What is a 360 video booth?
Two names, mostly one product. A 360 video booth and a 360 photo booth are usually the same machine, but a plain video booth is something else entirely. Here is how to tell what you are looking at.
If you have been searching for this, you have probably noticed the same
machine being sold under two different names, and a third thing sharing part
of the name while being completely different.
That is worth clearing up before you spend anything, because the words decide
what you end up buying.
What is a 360 video booth?
A 360 video booth is a low platform with a motorised arm that carries a
camera in a circle around the people standing on it. The camera records a few
seconds from every angle, and software turns that into a short slow motion
video the guests can post.
The camera is almost always a phone. There is no separate computer in the rig:
the phone records the footage, applies the effect, and delivers the finished
video.
It is called a video booth because the thing it produces is a video. That is
the whole of the reasoning behind the name.
Is a 360 video booth the same as a 360 photo booth?
Yes, in almost every case. The same machine is sold under both names.
The reason two names exist is that this product arrived into an industry that
already had photo booths in it. Sellers who came from that world kept the
familiar words and called it a 360 photo booth. Sellers describing what it
actually produces call it a 360 video booth. Some use both on the same page.
So if you are comparing a "360 photo booth" against a "360 video booth", you
are usually comparing two listings for the same kind of equipment. Compare the
platform, the arm and what runs it rather than the noun in the title.
There is one thing worth checking rather than assuming. A few listings use
"photo" literally and produce still images or short bursts rather than a slow
motion video. If the listing never shows you a video, ask.
How is it different from a plain video booth?
This is the distinction that actually matters, and it catches people out.
A video booth without the 360, sometimes sold as a video guest book, is
usually a static setup. Guests sit or stand in front of a camera and record a
message, often for a wedding. Nothing spins. The output is a collection of
individual messages, and the point of it is what people say.
A 360 video booth has a moving arm and records a few seconds of people
doing something, from every angle. Nobody speaks. The point of it is the shot.
They are different products for different moments, and a client who asks for
"a video booth" may mean either one. It is worth one question at the enquiry
stage, because the equipment, the space and the price are not the same.
What do guests actually get?
A short video, delivered to their phone at the event.
Not a printed strip. A traditional photo booth hands you paper, which is part
of why the older name misleads. A 360 booth produces a file, and the guest
normally receives it by scanning a QR code or collecting it from a tablet
beside the booth.
That difference is the commercial point of the format. A printed strip goes in
a pocket. A video gets posted, and the clip a guest posts is the most valuable
advertising an operator gets, which is covered in
where bookings actually come from.
What software runs a 360 video booth?
An app on the phone that is mounted on the arm. It handles the recording, the
slow motion effect, any branding, and getting the video to the guest.
This is the part that decides whether the clips are any good, and it is worth
more attention than the rig. Two booths with identical arms and different
software produce noticeably different videos.
Rather than repeat it here, the detail is in two places:
what to look for in 360 booth software
covers the criteria, and
the best 360 photo booth apps compares the
main options with prices and a checked date.
What do you need to run one?
Less than most listings imply, and the expensive part is not where people
expect.
The platform and arm. Sturdy and, more importantly, steady. A wobble shows
up in every clip.
A phone. This is the camera, so it matters more than the rig does.
Choosing the phone covers what to
look for.
A light. The single biggest quality upgrade available, because slow motion
needs more light than normal speed does.
Lighting a 360 booth explains why.
Software, power, transport and insurance. The costs that never appear in
the listing price, gathered in
what a 360 booth actually costs.
The short version
A 360 video booth and a 360 photo booth are the same machine described by two
different industries. Buy on the platform, the phone and the software rather
than on the noun.
A plain video booth is a different product entirely, and if a client asks for
one, find out which they mean before you quote.
Keep reading
Snap360 alternatives, compared
Snap360 is a capable 360 booth app with an unusually generous free tier. The differences worth knowing are cloud storage, how many devices you can run, and what offline actually means.
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Your first 360 booth event: what actually happens
Most advice for new operators stops at the sale, because most of it is written by people selling rigs. This is the part after that, in the order it actually happens.
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What goes wrong at a 360 booth, and how to fix it
Search for help with a 360 booth and you mostly get results about Apple's Mac Photo Booth app. This is the operator version, organised by what you can actually see.
Read more →