Conversation with Diego Vega, director of VRO Films, following an eight-day expedition filming glaciers, volcanic beaches, active craters, and northern lights for a cinematic VR180 immersive documentary.

While the XR industry continues to debate headsets, platforms, and display resolution, a new generation of independent immersive producers is facing a less visible but equally important challenge: how to create professional cinematic VR180 content without being buried under the technical pipeline.

VRO Films has just completed one of the most ambitious projects in its catalog: a VR180 documentary filmed over eight days in Iceland, capturing glaciers, black volcanic beaches, active craters, dramatic coastlines, and northern lights in 8K RAW at 60fps. The production generated nearly 16 terabytes of footage for a final immersive piece expected to run approximately 15 minutes.

The project is not only a production case study. It is also a distribution experiment. Part of the material will premiere through the curated beta of ZeusXR, a WebXR-based immersive media platform designed to reduce one of the historical bottlenecks of VR180 production: professional distribution without requiring every creator to build proprietary headset apps.

We spoke with Diego Vega about the complete production pipeline, from camera selection and field logistics to post-production, encoding, and the future of immersive storytelling.

The Setup: Canon R5 C + RF 5.2mm Dual Fisheye

Why did you choose that specific setup for a project of this scale?

“We used the Canon EOS R5 C with the RF 5.2mm f/2.8 L Dual Fisheye lens. For this type of production, it gave us the right balance between image quality, mobility, reliability, and post-production flexibility.

It is important to be precise here. I would not say it is the best camera for every immersive production. For high-end cinematic work, especially controlled productions, cameras like the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive are clearly pushing the premium side of the market forward.

But this project was different. We were moving constantly across Iceland, filming in remote areas, carrying equipment over long distances, reacting to weather changes, and trying to capture natural phenomena that could disappear in minutes. In that context, the Canon R5 C dual-fisheye setup made a lot of sense.

It allowed us to shoot 8K RAW at 60fps in a compact and relatively lightweight configuration. For an independent VR180 expedition where speed, portability, memory management, and image quality all matter at the same time, it was the right tool.”

What technical limitations did you encounter under extreme conditions?

“The biggest challenge with VR180 in nature is that everything becomes part of the experience. You are not just framing a beautiful image. You are creating a space that the viewer will feel they are inside.

Low light was one of the hardest problems. Stereoscopic capture is much less forgiving than traditional filmmaking, and in Iceland we often filmed in near darkness, especially when trying to capture the northern lights. We depended almost entirely on natural light and weather conditions.

You cannot artificially light a glacier in any meaningful way. You cannot control the sky. You cannot ask the aurora to appear again. So planning becomes essential, but even then, nature has the final word.

To capture the northern lights, we selected locations far from cities and used weather and aurora forecasting apps, although they are often inaccurate. In the end, the only way to make it work was through long timelapse sessions. Sometimes we recorded for an hour and a half just to obtain a few usable seconds.

And because we were recording in 8K RAW at 60fps, every hour of material generated a massive amount of data. After eight days, we had nearly 6 terabytes of footage for a documentary that will probably last around 10 minutes.”

Immersive Production in Extreme Environments: Ice, Wind, and Tourists

What was the biggest production challenge beyond the technical side?

“Isolating nature from human presence.

In VR180, any uncontrolled element inside the 180-degree field of view can break immersion. In a traditional film, you can hide things outside the frame. In VR180, the frame is much wider, and the viewer has more freedom to look around.

Iceland is visually extraordinary, but many of its most iconic locations are full of tourists: buses, groups, people taking selfies, people walking into the shot. That is a real problem when your goal is to create the feeling of untouched nature.

We had to anticipate crowds, film very early in the morning before tours arrived, or choose moments when most visitors were away. We also searched for less obvious angles, not just the classic postcard view.

Diamond Beach was one of the most powerful locations. You have these blocks of glacial ice scattered across black volcanic sand. It is one of the most photographed places in Iceland, but we wanted to capture it in a way that felt silent, isolated, almost as if nobody had ever been there.”

Are the northern lights the documentary’s central concept?

“No. The northern lights are part of the experience, but they are not the central concept.

The documentary is about Iceland as a journey through the force of nature: volcanic creation, glaciers, black sand, ice, wind, water, and extreme contrasts. Some places feel almost prehistoric, like you are seeing the origins of the Earth.

For me, this project also comes from a personal place. I have always had a deep desire to explore the world, and that connects directly with my passion for photography and filmmaking.

Doing this in VR180 is different because you are not only showing a place. You are trying to bring the viewer there. You are creating the feeling of presence.

Many people may never have the chance to visit these locations. Immersive media gives us a way to bring them closer to places that would otherwise remain inaccessible.”

The Historical Bottleneck: Professional VR180 Distribution

Let’s talk about distribution, one of the biggest problems in the industry.

“This is what many creators discover only after they finish the production: capturing high-quality VR180 content is difficult, but distributing it professionally can be even harder.

You can create something cinematic with accessible equipment, but then the options become very limited.

You can upload the work to massive video platforms, but then you lose a lot of control. You do not really own the presentation. You may not get the right analytics. Your work can appear next to amateur content, and that can damage the perception of serious immersive productions.

The other option is to build your own application. But that means developing for different headsets, maintaining software, dealing with stores, updates, compatibility, and technical support. For most independent creators and studios, that is simply not viable.

There are incredible immersive works made by professional VR directors that people cannot easily watch. That is one of the biggest contradictions in the industry. The content exists, but access is still fragmented.”

ZeusXR and the Search for a More Open Distribution Workflow

Will part of the Iceland material premiere through ZeusXR?

“Yes. We feel honored to work with the first curated beta of ZeusXR and explore what it can offer to immersive creators.

What interests us is that it is being built specifically around the needs of professional VR180 and immersive media producers. Not just as a player, but as a distribution layer.

For creators, the value is not only playback. The value is reducing the technical stress around encoding, device compatibility, publishing, analytics, monetization, and access.

The Iceland project generated much more than one documentary. We also captured many shorter clips and visual moments that can serve as demonstrations of what immersive distribution could become when the technical barrier is reduced.”

How does it work technically?

“The workflow is based on native WebXR and specialized encoding for VR180 immersive video. The idea is that the creator uploads the content, the backend prepares adaptive streaming versions, and the experience can be accessed directly from a compatible headset browser.

That is the important shift. Instead of forcing every creator to build a native app for every device, you can distribute an immersive experience through a link.

Of course, compatibility still depends on the headset, browser, codec support, and performance of each device. But as a workflow, it points toward a much more open model.

For creators, that means they can publish, share, embed, and test immersive content much faster. A festival, a client, a curator, or an investor can open a link and enter the experience without downloading a custom app.”

What specific advantages does this bring for independent creators?

“For small independent studios, the biggest advantage is the reduction of friction.

You can have more control over bitrate and compression quality instead of depending entirely on a massive platform’s algorithm.

Distribution becomes more direct. You can share a link through email, newsletters, QR codes, festival submissions, private screeners, or your own website.

You can also access more professional analytics: who watched the content, for how long, from which device, and from which region.

Another key point is monetization. If the platform supports paywalls, individual access, subscriptions, or memberships, then immersive creators can start building a real business model around their work.

For years, the industry has focused heavily on capture technology and headsets. But the missing piece has been distribution. Creators need a way to reach audiences without losing control of the experience.”

Toward Immersive Cinema

The arrival of specialized distribution tools comes at a key moment for the XR industry. Capture technology has matured, headsets are becoming more capable, and companies such as Apple and Blackmagic Design are pushing immersive media toward more professional production standards.

For VRO Films, the Iceland project is part of a larger exploration of what immersive cinema can become.

What comes after Iceland?

“We see Iceland as the beginning of a much larger path.

The project could evolve into exhibition formats closer to immersive cinema, where people experience VR180 content collectively, not only alone at home. We are interested in the idea of curated immersive screenings, festival presentations, and larger audience formats.

We are also already exploring future productions involving underwater capture and aerial cinematography, including drone-based immersive shots.

Another project we are developing is a second immersive documentary in the Galápagos Islands, in Ecuador, where our team comes from. The Galápagos have a completely different visual and emotional identity, but they share something with Iceland: they are places where nature feels bigger than the human presence.”

Final thoughts for creators considering cinematic VR180 production?

“There is still so much left to explore.

I believe the future of VR lies partly in taking people to places they would otherwise never reach. That does not mean replacing the real world. It means creating access, memory, emotion, and presence.

Capture technology is finally strong enough. Headsets are improving. Distribution tools are starting to arrive. That combination changes the possibilities for independent creators.

For years, VR180 creators produced incredible work that very few people could easily watch. If that problem starts to be solved, then the medium can finally move forward.

And for immersive storytelling, that changes everything.”

More Information

VRO Films: vrofilms.com

ZeusXR Curated Beta: Portfolio-based application access

Behind-the-scenes footage from the Iceland expedition: Coming soon

Interview conducted in May 2026. The Iceland documentary is currently in post-production with an estimated release in June.