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

These are the supplies from your Loose Diamond Kit, available with the PackshotMacro DIS photo studio, needed for this tutorial:

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

2- 2 black square matrixes (for covering the bottom of side doors matrixes)

3- Metal turntable

4- 2 black turntable plate (with different diameter center holes)

5- Lens loop

6- Loop platform

7- Hood

8- Tweezers

• Insert the mirror matrixes on the back, front doors and side doors of the studio. Then, insert the black square matrixes in the side doors’ matrixes (photo 1)
• Place the metal turntable platform over the support in the middle of the studio. Make sure the support fastens the turntable’s platform (photo 2)
• Place the black turntable plate on top of the turntable platform (photo 3)
• Insert the small mirror matrix, with the Velcro part facing down, in the front of the studio where there is an opening (photo 4)
• Position the loop platform on top of the small mirror matrix and then place the lens loop on the platform (photo 5)
• Place the hood over the center of the diamond as shown on picture 6 to protect the direct light shining over the diamond. Make the hood move until you get the result you want on the arrows of the diamond

On the software interface, set 360° as your shooting mode. Then, click on “turntable controls” and turn “ON” the suction mode. Next, go to “options”, then “workflow” and select the “apply QuickShot mode” box.

Now your software and studio are configured, it’s time to place your diamond.

Make sure to well clean your diamond before placing it in the studio. Use a thread free selvyt/microfiber cloth or a steam cleaner. Then, using the tweezer, bring the diamond to the center of the black turntable’s plate. Place it in the little hole so the air suction is securely holding it in place.

Important: close all the doors of the studios and turn off the lights in your place if possible. Diamonds are sensitive to outdoor lights.

Adjust the camera’s angle to the center of the diamond’s table. Note that the camera’s angle will depend on your diamond’s pavilion angle. For a perfect cut diamond, the best angle will be at 50°. We highly recommend purchasing the MacroStand to combine with your PackshotMacro DIS. It will help with repeatability and save you a lot of time in centering the diamond.

• Learn more about the best way to photograph jewellery for e-commerce

• Use the positioning rulers on the software to correctly center the camera with the center of the diamond. Click on the zoom button to have a better view.
• Make a 180° rotation to check the positioning and adjust if necessary. Reflections will appear if the diamond is perfectly centered.
• Zoom x10 to focus. To make a correct focus, turn OFF the depth of field setting. Adjust manually the focusing area according to your diamond’s shape and as soon as it is focused, re-activate the depth of field.

Use this image as a guide for diamonds focusing areas according to your diamond’s shape:

For your camera settings, select an aperture value between 13 and 16 for a completely sharp 360° view and maintain a low value for the ISO. Adjust the shutter speed according to the background you desire (clear or dark). In this tutorial, we chose 16 for aperture, 1/13 for shutter speed and 200 for ISO.

Next, turn off all the lights in the studio, except the “top light” that has to be set between 60% to 100%.

To improve the lighting and make the diamonds cuts and arrows more homogeneous and outlined: adjust the lens loop by moving it right, left, back or forward.

Before creating your 360° fire view, choose 360 as the spin range and 90 (recommended) for the number of images. Keep the turntable speed as normal or set it to high for a faster process then press “snap”.

Your 360° fire view animation is done and ready to be exported in HTML5 format. See our tutorial on how to fully customize your 360° diamond fire view.

BONUS:

Learn how to create a face-up fire view of your diamond.