5 steps to creating a 3D product presentation.

Why shouldn't you?

A video is particularly effective for increasing audience engagement, making your offer easy to understand and generating more sales.

Would you like to make your own photo realistic 3D product presentation video, and would you like to know the steps involved?

You've come to the right place!

This is a practical guide to creating a successful video without having to go through an agency. It is aimed at company directors, marketing managers, sales managers, product managers and designers.


At the end, you'll know how to write a brief, what software to use, where to turn for 3D files and how to edit.

It's up to you!

1 - The Brief

A brief is a document that specifies the characteristics of your video, both in terms of content and form.

Spending a minimum ofhalf a day on its drafting will save you time later on.

Here's the information it should contain. Feel free to copy and paste:

  • Tweet

    280 characters to describe your idea. Here's how big it should be:

    "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat mas "

  • References

    3 to 6 elements that match your vision (videos, images and music)

    A commercial you've seen, a clip from an award-winning film, music you've heard on a podcast, an object that has nothing to do with the project. Anything is a good way to express what's on your mind.

  • Objectif Business

    What's the business case for video?

    • Win an AO

    • Increase sales

    • Raising funds

    • Accelerate a sales cycle

    • Improve conversion

    • Reduce actual video production costs

    • Launch pre-orders before product release

  • Marketing objective

    What is the marketing raison d'être of video?

    • Improve brand image

    • Communicating value

    • Increase engagement

    • Increase brand awareness

    • Increase the number of qualified leads

    • Conducting a research campaign

    • Making dreams come true

  • Product objective

    What is the video's raison d'être?

    • Bringing a product to life

    • Helping people understand functionalities

    • Present the work accomplished

    • Supporting design choices

    • Highlighting ingenuity

    • Enhancing the product's character

  • Value of your business objective

    <10k

    10k - 100k

    100k - 500k

    500k - 1M

    >1M

  • Context

    When exactly will the video be available?

    • Presential

    • Visio

    • On line

    -----

    • On our website

    • Delivery to our management

    • Customer presentation

    • As part of a call for tenders

  • Audience

    Who is the video aimed at?

    • Cold prospects

    • Customers

    • Our partners

    • A buying commission

    • Your superiors

    • Another department

  • Your

    How do you want to address your audience?

    • Professional / Intelligent / Precise

    • Dynamic / Euphoric / Fast

    • Refined / Upscale / Dreamy

  • Support

    On which device will your video be played?

    • Mobile screen

    • PC monitor

    • Video projector

    • TV

    • VR headsets

  • 3D files

    Do you have 3D files of your product?

    • Yes

    • No, but I know how to find the files

    • No, and I don't know what it is

  • Environment

    In the video, where will your product be presented?

    • Studio (solid color background)

    • Abstract background

    • Realistic

  • Props

    What objects will be featured in the video, other than the product and the environment?

    • A user

    • A vehicle

    • Electronic devices

    • Plants

    • Furniture

  • Angles

    From which exact angles should your product be viewed and not viewed?

    • Face

    • Visit

    • Top

    • Three-quarters front / back

    • Diving / counter diving

  • Duration

    How long will the video last?

    <30 sec

    30 sec.

    1 min

    1 - 3 min

    3 - 10 min

    > 10 min

  • Format

    What is the resolution and orientation?

    • 720 / 1080 / 4k

    • Horizontal or vertical

2 - The Storyboard

The storyboard is a sort of comic strip that describes your video shot by shot. What elements should you include?

Let's take a look at the elements that can be included in a storyboard.

  • Intro

    a title, the name of your company, or a "hook

  • Issues

    describe the problem faced by your customers, or the situation in which your product is used

  • Your solution

    Establish credibility with numbers and features. Show your product to advantage

  • Benefits

    Explain how your product creates profit, with text, voice-over and animation combined.

  • The problem is solved

    show how satisfying it is when the problem disappears

  • Outro

    Your last shot, with your logo, a call to action

  • Depending on the tone you choose, the shots will move more or less quickly. This doesn't necessarily have an impact on the time spent creating your video, nor on the storyboard. In fact, you can group several shots in the same box to save time:

    • 10-20 shots / minute for a professional or high-end tone

    • 20-60 shots / minute for a dynamic tone

    • Duration

    • Camera movement

    • A drawing of the composition with the most important elements

    • The direction of light

  • No. Although it's preferable, you just need to know how to make diagrams.

    We recommend that you always represent what will appear on the screen. If you wish to express the movement of a camera by drawing a top view diagram, please specify this in the comments.

Perfect! You've got your storyboard that describes every shot exactly!

3 - 3D software

Now you can choose one of the following software packages to create the video shots. They'll give you superior image quality and control. The tutorials below are free for beginners and will help you make the animation.

Comprehensive training courses are available on training sites such as Udemy, Skillshare and Domestika. You can also find a teacher on Superprof.

Remember that you can combine these 3D shots with actual filmed shots.

Make sure your input 3D files are compatible. fbx or obj are for the next 3. Keyshot can import solidworks, catia, creo, rhino and other design software. Get in touch with a designer, CAD modeler or mechanical engineer, and they'll be able to help you.

There are other software packages such as Unreal Engine, Unity, Deltagen, VRED, Maya, but their price or complexity is not appropriate in this context.

You should now have a folder with images or video! Congratulations!

4 - Editing software

Once the 3D plans have been produced, all that's left to do is assemble them.

Which software to use?

References

First of all, always have your references to hand. Those videos, images or music you wanted to draw inspiration from, now's the time to dissect them and draw inspiration from them.

Music integration

One trick that's easy to implement and gives a very clean effect is to sync cuts (shot changes) in time with the music. You can be on the beat or off-beat.

The highlights of the music should coincide with the highlights of your video.

Inserting 3D drawings

There can be floating moments with long shots, as well as fast, jerky moments to surprise.

Choose 3 types of transitions: cut, fade, fade to black, fade to white. The others should only be used in very special cases.

Placeholders

Next, create placeholders. These are black shots with just the title of your shot, taken from the storyboard. You can also use drawings from your storyboard. Then place the music and your first shots, the intro and outro first.

Export

For intermediate exports, make sure you have a bitrate between 1 and 5 Mbits/s to avoid excessively large files.

1 min seconds should weigh less than 25MB, especially for easy e-mail exchanges.

For a final export before publication on Youtube, for example, 30 seconds can go up to 100 MB.

Text

Add text, at first without any transitions or effects. Then when everything is written and placed at the right moment, transitions can be applied. Give the audience time to read your text and look at your product- they can't do both at the same time.

5 - The magazine

Show your video to a panel of people, and gather their opinions.

  • If you're told it's going too fast, take longer shots.

  • If they start talking during the video, it may not be dynamic or captivating enough.

  • If they find it hard to give an opinion or don't understand, it's because it wasn't clear enough. Your plans may not be in the right order. Or there may be several messages on the screen at the same time.

  • If they say wow, and use words close to the tone you originally intended, then bingo! Your message is getting through. Now's the time to check one last time whether your video can help you achieve your business, marketing and product objectives.

One last tip: before publishing, leave your video project aside for 2-3 days. Come back to it. You'll look at it differently.

A final word

Creating a video is both a technical and artistic task . With practice, you'll quickly become more efficient and original. There will be many pitfalls, but nothing insurmountable! Others have done it before you, and there are many online tutorials.

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