360 animated GIFs are an awesome way to show off your models. Here is an example GIF of the Hazel:

Fancy ain't it? The good thing is that these are pretty easy to make. I hope this "How to" article will help you do the same.

Things you need

• Camera or cellphone that can record video

  • I used an iPhone

• Tripod

  • I used something like this tripod

• Rotating base

  • like this turntable

This is one optional, but I do recommend using a portable photo studio like this one. It's makes it easier to get better results.

Shooting the video

Lights, camera, action! There really ain't too much to it, but here are some tips:

• Use the tripod. Holding the camera/phone by hand will cause it to shake and you will lose some detail
• Adjust the light so that it doesn't over saturate while the model is spinning

• iPhone specific stuff

  • When the model is not yet rotating, press and hold with your finger on the spot you want the camera to focus

    • This should lock the focus. You don't want the camera to refocus while the model is rotating
  • I used the 60 frames per second mode

Editing the video

This part is bit trickier, as you'll need to trim the video so that it only shows one revolution (making the GIF into a nice loop). I found it best to trim a bit from both the start and the end of the video.

I put a small piece of tape on the screen which I aligned to a panel line. Then it was just a matter of finding the frame in the end where the line aligned again with the tape.

I used the app Video Crop to get rid of the space around the model. Then I moved the video file to a computer and tried uploading it to Gfycat. Gfycat has a limit of 10 seconds per video, so I sped the video up a bit using a video editing program on a computer.

Final words

That's about it. I really hope that this will start a new trend as I find the animated 360 GIFs a nice addition to the static photos. If you found this guide helpful, please drop me a comment and put a link to your own 360 animated GIFs into it!