STUDIO 360

A creation that will allow you to photograph your 3D creations or any other small object (15x15x15x15 cm) with your camera (light!) or smartphone.

The goal is to create an animated GIF of this object (see the attached example, created with this Studio 360 and the free GIMP software).

This creation is composed of:

• 1 base with 6 faces and an axis to be glued from below (for the disc)

• 1 disc (on which you will place the object to be photographed)

  This disc contains 16 reference points allowing 16 photos to be taken over 360°.

  (by jumping 1 reference point between each shot, you will take 8 pictures, by jumping 2 notches, you will take 4).

Each arm for lighting consists of:

• 1 base plate with triangular pin, to be fitted to the base 6 sides.

• 1 right arm 138 mm

• 1 bent arm 138 mm

• 1 support base to fix the LED box, with a standard 1/4" photo screw.

• 3 screws M5 x25mm + 3 nuts M5

The arm for shooting is made of:

• 1 base plate with triangular pin, to be fitted on the base 6 sides

• 2 articulated secondary arms

• 1 board to receive the camera or smartphone.

  • the camera will be fixed to this plate with a standard 1/4" photo screw

  • the smartphone will be fixed in its width to this board via a support composed of a base and an upper slide, and 1 screw + 1 nut M5.

If you need more distance between the object and the camera, add a base with triangular pin to the photo arm assembly.

• knobs for the M5 screws will facilitate tightening without the use of a tool.

The hardware is composed of:

• screws + nuts M5

• 3 screws with standard 1/4" photo pitch to fix the camera and LED lights

My purchase M5 screws and nuts:

https://www.amazon.fr/Combin+%C3%A9A9 nuts+M5&qid=1572020041&sr=8-15

My purchase 1/4" photo screw:

https://www.amazon.fr/Neewer-fixation-Inoxydable-Monopode-D+photo&qid=1572027501&sr=8-37#

My purchase of lighting LEDs (amazon also sells them, but more expensive!):

https://www.banggood.com/Mini-LED-Video-Light-Photo-Lighting-Camera-Hotshoe-Dimmable-LED-Lamp-p-1139017.html?rmmds

The articulated arms for lighting are not mine, I found them here:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2194278

or here:

https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-34864

HOW TO CREATE AN ANIME GIF WITH THE GIMP

Before you start creating your GIF animation with Gimp, there are a few things you should know about this format. First of all, the GIF does not support more than 256 different colors. In general, it is used with images that do not have gradients or a large number of colors, such as logos, graphics, photos in 256 colors. If you work with photos, remember to resize them so that the final file is not too large. This is important if you are planning to broadcast via a smartphone or upload to the Internet.

Launch Gimp.

• click on File, Open and select the first photo of the series that will be used to create the animation.

In the new window containing the first image, click on File and then Open as layers. Repeat this procedure for all photos.

By default, the time between each image is 100 milliseconds. You can preview the final result by starting the animation playback. To do this, click on the menu

Filters then on Animation and Replay animation. A new window opens, in which you have buttons to start and stop playback and scroll through the images one after the other.

Adjust the speed of your animation:

If the result is not suitable for you, you can increase or decrease the time between each image.

Click on the drop-down menu at the bottom left of the window and select a transition speed that is set to 1x by default. You can also play with the number of frames per second. You can apply these changes during playback to see the effects instantly.

Once your animation is ready, you will first optimize it so that it takes up less space. To do this, click successively on Filters, Animations and Optimize (for GIF).

Record your animation

Click on File and then Export as

In the window that opens, place the cursor in the Name field and type the name of the file to be created

at the bottom, click on "select file type", in the drop-down menu that appears, select the GIF Image format. Click on Export.

In the window that opens:

• check the option as an animation.

• specify 1500ms (for example) in delay between images.

• in Image Arrangement, leave the default option.

• check the Use delay box above.

• tick Use the arrangement entered.

Finally, click on Export to finalize the creation of your animated GIF.