How to create a 360° diamond brilliance view with PackshotMacro DIS?

From your Loose Diamond Kit, available with the PackshotMacro DIS photo studio, you will need:

1- Acrylic panel

2- 6 mirror matrixes (1 for back light panel, 2 for front doors, 2 for side doors, and 1 for front center)

3- 2 black squares matrixes (to cover the bottom of the side doors mirror matrixes)

4- Metal turntable

5-  4 turntable plates (2 black and 2 white with different diameter centering holes)

6- Lens loop

7- Loop platform

8- Hood

9- Tweezers

• Insert the acrylic panel on the top of the studio. Then, insert the mirror matrixes on the back, front doors and side doors. After, place the 2 black square matrixes in the side doors mirror matrixes (photo 1)
• Place the metal turntable platform over the support located in the center of the studio. Check if it locks the turntable platform (photo 2)
• Insert the white or black turntable plate on top of the turntable platform (photo 3)
• Insert the front center mirror matrix in the small hole located in the front of the studio. Tip: the Velcro part should be facing down (photo 4)
• Place the loop platform on top of the mirror matrix and then set the lens loop on top of the loop platform (photo 5)
• Place the hood above the center of the diamond. It will block the direct light shining through the diamond (photo 6)

Now that your studio is all set,  it’s time to place your diamond. Be sure to clean it properly before. Use a steam cleaner or a lint free selvyt or microfiber cloth. Then, on the software, click on the turntable controls button and turn ON the suction mode. Next, using the tweezer, pick the diamond and place it in the center of the black turntable’s plate, so that the air suction is firmly holding it in place.

Adjust your camera’s angle to find the center of the diamond’s table. Set the camera to 50° and then adjust degree by degree to find the ideal angle. With the positioning rulers, make sure the center of the camera is pointing to the center of the diamond. Use the x 5 zoom for a more precise view. Then, click on the turntable controls again and make a 180° rotation. If reflections appear, it means that your diamond is correctly centered. Re-adjust it if needed.

Note: The camera’s angle depends on your diamond’s pavilion angle. You may need to raise or lower your tripod’s head, as well as move/slide it back or forward.

Tips: To verify if your camera is positioned on the correct degree, use a level tool or a smartphone’s measuring app.

It is important to set up a quick capturing mode when creating 360° brilliance views. On the software, go to options, then click on workflows and select the apply QuickShot mode. Close the window to go back to the capturing interface. Under capture mode select 360.

To focus your diamond, turn OFF the depth of field button. Press two times on the zoom button to zoom x10. Manually adjust the focusing area according to your diamond’s shape. Check the picture below with the diamond focusing areas for different diamond shapes. When the diamond is focused, re-activate the depth of field.

Under camera settings, click on the picture style button and select the sharpness value to 7. Then, set an aperture value between 13 and 16 for a full sharp 360° view. Keep the ISO value as low as possible and adjust the shutter speed for brightness.

In this tutorial, we chose aperture 16, ISO 200 and shutter speed 1/20.

Note that diamonds are very sensitive to outside lighting so make sure all lights in your room are turned off and all door in the studio are closed. On the software, set each light source to 1%, except the top light that need to be set to a value between 60% to 100%.

Adjust the lens loop by moving it left, right, back or forward to enhance the lighting on the diamond. This will make the diamonds cuts and arrows become more uniform and defined. You can also adjust the position of the hood according to the arrows of  your diamond.

You are almost set! Under Animation Settings, set the spin range to 360 and choose 90 as the number of images that will make up your 360° brilliance view. Next, define the speed of the turntable to normal or high and then press snap.

Now that your 360° brilliance view is ready, you have the possibility to fully customize it with zoom, buttons, hyperlinks and many more. Check out our tutorial How to fully customize a 360° diamond animation?

BONUS:
Learn how to create a face-up brilliance view of your diamond.