📽️Filming a Looking Glass

This page includes tips for filming a Looking Glass Display, to make your content pop!

Content

This is a section on how to create content that truly shines on Looking Glass displays.

The Looking Glass Portrait ships with a demo reel of some of our most exemplary content. This section is specifically geared towards what kinds of content you can make.

Static content -> moving content

When filming moving content, we like to pause the image every once in a while so that the camera can truly capture the 3D effect of the scene.

Shadows in content help

Lighting matters - for real world content as much as virtual / digital content. Scenes / objects in the Looking Glass can look even more life-like if lightings and shadows match the way the scene would look in the real world.

Context & Environment

This is a section is on how to position the Looking Glass in the context of your filming environment.

We’ve outlined a few techniques and considerations that help the Looking Glass film better.

Context matters

Depending on where you film the Looking Glass, it can really affect how the Looking Glass appears.

We love when a Looking Glass Portrait is shown in the context of other things (a laptop, a keyboard, small trinkets) as it helps to place the Looking Glass in situ.

Backlight on (with a few exceptions)

The backlight is default on when you receive your Looking Glass, but some folks like to switch them off for everyday use.

When it comes to filming, we do recommend that the backlight stays on (unless there’s lighting/staging in the filming environment that require it to be off).

There are 3 levels of the brightness to the LED lights and these can be controlled by simply clicking the small button near the power button on the right side of your Looking Glass Portrait.

Dark background, dark clothing, no overhead backlight

The Looking Glass Portrait's display surface is fairly reflective.

This is most apparent when filming in bright areas.

Here are some loose and fast guidelines:

• Make sure you’re in a dimly lit room (complete darkness is not recommended as then it removes the context of the environment).

• Make sure you are not filming in sunlight ☀️

• Wear dark clothing (as the color of your clothing can reflect onto the surfaces, too!)

Tilt the Looking Glass “forward” with a little support

The base plate of the Looking Glass is designed to angle the Looking Glass for best viewing when sitting at a desk. However, this angle is sometimes not the best for filming and we typically use a small 1” item to prop the base plate up which tilts the Looking Glass forward and helps with framing the content.

Keep your filming area clean

Depending on the ~ * vibes * ~, you likely want to keep your desk area as clean as possible. This means making sure there are no loose cables, plastic cups, etc. unless that’s the vibe you’re going for.

Camera Tips & Tricks

This section is mainly about how to adjust your camera settings and filming techniques that we’ve discovered over time. Feel free to use a combination of these.

One of the things to stress is that you do not need a special camera / DLSR to film Looking Glass content. Some of the best shots that we’ve done have been filmed using an iPhone. Know how to use your technology, do not let technology use you.

Focus, then reduce exposure in well-lit rooms

Using the built-in tools on your iPhone / smartphone camera, we recommend doing an AE/AF lock and setting the frame rate to 30fps

Video is typically always better than images

While images are cool, taking videos of the product is infinitely better at conveying the products than images.

Arms length & zoom

It is best to stay at arms length from the Looking Glass and use optical zoom to get close up. Arms length is a good viewing distance to get the full effect of the three-dimensionality, helps frame the context and environment and gives you a wider view cone to move around in.

Don’t go out of view cone

When you’re outside of the viewing cone , the 3D scene will “flip”. We’ve put guardrails on the hardware of the device in the form of a privacy filter though we do recommend that you try to stay within the viewing cone if possible.

You’ll get a sense of the view cone zone pretty quickly and again, if you happen to get out of it, the privacy filter will likely take over.

Elbow tucked in for stability…

If you’re able to keep your elbows tucked in and hold your phone with two hands, your arms will become a natural stabilizer.

Instead of moving your arms from side to side, we recommend that you use your whole body to move from side-to-side to communicate the horizontal parallax.

OR, Pause & Wiggle

The alternative to the option above (you can mix-and-match) is to use one hand to “wiggle” the Looking Glass left and right while centered on the desk position. This method also helps to communicate the horizontal parallax of the unit.

Important note here is that all Looking Glass displays are horizontal parallax only, which means that there is only 3D effect from left to right and not up and down.