360° Images in Blender

How to Create 360° Images in Blender for Facebook

If you’ve ever wanted to create immersive 360° images that work seamlessly on Facebook, Blender is the perfect tool to get you started. Here is a step-by-step through the process of making stunning 360° images that can be shared on social media, allowing your audience to explore your creations in a whole new way.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Scene

First, open Blender and set up your scene as you would for any standard 3D render. You can create your 3D model, import an existing one, or use a pre-made scene. Make sure your scene has all the elements you want to showcase in your 360° image.

1. Position Your Camera:

   • Select the camera in your scene and position it at the center of the area you want to capture. This will be the starting point of your 360° image.

   • Set the camera's rotation to (0, 0, 0) to ensure it is facing forward without any tilt.

2. Change the Camera Type:

   • With the camera selected, go to the camera settings tab on the right-hand panel.

   • Change the camera type from "Perspective" to "Panoramic."

   • Under "Panoramic Type," select Equirectangular. This setting is crucial for creating 360° images.

Step 2: Adjusting the Render Settings

To ensure the best quality for your 360° image, you’ll need to adjust the render settings appropriately.

1. Resolution:

   • Go to the Render Properties tab (the camera icon on the right).

   • Set the resolution to 6000 x 3000 pixels. This 2:1 ratio is ideal for 360° images.

2. Enable Cycles (Optional but Recommended for beginners):

   • For more realistic rendering, switch your render engine to Cycles from the default Eevee. (I do use Octane renderer for most of my works)

   • This will allow for better lighting, shadows, and overall image quality.

3. Lighting and Materials:

   • Ensure your scene is well-lit. You can use HDRI lighting for a more natural environment or add light sources manually.

   • Check that all materials look good under the panoramic settings, as 360° images capture everything around the camera.

Step 3: Rendering Your 360° Image

Once your scene is set up and your render settings are adjusted, it’s time to render the image.

1. Render the Image:

   • Press F12 or go to Render > Render Image to start rendering your 360° image.

   • Depending on the complexity of your scene and your computer’s power, this might take some time.

2. Save the Image:

   • After rendering, go to Image > Save As in the top menu bar.

   • Save your image as a JPEG or PNG file with a high-quality setting.

Step 4: Adding Metadata for Facebook Compatibility

For Facebook to recognize your image as a 360° photo, you need to add some metadata. This is easier than it sounds.

1. Using an EXIF Tool:

   • Download and install an EXIF editor like ExifTool.

   • Use the following command to add the required metadata:

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     exiftool -ProjectionType="equirectangular" yourimage.jpg

   • This step tells Facebook that your image is a 360° photo.

Step 5: Upload to Facebook

Step 6: Enjoy looking around !

Portfolio with our 360 you can find on Kuula - https://kuula.co/profile/3dshaker

360 video made out of 360 image Would you be interested in creating one?

Portfolio with our 360 you can find on Kuula - https://kuula.co/profile/3dshaker