Zoom Corporation has collaborated with Google on an update for the Zoom H2n Handy Recorder that gives content creators a streamlined and easy-to-use solution for recording and outputting spatial audio files for VR applications.
The Zoom H2n is the only handheld recorder that captures four-channel surround sound audio, making it the perfect solution for creating spatial audio files for Google’s Jump platform.
Google’s Jump platform makes it possible for viewers to experience a place like they’re actually there, through VR videos and surround-sound audio. To help content creators make videos for the platform, Google has developed a specialized Jump camera rig consisting of 16 camera modules organized in a circular array. When deployed as part of the Jump camera rig, the Zoom H2n recorder sits in the center of the circular multi-camera array, making its compact size an essential feature. The Jump Assembler (using Google’s cloud) then uses advanced computing power to assemble 16 pieces of video into a stereoscopic VR video ready for YouTube.
The H2n Handy Recorder now offers unique features for capturing spatial audio, a next-generation surround sound compression format that allows content creators to extract and separate four individual audio tracks. Just like 360-degree videos provide an immersive visual experience, spatial audio helps viewers hear the depth, distance, and intensity of a place. Using the H2n recorder, creators can capture four surround sound audio tracks—left, right, forwards, and backwards—to go along with the stereoscopic VR video. When viewers watch the video on YouTube, they can change the direction of sound as they move through the VR environment.
The new H2n firmware update allows content creators to capture a single four-channel multi-track WAV file that includes Omni, Left/Right, and Forward/Backward tracks. YouTube now offers native support for the spatial audio format, and audio recorded with H2n in “Spatial Audio” mode will be automatically decoded for playback on the site.
The new VR firmware update for the Zoom H2n Handy Recorder is now available for download.
More information: Zoom / Zoom H2n Handy Recorder