turntable for green screen shoot

S

slimjim

Member
Hi there, I am working on a shoot next week at a studio. We have been trying to make a rotating turntable so we can do 360 degree shots in after effects. I was wondering if anyone has done anything like this before and has any suggestions.

Many thanks

Jim
 
Jim,
There was a short "how to" video on the Digital Juice website about this very topic
a few months back. Part of their Tech Know series as I recall.
Hope this helps.
Ken
the Screen Skins guy
 
what are you turning?

You could just get a very big lazy susan for a person.
 
DJTV-ProdNotes-s01e108.jpg


Here is a link for the turntable episode on Digital Juice

http://www.digitaljuice.com/djtv/segment_detail.asp?sid=86&searchid=43932
 
I purchased my turntable from here... http://www.usaturntable.com/

They have a variety of models depending on the size and weight of the object.

I'll also throw in this little bit of advice... Get the remote if you have the opportunity.

All the best in the new year!

Dave
 
i did a green screen shoot with two people on a large turntable. we rented the turntable from an effects house. i'm not sure if it had a variable speed control or if we had to use some sort of variac, but obviously it's fairly important to be able to control speed. in fact, this has always been the biggest issue when i've used turntables, large or small. some of those that don't have speed control work well with an inline dimmer. some don't. they'll stutter below a certain voltage. so you'd do well to test whatever solution you use beforehand.
 
MPB said:
i did a green screen shoot with two people on a large turntable. we rented the turntable from an effects house. i'm not sure if it had a variable speed control or if we had to use some sort of variac, but obviously it's fairly important to be able to control speed. in fact, this has always been the biggest issue when i've used turntables, large or small. some of those that don't have speed control work well with an inline dimmer. some don't. they'll stutter below a certain voltage. so you'd do well to test whatever solution you use beforehand.
Click to expand...

This is where the Revpod really works. There is no stutter at reduced voltage.
 
Paul, i just did a search and found a comment that revpod is no more? don't know if that's accurate.
 
I'm gonna bring this one back to life. Unfortunately the link to the DIY turntable is no more, and Revpod is no more either.
Turntable360.com is super cheap, so we may go with that - but I'd love a turntable that is programmable - Ortery and Pamco-imaging are quite expensive though.

Anyway, the real question I have is when green screening a turntable (and in my case we are doing product shots of point and shoot cameras) how the heck does one avoid having massive amounts of green spillng onto the product? Seems like a lot of work for the guys in post.
 
HST said:
how the heck does one avoid having massive amounts of green spillng onto the product? Seems like a lot of work for the guys in post.
Click to expand...

I've often had this problem when filming something on a table. I've shot office scenes and bar scenes this way. You get more reflected green light, obviously, than when you're simply filming an actor in front of a green screen. Same thing when shooting a drum kit in front of a green screen for a music video.

Don't expect your editor to fix it in post! Bugger that! Once it's broken like this, it doesn't get fixed.

Best solution is probably to position the subject further away from the green screen. Ideally, when you light the screen, the subject should be in total darkness -- no bounce light on them at all.

However, I haven't always found this practical (limited space to work with, and small green screen -- I'm on a budget). So, here's some other more or less dodgy ideas:

-- Play with the green screen lights so that there's not so much bounce. Experiment with reducing intensity and changing angle. Note: sometimes the light doesn't bounce directly off the screen, but bounces off the screen and off something else on the set onto the table (a white wall, a door, a low ceiling...). So, watch out for that, and cut off the rebounced light if this happens.
-- Make the table surface non-reflective. Cover it with a black cloth or similar.
-- Backlight your subject with red light (if you don't mind the red aura around it).
-- Buy reflecmedia equipment (doesn't seem to have bounce issues so much).

That's my $0.02 worth anyway. I'm sure hundreds of people round here have had more green screen experience than I have.
 
For turntable hardware, you might look into welding supply houses. Welders use turntables to create even welds on round materials. They will have variable speeds to boot.

Grant
 
HST said:
Anyway, the real question I have is when green screening a turntable (and in my case we are doing product shots of point and shoot cameras) how the heck does one avoid having massive amounts of green spillng onto the product? Seems like a lot of work for the guys in post.
Click to expand...

pretty much what paper_bag said;

separation between subject and green.

don't over do the light on the green, it's more important that it's lit evenly than that it pops.

back or edge light on the subject, doesn't have to make a halo, just define the edge with clean light.
 
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