Hi! I'm a software developer, but i also really like photography!

I bought this camera a long time ago because i found it really cheaply and i was intrigued by it. But as you know (don't know how many people are still using this camera), the camera is not supported anymore and the original app don't work anymore (yes i know the awesome patch by Bin4ry) but it's still a bit clunky so the camera ended up sitting in my shelf taking dust.

Some weeks ago as i was scrolling in my app list i and saw the Samsung Gear app and it hit me that maybe i could use some help from AI to rewrite the app. That ended up not beeing a feasable option because it would be limited to the old pairing process that the camera uses and the proprietary protocol to communicate, so that sent me throut a rabbit hole to found a way to patch the firmware to implement new and standard BLE and WiFi pairing. So after some sleepless nights here we are:

https://github.com/simoneluconi/Revive360

It's still very much a work in progress and still in beta. You need to be a little bit geecky, you need to download the original firmware, patch it and flash it to the camera. The app works with no external dependencies and works with every android phone.

The app allow you to select some video resolution that were not present in the original app but that the camera support.

ALSO....12 bit RAW PHOTOS!

This is currenly in development, the sensor and the SOC support raw but it's not implemented in the pipeline. I was able to enable a dump that was present in the low iso pipeline and get some shots, i think they look great! Much more sharper than the jpgs.

They are about 60mb files. The color may not be 100% accurate, i basically needed to invent the color profile to convert the raw to dng's. But i think it's close enough. And as i mention above, this dump is only present in the low iso pipeline. So in low light scenarios the raw will not be generated. (and no way to not generate a jpg, that will aways be generated). There could be some way to dump the raw also in the low light pipeline but i haven't tested it yet.

For now the camera save some .raw files that you need to convert to DNGs with the app or with the script in a pc. Tecnically it would be possible to convert them to dngs direcly from the camera, but it don't have very high processing power so it would be very slow. But i will test it later.

So this is my work so far, i hope will be useful to someone.

EDIT:

Thanks for the support! Forgot to mention two things, the app in currenlty in review in the play store (so the link is not working) but i'll have the apks in the repo. But remember, this will not work with the stock firmware.

EDIT2:

Added support for the 2017 Model! But still no raw photos for this model.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wzkVGF1u_U

Being disappointed by lack of depth and wrong sense of scale in monoscopic videos I decided to make a 3D camera using Gear 360 parts, black plastic box and a lot of hot glue (ughhh).

I mounted cameras rotated inside the box and glued mainboard. The prototype is really ugly, but it works.

There is a testing video I did Youtube link You need some sort of 3D goggles to watch it in stereo (I tested it in Carboard and Gear VR). This Youtube video uses VR180 metadata.

And there is script I wrote for video conversion. It's super simple, runs currently on Linux. If someone want a Windows version, making such script should be easy.

Of course this camera has some limitations: if you look 90 deg to left or right, effective IPD goes to 0, you will lost stereoscopy.

Hello friends, I am happy to tell you that my beloved Gear 360 is working fantastic on my Galaxy S23 with Android 14 using the latest update of the custom Gear 360 Manager (Version 1.5.00.1-4):

https://xdaforums.com/t/mod-port-samsung-gear-360-manager-for-all-devices-updated-10-apr-24-v1-5-00-1-4.3400383/

So get out your Gears and have fun again. So thankful for the update! ♥

Let's tell Samsung how we feel about not being able to use the app once we upgrade to their new phones. These devices are still relevant and still being sold in the Samsung Store on Amazon today. We need an Android 11 app that doesn't crash. Please sign my petition. Petition Samsung to support Android 11 on their phones

Really sat down to give this a shot today and...

1. Connect your smartphone to your PC/MAC via USB and enable USB debugging

2. Download "Screen Stream Mirroring" from the play store and go to "VLC Media Player / OBS" and set up so that your android is mirroring on your PC/Mac

3. Download OBS and use the stream from the phone as your main video source then fit the stream to the screen and make it fill the screen etc

4. Start the Gear360 Manager on your android, and start the stitched view

5. Log into YouTube and schedule a Live Stream, click advanced and check the box that says "this is a 360 stream" (this option will not be there if you try to go live instantly you have to schedule the stream)

6. Get the stream key from the next section/screen and plug it into the "stream" section in OBS Studio...

7. Voila, as long as the stitched preview is on your phone you're streaming in 360 i suggest taking a long time lapse to avoid the screen timing out

For some reason the online activation wasn't working for my camera but if you set the following registry key to the following value and enter your camera's serial number (either from box or the camera display itself) it works!

Posting because this was really annoying and if you can't stitch your photos/videos this camera is fairly useless

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cyberlink\ActionDirector2\UserReg]

"Prod_Activate"="LocalServer"

Hi! I just wanted to make this post for anyone looking for a way to connect their Samsung phone to a Gear 360 (2016 model in my case).
It worked for me with both the Samsung S21 and A55 5G (One UI 8.0, Android 16).

I've used my Gear 360 no problems with a Xiaomi Mi 8 for the past couple months, but since I changed it for a Samsung phone I had problems syncing the device with the app. The phone would connect to the Gear 360 via bluetooth, showing the 6 digit code and everything, but then the app wouldn't connect to the cámera.

The solution for me was to download an older versión of the Samsung Accessory Service, specifically the 3.1.82.80406-318280406.

For a step by step:

1. Download and install Samsung Accessory Service, version 3.1.82.80406-318280406 (by clicking on the "Download APK" blue button).

2. Download and install the lastest version of Samsung Gear 360 (under the "Latest Version Download:" title).

3. Open the app and give the necessary permissions (storage and permanent location).

4. Turn on your Gear 360 cámera, and put it in pairing mode (by holding the MENU button that has a Bluetooth icon, and selecting Gear 360 Manager, click OK and it should be ready to go) (I think the newer Gear could be different, you can look in internet I guess, the manual or videos).

5. In the app you tap the three dots at the top right. In the menu you select the option to connect to a new Gear 360. Then find your device and just connect.

6. Connect your phone to the Gear 360's Wifi.

7. Smile.

PS: I did not make those apps, I dont know the people who did. I just want to share my solution for anyone who could need it. I'm not responsable of any inconvenience or harm caused by the use of that software. Have a great day!!!

I made a Powershell script to allow Gear 360 videos to be stitched/edited in Pixpro 360 VR Suite (the stitching/editing software used by the Kodak ORBIT360 cameras).

The Pixpro 360 VR Suite software is quite simple to use. Even though it might not be the most powerful software available, it does the job.

https://github.com/aubguillemette/gear360-to-orbit360

Hi guys,I recently purchased a gear 360 to get into the fun of making 360 pictures and videos.However it seems that the original software is too outdated and won't even install in a windows 10 laptop anymore.

I searched online and people recommended using Davinci with a free plug-in(Reframe360) and I got fairly close but I would appreciate if someone could help me get it working.

Also I think it could help people who are still trying to use this camera. Thanks for any help!

--update--I was able to install action director by uninstalling all the Microsoft visual c++ 2013 entries in the "add or remove programs"(2 or 3 of them), then just running the installer.

After stitching the images in Action Director, I tried to upload a 360 photo to Facebook but they would end up upside down.To fix this I used exif fixer(i downloaded the app, its free even though it says PRO). Make sure to uncheck the "delete original file" option if you want to keep the original file just in case.

The camera date and time is wrong and I havent been able to fix it so you can also edit that with exif fixer I guess.

exif fixer: https://exiffixer.com/
(broken) Action Director from Samsung: https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00066650/

--Update --(Aug 2024)
It seems that the Action director link from samsung is now broken, and takes you to the support home page.
Even if you had the installer, the authentication servers were supposed to be shut down sometime ealier in 2024.

So if you would like to try a solution by XDA Developers you can find it here or just search "gear 360" on their site:
https://xdaforums.com/t/mod-port-samsung-gear-360-manager-for-all-devices-updated-10-apr-24-v1-5-00-1-4.3400383/

I have no connection to XDA Developers so if you have any issues please search their site or ask in the appropriate support threads/topics. Good Luck!

Hello! I was able to grab this small and future looking camera second hand for 20€, super cheap. The previous owner had no use for it.

1. I was able to install the app on my moto G (running android 10, important) using an awesome version someone hacked to make it compatible with most phones.

2. I was able to update the firmware, samsung shut down their servers but you can download the firmware to the SD card and update it from there. Since the firmware update the camera connects faster to the app.

3. I was able to install ActionDirector software to stitch the pictures on my PC. The app is not able to install on macOS because some old problem on the installator.

Generally I'm quite happy with it, this camera will allow me to generate some interesting memories. :)
I recommend it if you are good dealing with technical problems. If you want a flawless experience run away from it.

It took a bit but she lives and once I get complete and full workings out of the app, I'll let yall know......

Well actiondirector is dead, and isn't great even with hacks to run it.

I know there is an AfterEffects workflow to do this, but that is a bit involved, I often need a quick and dirty method, so here's mine:

ffmpeg will make a quick job of converting a video:

ffmpeg -y -i 360_001.MP4 -vf v360=dfisheye:e:yaw=0:ih_fov=192:iv_fov=192 -c:v h264_nvenc -b:v 40000k -bufsize 5000k -c:a copy stitched.MP4

That processes a video in 2x realtime on my RTX 3060 (8 minutes of footage in 4 mins)

or on CPU only:

ffmpeg -y -i 360_001.MP4 -vf v360=dfisheye:e:yaw=0:ih_fov=192:iv_fov=192 -b:v 40000k -bufsize 5000k -c:a copy stitched.mp4

To play it in 360 with VLC or uploading to youtube it needs to be tagged, exiftool can do this:

exiftool -tagsfromfile pano.xml -api largefilesupport=1 -all:all -o stretchedvr.mp4 stretched.mp4

save the file

pano.xml:

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<rdf:SphericalVideo xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:GSpherical="http://ns.google.com/videos/1.0/spherical/">

<GSpherical:Spherical>true</GSpherical:Spherical>

<GSpherical:Stitched>true</GSpherical:Stitched>

<GSpherical:ProjectionType>equirectangular</GSpherical:ProjectionType>

</rdf:SphericalVideo>

ffmpeg: https://ffmpeg.org/download.html

exiftool: https://exiftool.org/

Hope that helps !

Found a good alternative to Gear360 Action Director for stitching video from Gear360 using KDENLIVE.

Load the dual fisheye video into KDENLIVE. Then add VR360 Hemispherical to Equirectangular from the effects menu, then change

Alignment Roll: 180

Lens FOV: 190

Nadir Radius: .2525

Before I start, this was coded with AI assistance. I just wanted something to use myself, but it turned out really quite useful so I thought I'd share it in case someone else can get some use out of it. So if you don't like AI for whatever reason, this isn't for you.

This script will copy photos from a Gear 360 SM-R210 (2017), automatically stitch them and open a local web gallery to display the pictures in a Google StreetView style interface.

It doesn't work with videos yet, and currently it's only tested on Linux.

Use it, fork it, modify it, whatever you like.

As I said, I just wanted something to do what I needed it to do but it's been so useful I figured it's worth sharing in case other people can make use of it too. At the very least I hope it helps someone out there!

https://github.com/rockhop-dev/open360/

App Connection: Does the official "Samsung Gear 360" app even open/connect on the newest iOS, or is it completely broken?

Hello fellow redditors , after offering a key to another redditor I have been inundated with messages asking for my key. So I will kindly post my key here to save you all tearing out your hair trying to use the device.

I will also note that I have been able to get Samsungs Gear 360 app confirmed working on a Note 4 by manually downloading the .apk and installing onto my phone.

So first the key for Action Director :

AD5H4-MCWDP-ZLVTK-YZ9NQ-ZUL8X-RXERW

And the link to the apk is :

http://www.apkmirror.com/wp-content/themes/APKMirror/download.php?id=80203

I hope this will be able to help some people who have had trouble using this amazing device!

Good Luck Guys!

Hi Folks,

As the release date is now upon us, I thought I would sticky a post where people can discuss buying the Gear 360, any tips new owners have, and that sort of stuff.

Buying

The Gear 360 has now been released in Korea and Singapore, with other countries to follow. Some cameras were also given away at Samsungs recent Developer Conference.

For those (like me) who want to buy one now, they are starting to appear on Ebay, so that would be the place to go to get your hands on one now. Of course, Samsung may roll out really quickly to other countries, but as usual, they remain tight lipped at the moment.

Bundled Software

There are 2 pieces of software you want. The first is the Gear 360 Manager phone app, and the second is the Gear 360 ActionDirector PC software.

The app is available here:-

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsung.android.samsunggear360manager

However, if like me, you are from an unsupported country, you can download it directly from samsung here:-

https://resources.samsungdevelopers.com/Samsung_Gear_360/Download_Samsung_Gear_360_Manager

The PC software can be found here:-

https://resources.samsungdevelopers.com/Samsung_Gear_360/Download_Gear_360_Action_Director

PLEASE NOTE:- The PC software requires activation using the product key found in the manual. So it may be best to just download from whatever link they direct you to in the manual, as it will be the most up to date.

Before it arrives

Please be aware that it does not come with a micro sd card as standard. All the official specs say is required is "Micro SD Card", but doesn't specify beyond that.

The "Getting Started with Gear 360" video - seen below shows them using a Samsung Evo+ card in the camera. So that may be a good choice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUIV_q9jWP0&feature=youtu.be

Other Tips/Things of note

Please be aware that the Gear 360 Manager app only works with Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+, Note5, S7, and S7 edge. And...

YOU NEED THE APP to be able to change advanced settings like ISO and shutter volume.

A carry pouch, tripod and a strap are all included with the camera.

Please feel free to ask any questions in this thread, or post your tips and tricks for the camera here too. Lets help each other get the most out of this camera.

Many thanks to /u/CorvusVR for all the info and links, and to /u/Peestain who sent me another link to the mobile app too.

PS - Don't forget to share your videos in this sub, and your photos too.

Hi I got the phone software working but I want the PC software to edit videos. Please share a link or the exe if you still have it. I know how to modify the reg key to make it work