I have a secret I want to share with you.
For a while now I’ve really wanted one of those spinny turntable things that all the Gunpla Youtubers use to show off their models. Like this:
To be clear, I have no desire to become a Gunpla Youtuber, but at the very least I thought it might be cool to take small videos showing my models off from all angles, and a turntable would be the best way to do so. So I the used the last of my birthday gift cards to grab one:
Now we get to see how it works, but more importantly, we get to see how much extra work my little attempt at becoming a videographer and editor is going to lead to (as well as see just how crappy a video I can possibly make)
Going in Blind
I don’t know much about these turntables. I don’t know how many different companies make them, how many kinds are out there, if they have different features, or if they’re used by anyone outside of scale model builders and QVC hosts.
And when I picked this particular turntable, I did no real research. I literally chose it because it was from Mr. Hobby, and that was a brand name I recognized. For all I know there might be better options out there, but this seemed like a safe bet.
Inside the box is, well, the turntable. You’ll have to supply your own pair of AA batteries to make it work.
It’s got a single switch in the front that lets you set it to one of two speeds. And that’s really all there is too it.
Right Size
In retrospect, I should have done more research into the size of this thing. After all, the reason I had to get a new lightbox is because the original one was too cramped. I could have easily made the same mistake again here, and be forced to replace it sooner rather than later.
Thankfully though, it turned out to be plenty big. As you can see below, it holds the Nu Gundam Ver. Ka with room to spare:
That means that pretty much anything I plan on building is going to fit.
About the Speed
This turntable has two different rotation speeds, and neither of them are as fast as I expected. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the turntables I see on Youtube all go at a much faster clip. Either I’m wrong about that, and they’re actually moving kind of slow, or those Youtubers are using other models that move faster, OR they’re using editing magic to speed up the footage. For what it’s worth, I’m going to guess it’s the third option, as that’s what I’m probably going to do.
Needing a Tripod
I immediately started futzing around with the turntable, but it didn’t take me long to realize that I’m going to need a tripod. And for the sake of flexibility, I should probably get something that allows me to use either my camera or my smartphone.
And you know, just in case I need to create a scene that’s somehow bigger than I can fit in my lightbox, I should probably have a ring light too, to provide some extra illumination.
So I went to Target and bought a little kit that has all of these things. I’m sure most pros would laugh at it, but I won’t let that deter me. You’ve got to start somewhere, and this seemed like the simplest solution with the least amount of friction.
Hosting
I’ve decided that, for now, I’m probably going to host whatever I create on Youtube. Seems like the simplest (and cheapest) solution for now.
Here’s a Video
Here is a video of the Nu Gundam taking a spin on the turntable:
Look at the little bastard go!
I’m not gonna lie: this rinky dink little video clip, with no audio or cuts or anything, took me a good thirty minutes or more of fiddling around in iMovie to complete. With any luck that time will go down as I get used to things, but for now I’m kind of worried that creating these videos is going to add a ton much more time and effort to every build. I think I need to keep it simple until I can come up with some sort of workflow, otherwise I’m going to overwhelm myself.
And yes, I know the quality of the video isn’t great. I’ll have to try and work on that.
The Things I’ve Learned
Here are a few of the things I’ve learned in this new little journey of mine …
I think my digital camera takes much better photos than my smartphone, but between the camera and my phone I’m not sure which does better video. At first it looked like the phone was better, but then again that video above was taken with my phone, so I wouldn’t say the quality is all that much to brag about.
I’m not really sure what to make of the ring light. I have no doubt that it’s not a very good one, but it also doesn’t seem completely worthless.
On one hand, when I have both the room lights and the lightbox on, the ring light contributes absolutely no meaningful illumination, even when I change it to some sort of colored light.
On the other hand, if I turn off all the other lights, the ring light is bright enough that my digital camera can take crisp photos without using its flash, and my smartphone camera doesn’t go into Night Mode. So it can be bright, but only under certain conditions.
The ring light can also change color, and I must admit that I had some fun playing around with that feature. It’s interesting how some of the colors really give a model a whole different vibe than it would have otherwise. Take a look:
There are other colors than that, as well as a couple of different types of white light, so I’ll have to play around with them even more with future models.
It also has a couple of different modes where the colors will shift and change like on a set of Christmas lights. I played around with these modes with a bit of childlike glee.
One day I would love to have some background music for these videos, but I don’t want to use anything stolen, and I don’t know where to look for anything that’s both good and free. Maybe one day I’ll teach myself to compose some basic tunes, but I’m not going to ask myself to learn how to be a videographer, and a video editor, and a composer all at once. It’s better to go one step at a time, so for now I’ll just have to leave them silent.
Here are a few more videos I took of the Nu:
What’s Next?
Another build of course, but I’ll try to take some better videos, maybe even with some editing and cuts this time.
But for now, for all the work this took, I had quite a bit of fun with all this. And that’s a very good thing, because fun is a huge motivator, and right now I need all the motivation I can get to keep this up.