With the new update to Final Cut Pro X to 10.3, the development of a range of new content creation and distribution tools like Klynt, the acquisition of Audio technology companies by both Google and Facebook the landscape of video / audio creation is changing quickly and in ways not yet clear.
Each of the main video and audio post-production tools are at different points on the path towards being able to do this. They are limited by history, user interface metaphor and ability to deliver:
The difference now is that standards don’t have to be agreed by standards bodies any more. The speed of evolution of 360º video distribution hasn’t been because of SMPTE or IEEE.
Take directional audio as an example. VR video creators want audio to ‘line up with’ video elements: If a train comes into a station and I’ve turned so that the train will arrive behind me, they want the sound to seem like it comes from behind me.
In February there was no standard way of including directional audio in 360º video. In March Google defined the way they want audio to be encoded in VR video files uploaded to YouTube. Recently Facebook acquired a company that made expensive set of audio tools for directional audio post production. Around the same time as Google open-sourced the audio part of the spatial media standard, Facebook made the directional audio tools free for the use for post production.
MA 21st Century Media Practice 2017 