To set these positions select the big X and it will take you to a screen where you can set your step size and the beginning and end points for your stack. In this step you need to make certain you go far enough in both directions to keep the subject in focus regardless of the rotational position. For X we need to set the start and stop points for the stack. If your StackShot shows something different select the big Y at the top and it will allow you to change the step size (degrees) and the number of steps. This will give us 36 images and 360 degrees around the subject. The default settings for Y are 35 steps at 10 degrees each. Select this and you will see the screen to the left.Īs you can see the X needs to be configured (it's red) and Y is ready (it's green). The mode we want for this is the second one down - Stack XR (Stack, Rotate). StackShot will bring up all of the Stacking modes. To change this select the settings icon (tools), the first in the list of options is Mode:Stacking. We need to change this to Stack Rotate mode. When you first get your StackShot 3X it will come up in single axis stacking mode. StackShot 3X has a built in mode for creating virtual objects. All of the settings used for the camera and flash are listed above. The closer we can keep all of the exposures the better off we will be in post processing. Auto exposure can vary significantly from shot to shot giving the Focus Stacking software fits. Manual focus, manual shutter speed, manual aperture, fixed white balance and manual power on the flashes. The most important part of setting the exposure is ensuring everything is in manual mode. One of the flashes can be seen in the setup image, the other mirrors it on the other side of the subject. Because this guy was so shiny I decided to use a white box and two flashes to light it. For this insect the exposure is tough due to the very shiny exoskeleton. In this situation the StackShot will fire the camera via the shutter interface cable and the camera will fire the flashes.įirst we need to set our camera and flashes to get the correct exposure. In this setup I used wireless flash triggers but any reliable method will work fine. The only connection remaining is from the flash to the camera. The camera should be connected to the shutter output using a shutter interface cable (purchase separately). Once everything is placed we will need to connect the StackShot Rail to the X axis (top axis), and the rotary table to the Y axis (2nd from the top). Just tailor your setup to your subject and equipment. To create a stacked virtual object we will need the subject to rotate and the camera (or subject) to move forward and back in relation to the subject. ![]() Step 1 - Connections and Physical Placement ![]() Thanks to Tony Gutierrez for providing the subject ![]() Then you can start or stop the animation or drag around the insect manually. You can also click the image above to stop it from rotating, then click and drag the mouse down, the view will change so you are looking at the subject from the top. Roll over the setup image to see the second camera orientation. This subject was not only captured all of the way around but also from two camera elevations. This makes photographing it quite difficult, but it also shows off the advantages to this technique. This particular subject was chosen because it is very shiny. This page is meant to be an overview of the process so it won't cover every detail but it will give you enough information to be able to create a virtual object of your own. We will cover all the way from capturing the photographs for the each stack, image processing, putting together the object, and finally hosting the object. On this page we walk through how the virtual object of this green beetle was created. StackShot 3X - Using the Virtual Object Kit
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