Product Turntables - Product Marketing Strategy

Learn how product turntables can elevate your product marketing strategy and engage your audience effectively.

Product Turntables

Learn about product turntables and its applications.

What are Product Turntables?

3D product turntables are digital tools that allow for the interactive, 360-degree visualization of a product in a virtual environment. They are created using 3D modelling and animation techniques to simulate the effect of a physical turntable that rotates a product to show it from multiple angles.

This technology is widely used in online retail, digital marketing, and virtual exhibitions to enhance the user experience. By providing a comprehensive view of the product, enabling customers to explore details and features as they would in a physical store setting.

Who Uses Product Turntables?

Product turntables are used by various industries and professionals to enhance product visualisation and marketing. Here are six examples:

E-commerce Retailers — Online stores use product turntables to create 360-degree views of products, allowing customers to view items from all angles and thus enhancing the online shopping experience.

3D Artists and Animators — These professionals use digital turntables to showcase and review their 3D models from all angles, ensuring detailed work and consistency in animations.

Video Game Developers — They incorporate digital turntables in their development process to display character and object models. This helps in visualising assets in a 3D space, aiding in design and integration within the game environment.

Augmented Reality (AR) Developers — AR developers use 3D turntables to create and test models that are used in augmented reality applications, ensuring the models look realistic from every angle.

Virtual Reality (VR) Content Creators — VR platforms often use 3D turntables to demonstrate products or interactive objects in virtual stores and experiences, allowing users to view and interact with objects in a simulated 3D environment.

Educational Content Developers — They use digital turntables to create interactive 3D presentations of historical artefacts, scientific models, and other educational materials, making learning more engaging and comprehensive.

Benefits of 3D Product Turntables

3D product turntables offer a range of benefits that can enhance product presentation, engagement, and understanding in various industries. Here are eight key benefits:

Enhanced Visual Appeal — 3D product turntables make product presentations more dynamic and attractive, capturing the interest of potential customers by showcasing products in a visually engaging way.

Increased Engagement — By allowing interactive exploration, 3D turntables engage users more deeply, encouraging them to spend more time with the product which can lead to higher conversion rates.

Detailed Product Views — Customers can view every angle and detail of a product, which helps in reducing doubts and questions about the product’s appearance and functionality.

Improved Online Experience — In e-commerce, 3D turntables can mimic the in-store experience, giving customers a better sense of the product’s look and feel, thus bridging the gap between online and physical shopping.

Consistency in Presentation — Using 3D turntables ensures that all products are displayed uniformly, maintaining a consistent quality and style in product visuals across all marketing platforms.

Effective Communication of Product Features — By rotating to show different features and components, 3D turntables can effectively communicate the unique aspects and advantages of a product.

Reduction in Return Rates — As customers have a clearer understanding of what they are buying, there is often a reduction in the rate of product returns due to unmet expectations.

Scalability and Versatility — Once a 3D model is created, it can be reused in various contexts such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and different marketing materials, making it a versatile and cost-effective tool.

Where are 3D Product Turntables Used?

Social Media — Product turntables create engaging, interactive posts that capture audience attention and increase interaction rates by showcasing products in motion.

Websites — They are integrated into product pages to provide a virtual hands-on experience, allowing customers to view products from every angle and enhance their buying confidence.

Digital Marketing — Turntables are used in digital advertisements and email marketing campaigns to display products in a more dynamic and visually appealing manner, boosting click-through rates.

Trade Shows and Events — At trade shows and events, physical or digital product turntables attract visitors to booths by providing a captivating, rotating display of products, highlighting features and designs effectively.

How are Product Turntables Created?

Step 1 — Model Preparation — A detailed 3D model of the product is created or sourced, ensuring it is accurate and visually appealing.

Step 2 — Texture and Lighting — Textures and materials are applied to the model, and lighting is set up to enhance the model’s realism and highlight its features.

Step 3 — Animation Setup — The turntable effect is achieved by animating the model’s rotation around a fixed axis, usually 360 degrees, at a smooth and consistent pace.

Step 4 — Rendering and Exporting — The final model is rendered, producing high-quality images or videos that can be integrated into various digital platforms or used with physical turntables at events.

What Do You Need to Get Your Product Turntables Project Started?

Detailed Project Brief
3D Model
List of Key Features & Variations

Although we do not need all of the above, these will make the project much smoother.

What is the Workflow for Product Turntables?

Starting a project — Firstly, to begin a project, clients provide all the information required. For product visualisations, we require things such as drawings, design specifications, sketches, mood boards or other type of information you may have.

Reviewing information — To clarify, we will check all of the content the clients have provided and ask for more details if necessary. In addition, a meeting, phone call or Teams call is always beneficial. To sum up, this helps avoid any misconception and allows us to shorten turnaround times for 3D animation services.

Project execution — We start working as soon as we understand all of the details the task requires, and time frames have been agreed by both parties. Our 3D artists keep in constant contact with the clients throughout this process, with regular updates.

Reviewing — After that, we present animated grey previews to you for comments and review and finally make the adjustments.

Approval — The client accepts the drafts for final rendering.

Final rendering — Finally, we present the 3D animation, after we have completed post-production in high resolution with full quality lighting, reflections, glossiness, and materials.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a product turntable?

A product turntable is a platform that rotates to display a product from multiple angles, either as a physical device or through a digital 3D model.

How can a 3D product turntable enhance my online store?

A 3D product turntable can enhance an online store by providing customers with a detailed, 360-degree view of products, increasing engagement and reducing return rates.

What file formats are supported for 3D product turntables?

Common file formats for 3D product turntables include OBJ, FBX, and glTF, compatible with most 3D rendering and animation software.

Can product turntables be used for products of any size?

Yes, product turntables can be scaled to accommodate products of any size, from small jewellery pieces to large vehicles.

What is required to create a digital product turntable?

Creating a digital product turntable requires a 3D model, texture mapping, lighting setup, animation of rotation, and rendering software.