1. What is Street View Studio?
2. Why THETA X is perfect for Street View Studio (built-in GPS, 8K video recording function, etc.)
3. Actual publishing process and samples
4. Conclusion

1. What is Street View Studio?

“Street View Studio” is a web tool launched by Google in May 2022. This computer tool lets you upload videos with GPS information recorded with a 360-degree camera to Google Street View and manage them.

With Street View Studio, you can easily upload videos recorded with RICOH THETA X to Google Street View. Keep reading for information on how to do this.

With Street View Studio you can create a street view from videos and automatically apply blurring or other processing, making the process much quicker and easier than ever before.

2. Why RICOH THETA X is perfect for Street View Studio

As explained in the other article, RICOH THETA X features a built-in GPS system. Also, when recording videos at high resolution and low frame rates such as “8K, 2 fps”, RICOH THETA X records position information not only at the start of recording but also continuously while recording up to every 1 Hz (once per second) according to the Camera Motion Metadata standard established by Google Street View.

So, with RICOH THETA X, simply upload videos recorded at “8K, 10 fps” or “8K, 2 fps”* to Street View Studio to automatically convert them for publishing to Google Street View.

As of October 2022, RICOH THETA X is likely the only handheld 360-degree camera on the market that can do this.

* In general, 10 fps is best for recording from a moving car, and 2 fps is best for recording while walking.

3. Actual publishing process

(1)  Update the RICOH THETA X firmware to version 1.20.0 or later.

For information on updating the firmware, click here.

<Firmware version confirmation screen (Camera information)>

(2)  In the RICOH THETA X video recording menu, set the video size to “8K, 2 fps”.

(3) In the RICOH THETA X video recording menu, set the bit rate to the maximum value (32 Mbps in this case).

(4)  Go to the location you want to record, then confirm that the GPS icon is active on the LCD screen.

(5)  Begin recording a video and move to your destination (recording from a smartphone is not supported).

(6)  Transfer the recorded video to a computer (via USB cable or microSDXC card).

For details on recording videos, click here.

(7)  Log in to your Google account on a computer, then upload the video from the Street View Studio website and wait until processing is complete.

(8)  Check the position information is checked, blurring and other processing is performed, and the street view created from the video is uploaded to Google Street View (approx. 24 hours later).

The uploaded street view is displayed on Street View in Google Maps.

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4. Conclusion

RICOH THETA X is equipped with a built-in GPS and high-resolution “8K, 10 fps/2 fps” recording function that can convert 360-degree videos on the camera (no need to use an app), making it perfect for uploading videos to Street View Studio.

Previous THETA models could be used to manually create street views from multiple still images, however, doing so required time and effort. The process described above streamlines the workflow, making it much easier.

So head out with your RICOH THETA X and record videos of roads not covered by public Street View or your favorite locations, and then try publishing them to Google Street View.