.
This week we find out how the Associated Press created an immersive virtual reality project, and we explore an online tool that turns text and photos into video files.
PART 1: VR at the AP
The interactive graphics department at the Associated Press is expanding its work to include virtual reality storytelling, including a project that takes viewers underground to explore a new subway line. We find out about the technology involved and how the work came together.
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Additional information:
You can explore some of the elements from the project here.
PART 2: Viosk
The startup Viosk has built an online tool for creating videos from text, photos and audio that does not require traditional video editing skills and could be configured to automate some of the process. We learn how it works from co-founder Alex Romanovich.
[To skip directly to this segment in YouTube, click here.]
Additional information:
We took Viosk for a test drive using elements from a previous Futures Lab episode. Assembling the video was pretty intuitive as advertised. When it came to rendering, short videos were fine but our longer piece got a bit hung up with a technical issue (that the team at Viosk quickly fixed). Rendering time for the draft version of the video was about the same number of seconds as the length of the video. Here’s the result:
More information about features and additional examples are available on the company’s website.
Reuben Stern is the deputy director of the Futures Lab at the Reynolds Journalism Institute and host and co-producer of the weekly Futures Lab video update.
The Reynolds Journalism Institute’s Futures Lab video update features a roundup of fresh ideas, techniques and developments to help spark innovation and change in newsrooms across all media platforms. Visit the RJI website for the full archive of Futures Lab videos, or download the iPad app to watch the show wherever you go. You can also sign up to receive email notification of each new episode.
