A new Albuquerque company specializes in creating 360 degree video immersive experiences, its founder told a crowd during a recent talk at Fatpipe ABQ.
“It takes you there in a way that traditional media cannot,” said Floyd Vasquez Jr., who founded Visual Broadcast Media Services LLC, in January.
The company, which does boutique digital marketing and production produces digital media in three forms: immersive 360 video, aerial video or traditional video as well as audio components for the websites of its clients, Vasquez said after the event.
Immersive 360 video means the viewer is able to see everything that is around the camera while watching the video. Like traditional video, the viewer can look at what is in front of them,but with 360 video they can also look to the right and left as well as behind them. The viewer can do this by clicking the arrows on the screen of the video.
Aerial video is video that has been recorded in the air and traditional video refers to the video that most people take today.
The company can either embed the video into a website it creates for the client or it can embed the content into a website that the client has created and wants to keep.
Vasquez said he specializes in creating content that captures people’s eye.
At his talk, he demonstrated this by showing the audience a 360 video embedded in a tweet.
#DigitalProduction for websites & social media. #ABQ #NM #VirtualReality #digitalmarketing https://t.co/lLA33AWWVX pic.twitter.com/wF0Elakhzm
— VisionBroadcast (@VisionBroadcst) January 30, 2016
Work in progress
“It is very much a work in progress and I wish I could say ‘oh yeah, we’ve met every milestone’ and it is a learning process,” Vasquez said.
One of the things Vasquez is learning about and finds difficult is getting people to use immersive 360 video.
At first his goal was trying to get people to use it, but when he realized there wasn’t a demand for 360 video just yet he decided to switch gears.
“I’m finding whether or not it’s because people aren’t adopting it or they don’t know how to use it, people just haven’t been beating a path down my door saying ‘oh yeah we want to hire you,” Vasquez said.
Now he is trying to get people to understand how to use it by doing it himself and showing people, like his clients, how it looks.
A video he is particularly proud of and happy about is the Bosque School Concert 360 video he recorded which received 9,000 views without him promoting it. The video was sent to the students parents by the school.
In terms of where he wants the business to go, all he really wants is it to be able to provide enough money to make a decent living.
“My short to midterm goal is simply to have enough money to that allows me to fulfill my obligations as an adult,” Vasquez said.
In the long run, Vasquez does not want to make Visual Broadcast Media Services LLC into a large company; he would rather have a small number of clients and keep it a boutique. Right now Vasquez has four clients.
Background in media
Although his company is relatively new, Vasquez is not new to the media game. He has a background in media as a broadcast journalist and producer. He also worked as an assignment editor at television station KOAT and television station KRQE. He worked as an assignment producer at KOB and also worked at PBS as a producer and a correspondent.
He also has a background in communication as technical writer for Bernalillo County, a public information officer for the New Mexico Department of Veteran Services, and he worked as a public affairs specialist for the VA Medical Center.
He came up with the idea for his Visual Broadcast Media Services LLC by thinking about where his skills lie.
“I sort of leveraged my background both as a content creator and as a communications pro to marry those two things in building this service,” Vasquez said.
Local support for entrepreneurs is key
“One of the things that I’ve learned in this short amount of time is that the supportive community for entrepreneurs here in Albuquerque really is real,” Vasquez said.
During his presentation, Vasquez wanted to spread the word about his company as well seek collaborators and insight from multimedia journalists, businesspeople and those who know how to work with cameras.
“People have found time to give me insight and then there is this group [1 million cups] that meets each and every week,” Vasquez said.
