Promoting your product: 3D and photography
You want the imagery of your new product to stand out in a crowded marketplace. What are your best options?
A textured MM3D model of a vacuum pump based on a real Leybold GmbH product.
Any business bringing a new product to market realises the vital importance of presenting it in a professional manner that excites the consumer or target clientele. First impressions are often critically important and can provide a significant edge over competitors that are lax with the quality of their product galleries.
A brutal reality of modern business is that even the best products or services can see poor sales if not paired with an effective advertising and marketing campaign. This requirement to dazzle and intrigue customers is especially true for niche products that may have a limited market scope, or complex products that require a large capital expenditure in research and development.
Typically, the manufacture of scientific equipment fits into both of these difficult categories, requiring both large investment and carefully targeted marketing.
It therefore follows that excellent visual presentation is of particular importance when advertising analytical equipment. Not only is visual flair appealling to the consumer in this case, but scientists may often be interested in the physical properties of a device. How large is it? Do the ports at the back fit neatly onto a laboratory work surface while still allowing access? These questions are often answered by a specifications page, but suitable imagery can also be very useful for making the sale.
A 3D “turntable” animation can be a fantastic way to show your product to consumers.
There are two avenues available when creating your “product shots”; photography and CGI. Each offers unique advantages and disadvantages which may often be mitigated by combining the two techniques.
Photography allows for stylish presentation of your product with complete accuracy to how it looks in real life. The authenticity of the images is palpable to consumers and this helps to build brand trust and interest in your advertising campaign. A photo shoot in a studio can add flexibility and allow for the production of more unusual or surreal eye-catching imagery, too.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of photography is the ability to capture images or video of your product on location with actors. You can capture authentic imagery of it in working use in a particular environment.
However, there are also significant disadvantages. Photography and videography packages can become extremely expensive and complex. Staff and contractors will be required for the shoots, as well as booked studio time. Extensive photoshopping of the images will be required if creating a product gallery.
In the case of a location shoot, the location must be scouted and requisitioned for the scene. The product must be transported between shoots and available at all times; something that may be very difficult if the product is a large, bulky piece of technology.
Repeating a photo-shoot for a future advertisement, or because changes need to be made, is often extremely expensive and requires a complete re-run of all of the previous work.
CGI offers very convenient remedies to many of these headaches. Computer generated images are near-perfect for “studio shots”, as the studio can simply be assembled in situ by the 3D artist. Renders are functionally identical to one another if no external conditions are changes, allowing shoots to be quickly adapted or repeated when needed in order to encompass small changes.
Compositing and processing images is also much easier. A product gallery will not require hours of photoshopping, as 3D artists can simply render the product on a white background and add shadows from a seperate render with the click of a button.
Animation is perhaps the greatest advantage of CGI, allowing a company to present technical details of a product in a manner simply not possible with conventional videography. Common examples are “exploded” views of components, illumination of the product in a dynamic fashion not possible in a real studio and animated “cut-through” views that show the inner workings of a product.
Highly stylised close-up shots can add an interesting edge to your product shoots.
CGI can also be scaled to budget, with cheap and minimalist animated shots of a product or truly photorealistic full motion video animations produced depending on the available expenditure.
The disadvantages of CGI include a potential perceived lack of authenticity (particularly if the work quality is poor or heavily restricted by budget) and much higher complexity when it comes to mixing real elements (such as actors) into a shot.
A real video captured on location simply requires actors walking around on set, being directly filmed. By contrast CGI can require green screens, rotoscoping or extensive use of photo-scanned models in order to add people into a digital scene.
It is therefore highly advisable to mix both techniques when creating truly stunning product imagery. Detailed CGI can be used for cost-effective and high quality website product galleries, technical animations and TV advertisements to great effect. This can then be paired with real-life videography when showing the product in expansive, complex locations or with people interacting with it.
By using a mix of these techniques and giving equal effort to the presentation of your new scientific product as to the R&D required to create it, you give it the best chance to succeed at market.
—
If you would like to discuss the procurement of highly detailed CGI imagery for your new product, contact us today on the site.
