Shooting product on a turntable...advice?

[Savva Svet]

Hello all,

So a few days ago I shot a commercial for an iphone case. Two days ago, just as I was about to start editing, my harddrive failed...and yes I didn't back up the footage *__*

So here I am, prepping to re-shoot the same commercial. Perhaps its a blessing in disguise, as the first shoot was real low-budget and we were learning as we were going how to better shoot the product using a turntable.

The final video will look as though the case is just spinning around in black space as we see macro closeups of the case, and finally revealing it in it's entirety.

My biggest concern is how does "hide the turntable" whether in camera or in post? Creating the "flying in space" effect.

The initial plan, if the hard drive didn't fail, was to garbage matte the turntable in the shots where it can be seen, rotoscoping/keyframing, etc. I'm curious to know if there are any other solutions? If everything will be floating in black space, does shooting it against a green screen help in anyway, or "green-screnning" the turntable at least?

Are there any rigs where one can rig up an iphone (with case) on a turntable with ease? We ended up using "play-do", which did the trick, but it's defiantly makes a mess take after take.

Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Björn Benckert]

Possibly you can hang it in a string from above... and let it spin against black... then you do not have to deal with the item being in contact with the turntable.

If you are on a turn table make a smal pedestal to make it come up from the table. Epoxi or Super glue it in place.

 

[Savva Svet]

Possibly you can hang it in a string from above... and let it spin against black... then you do not have to deal with the item being in contact with the turntable.

If you are on a turn table make a smal pedestal to make it come up from the table. Epoxi or Super glue it in place.

Ive been thinking about the "string theory". The tricky part is stabilizing it, and having it spin continuously to get the shot before moving onto the next.

 

[Ted Parkes]

the poor mans way is an old turntable. The case is light enough and you can spin it by hand. I attach a string to the outside of the turntable and wrap it by a full revolution. then gently turn the table. tick is getting the case in the exact centre.. you can cover the surface with black felt or Duv.

Ted

 

[Steve Gal]

Svettttt just use your telekinetic powers. Lol

 

[Burke Doeren]

What about using two strings from above - one attached to each corner - and a single string from below.

Your two strings from above should be attached to a small r/c motor (or something like it), so you can precisely control rotation speed.

The string from below should be free-spinning yet tight to provide stabilization, and mounted from the center of the case. If you can find some matte fishing line, then roto it out in post, you could end up getting the effect that you want.

 

[D Fuller]

There are a lot of possibilities, and the right one will depend on what the finished shot needs to be -- how it needs to move on screen. One trick I've used is to attach a product to a thin steel (or if the thing is light enough, wood) rod that comes through a sheet of black seamless. If you are shooting fairly front-on, the product hides the rod.

Another is to simply work with a turntable that is big enough to fill the frame. (Or enough of the frame so that garbage-matting the edges is trivial.

Probably not useful for this, but I've also held the camera and product stationary and run the lights on curved track, then spin the thing in post. (This works well for big stuff.)

 

[Savva Svet]

Svettttt just use your telekinetic powers. Lol

I tried..but since the case is made out of wood, it's harder than I thought


I'll be playing with the string technique in the next coming days. You guys gave some good input, the rest is up to me!

 

[Will Turner]

One technique I've used before was to put the product on clear plexiglass with black foam core underneath, then place those on a second tripod. Your tripod head can be used as a super smooth lazy Susan that you'll already have around you. This would give a little reflection, but sometimes that glossy look works really well. With a black background it would blend really well at a shallow DoF.

 

[Christopher Mills]

old school method

old school method

Had to shoot a lot of stuff for a cub foods commercial years ago, and it required prep, but was not complicated.

to support our products, and some large coins spinning, sometimes against white background, sometimes against black.
We just ran a black or white rod into the product at one end, and threaded into a block of wood on a turntable on the other.
we pre drilled the coins on a drill press, used a very thin rod, and a very small dot of butyl on the tip of the rod

(canibalized a jewelry store fixture to get the turntable, and put a variac on the motor plug to slow it down.

in post.. garbage matte at base of the product to clean up the look. It could have aired without the post tweak.

cheaper way:
http://www.amazon.com/Motorized-Rotating-Display-Turntable-Collectible/dp/B007X869E8

front light with a hard source, and a sharp flag at the bottom of the phone case.

 

[Brian F Kobylarz]

Ive been thinking about the "string theory". The tricky part is stabilizing it, and having it spin continuously to get the shot before moving onto the next.

String will work on an object that doesn't weigh a lot (like this situation).

As far as making it a continuous spin, a disco ball motor can do the trick. Better to float from above - let gravity work for you. Gives you more options on lighting as well.
Stabilize with a weight below - a fishing "leader" can help in this regard.


Different than what you are trying to achieve, but I was able to use a microwave turntable a few years back to spin a Grammy award - worked in a pinch...

 

[David W. Jones]

Insert a power plug into the phone, with a dowel epoxied in, and inserted into the center of the turntable. Or purchase an AE template for $25 with most of the work already done.

 

[Andrey B]

My solution not complex and cheap. And you dont need to glue something to the product. I used it a lot with various objects. There are two ways btw. First one is flying object in space but I prefere second solution more. My second solution based on using mirror. One smartphone on a black screen is boring. Lets add a reflection to it! Get a round plactic plate about 60-70 cm in diameter. And get a black glance oracal tape. Stick the tape onto the plastic table and put it on your turntable. You will get amaising reflection of the smartphone. You can use a colored pieces of paper to get great gradients in the reflection area. I will attach picture as a reference here.
Now about the first way.
You need to get a piece of glass. Or plexiglass of round form. You can usually get one in any polygraphic company. Just buy a square piece of it and ask for cut it to round. It must be transparent. After that you can put it on thin legs. You will get something like mini-table with transparent cap like this: ____
(____)
| |

After that put it on your turntable. Put your smartphone onto that table. Light it as you wish. Put the small green paper piece far away from that scene and light it separately. You can key it off after shooting. Legs of the table and edges of glass cap you can cut off by garbage mask.

Anyways I think that the best way to show products like cellphones or similiar is CG.
Ok. I will put more pics here to illustrate my words.

 

[Andrey B]

Good placement of reflection cards can add a lot more charm to your image.