Azure Media Player 360 Video Plugin - Extension

The Azure Media Player 360 Video Plugin is a handy 360 video plugin for easy integration into your Babylon.js 360 Web Apps.

The Azure media player 360 Video is a plugin for AMP (aka Azure media player) using Babylon.js in order to facilitate the integration of 360 videos in your Web App.

The plugin natively supports VR headsets (Windows Mixed Reality, etc.).

Online Demo of the plugin

How to Run Locally

First, clone the Babylon.js extensions repository:

git clone https://github.com/BabylonJS/toolsAndResources.git

Once the repository has been cloned, open a command prompt in the Amp360Video folder.

Then, type the following commands:

npm install
npm start

The hosting web page will automatically open (using webpack-dev-server).

How it works

The 360 video is a videojs plugin compatible with from AMP version 2.1.7 to the latest (2.2.3 at time of writing).

The plugin depends on Babylon.js in order to enable 3D functionalities in AMP.

For more information about AMP, you can access their documentation.

How use in your web site

After deploying the bundled javascript file dist/amp-360video.js from the dist directory to your WebSite you can follow the steps below.

Note: if you were using the plugin before, you might have needed to reference Babylon.js in your site. We have now released a bundle ensuring the smallest delivery possible so the reference to Babylon.js is not required anymore.

External Resources

Include the following resources in you html:

<!-- Link to pep.js to ensure pointer events work consistently in all browsers -->
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/pep/0.4.1/pep.js"></script>

<!-- Link to the AMP resources -->
<link href="https://amp.azure.net/libs/amp/2.2.3/skins/amp-default/azuremediaplayer.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script src="https://amp.azure.net/libs/amp/2.2.3/azuremediaplayer.min.js"></script>

Plugin Script

Include the link to your previously downloaded plugin script in your HTML:

<!-- Link to the plugin file -->
<script src="amp-360video.js"></script>

Plugin Setup

You can either embed the plugin in your HTML or initialize it by code like specified in the AMP documentation.

Html Initialization

Add the threeSixty plugin to your video data-setup:

<video playsinline crossorigin="anonymous" class="azuremediaplayer amp-default-skin amp-big-play-centered" autoplay controls width="100%" height="100%" data-setup='{ "techOrder": ["azureHtml5JS", "html5"], "plugins": { "threeSixty": { } } }'>
    <source src="//willzhanmswest.streaming.mediaservices.windows.net/1f2dd2dd-ee99-40be-aae9-d0c2209982eb/DroneFlightOverLasVegasStripH3Pro7.ism/Manifest" type="application/vnd.ms-sstr+xml" />
    <p class="amp-no-js">
        To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
    </p>
</video>

The only difference with your default AMP initialization is the presence of the 360 plugin:

"plugins": { "threeSixty": { } }'

One example can be found in the index.html file located in the repo.

Code Initialization

The following code will initialize the plugin in your amp player:

var myPlayer = amp('videoPlayer', {
        "nativeControlsForTouch": false,
        autoplay: false,
        controls: true,
        width: "640",
        height: "480",
        poster: "",
        techOrder: ["azureHtml5JS", "html5"], 
        plugins: { 
            "threeSixty": {
                enableVR: true
            }
        }
    }, function() {
        console.log('Good to go!');
        // add an event listener
        this.addEventListener('ended', function() {
            console.log('Finished!');
        });
    });

myPlayer.src([{
    src: "//willzhanmswest.streaming.mediaservices.windows.net/1f2dd2dd-ee99-40be-aae9-d0c2209982eb/DroneFlightOverLasVegasStripH3Pro7.ism/Manifest",
    type: "application/vnd.ms-sstr+xml"
}]);

One example can be found in the indexCode.html file located in the repo.

Define the video 360 format (Monoscopic, Side By Side, Top Bottom)

Several types of 360 video exist today. The most common being Monoscopic Panoramic, Stereoscopic Side by Side panoramic and Top bottom panoramic.

The first one represents a panoramic view which is dedicated to one eye. The second one contains two panoramic views dedicated to each eyes whereas the last one contains both panoramic views respectively on the top and bottom of the video.

The plugin defaults to Monoscopic panoramic mode.

In order to specify the type of your source (this can unfortunately not be automated in the plugin), you can specify a different value in your options:

By HTML configuration

In the data-setup plugin section:

"plugins": { "threeSixty": { "videoType": "stereoscopicTopBottom" } }

The available types are: "monoscopicPanoramic", "stereoscopicSideBySide", "stereoscopicTopBottom".

By code configuration

This works exactly the same as the previous point. In the options of your plugin:

plugins: { 
    "threeSixty": {
        videoType: "stereoscopicTopBottom"
    }
}

The available types are: "monoscopicPanoramic", "stereoscopicSideBySide", "stereoscopicTopBottom".

Enable/Disable the VR Button

By default, the plugin is delivered with a VR mode available through a button shaped like a head-mounted display.

In order to disable the button, you can specify in your options:

By HTML configuration

In the data-setup plugin section:

"plugins": { "threeSixty": { "enableVR": false } }

By code configuration

This works exactly the same as the previous point. In the options of your plugin:

plugins: { 
    "threeSixty": {
        enableVR: false
    }
}

Update the camera FOV

By default the plugin is delivered with a camera of a 1.18 radians field of view.

In order to change it if needed, you can specify a different value in your options:

By HTML configuration

In the data-setup plugin section:

"plugins": { "threeSixty": { "fov": 1 } }

By code configuration

This works exactly the same as the previous point. In the options of your plugin:

plugins: { 
    "threeSixty": {
        fov: 1
    }
}

Update the default camera orientation

In case the camera is not looking at what you expect when the video starts, you can use both options defaultCameraOrientationX and defaultCameraOrientationY to adapt the starting point of the camera to your use case. Those properties are angles respectively around the x and y axis defined in radians.

In order to change them, you can specify a different value in your options:

By HTML configuration

In the data-setup plugin section:

"plugins": { "threeSixty": { "defaultCameraOrientationX": 1 } }

By code configuration

This works exactly the same as the previous point. In the options of your plugin:

plugins: { 
    "threeSixty": {
        defaultCameraOrientationY: 1
    }
}

Disable WebGL2

The default setup enables Webgl2 to enhance the performances of the application. In case of compatibility issues with all platforms, would you wish to disable it, you can rely on the setup below:

By HTML configuration

In the data-setup plugin section:

"plugins": { "threeSixty": { "disableWebGL2Support": true } }

By code configuration

This works exactly the same as the previous point. In the options of your plugin:

plugins: { 
    "threeSixty": {
        disableWebGL2Support: true
    }
}

Adapt to native resolution

To provide the best performances, by default the plugin does not account for you devicePixelRatio setup. It renders 1 to 1 with CSS pixels. In case of HiDPI or Retina display the ratio might be pretty high meaning if you want to get the most of your pixels (using physical pixels), the plugin should for instance render 4 times more pixels than the actual CSS number of pixels.

You can use the hardwareScalingLevel settings of the plugin to chose how many times the Physical Pixels of your device are multiplied to define the number of CSS pixels. For instance a value of 0.5 means there would be twice as much pixels on width and height than the number of CSS pixels enhancing a lot the resolution.

By HTML configuration

In the data-setup plugin section:

"plugins": { "threeSixty": { "hardwareScalingLevel": 0.5 } }

By code configuration

This works exactly the same as the previous point. In the options of your plugin:

plugins: { 
    "threeSixty": {
        hardwareScalingLevel: 0.5
    }
}