Abstract

This article has a dual aim: firstly, to introduce a workflow that allows the integration of a stylized equirectangular video animation for virtual reality use and secondly, we propose to explore this technique in cinematic narratives presenting one short virtual reality 360 movie.
This workflow facilitates the creation of stylized animations and immersive environments for a vr experience using open source software. Our method uses as input a 3d scene/animation and one image that is used as a style source. The base render will go through a synthesis API that supports auto-generation of example guide maps, which produces a style transfer-like effect to generate some stylized key frames. These will go through another algorithm that uses the base render and the stylized key frames to synthesize the remaining stylized frames.
Finally, we demonstrate the stylization by a style transfer-like effect of stereoscopic 360º digital animation. We explore the possibility of integrating a visual style from a source image, and the creation of a 3d scene based on that style. Resulting in a bridge between visual content of a “classic / traditional” character with an immersiveness of a vr experience.