· Lifetime priority
access to the free Lite Studio (see above). Pay nothing and shoot top class
models with high-end cameras.
· Up to 70% lifetime
discount for using the Pro studio, which offers even more professional options.
70% off for the Pro usage
means that you only pay $45 per hour of a photo shooting, including studio,
professional lighting, high-end photo cameras, lenses, additional acessories
and beautiful photo models.
Just compare it with prices of
your local studio (without models, cameras, etc).
You can find specific perk descriptions in the right column at the top of this Indiegogo page.
USE CASES
1. Build your skills.
Practice shooting with professional lighting (select from different lighting
presets), using high-end cameras and lenses. Professional photo models are
posing for you, practice directing them by voice or via text chat.
2. Create commercials:
Shoot professional photos and videos for selling on stock sites.
3. Easily and quickly
shoot any promotional pictures and videos: models can wear a t-shirt with your
logo (printed in 10 minutes by your request); models can draw your logo or
custom text on a message board in real time; models can say something about
your company when you shoot video; you can shoot models against a green background
to replace it later with your own background picture or video (chroma keying).
4. For novice photographers:
create a professional-looking portfolio.
5. Feel the difference
between high-end Canon and Nikon cameras, equipped with the best lenses. This
will promote your further professional growth.
![]()
TECHNICAL
1. Set camera settings
via tethering (aperture, ISO, white balance, etc) or use automatic settings
2. Create your custom
presets for camera settings to use them next time.
3. Perform a photo shoot
from a web browser on any computer or mobile device (Apple and Android devices support
is pending).
4. Store the resulting files
on our server to download or edit them later
![]()
CONTRIBUTOR PRIORITY LEVELS WHEN ACCESSING THE FREE "LITE" STUDIOS
As you can see in our perk
descriptions, every contributor has his own priority level.
1. Priority Level 1 means, whenever
you stand in a queue, you immediately become the first in the queue, unless
other Level 1 users are already standing there.
Level 1 also allows you to
schedule your future photo shoots in the Lite Studios, by selecting from
available dates and hours.
2. Priority Level 2 means, whenever
you stand in a queue, you will immediately become the first in the queue,
unless other Level 2 users are already standing in the queue, and unless any Level
1 user decides to stand there. In this case you will be standing immediately
after them.
3. Priority Level 3 means that
whenever you stand in a queue, you will immediately become the first in the
queue, unless other Level 3 users are already standing in the queue, and unless
any Level 2 or Level 1 user decides to stand there. In this case you will be
standing immediately after them.
![]()
NO FLAKE MODELS, NO MODELS BEING LATE
Many photographers are familiar with a situation when they schedule a photo shoot with a model, but the model is being late or even flakes (no call, no show). Preparing the studio and sitting and waiting for a model that never shows... Ugh, what may be worse?
In the online studio studio all models will always be available as scheduled and schedule of every model will be publicly viewable on site.
REFERRAL PROGRAM
Help
us by spreading the word via email and social media. After the campaign is
funded we'll refund your contribution in accordance with credits you earned
referring people.
In short: if you successfully refer a friend to contribute to the campaign,
then we will refund you $50. If you refer one more friend – we will refund you
another $50. And so on.
If the amount of credits you earned has covered the sum of your pre-ordered
package (so you get a complete refund), any further referral $ will be credited
to your account. After the studio goes live, you can spend these $ for getting
the PRO studio access. And don’t forget, as a contributor, you also have up to
70% Pro discount, as well as you have a priority access to the free Lite
Studios.
Please note that contributors cannot receive referral
credit for referring themselves. Of two contributors, only one can be
the 'referrer' and receive campaign credit for the other's
contribution. Refunds will be made and credits applied once the
campaign is over.
How to participate in the referral program:
It’s
simple. Log in to your Indiegogo account . Be sure to use the same
account you used when you contributed your Remote Studio Package. Then,
look below our main video at the top of this page for buttons to share
and copy your unique URL. Start sharing!
Need more information? We have created detailed instructions
here.
![]()
WHAT WE ALREADY HAVE
Software:
1. We have already developed the program code to control Pan-Tilt heads
and vertical/horizontal motorized sliders from computer.
2. We have the tethering code to remotely set camera settings, obtain a live-view
from the camera, release camera shutter, download files, etc. For both Canon
and Nikon.
3. We have a streaming server and browser client to perform a low-latency streaming of the
camera's live view to your browser through the web, and control the camera. It is reliable and proven to work with a very low latency even if you're in USA or Australia when the studio is in Europe.
Hardware:
1. We have already tested third-party pan-tilt heads for this system. They work
fine, they are reliable and not expensive.
2. We performed some testing for vertical/horizontal sliding of the entire
system (will be mounted on vertical and horizontal rails). Not ideal yet, but
OK.
3. All devices (motors, lighting) are interfaced with Raspberry Pi via Arduino (single-board microcontroller, intended to make building interactive objects or environments more accessible).
![]()
Human:
1. We very well know how to manage the development of the technical part of the
project, as we have experience in managing software development and
microcontroller/robotic development.
2. At the same time, being modeling agents we have the full understanding of
working with photo models.
3. Finally, we have top class photo models ready to work for affordable rates.
This will allow us to keep prices stated above for the Pro studio, and even
provide free access to the Lite studio. See more information about this below,
in the Q&A section.
WHAT WE NEED
Software:
1. We need to implement a web interface to flawlessly control the local code mentioned
above (both positioning and tethering) via the web.
2. We need to build the website: designing the layout, managing user accounts,
managing access permissions to different studios, queuing and scheduling access
to free studios, priority access for contributors, etc. This is possibly the
most trivial part, but at the same time the most boring and expensive stage of
the software part of the project.
Hardware:
As said above, we still need some working over the horizontal/vertical sliding
system.
Other:
We need a photo studio itself including:
- Placement - we are going to acquire ownership of the estate property to get
rid of rental fees, because this will significantly reduce the price of the service
for end users. Therefore it will also be more profitable to us, so this is a
win-win solution.
- Equipment for the studios.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
1. How many photo studios are planned?
At first,
we will start with four photo studios located in the adjacent rooms of the same
building. If we’ll see the service is demanded, we will increase the number of
studios, as we don’t feel lack of photo models.
2.
The life
cycle of the shutter of a camera is limited. How often will you replace cameras
in a studio? This might be costly.
While testing
our business model, we revealed that the most active and tireless photographers
take about 10 shots per minute during a 30-minutes photo session. The production
cost of one shot in terms of the resource of a shutter is calculated as $0.016
per shot (the average market price of Canon 5D Mk3, $2400, divided by the life
cycle of a shutter claimed by the company - 150,000 actuations). For Nikon D800
costs are even lower. Therefore, in terms of camera’s resources the cost of production
of one hour of the most intensive shooting is 10*60*0.016=$9.6. This sum pays
off by additional paid services. Also, we carry on negotiations with potential
sponsors - photo equipment vendors interested in supporting the project if it
proves to be demanded.
3. Professional models working in two
free photo studios and two low-cost ones – sounds good, but how you are going
to pay them? What is the source of the funds?
We are the
founders of the TopModelGroup.com portal, model agents recruiting and training
models. Among other countries, we also work in several developing economies
where hourly rates are much lower (several and even dozens of times) than in
US, Europe and other developed countries. Such countries are Moldova, Ukraine,
Byelorussia, which is geographically located in Europe, but are actually
developing economies with average monthly salary about $400.
After finishing
training and before signing an international contract (that means earning real money), our every model must
complete a 6-month probation. During this period they get a salary typical to
the country they live in. At the same time, they are already top-class models
passed through our hard training and possessing stunning looks. Due to the same
reason we don’t have to overpay to such specialists as make up artists and hair
stylists. Our first photo studio will be opened in one of such countries, and
further in other countries too.
4. Ok, hiring even the best models is
not expensive for you. But what about rental fees for a photo studio? They are
still high. How can you keep prices low and even more – offer free services as
well?
We plan to acquire
ownership of the photo studio, because this will allow us to get rid of monthly
rental fees and therefore minimize prices for end users. Thanks God, real
estate costs are low in the countries we are talking about comparing with USA
or Europe.
Free studios
are funded by paid studios.
5. What if you won’t receive backing in
full?
All promised
bonuses for our backers will remain valid. Partial funding means we will embody
our idea step by step. Instead of four studios, we will stop on just two (one
Lite and one Pro). The entire process may slow down, but we'll complete it anyway.
6. What if you will see more backing
than you ask?
In that case
we will equip more photo studios, not just four, in proportion to received funding
in order to supply the demand and grant our bonuses to all contributors faster.
![]()