Create Immersive VR Videos on Quest 2, Quest Pro, and SteamVR
Flipside Studio is a full-production studio for making live or recorded VR videos with Quest 2, Quest Pro and SteamVR.
Flipside Studio isn't a new VR film creation app, but the standalone version just launched on the Quest platform, and there's a Rift version as well. An early alpha release has been available in SteamVR since 2018, and you can find plenty of tutorials on YouTube to get started.
For influencers, it can be as simple as using a smartphone on a selfie stick, letting you record yourself and guests in a set that you get to design. The 3D characters are more refined and diverse than Meta's avatars, and easy to animate. With the Unity package, you can create Ready Player Me avatars to use in Flipside Studio.
For more complicated productions, you can work with up to nine people in virtual reality to direct, shoot, and perform together, making it possible to do a live production. You can also work with recorded segments, allowing you to play multiple roles on your own show.
Bring your avatar to life
Head, hand, and arm movements follow your headset and controllers. The lips sync to your voice, and expressions are controlled with the left thumbstick. You can quickly show that you're happy, sad, surprised, or angry with a push of the stick.
Eye and face-tracking aren't supported in the standalone app yet, but Flipside XR told us that support is coming soon for the Quest Pro's advanced tracking. For now, Vive face-trackers and SteamVR are needed for face-tracking.
Flipside has a unique approach to moving the body around called puppeteering. In this mode, you grab a character with a giant invisible hand and move it around, while talking and gesturing with the other hand.
Cinematography
The studio tools are quite powerful, allowing full control of the camera, set design, and casting. You can operate the camera like a selfie stick or set up multiple fixed cameras and switch between them.
You can zoom, pan, and move the camera with your hand to make shots more dynamic. For larger camera movements, you can grab the set with two hands and shrink it. Now your arm can fly the camera around like a drone.
Flipside Studio allows multi-camera shoots and has a teleprompter. | Image: Flipside XR
There's even a teleprompter that's convenient for staying on script. Actors or presenters don't have to memorize their lines.
If you're familiar with Unity, you can customize your avatar and import additional props and sets for your production.
The app is free and available now in the Meta Quest Store for the Quest 2, Quest Pro, and Rift.
Note: Links to online stores in articles can be so-called affiliate links. If you buy through this link, MIXED receives a commission from the provider. For you the price does not change.
