While PixRiot is undergoing major feature development that may take some time to release to the public, there are a couple of notable additions you can use right now. Let's dive in!

Social Share

Until recently, sharing your 360 product view on social media using a standalone link wouldn't look good — neither the title nor the image would show up in the preview (e.g., in your Facebook timeline). Obviously, this didn't work for our PixRiot users.

Now, you can simply check a new checkbox at the bottom of the Standalone tab to get a link you can finally share everywhere. The social link will show both the thumbnail and the title of the view.

For example, see the image banner at the top this post with the results of our recent Facebook share using an awesome used car automotive example we uploaded to PixRiot (and covered here as well). This share is doing unusually well.

Cache Reset

Another problem our users reported was the lack of control over the CDN cache. As you may know, PixRiot is optimized for the fastest delivery of 360 product imagery, partly achieved via CDN (Content Delivery Network).

When you share a 360 product spin in PixRiot, users who load it in their browsers usually get it from CDN servers located in their geographical region, where the content is cached for optimal delivery.

But what happens when you re-upload your 360 spin in PixRiot? Well, the cached version would continue to be served to your users for a while — and that's the problem. You could resend a new link from the Share & Embed form, which would always work as we modify it slightly every time you copy it there to bypass the old CDN cache. Often, though, your client has already integrated PixRiot links you've shared with them, and resending new links wouldn't be ideal.

That's where the new Clear Cache option comes in. Access it using the time arrow icon in the top menu of the Assets view after checking the assets you've reuploaded that may have been cached. After clearing the cache, the old links for the same assets will get updated once refreshed in the browser.

If you are not familiar with PixRiot, check out this older video that covers the basics:

We hope these new features enhance your PixRiot experience. Stay tuned for more updates!

Today I will share a couple of quick tips on how we recently produced 360 product photography of a few racing helmets for a customer. To see the final result, check out the helmet examples we shared under 360 product photography services.

Lighting

I usually use continuous lights for my 360 product views, but for these helmets I used strobes. I shot stills of these helmets beforehand and had the lighting looking good, so I just progressed from that shoot.

I used 2 x 1 x 1m soft boxes either side with a strip light at the top shot through a large scrim or translucent reflector. This provides a nice even fill at the top. I did try it first without the reflector, but it created a distracting hotspot with soft box only.

The strip highlights created by the soft boxes were not perfect out of camera and needed a tidy up in Photoshop. In the setup you can see some white card on the left and right side between the soft box and the background Perspex to soften the dark lines created.

Rigging and Turntable

To edit out the stand the insert was shot separately by shooting some images with the helmet upside down and later flipping them 180 degrees and editing in.

The helmets were placed on a small floor stand with some packing foam on the top to make it more stable. 

The turntable is homemade and measured out in both 24 and 36 shot increments. It's just a round piece of chip board laminated white and cut round by the supplier, I also asked them to drill a small hole in the centre for my reference.

The "lazysusan" turntable mechanism underneath came from a woodwork supply shop.

Post-production

We needed to show the visors clear the way customer provided them to us. Normally, I'll show the product clear by back-lighting but with these reflective helmets the back-lighting created a distracting reflection around the helmets, so I decided to create the translucency in the visor in post-production.

I did that in Photoshop by using the quick selection tool to select the part that needed to look translucent, duplicating the layer and using the blend mode in linear light so I could adjust the transparency to show some of the visor so it's not completely white but does look translucent.

Contact See 360 Degrees for consultation and online imagery as required. 

The latest release of WebRotate 360 Product Viewer v5.0 comes with the first of its kind hardware integration with NOXON's advanced 360 Product Photography Turntable. As of December 2023, this integration is available exclusively on Windows, with plans to extend support to macOS soon.

NOXON, a Spanish firm, specializes in professional photography equipment, including robotic 4-axis camera sliders, cablecams, and various accessories.

The turntable comes with a standard 80cm platform, accommodating objects up to 200kg — a perfect capacity for most commercial studio requirements in 360 product photography. Custom-sized platforms are available upon request.

Its sturdy construction ensures precise rotation and smooth movement with controlled acceleration. A unique offering in this package is the Noxon control accessory, allowing full remote control of the turntable. Remarkably, this accessory is also compatible with other Noxon robotic products, a valuable feature for those considering an investment in, for example, their robotic slider.

So what does WebRotate 360 brings to the table? :)

Turntable and Camera Control in WebRotate 360 SpotEditor

Simply select Noxon in the Integration dropdown when creating a new project to activate the turntable control panel at the bottom of the SpotEditor preview. After configuring USB connections and rotation settings via the gear button, the panel allows you to initiate full-auto or semi-auto stop-motion rotations.

The table's built-in camera integration, using a standard shutter release cable, automatically triggers the connected camera at each stop.

Instant Image Loading & Preview in WebRotate 360 SpotEditor

This feature is available if your camera can automatically download images to a folder on your hard drive when new images are captured. We recommend testing this before making a purchase.

In WebRotate 360 Product Viewer v5 we introduced a new folder monitoring feature. If your camera supports automatic downloading of new images to a folder on a PC, and this folder is set up for monitoring in SpotEditor under the Images -> Rows tab, you will see new 360-degree images loading into the active project's preview window in real-time. You can immediately test and drag the partial 360 view in the preview, as all configured real-time edits (crop, resize, image filters, etc.) are applied automatically.

Bundle Discount

New and existing Noxon customers can enjoy a 20% discount on WebRotate 360 Product Viewer PRO by entering code NOXON360 at checkout.

Likewise, new and existing WebRotate 360 customers can receive a 10% discount on the NOXON Turntable by using code WEBROTATE10 at checkout at noxon.tech.

This application of WebRotate 360 began as a project at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History to create online 3D models of insect specimens, enabling easy examination for scientific research. These specimens are normally stored in museum collections and are available to researchers who can afford the time and expense to visit the collection, or they can be shipped to the researcher at the risk of loss or damage to the fragile specimens in transit.

Online specimen models would be safely available anytime, anywhere, and to anyone for free.

3D models of real objects are usually produced using 360-degree photogrammetry or by 3D scanning. The latter technique is very fast but a micro 3D scanner is expensive, and has limitations in the resolution of tiny details, as well as difficulty with transparent or shiny surfaces. Producing a 3D model from photogrammetry typically involves processing the camera images through meshing and modeling software to create a rotatable screen object. In our experience this approach results in a loss of high-resolution photographic details that are important for scientific analysis of specimens.

Zoomed image provides microscopic detail not seen in 3D models

This is where WebRotate 360 excels for our application. We are able to create screen models of insects using multiple 2D macro images that retain all of the high-resolution details and simulate looking at the actual specimen under a microscope – a "virtual specimen".

The process we use is time-consuming, but almost entirely automated. We shoot between 182 and 254 views of each specimen as it is rotated and tilted at specified angles. Because the insects are so small (typically 3 - 50 mm), each one of the views requires focus-stacking 10-40 macro images with extremely shallow depth of field. It can take up to 10,000 photos and 4 hours to shoot one specimen, although most are half that.

We’re using a Canon 5DS R camera for maximum sensor resolution (50MP) with macro lenses attached to a motorized focus-stacking rail, with the specimen mounted (using its existing mounting pin) on a 360° motorized turntable. This in turn is tilted on a motorized arm for 5-7 rows of images. The motors are programmed and controlled with a StackShot 3X from Cognisys. 

Full rig with laptop for museum travel Tilted Z-axis with view of flash diffuser drawn back on its own rail to view specimen. The Z-axis is tilted in 20-30 degree increments, depending on the specimen. Also visible is a special mount to accommodate insects with off-center pins (such as the tiny "point-mounted" beetle shown here)

The 50-megapixel images are then batch-processed over several more hours (or concurrently) with Zerene stacking software and Photoshop to create the cropped views that are imported into WebRotate 360 – retaining 3000-4000 pixel resolution for online magnification.

The final web model is then created in a matter of minutes, after adding canvas text, logo, and hotspots. Top and bottom (dorsal and ventral) views of the specimen are created, respectively, from a single focus-stacked image which is rotated in 10° increments in Photoshop to create the 36 views that fill the first and last rows of the WebRotate 360 import.

Hotspot button shows popup with insect’s pin labels

The resulting web site interface provides easy controls for manipulating the virtual specimen and zooming in for full-resolution details. A hotspot button provides an image of the identifying labels that are kept on the insect’s pin in the museum’s collection drawer.

We have currently imaged over 150 specimens, which can be viewed online at Ento360.