360 Product Spins

How to embed 360 product spins in Tumblr

2011-07-01T16:47:00.000+01:00

Some blogs don't allow you to upload 360 product spin swf files directly to the page. Instead, you need to store them on another website then 'embed' them within your blog page. Here's a simple way of embedding a swf file in Tumblr:

STEP ONE
- Click the ‘Video’ button in Tumblr

STEP TWO
- Select the ‘Embed a Video’ tab

STEP THREE
- Insert the following code with the URL of where you stored your swf file

<object id="flashcontent" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="50%" height="35%">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.URL_OF_WHERE_YOU_STORE_YOUR_FILES" />
<param name="bgcolor" value="#fff" />
<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.URL_OF_WHERE_YOU_STORE_YOUR_FILES" width="50%" height="35%">
<param name="bgcolor" value="#fff" />
</object>
</object>

Your interactive 360 product spin should now appear!

For more guides to 360 product photography visit Swiftspin360

360 product spins on iPhone and iPad

2011-06-21T12:31:00.000+01:00

We often get asked about if and how 360 product photography works on iPhones and iPads so we thought we’d offer a short explanation. The more technically advanced among you will know that there’s slightly more to it than this, but we hope it will give a general understanding to those who are not as conversant with the software side of 360 product spins.

Firstly, there are a number of media on which clients will want their products displayed as spins. They usually fall into three categories: website, video and mobile devices. Each of these require a different approach to how the spin software is written.

Website spins tend to be written in Flash as more interactive features can be added to the software. Videos are not as interactive which means spins can be produced in popular software such as QuickTime. Mobile devices however, are a different matter entirely.

In general, mobile devices should be able to display Flash files, but for some complicated (and as yet unresolved) reason Apple (hardware) will not run Adobe (software) on iPhones and iPads. We won’t go into the reasons, suffice to say that if a client wants their spins to display on an Apple device, it will need to be written in something other than Flash. Our Swiftspin code uses a mixture of Javascript and HTML.

To get a better understanding of how a website and iPhone use spin files differently take a look at the diagrams below.

A single Flash file is used to display a 360 product spin on a regular website

A JavaScript file determines how images are displayed on an iPhone/Pad

As you can see, a website using Flash can use a single file which is stored on an external storage site. It simply loads the self contained file onto the web page (you usually see a loading bar while this is happening) and when it has finished loading the user can interact with it as normal. An iPhone on the other hand, stores all the individual images which make up the spin. It then runs Javascript code which tells each image where to appear and in what order.

The benefit of a single Flash file is that you can add lots of programming features within it such as zoom and magnify buttons, whereas the iPhone code only displays the images themselves and relies on the touchscreen capabilities of the device for zooming and panning. One of the reasons for iPhones not displaying Flash may be a matter of security. As mentioned before, to display a Swiftspin on an iPhone, we use Javascript and HTML programming. Both of these are what’s known as ‘open-source’. This means anyone can download it and use it in their own programming. A Flash file and its code and images can be protected against theft, a feature which many retailers feel more comfortable with.
download

If a client wants to display their products on both devices using the same web page then the users browser can be instructed to automatically display the relevant spin - Flash or Javascript/HTML. We’re happy to help members set this up but most web designers and programmers will be able to do this. Members can also download everything required to make their images rotate on iPhones and iPads by accessing the ‘Technical Downloads’ section on the Swiftspin360 website. All our code is there as well as step-by-step instructions for implementing it into your clients’ websites.

Branding 360 Product Spins

2011-05-10T13:04:00.000+01:00

Branding opportunities and the benefits of SEO

There are very few forms of visual identity which raise awareness of both the client and the creative at the same time, especially online. A logo designer doesn't have the opportunity of placing his or her name alongside their creation and an illustrator rarely gets a mention if their artwork is used in a banner advertisement for example. But 360 product spins are different. They have the capacity to contain not only branding elements to enhance the end client's visual identity, but also a discreet link to the website of the photographer who produced it, thus benefiting both parties.

360 product views, like all elements of the marketing mix, should have the capacity to conform to a company's corporate identity. Whether it is a subtle use of a corporate colour, or the company logo emblazoned across the whole product, a spin should not look out of place when being viewed on a website.

A logo can be placed within a 360 product spin

Logos

The first and most obvious element is the inclusion of a company logo.

A small logo in one corner can reinforce the company brand and instill in the mind of the viewer that the product and company go hand in hand.

A watermarked can sometimes be a distraction

Many people believe that a watermarked logo across the spin will deter unscrupulous competitors from downloading their file and using it without permission. This may be the case, but it is important to gauge how much the watermark detracts from the product itself. If you only want to use the logo to stop theft then there are other ways of doing it, a URL lock for instance.

The loading bar is an ideal place for your company logo

Loading Bar

If you don't want to have any elements distracting from the product then your logo can appear alongside the loading bar which is a popular feature. But you need to bear in mind that a quick loading 360 product spin won't display the loading bar for very long.

Corporate Colours

Another, perhaps more subtle, use of corporate identity is the inclusion of corporate colours. Unfortunately, the web has a limited colour palette when compared to print but you can still choose from a reasonably wide selection.

If your logo is blue then you can opt to have blue buttons for your zoom features as well as a blue loading bar.

Or perhaps your products can spin on a blue background?

When it comes to template design your 360 spin should be highly flexible. It should be able to contain graphic elements such as borders, rules and type to fit in with the rest of your website design. If you're not being offered that flexibility then it's time to change your software.

Link to your website within a Swiftspin

Photographer Credits

When it comes to photographer credits most companies wouldn't want them blatantly splashed across their 360 spins, and why would they? But Swiftspins offer a discreet opportunity for photographers to credit their work without distracting from the product. Swiftspins, like most 360 product photography programs, output Flash files which allow information to be accessed using the right mouse click on a PC (Control Click on a Mac). This is where technical information is displayed and is an ideal place to include the photographer's name and copyright details. The text can be in the form of a link which, when clicked, can take the viewer to the photographer's website, and as we all know, links to your website from external sources are great for your search engine rankings.

It is important that, whatever 360 software you choose to display your products, you give some thought to the synergy they have with your existing visual elements. Swiftspins have been developed with a host of opportunities for branding because a number of the Swiftspin team have backgrounds in design for print where they were responsible, not only for designing and implementing logo designs, but for writing corporate identity manuals and acting as brand guardians for a number of large corporations. It is no surprise then, that when it came to developing the Swiftspin templates, a lot of emphasis was placed on how they could adopt features of a company's brand.

Photographers - Learn 360 product photography techniques at Swiftspin360.com

10 time saving 360 photography tips

2011-04-04T13:01:00.003+01:00

There are lots of techniques which will help you produce high quality 360 product spins, but we thought we'd share a few tips which, in the Swiftspin team's experience (we've made the mistakes in the past!) will save you valuable time. Most are pretty basic, but with everything else going on when shooting in 360 degrees its surprising how often you forget the obvious.

1. Wear gloves
- Take care to make the product you're shooting as clean and dust free as possible before you start shooting so that you don't spend hours retouching in Photoshop. The camera needs to be fixed during 360 product photography so you'll need to move the product by hand to get it central. That leaves the opportunity for plenty of finger marks, especially on metallic items such as electronics and jewellery. You might be happy to retouch the odd finger mark from a single still image, but remember that it will appear in up to 18 shots during a 360 degree spin.

2. Clean your sensor
- If you think that retouching finger prints from 18 images is annoying and uses up valuable time, remember that a dust spot on your sensor will need to be removed from all 36 images. Sensor dust is particularly annoying because, although it can easily be removed, it doesn't tend to be the first thing you think about when shooting a spin. You usually see it for the first time when you test your animation. We use Nikon cameras in the Swiftspin studio which have an automatic sensor clean (your camera may have the same) but we do send them to be professionally cleaned from time to time.

3. Do a test spin
- This may take a few seconds but has saved us countless hours over the years. Spin the turntable while looking through the camera's viewfinder to check for things like: ugly reflections; poor centering; dust on the product and of course, those pesky finger marks. This is one benefit we find of using manual turntable as opposed to automatic ones in the Swiftspin studio. You can give it a quick spin forwards and backwards to double-check that all is in order.

4. Light the turntable top to white
- You can tell a poor 360 degree product spin by the flickering base or shadows which move out of shot. As a professional photographer your eye is trained to pick up on errors like these, but clients are starting to recognise them too, so its best to get rid of them where possible. Most shadows are easy enough to remove in Photoshop using actions but you'll save time if you can remove them 'in camera'. A strong backlight coupled with an overhead softbox will help remove the turntable edge and most shadows, but don't make it too bright - or you'll end up Photoshopping out 36 lens flares!

5. Watch the product
- Wouldn't it be great if an automated turntable could also keep an eye on how the product looks while its being shot? The trouble we find with our automated turntable (which is one of the reasons we rarely use it) is that we became complacent. We'd set it going and go off to do something else, only to find that a handbag strap has slipped, or we'd forgotten to tie some laces properly. When we shoot Swiftspins manually we're always looking at the product to make sure each shot is perfect. If a speck of dust falls on the product during a spin, we can just stop, clean it off and continue without having to reshoot.

6. Use QuickTime Pro to check your spin
- As soon as you've photographed your product you'll need to give it a quick check on screen. There are a number of programs in which to do this but we like to use QuickTime Pro from Apple. QuickTime is free and you can upgrade to Pro for around £18 here. Simply open your images as a sequence under the File menu and use the sliders to preview your 360 degree spin in the Quicktime movie it produces. You'll be able to see if a reshoot is needed before you go to the time and trouble of processing all your images.

7. Get early client approval
- As a professional photographer you'll already know, not just how time-consuming a reshoot can be, but how difficult it is to convince your client to pay for it! So, try and shoot the first still shot and get it to the client as soon as possible for them to approve styling. Once a style is agreed you can carry on with the other product spins without having to get approval for each one. This is especially important if you have to spin a large amount of similar products in the same style. Warn the client well in advance so that they'll be at their desk waiting for your email proof.

8. Learn Photoshop actions
- If you're not familiar with Photoshop actions or the Batch facility then now is the time to learn. We use them all the time at Swiftspin. As soon as you discover just what these brilliant features are capable of you'll be using them for far more than just your 360-degree spin projects.

9. Save your originals
- It may sound obvious but if you shoot in RAW or high resolution JPEG, make sure you keep the originals backed up for future use. We admit they can be large files but there are lots of cheap external storage devices available which you may want to consider investing in. Lots of clients change their websites without considering the effect on image dimensions. You may have produced 360 degree spins at 300x300 pixels but if the client comes back to you in six months time asking for them at 600x600 pixels you won't be able to enlarge the smaller files. However, if you've backed up the originals you can simply resize them as a Photoshop action without having to reshoot.

10. Outsource your software
- As a photographer you probably don't want to spends hours of your time animating your spins. You certainly don't want to have to sort out any compatibility problems which may arise from browsers or CMS systems. You'll probably be much happier getting someone else to animate leaving you to concentrate on what you do best - photography. We offer our Swiftspin® software animation service at a discount to members of our photographers scheme. You can find details of the scheme on the Swiftspin website which also has a special membership offer of just £50 (ex VAT).

Remember, if there's anything you want to know about shooting products in 360 degrees please get in touch. We're here to help.

Happy spinning!

World's Largest 360 Spin?

2011-03-31T17:09:00.000+01:00

We’ve all seen websites displaying images of rotating shoes and handbags, but what do you think would be the biggest item you could shoot as a 360 product spin? A drum kit? A sofa? Perhaps a car? How about St. Paul’s Cathedral? Well, one photographer has managed just that, with a little help from 360 product spin experts Swiftspin.

Kevin Allen has been at the forefront of aerial photography since 1994 and understandably, when visiting photography trade shows, he rarely gives companies offering studio techniques a second glance. That is until he met the Swiftspin team at ’Focus on Imaging’. Seeing the variety of products Swiftspin photographers were spinning made him wonder whether the fields of aerial photography and 360 spins could be combined. His idea? To produce interactive spins of various London landmarks.

“Members of our photographer’s scheme often seek our advice on how best to create 360 spins of products such as shoes, jewellery and electronic items”, says Swiftspin director Terry Mapstone. “And from time to time we receive unusual requests like how to shoot a full sized fighter jet and even a stuffed bison. Kevin’s idea was the most adventurous to date, and certainly the largest, but we were confident that his aerial expertise coupled with our 360 guides would achieve the results he was after”.

St. Paul’s Cathedral was shot using a Canon 1DsmkIII using a 35mm L f1.4 lens on RAW setting. The shoot was conducted using a twin squirrel helicopter flying at about 1000ft. It can be difficult shooting over central London, not only the £20 per minute hire cost, but the fact that you can get moved on very quickly should other aircraft be in the vicinity, so time really is of the essence. Another problem is the weather, a windless day helps the pilot considerably but strong sunlight can cause distracting shadows and inconsistent cloud cover can cause havoc with exposures.

“I pick a distance from the subject allowing for cropping and straightening, often using a gyro stabiliser to keep the horizon level”, says Kevin. “I try to keep the focus point on where I think the centre of the image is, in the case of St. Paul’s Cathedral it was the top of the dome, then I have to trust the pilot to keep the same distance in as near a perfect orbit as possible”.

72 shots were taken in total which meant that a very smooth spin could be produced for video purposes or every other shot could be reduced in size to make a web viewable, interactive Swiftspin. “I followed the simple instructions on cropping, how to centre the image, sharpening and batching before sending the files to the guys at Swiftspin to work their magic. I’d much rather get them to animate so that I can concentrate on my photography”.

The St. Paul’s experiment was a great success and Kevin aims to use it along with 360 spins of Canary Wharf and the new Olympic stadium when he promotes his new 360 spin service. You can find out more about Kevin’s aerial 360 photography here.

For photographers wishing to offer a 360 product spin service to their clients you can access invaluable guides and manuals by signing up as a member for a special rate of just £50 per year (ex VAT) at our website.

360 product spins empower photographers to fight back

2011-03-28T17:22:00.003+01:00

It’s heartening to know, even in a world suffering from an economic downturn, that opportunities still exist for professional product photographers to tap into new and profitable income streams, without a huge outlay on equipment and technology. One such major opportunity is 360 degree product spins.

As a professional photographer you’ll know that clients will always look to save money, and why shouldn’t they? But the technological advancement of photographic equipment, coupled with falling prices, is making it easier and easier for clients to drop their photographers in favour of the ‘do-it-yourself’ approach. This not only takes away work from photographers but also devalues their professional talent by opening the door to amateur snappers. Add to that a reducing stock library income, increased competition and rock-bottom quotes and you could start to paint a very depressing picture of the value of your hard earned photographic skills.

But all is not lost. 360 degree product photography is increasing dramatically and shows no signs of slowing in the immediate future. Most of you will be aware of these interactive images which are cropping up on web sites at an increasing rate. The concept of 360 product photography is simple. It’s a process that starts when multiple still photos are taken of a product as it rotates, usually on a turntable. These photos are then animated and uploaded onto a web site. The viewer can simply use their mouse to spin the animation in order to see the product all the way around. Some software features also allow users to interact with the spins by zooming and magnifying product detail.

360 product spins have been used by the footwear industry for many years and they are being increasingly used to display other fashion related items such as handbags and general clothing. There is now an exciting huge new surge in demand from the electronics, jewellery, toy and homeware industries, because buyers want to see every bit of a product before they buy.

In order to produce a 360 spin, a photographer will need a turntable, processing software such as Photoshop and a programme to animate the images. All three are readily available but merging them into one efficient and flexible system is the key to successful 360 spinning. There are ‘out-the-box’ solutions available but these can be expensive and they tend to be targeted at volume retailers with a single product range who don’t require the flexibility that professional photographers need.

You may think that these D.I.Y. systems bypass photographers yet again, but don’t despair. 360 isn’t as easy as it looks, which is actually very good news for photographers. Retailers often overlook the fact that it takes a lot of time and skill to produce a high quality spin. So that leaves the door wide open for professional photographers to create a niche business for themselves and to be rewarded once again for their photographic skills.

But you’ve got to learn before you can earn. So where do you go to get the skills and equipment required to produce 360 spins? The internet is full of helpful information for photographers who have some knowledge of volume processing and interactive programming, so going it alone is certainly an option. For those who want to save time and money by not reinventing the wheel we have written a useful free 50 page guide book which is available at Swiftspin360.com and it outlines the essential things professional photographers need to know before attempting
360 product spins. It also contains a few industry secrets too.

We also run Swiftspin360.com, an affordable member's scheme where photographers can learn all the skills they need in readiness for when their clients ask them to produce 360 spins. It has already attracted a worldwide membership with photographers from the UK, USA, New Zealand, Australia and India eagerly signing up.

Whether you want to go it alone or have the support of our experienced professionals, you need to act fast. If photographers don’t quickly grasp the 360 opportunity then retailers will just do it themselves, taking away yet another source of income from an already struggling photographic industry. You now have a big opportunity to capitalise on the brave new world of spinning - good luck!

Complete our simple form to receive your free 50 guide to 360 product spins

Learn how to create these 360 product spins

2011-03-28T17:09:00.000+01:00

A quick video introduction to what members of Swiftspin360.com can learn

Swiftspin have started blogging!

2011-03-28T15:41:00.000+01:00

After requests from lots of members, clients and contacts we've started this blog to keep you all informed of the 360 product photography developments emerging from the Swiftspin studio. We plan to bring you informative, educational and accurate blogs based on our experiences as one of the world leaders in 360 product photography and development. We'll also have a bit of fun too we hope.

Please bookmark this page or add us to your favourites so that you can keep up-to-date with everything 360. Enjoy! :-)