Working with the National Horseracing College

The National Horseracing College, based in Doncaster, is one of only two specialist racing colleges in the country and trains hundreds of students each year for a career in the horseracing industry.

We first began working with them in 2015, when they approached us to create a Sky TV commercial for them. So when they wanted to create 360 virtual reality videos to show potential students what working in the racing industry is like, they saw Lucas Media as the natural choice and chose us as their preferred video partner once again.

The videos would be used in a virtual tour inside an Oculus VR headset at trade shows and educational/apprenticeship events to give users a fully immersive taste of various aspects of the horseracing industry, including riding on the College gallops, and watching a race at Doncaster Racecourse.

We used a Kandao Obsidian specialist 360 camera to shoot the video in 8K resolution this enabled us to also capture 360 panoramic images. Our crew, along with members of the NHC marketing team, filmed at various locations around the UK, including the College, Doncaster Racecourse and Goffs UK Bloodstock Sales, and at top horse trainer Jonjo O’Neill’s Cheltenham stables.

How we produced the 360 video and photography content

The main challenge on this project was working to the horses’ schedules, as we had to get the footage from their daily activities in one take, as well as being ready well in advance of the start of the races we were filming to ensure we captured the action from the first second.

A full briefing from the College’s Marketing team at the start of the project, as well as careful planning for each filming session, enabled us to put the 360 degree video camera in the right places to get the shots we needed while disturbing the horses as little as possible.

We then used specialist 360 video editing software to edit the footage down to 15 minutes in total which comprised of 15 individual clips that were used inside the VR headset as part of the virtual tour.

To provide added value, we also supplied the 15 individual 360 clips of the different filming locations for the College to use on YouTube and Facebook channels, as these platforms support 360° video content.

The National Horseracing College has an excellent relationship with the British Horseracing Authority (BHA); when the BHA heard about the 360 video project, they contacted us to request copies of their own. Our Director sourced two VR headsets which we loaded with some additional BHA content as well as the virtual tour; the BHA now also use these as they travel the country promoting the sport.

You can view the 360 video playlist on our Youtube Channel or have a look on our 360 video page