Polish tech company Orbitvu has introduced Bike Studio: a robotic, automated studio that makes cycling photography a piece of cake. While it doesn’t eliminate the photographer like some other solutions we’ve seen, it makes it a lot easier for them to shoot and process images of bikes, and any accompanying gear and attire. View this […]
This Robotic, Automated Photo Studio is Made Specifically for Bicycles
Orbitvu produces a range of automated product photography devices that are designed to streamline and automate much of the photography that is required for the eCommerce space. And while it has a range of machines for products and fashion, its latest is just for bicycles.
The Orbitvu Bike Studio promises bike retailers and manufacturers that it will make the process of capturing full 360-degree photos of a bike, bike accessories, or associated apparel fast and easy. The goal is to get photos of a product online with as few roadblocks as possible for vendors who may or may not have the skills necessary to normally make great images of their products.
The Bike Studio uses a "bike suspension system" that is operated from the ground and uses fishing lines with attachments for a bike to allow it to hang from a motorized dolly attached to the ceiling of the unit. Mounts that attach to the wheels hold the bike in place and rotate it in front of the camera to allow for repeatable staging.
The giant bike photo booth uses a system of six LED light sources and 12 individually controlled lighting zones. Users can operate a double-segmented backlight, top lamp, narrow lamp, and wide lamp to either light a bike in up to 190,000 lumens of total light.
The camera system itself is a motorized stand that allows the operator to control a Canon DSLR or mirrorless camera, including focus and focal length through motorized pullies and gears, from one base station and supports tilt, zoom, elevation, and camera distance. The system comes with built-in software that removes backgrounds automatically, animates gifs or video files, and creates an HTML5 360-degree interactive object for websites. It can also support up to five cameras simultaneously.
As might be expected, this unit takes up a large footprint. The device plus enough play to use all of its features is about 30 feet long by 12.5 feet wide, with a height of about 9.8 feet.
As mentioned, Orbitvu makes a range of these automated studios, but none are more focused to one market than the Bike Studio -- it's extremely niche. While that might seem odd, the bicycle market has exploded in the last year and is expected to be an $82.3 billion dollar a year market globally by 2027, according to market analysis by Research and Markets. And while some question how long the boom in bike sales will last, most agree it will at least continue until a possible "pop" of the bubble in 2022.
So while this solution might seem a bit too specific, there are clearly enough manufacturers and retailers out there, at least in the near term. Additionally, the Bike Studio is large enough to use with live models wearing biking apparel and other bike accessories.
As was the case with its previous photo studios, Orbitvu doesn't say how much the Bike Studio costs. Interested parties will have to inquire with Orbitvu directly.
#equipment #news #automation #bicycles #ecommerce #ecommercephotography #orbitvu #productphotography #productphotos #products
Orbitvu Studio Machines Fully Automate Product and Fashion Photography
Technology company Orbitvu has designed several studio machines that automate the burn-and-turn nature of product photography and allow a full 360-degree rotation for photo and video with consistent lighting.
Lightboxes, as well as manual and automatic turntables, have been used by product photographers for years. However Orbitvu, a technology company with headquarters in Poland, has developed automated solutions for individuals and companies that regularly create a large amount of product photo and video content and want to speed up the process from start to finish, not just during the shooting stage.
Photo via Orbitvu
The company has created a selection of studio machines, ranging from a smaller Alphashot 360 featured in the video below, all the way to Alphastudio XXL. The former, as the name suggests, perform a 360-degree spin and is aimed at smaller products, like shoes, cosmetics, and gadgets. The larger device also supports a 360-degree turn but can handle up to 250 kg (551.2 lbs) of either live models or products.
Orbitvu has created solutions for most imaginable scenarios that product photographers encounter, including its Fashion Studio that allows the user to adjust the lights to change how the subject is lit without having to manually move the lamps. It even has a built-in virtual mirror so that the model can monitor their pose or product styling as well.
Although each product has slightly different specifications, they are all primarily designed to help make the shooting process faster and more streamlined by using features such as a motorized turntable, automatic background removal, software-controlled lights and camera positioning, multi export, instant upload, saved templates for faster workflow, and more.
The company claims that with the use of its machines, individuals and companies can capture over 150 products per day as it only takes three seconds to create a web-ready packshot with the automatically removed background. Orbitvu says that works out to be about $1 per product, with the cost calculated based on the initial investment and operating costs.
Orbitvu Fashion Studio | Photo via Orbitvu
Although the company's website doesn't show the individual pricing of these machines and anyone interested has to enquire directly, the Orbitvu USA team has announced it will open its Atlanta-based studio virtually to showcase the company's product systems in open studio demonstrations which can be attended on Zoom for anyone interested. It is free to attend but requires interested parties fill out a registration form first.
#equipment #industry #news #automation #ecommerce #ecommercephotography #orbitvu #productphotography #productphotos #products
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