How to Edit 360° Video in PowerDirector

PowerDirector's 360° video projects let you edit 360° camera footage without losing the full scene. Use a 360° project to add titles or effects, steady shaky footage, or set the opening view. You get a 360° video that viewers can look around in on YouTube, Vimeo, or a 360° player.

Import your 360° video. Its thumbnail in the media library shows a 360 badge. Drag it to the timeline, and PowerDirector asks how to use it. Choose Create a 360° video project.

The other choice opens View Designer, which turns the footage into a regular video. The FAQ at the end covers that route.

Already working in a project? Click the ratio button at the far right of the icon row under the preview, then choose 360.

The preview shows the whole 360° frame flat. To see it as a viewer will, click the round 360 button under the preview, just left of the camera icon. The button turns blue, and the preview switches to a normal camera view with a round navigation control at its top left.

Drag in the preview to turn the view left, right, up, or down, or use the arrows on the round navigation control at its top left. Click the center of the control to go back to the default view.

Click Titles at the top and open Plain Text. Default 360 is the title made for 360° video, and it's the only one a search for "360" finds. Drag it to the track under your video.

The title clip shows a 360 mark on the timeline. Right-click it and choose Advanced Title Editing. To turn it into a flat title later, choose Convert to 2D Title in the same menu.

Select the text in the preview and type your own. Open Position & Size to change the scale and position. To move the title over time, add keyframes on the 360 Position and Scale tracks under the preview. Click OK when you're done.

For fonts, styles, and animation, see How to Use Advanced Title Editing.

The effect and overlay libraries have no separate 360° category. You use the same items as in a regular project.

Click Effects at the top and open Video Effects. A search for "360" finds nothing, so browse the regular effects and drag one onto your 360° clip.

To change the effect, select the clip, click Edit, and open the Effect tab. The settings depend on the effect. Gaussian Blur, used here, has a Degree slider and Effect mask choices.

For more on effects, see How to Use Video Effects.

Click Overlays at the top and open Stickers or Particles. A download arrow on a thumbnail means the item needs to download before you can use it. Drag the one you want to an empty track.

Select your 360° clip in the media library, not on the timeline. Then click Tools in the menu bar and choose Enhanced VR Stabilizer.

Under Stabilizer, Sliding Window Duration sets how many seconds pass between the stabilizer's checks and corrections. Spatial Domain Range sets how far above and below the horizon it looks.

Is part of the clip still shaky? Add keyframes there and level the view with the sliders under Axis Rotation: X rotation, Y rotation, and Z rotation. Click the 360 button under the preview to check it as a normal view, then click OK.

Choose which way the video faces when it starts playing. Right-click the 360° clip on the timeline and choose Edit Video > 360° Start View Setting.

If the clip has an effect, PowerDirector warns that effects won't show in this window. Click Yes to go on.

Drag in the preview, use the navigation control at its top left, or set X rotation, Y rotation, and Z rotation. Then click OK.

Click Export at the top of the window.

On the Video tab, keep Recommended, MP4, and a 2:1 resolution (3008 x 1504 here), then click Export. PowerDirector tags the file as 360° video for you, so there's no 360° option to turn on.

Open the YouTube or Vimeo tab instead. Both start on a 2:1 Profile, MPEG-4 1920 x 960/30p (16 Mbps), and the YouTube list goes up to 4096 x 2048. Fill in the title and description, then click Export.

For the rest of the export options, see How to Export a Video.

We tested these steps in PowerDirector 365 version 25.0.11 on Windows.