Before we dive into creating your content, we need your input on the camera and light settings, as well as the aspect ratio for the images we'll deliver. These choices will be applied to all your projects moving forward, so it's important to get them just right.
While Cylindo can adjust these settings from project to project, we highly recommend maintaining the same settings for all projects. Consistency helps our projects run smoothly and ensures your products look cohesive on your website.
Camera Angle
We offer three different camera options for you to choose from:
- High Camera: Perfect for highlighting top surfaces; great choice for beds, tables etc.
- Standard Camera: Our most popular choice, compatible with all furniture heights and looks great across most product types.
- Low Camera: Highlights the front and base of the furniture, but doesn't show the top surfaces of tables or sofa seat cushions.
To see how these settings appear on various types of products using our Setup Selection tool in Cylindo CMS, follow these steps:
- Go to the Projects tab and open any project.
- Open the "Overview" tab.
- Scroll down to "Additional Settings". On the right side, you will see the "Camera and Light Setup" button.
In this tool, you can test the settings on a wide variety of products and materials, including upholstery, case goods, outdoor furniture, office chairs and window blinds.
!! Please note that your access to this tool will be locked once you have selected your settings. Do not save your selection until you are sure it's your final decision.
Lighting Environment
We offer five different studio lighting types, each based on a specific photographic logic:
- Both Sides, Even Lighting
- Front, Side Even Lighting
- Right Side, Contrast Lighting
- Left Side, Contrast Lighting
- Top, Even Lighting
These setups are calibrated so that the same material, with its physical characteristics, performs consistently across all five environments. However, each lighting type highlights certain properties of the materials differently, making some features stand out more than others.
Keep in mind, the products are placed in a fixed lighting environment with a static camera. Only the product itself rotates within the frame.
This means the appearance of the material will vary slightly depending on the angle towards the light as the product spins in the 360 viewer.
Option 1: Both Sides, Even Lighting
This is an even lighting setup with three softbox strobes, one on the top and two others, left and right, positioned a bit more frontal.
With this type of lighting composition, we have more continuous and uniform illumination of the product and materials during the 360-degree rotation.
Option 2: Front Side, Even Lighting
This setup uses soft, diffused lighting with two sidelights and one front light extending to the right side to create asymmetrical contrast. Overall, the product doesn’t cast any hard shadows on itself.
During the 360-degree rotation, this lighting provides a slight contrast on the left side and makes the light on the right side more prominent, enhancing the contrast of the product and its materials.
Option 3: Right Side, Contrasty Lighting
This setup features high-contrast lighting from the three-quarters right side, creating more self-shadowing and emphasizing product details. It uses two back-fill lights and one key light on the right side as the main light sources.
With this lighting composition, during the 360-degree rotation, the product's details and material colors exhibit significant contrast.
Option 4: Left Side, Contrasty Lighting
This setup uses contrast lighting from the left side, with stronger backlighting from the right side of the screen. It effectively emphasizes the product's features and materials to a subtle yet uniform level throughout the 360-degree rotation.
Please note, this is not a mirrored version of the Right Side Contrasty Lighting setup.
Option 5: Top, Even Lighting
This lighting setup provides a diffuse, top-down illumination that evenly lights the model from all sides, emphasizing the overhead lighting direction.
The uniform lighting minimizes contrast and highlights of the product's topography, resulting in consistent colors throughout its 360-degree rotation.
Aspect Ratio and Framing
The last setup selection decision you will need to make before we can start content creation is the aspect ratio and framing.
The viewer can be any aspect ratio you choose, with the longest side being 1024px wide. For example, 1:1 aspect ratio (square image) will have 1024x1024 px viewer size (4096x4096 px zoom), but 4:3 aspect ratio will have 1024x768 px viewer size (4096x3072 px zoom).
Our standard framing leaves 10% whitespace on each side of your product, measured from the widest part of the frame. We recommend using this setting for the best visual balance. However, if you prefer more or less whitespace, we're happy to adjust it for you. Just let us know your preference, and we'll ensure the same value is applied across all your products for consistency.