Shooting 360° Video in a Pharmaceutical Clean Room

June 8, 2020

The constraint: Capture photorealistic 360° content of a pharmaceutical production facility. Clean room standards mean minimal equipment, strict protocols, limited time.

One day. One person. Two cameras. Five rooms.

The Challenge

Pharmaceutical clean rooms maintain strict contamination control. Air quality is monitored constantly. Particle counts matter. Equipment entering the space must be approved and minimal.

Equipment restrictions:

• No large film crews
• No multiple lighting setups
• No standard production equipment
• No particle-shedding materials

Approved equipment:

• DSLR camera rig for ultra high-res 360° capture
• Multiple shots per position for stitching
• Tablet for monitoring
• Power banks
• Protective equipment

Time constraint: 60 minutes per room. Protective gear and clean room access costs production time.

The Production Plan

Pre-production:

• Walk through facility (outside clean room)
• Identify key equipment and stations
• Plan 5 shots per room for coverage
• Mark camera positions on floor plan
• Get all equipment approved by safety team

On-site workflow:

1. Suit up in protective gear
2. Enter clean room with pre-positioned equipment
3. Set up DSLR rig at position 1
4. Capture multiple exposures (bracketing for HDR)
5. Rotate rig, capture full 360° sphere
6. Verify on tablet while moving to position 2
7. Repeat for remaining positions
8. Exit clean room

No time for second attempts. Every shot had to work first time. Post-stitching issues discovered later required rebooking.

Technical Decisions

Ultra high-res DSLR capture. Standard 360° cameras weren't sharp enough. We used a DSLR rig capturing multiple photos per position, then stitched them into seamless 360° spheres. Higher quality, but more complex workflow.

HDR bracketing. Clean rooms have challenging lighting—bright overhead lights, dark corners, reflective metal surfaces. We shot multiple exposures per angle, merged them for proper dynamic range.

Stitching metal surfaces. The hardest part. Metal equipment creates reflections that confuse stitching algorithms. We had to manually fix seams where automated stitching failed on reflective surfaces.

Fixed positions, planned rotations. Every camera position and rotation angle was predetermined. The DSLR rig captured overlapping shots we'd stitch later. No room for error in the sequence.

Natural lighting only. Clean rooms have consistent overhead lighting. We couldn't add film lights, so we worked with what existed. HDR bracketing compensated for lighting limitations.

Verification on-site. The tablet let us check that we captured all angles in the sequence. Missing one rotation meant the sphere wouldn't stitch. Discovering gaps back at the office would mean rescheduling facility time.

What We Shot

Equipment stations: Spray drying towers, control panels, material handling systems. Angles that showed scale and detail.

Process flow: Shots that could be sequenced to show product journey through the facility.

Environment details: Clean room suits, air handling systems, quality control stations. Elements that demonstrated standards.

Ambient elements: Equipment sounds, ventilation, operational atmosphere. Audio matters for immersion.

Production Results

Pre-planning eliminated on-site uncertainty. Every shot was mapped before entry. Simultaneous capture improved efficiency. Tablet verification caught one exposure issue immediately.

Challenges:

• Full protective gear limited mobility and endurance
• DSLR rig positioning required precise timing to stay out of frame
• Reflective stainless steel created stitching failures where algorithms couldn't match reflections
• Lighting balance required HDR bracketing (bright overhead lights, dark corners, reflective metal)
• Clean room ventilation systems created audio noise for later narration

Outcomes:

• Clean room sterility worked for pharmaceutical trust-building but provided minimal visual interest
• Equipment detail compensated for visual minimalism
• Spray drying equipment scale translated well in VR

Post-Production Integration

Raw photos needed stitching first. Each position had 20-30 individual DSLR shots that we merged into one seamless 360° sphere. Automated stitching handled 80% of it. The remaining 20%—reflective metal surfaces, tight corners—required manual correction.

Then we built the VR experience in Unity:

Environment: Ultra high-res 360° photos as photorealistic base for each room Interactivity: Hotspots on equipment that revealed technical specs Navigation: Smooth transitions between rooms following product flow Audio: Equipment sounds mixed with expert narration Multiplayer: Deterministic networking for remote collaboration

The networking layer:

Sales reps could join sessions remotely. A customer at a trade show puts on a headset. A technical expert joins from headquarters. Both see each other as avatars. Both can point at equipment. Both can talk in real-time.

This wasn't just VR—it was networked collaboration in a virtual space. The technical challenge was keeping everyone synchronized (deterministic networking) so interactions felt immediate, not laggy.

The photorealistic base gave users trust. The interactive layer gave them education. The multiplayer gave them expert access.

Technical Lessons

Constraints drive precision. Limited equipment and time eliminated room for error.

Pre-production determines outcome. Days of planning enabled smooth execution in the one-hour window.

360° capture reveals everything. No off-frame space for lights, crew, or equipment. Everything in the sphere appears on camera.

DSLR stitching requires manual work. Ultra high-res provides quality but demands manual correction. Reflective surfaces fail automated stitching.

Industrial spaces lack visual interest. Clean rooms prioritize function over aesthetics. Compelling angles in minimal spaces require deliberate composition.

On-site verification prevents costly reshoots. Rebooking facility time takes weeks. Immediate verification catches issues while fixing is possible.

The Output

Five fully captured clean room spaces. Integrated into a VR experience that let pharmaceutical customers explore the facility, examine equipment, and understand production processes.

Used at trade shows for two years. Still cited as a reference for industrial VR applications.

Technical Director and Producer at XRBASE Amsterdam. End-to-end technical planning in collaboration with the client and on-site capture team.