BadBob

I have spent more than $1000 on my current setup, which includes a camera, lenses, lighting, photo tents, stands, remote flash, backdrops, camera mounts, and assorted other accessories. Is that enough? I was not asking for help. I was sharing my experience with anyone considering shooting a video on a turntable. If I needed help with photography or videography, Steve Good would be one of the last places I would go. I have been on his mailing list for years, and most of the projects have computer-generated photos and/or animations.

If I count correctly, I have ten guitars. Some were gifts, some I bought, and one I have had since my teens. It is not much of a guitar, but it is an antique, and I love to open the case and smell it. One of those memory triggers.

My turntable has settings that automatically stop at different points. For example, it can turn 1/8 (45 degrees), stop, and wait for you to push the button again. I shoot a lot of my listing photos at these angles, so I think I will try using this for photos. This is the turntable I am using. I picked this one because of its size; it supports 88lb and uses AC power.

Whether you can use a smartphone camera depends on the phone and the camera's software. The lens on every phone I have seen is in the upper corner, making setting up the shot more challenging. It's not impossible, but to switch cameras, I need to change a lot of things, like camera mounts. Phone cameras have wide-angle lenses, which means the subject has to be very close or use Zoom or be able to crop the video after you record it. I can't use autofocus with any of the cameras I tested. Why? I am shooting a rectangular object, and when the front or back comes in line with the camera, the autofocus starts to hunt. The hunting causes two locations where, for a few seconds, the object is going in and out of focus. The autofocus can't be turned off on my phone. I might be able to turn it off on my JVC video camera, but I didn't look. My Canon T7i has a switch for autofocus on the lens. There is no additional work. In the video, he uses a phone that may have cost more than I paid for Cannon T7i. He is shooting a basically round object that doesn't cause a problem with the autofocus. He doesn't pay any attention to colors. I use white light 5500K (aka daylight) and a photo tent to defuse the light and render the color correctly. I have tried other colored backgrounds, but it is nearly impossible for me to get the colors on the object correct. This video was shot with the Canon T7i. The autofocus is faulty in two places. The phone and the JVC video were a lot worse. Cannon T7i Auto Focus On Turntable.mp4

Made me think of this:

There is a tiny jerk every 45 degrees. It is very noticeable at the original speed and visible in the speeded-up version on my large monitor when expanded to full screen. I think it is some setting on the turn table. It is configured with a remote control with only icons. I'm going to need to read the manual.

That is what I thought when I first saw the first photo.

I made my first actual listing video yesterday. I want to sell some extra trucks left from a recent custom order. When I first got the turntable, I did a cursory test to see if it worked, and it has been in the box since. I tried first with my Canon T7i and didn't like the results. Next, I tried using the camera in my phone. That didn't work either. Ok, I have a couple of JVC video cameras. Surely, this will work. Nope, same issue. As the toy truck rotates, it goes in and out of focus. It does this with all the cameras. It took a while, but I realized I needed to turn off the autofocus and manually focus. I could not find a way to turn off autofocus on the phone or the JVC video camera. Autofocus on the Cannon is a switch on the lens. I used Shotcut to edit the video. I cut off the leading and trailing edges, sped it up so a full rotation fits into the 15-second window that Etsy allows, and adjusted the brightness. The video still has some issues I need to figure out, but it is good enough for now. 1777686629 Play Pal Pickup Truck Large.mp4

Is it that big of a difference? I bought my EX21 for the easy, rapid blade changes. I can't imagine using anything that does not have this.

I learned about using window cleaner while playing around with airbrushes.

I really need it for its dark color, but I will use the sapwood for something. I have a box of walnuts from Ocooch Hardwoods but not a spec of sapwood. It would not be a good deal if I could not use the sapwood. Home Depot only has 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and 1 inch thick. I use some other thicknesses like 3/8. Ocooch Hardwood is where I would go for this. I don't know if I will buy this again. With sales the way they have been, I may never use it up.

Thanks, I thought maybe you had some special brush you were using. I use gold Taklon artist brushes. A window cleaner from the dollar store does an excellent job cleaning acrylics.

I needed 1/4-inch thick walnut. I was searching all the usual places and comparing prices when I remembered someone saying they were buying walnut at Home Depot. I did a quick search and sure enough, there it was, 14x5.5 four-foot boards in a five-pack. I get a 10% discount and free shipping, making the total cost more than 30% lower than the rest. I took a chance, and here is what I received. VID_20240910_095650.mp4

Do you recommend a particular brush?

The only way you can know for sure is to test it. Anything else is a guess.

This is not a quote because I can't remember exactly what he said. The Titebond rep said it is OK to use if it doesn't get thick, separate, lumpy, etc. Essentially, it is OK to use if the glue doesn't change. He was a chemist and Technical Service Manager at Titebond. My personal experience bears this out. My glue doesn't go through extreme temperature changes. He also discussed: To test, glue two pieces of wood together, let the glue cure overnight, and break the joint. If the wood breaks instead of the glue, it is OK to use it. They tested glue that was 22 years old, and it worked. The expiration date is used to please lawyers. It means that Titebond will support the glue until the expiration date, no matter how it is stored.

I am only shipping to a few international locations.

PDF is a container, not a format. If you save your SVG file to a PDF, it inserts the SVG file into the PDF container, which is why you can reload it from there. I can't speak to your printer problems since I don't use Windows. Inkscape has never had a glitch and has always printed dead-on accurate sizes.

That is cool; I'm not sure I would put my grandkids on one. I have seen a lot of rockers, and I would not use many of them for kids. I used to wonder why they cost so much until I made one.

Yes, I see one or two price increases from USPS a year. Other shippers are probably the same.

I convert everything to SVG using Inscape. I would like them to support SVG if they don't already.

They found a photo of my puzzle online, tracked down my email, and contacted me. At first, because of how the email was worded, I was suspicious that it might be some scam. They sent me a link to their company website, which was legit. The cheapest method available was almost $40. The buyer didn't hesitate. They paid via PayPal, which charged me $5 for the transaction. I have never had PayPal charge me for anything, so that was a surprise. Tracking down the proper customs code was a bit of a challenge until I figured out that I could get the code from any of the participating countries ' websites. England is the best one I have found. I have begun turning international shipping back on for my Etsy listings. The codes tell customs what type of material is in the box. You must have a different code for each type of item, but if you only have wooden puzzles for sale, you only need one code. The puzzle pattern is from Scroll Saw Woodworking and Crafts magazine. This one sale paid for several years of subscriptions.

Aleene's has several glues that cure clear. If I want clear, I use ELMERS Glue-All Multi-Purpose Glue. It's cheap and I like the nozzle on the bottle. I mostly use Titebond II because I have a lot of it. Once, I had my wife pick up some for me, not knowing the store had gallon jugs.

From the Grobet website. I'm going to have to try these. I cut a lot of 1.5-inch wood. Olsen sells blades for cutting thick wood. I was disappointed in this blade's performance. It was quite grabby and did not cut as well as my bandsaw.

This seems to be the best way. In one or two of the photos, I usually use a ruler for my toys.