Small Product (tabletop) Video

Just wondering if anybody here does any small product video. I know there is a very viable market for tabletop stills. But how much of one is there for video is it worth adding an extra section of small product lighting to my reel to try and attract.
 

Astocker

Active member
That's a broad question. Everyone does tabletop sooner or later. At Dateline we do a lot of tabletop and it can get rather involved. I'm looking at this system to stay ahead of the game. http://www.videoslider.com/ I have friends here that do nothing but tabletop. It's an art form and if you're good at it, so much the better. One more skill the next guy might not have.

Put it on the reel.
 
I guess that kind of answers my question. I am not doing much now but would love to do more and more involved work so I will have to look for some things to shoot. Any other ideas questions are welcome. The question just came to mind as I was thinking about nino's thread about stock footage. Ie. genres of photography not news or big production.
 

dhart

Well-known member
Have done a fair amount of tabletop. Mostly food with a snorkel lens and hothead. Camera movement is cool, but lighting is the tricky part.
 

Nino

Well-known member
There’s a market for everything if you know what you’re doing and your work looks good.

Tabletop photography is a different beast; there are photographers that specialize on tabletop photography and video only. Like dhart said, learn that first and then worry about camera movements. Food, glass products, shining objects, jewelries, cosmetics, etc, they all require different lighting and zillions of set-up techniques, you'll also need a lot of little gadgets and props. Standard video lighting and techniques will not get it done.

There are several books and DVDs on the market that can help you, mostly are for still photography but that’s the important stuff, video is an add-on.

Also that slider doesn’t give me much confidence, you would be better off with a plain dolly with PVC pipes that you can also use for other jobs. Also remember that a camera movement is ineffective if you don’t have other objects in the image that show movement and depth in relation of each other, if it’s just a side move might as well use a still photograph and then program all kinds of moves in your editing.
 

Astocker

Active member
What intrigues me about the slider style dollies is their ability to have a very small footprint. I often end up in tight quarters or on surfaces that track is simply too time consuming to deal with. Granted, if you can only have one toy, the standard track dolly is the obvious choice. But I already have that - an Indie-dolly that I love - but as indicated, I need to cover a lot of situations to stay competitive. A slider would be a great addition to the toy box. (also a lot less weight and few parts)

As just an aside, I find curved track much more useful than straight track.
 
would defiantly love to add a dolly to my kit. What about things like rotating tables. I remember I think it was last year when kevin shot the trophy for the clip contest he had it on some kind of rotating surface. Who makes these and is the speed variable.
 

Astocker

Active member
would defiantly love to add a dolly to my kit. What about things like rotating tables. I remember I think it was last year when kevin shot the trophy for the clip contest he had it on some kind of rotating surface. Who makes these and is the speed variable.
I bought a home made turntable many years ago when it seemed all the tabletop work was demanding them. Used it about a dozen times and then ziltch. Sits on the self now. It has a rheostat on the motor so I can crawl the thing or whip it around. I never found a commercial version of one but then again I haven't looked it years. I'm sure display companies must sell them.
 
Top