How to Watch 2D/3D Videos on HTC Vive?

In this modern era with Netflix, smartphones, facebook and reddit, It's so hard to really focus on movies without suddenly check social media, check your phone or just generally alt-tab when in netflix. The magic will happen when you watch movies on HTC Vive. With just only break when watching the entire film, you may see thousands of small things you would've never noticed if it had been on your desktop PC / TV. You will enjoy it and get immersed in the universe.

Watch 3D Movies on HTC Vive

What Should You Prepare for Watching Videos on HTC Vive?

To watch videos on HTC Vive, you should prepare some things.

2D/3D Video

There are two kinds of videos you can watch in HTC Vive, each of which you can obtain from different sources:

* Regular 2D video: These are the normal videos you find on YouTube, or rip from DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

* 3D video: You’ve seen 3D movies at the theater, and you can buy those 3D movies on Blu-ray, too. To watch them in HTC Vive, you can rip that 3D Blu-ray to a “side by side” or “over under” format, which is playable on a VR headset in 3D. (You’ll usually have the choice between Full SBS, which contains each eye in full resolution, or Half SBS, which contains each eye in subsampled half resolution. Full SBS videos are noticeably higher quality, but take up more hard drive space and more graphics power to play.)

VR App

Many VR apps can be used on HTC Vive. But after testing a few, we settled on Whirligig. After buying Whirligig, open Steam, head to the Library tab, and click “Games” in the upper right-corner of the sidebar. Click “Software” to find Whirligig in your Library. Then, right-click on Whirligig in Steam’s sidebar, and go to Properties. Click the “Betas” tab, and opt into the latest beta in the dropdown menu. Whirligig will update to the latest possible version. Lastly, depending on the videos you plan to watch, you may need to download and install the K-Lite Codec Pack. I recommend installing the Basic version. Be sure to click the “Expert” radio button and pay close attention–K-Lite does come bundled with crapware, you just need to decline to install it during the wizard. Once that’s done, launch Whirligig in your VR environment of choice, and you’ll be presented with Whirligig’s heads-up overlay. You can control Whirligig’s menus with the HTC Vive’s touchpad, an Xbox 360 or One controller, or a mouse and keyboard. I highly recommend using a mouse and keyboard, as it’s much easier than any of the gamepads.

To watch a video, click the Browse button in the top left-hand corner of the menu. You’ll be able to browse your hard drive to choose a video file. (Whirligig also claims to support YouTube links in its Settings, but I couldn’t get that to work at the time of this writing.)

As the video starts to play, you’ll probably want to adjust some settings using Whirligig’s heads-up controls. Here’s what we recommend for each type of video:

* Regular 2D video: Set Projector to Cinema or Cinema Curved.

* 3D video: 3D video comes in a few different forms, so check the video you downloaded–or the settings you used when you ripped it–to see whether it’s Half Side-By-Side, Full Side-By-Side, Half Over-Under, or Full Over-Under. Set the Projector to either Cinema or Cinema Curved, then select SBS or OU instead of Mono. If the video is Half SBS, set Stretch to “100” so it displays in the proper aspect ratio.

How to set up an Xbox One controller with the HTC Vive?

Many people don't know how to setup Xbox One controller with the HTC Vive. Here this tutorial will lead you how to do this in the right way. Follow this steps to complete the setup for your Xbox One controller with the HTC Vive:

1. Make sure that the game you plan to play in VR has support for the Xbox One controller, otherwise the controller will not work.

2. If you have Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 please download the Xbox Controller drivers if you already haven't. For more info visit this page: https://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en-us/d/xbox-one-con...

3. Connect the controller to the PC with the micro USB cable

4. If your controller is not working, please check if you have plugged it in correctly or try a different USB micro cable. Also check if you have the proper drivers. Otherwise the game or the app does not support this controller

5. You are done and now you should be able to enjoy VR through HTC Vive and Xbox One controller

When you prepared the 2D/3D video source and VR app and set up Xbox One controller with HTC Vive, you should be able to watch 2D/3D video on your HTC Vive.

Best VR Video Converter for HTC Vive

Sometimes, you may meet some troubles when viewing 3D video on HTC Vive for the video format and resolution incompatibility issue. A VR Video Converter can help you solve the problems. Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate is an excellent VR video converter for HTC Vive, Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift CV1, Oculus Rift DK2, PlayStation VR, Freely VR, etc.

What can Pavtube VR Video Converter do for you?

- 2D to 3D: Capable of converting 2D videos to five types of 3D videos including Anaglyph(Red/Cyan), Side by Side, Side by Side (half-width), Top and Bottom, and Top and Bottom (half-height).

- 3D to 2D: Support the conversion from Side by Side, Side by Side (half-width), Top and Bottom, and Top and Bottom (half-height) 3D video to almost any format of standard 2D video.

- 3D to 3D: Freely convert between different 3D modes, such as convert between Side by Side (Half-Width/Full), Top and Bottom (Half-Height/Full) and Anaglyph.

- DVD/Blu-ray to 3D: Rip 2D/3D Blu-ray and DVD to 3D MKV, 3D MP4, 3D MOV, 3D WMV and 3D AVI format.

- Stability: After cyclic test we are sure that the software is very stable, without any operating trouble or defeat during the 2D to 3D and 3D to 3D Conversion as long as your computer is OK.

- Easy to Use: With an intuitive interface, it is simple to navigate and a minimal learning curve so you can make a playable SBS VR video in a timely manner.

- Compatibility: Work in Windows(10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP, etc)

For Mac users, the equivalent Mac VR video converter is Pavtube iMedia Converter for Mac which can convert 2D/3D video to HTC Vive on macOS Sierra, El Capitan, etc.

How to Convert 2D/3D Video to HTC Vive with VR Video Converter?

Step 1: Add 2D/3D video

Launch the Video to HTC Vive converter and add your movie source by clicking the "Load File" icon to import images to the app. You can add 3D Blu-ray, 3D MKV, YouTube video, YIFY video, 2D MP4, AVI, FLV, etc.

Add 3D Blu-ray image

Step 2: Choose an output format

HTC Vive can accept 3D SBS MP4 so you can click "Format" bar on the interface then navigate to "3D Video" to choose "MP4 Side-by-Side 3D Video (*.mp4)", "MP4 Anaglyph 3D Video (*.mp4)" or "MP4 Top bottom 3D Video (*.mp4)" as the output format.

Choose an output format

Note: Although there is a profile created by the application, we can always change some parameters of resolution, compression, audio, etc. An important issue that you must consider that in Samsung Gear VR resolution for each eye is not FullHD but half the QHD screen. So you can free change your target video size, bitrate, frame rate and 3D depth in "Settings". If you want to get best video quality, pls switch them to "original". 3D movies should be encoded "full side-by-side" with a 1:1 pixel aspect ratio. Content mastered at 1920X1080 compressed side--by--side 3D should be resampled to 1920X540 resolution full side--by--side resolution (Learn more) The developer edition has a stated resolution of 1080x1200px, split across both eyes. It's also sporting a 90Hz refresh rate. Both specs are generally on par which what we'd expect at this stage in the device's development.

Step 3. Start to convert video to SBS 3D MKV/MP4

Click "Convert" and let the Video Converter Ultimate accomplish the rest automatically. You can locate the 3D video for HTC Vive in output folder.

Note: Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate decrypt Blu-ray AACS, BD+ up to MKB v61 so it can rip many new released 3D Blu-ray to HTC Vive.

3D Blu-ray Supported: Avatar, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, Gravity, Star Wars, The Matian, The Walk, The Adventures of Tintin - Limited Edition 3D Blu-ray Disc, Resident Evil - Afterlife, Hugo Limited Edition 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack, Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Limited Edition 3D Blu-ray Disc, Spectre 007, Spotlight, The Revenant, How To Train Your Dragon, Journey To The Center Of The Earth, Journey To The Center Of The Earth, Monsters Vs. Aliens, Toy Story 3, etc.

What's Next? Price: $52$65