360 Camera Techniques

Insta360 Pro tutorial: How to CONNECT to the Internet and LIVE STREAM

Insta360 Pro tutorial: connect to the Internet and live stream
Insta360 Pro tutorial: connect to the Internet and live stream

Here is a 2-part tutorial for the Insta360 Pro. First, I’ll show how to connect to the Internet. Second, I’ll show how to live stream.

Tutorial on how to use Insta360 Pro
Tutorial on how to use Insta360 Pro

The Insta360 Pro is one of the hottest 360 cameras for professionals because of its combination of image quality, features, ease of use, and affordability (compared to other professional cameras). Here is my review and quick start guide.

In this post, I discuss how to live stream with the Insta360 Pro. Honestly, I was putting this off because I thought it was complicated, and actually, just like the Insta360 Pro itself, it really is quite simple!  Here is the tutorial:

PART 1: CONNECTING TO THE INTERNET
There are two ways to connect to the internet on the Insta360 Pro: wired or wireless.

For a wired connection with an Ethernet cable, you simply plug in an Ethernet cable to your router, then connect the cable to the Ethernet jack on the Insta360 Pro. If your router is correctly configured, it will automatically assign an IP address to your Insta360 Pro.

For a wireless connection:
1. From the Insta360 Pro’s main menu, go to the Settings.
2. The first option under Settings is Wi-Fi. There are two choices for Wi-Fi: AP or Wi-Fi. Choose Wi-Fi (it will say Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi). Press the back button to go back to the main screen.
3. Connect your smartphone to the same network as the Insta360 Pro. (currently, there’s only an iOS app, but an Android app is coming soon).
4. Launch the Insta360 Pro app on your smartphone.
5. Tap on the QR code generator on the upper left corner of the app.
6. Tap on “Wi Fi” to generate a QR Code for Wi-Fi. Enter the SSID and password. Then tap “Generate QR Code” to create a QR code.
7. On the Insta360 Pro’s main menu, use the up/down buttons to go to the Wi-Fi icon. Instead of pressing OK, press the settings button. After a few seconds, it will say “Align QR code.” You then put the QR code from your phone a couple of inches from the lens. I use the first lens, which is the first lens to your left when you are looking at the on-screen menu and controls. A beep will tell you that the Insta360 Pro has recognized the QR Code. It will then automatically connect to the Wi-Fi network.

Whether you have a wired or wireless connection, check to see the IP address on the upper left corner of the Insta360 Pro’s display. If you have an IP address, the connection is successful. If you get 0.0.0.0, then it didn’t connect.

PART 2: HOW TO LIVE STREAM
You need two things in order to live stream with the Insta360 Pro: an internet connection and a streaming service. To connect the Insta360 Pro to the internet, see Part 1 above. Make sure your internet speed is adequate for the streaming resolution that you are using.

Once you have an internet connection, the next step is to create a live stream event using your streaming service. For example, you can use YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Periscope, or some other streaming service. You can also use Livescale.tv to stream simultaneously to more than one service.

The actual steps for creating a live stream differ between each service. But the important thing is to check the option for 360 video. Here are the steps for Facebook and YouTube:

Facebook instructions:
1. Go to fb.com/live/create (for Business Manager, go to business.facebook.com/live/create) and click Create Live Stream.
2. Check the box for “This live stream is a 360 video.” Click on Next.
3. On the next screen, create a title for your stream.
4. Make a note of the Server URL and the Stream Key. For Facebook it’s really long, so I recommend copying and emailing it to yourself.

YouTube instructions:
Note: Your channel must first be verified. If it’s not yet verified, go to Youtube.com/verify
1. Go to video manager. On the left side of the dashboard, click on Live Streaming. Click on that, and then click on Events (do not choose Stream Now).
2 . Click on New Live Event.
3. Put a title, description, tags, start and end times, and choose the privacy.
4. On advanced settings tab, check 360 video.
5. Make a note of the Server URL and the Stream Key. For Facebook it’s really long, so I recommend copying and emailing it to yourself.

After creating a live stream event, I recommend doing a stitching calibration. On the insta360 Pro’s main menu, choose stitching calibration (the icon looks like an arrowhead) and press OK. Move 1 meter away from the camera while the camera takes a calibration shot. Then it should be calibrated.

The Insta360 Pro has a unique capability of being able to record video with realtime stitching while live streaming (you can even get the individual videos for each lens to re-stitch them on the desktop if you want higher quality stitching).   You can use these options using the smartphone app or desktop app.  If you are recording while streaming, I highly recommend getting an external SSD (which is much faster than an SD card) to avoid interrupting the stream.

Sandisk Extreme 500 portable SSD
Sandisk Extreme 500 portable SSD

ENTERING THE SERVER URL AND STREAM KEY INTO THE INSTA360 PRO

Once you have the Server URL and Stream key, you need to input them into the Insta360 Pro.  There are several ways to do that:
A. Use the QR code generator in the app. The steps are similar as for a wi-fi connection (see Part 1 above) except you choose Live Stream instead of Wi-Fi. Then you enter the stream url and key and generate a QR code. On the Insta360 Pro, go to live streaming, and then in that mode, press the settings button. It will ask for a QR Code. Then you show the QR code for the stream.

or

B. Use a PC or Mac. Make sure the PC or Mac is connected to the same network as the Insta360 Pro. –
– Launch the Insta360 Pro app (for Mac or Windows). Enter the Insta360 Pro’s IP address.
– Go to live streaming and enter the stream URL and key.

or

C. Use the smartphone app. Make sure the smartphone is connected to the same network as the Insta360 Pro.
– Launch the Insta360 Pro app (for Mac or Windows). Choose Connection Method A and enter the Insta360 Pro’s IP address.
– Go to live streaming and enter the stream URL and key.

The method I prefer is the smartphone app. Both the desktop app and smartphone app will let you control the exposure, brightness, saturation, etc. In addition, the smartphone app is of course portable.

Once you’ve entered the URL and key, start shooting with the Insta360 Pro using the on-camera OK/shutter button or using the app.  Now the Insta360 Pro is sending a video to your streaming service, but it’s not yet visible to your audience.

The next step is to start streaming.  On your streaming service, click on Go Live, or Start Streaming, or equivalent.  Congratulations!  You are now live streaming.

To end the stream, go to your streaming service and click on stop streaming.  Note that there is a lag of a few seconds between the shooting and the streaming, so make sure that on the viewing side, the stream is over before you hit the Stop Streaming.  Then, on the Insta360 Pro, click the OK/shutter to stop shooting.

That’s all there is to it!  As you can see, it’s quite easy.  To see sample live streams from the Insta360 Pro, check out this post.  If you’d like to get the Insta360 Pro, please contact me so I can help you get a special discount!

About the author

Mic Ty

8 Comments

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  • Hey Mic Ty,

    Do you know anything about the streaming latency? We think to use these device for a festival live streaming solution. In which area can we think about it?

    • Hi Matthias. Sorry I haven’t tested the streaming latency… I recommend posting to insta360 community on Facebook where Insta360 engineers can respond. Best regards, Mic

  • Hi Mic, got this working great. One question though with Youtube – the video displays no webvr icon, so am not sure if it would work ok with a headset?

    • Hi Nick! You can view it on a headset. From the headset eg Oculus Rift, you would go to Youtube (via the Oculus browser) and watch the stream. Oculus’ browser will let you display the video as 360. For google cardboard, just use the youtube app to watch the stream to see the cardboard icon.
      best regards,
      mic

  • Hi there! thanks for the great post! Can you stream while the camera is connected to the powersupply? if not, how long does it last?