PCGS is Looking for Opinions on "VideoView"
Kyle
Posts: 1,821 ✭✭✭✭✭
Haven't seen this posted here yet, so thought I would share the video.
The existing TrueView service is great, and as the saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words but It's hard to compete with a video. I think this is a step in the right direction for PCGS since videos portray the look of a coin more accurately. I'd love to see PCGS implement this service in addition to their TrueView images.
I think the name can use a little work, PCGS "LiveView" has a better ring to it, in my opinion.
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I like it!
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I think @messydesk may have suggested this a while ago.
I love it. If it is reasonably priced, this is a service I would use especially with rainbow toners.
It looks great!
It would be awesome to have an animated TrueView image too!
At the very least....it would be nice to capture some of the "classic rarities" this way for posterity.....(and for those of us who will never actually hold them).
Looks nice!
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Luster capture! Hypnotic! Do think I'd use it on some of my dollars!
bob
Hey........rotating lights! Interesting......
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
That is pretty darn cool. Its so mesmerizing I keep coming back to check it out. This service can very well be a hit.
How can I order this service?
Oh and @AuroraBorealis, the forum humbly requests you have your entire collection done, please.
It's not an official service yet, just something they are thinking about I guess.
IMO, its beautiful.
Phil had asked for inputs in intagram 2 weeks ago, everyone loved it.
A year ago, I tried something very close, where I stacked several images with various lighting effects into one like this. I need to perfect it.
Numismatics & Photography
rv@ravenumismatics.com
Instagram.com/coin2photo
I think it would be nice if the rotation changed directions a couple times, instead of one direction the whole time
This will be great for toners maybe cameo proofs too. Big question is the cost of the service. I cant see it being cost effective for anything under $500, maybe even closer to $1k.
It is cool. I could see it being very popular for gold and toners.
Great............but it's not for me.
Pete
This service appears to have possibilities!
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One thing I have found when doing this is that you have to get try and duplicate what you do when you look at a lustrous coin in hand. Typically, I will tip the coin back and forth, so I see a much faster flash than what is shown. The slow version has its place, too, but doesn't give the same feeling of what you'd see in hand.
I considered the video vs. GIF issue when doing this. I wanted a result that could be e-mailed, and a GIF with 6 frames at 600x600 going back and forth seemed to be the sweet spot for luster effect, image quality, and file size, especially if you have a large, still image to go along with it. Video files of that size didn't give the same quality, and there was always the issue with someone receiving such a file not having the right version of the right codec available. While that issue doesn't seem as pervasive today as it has been in the past, I still cringe when someone is showing a PowerPoint presentation and they go to play an embedded video.
Good to see PCGS catching up.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
They've rendered my opinion useless. That's why I submitted, in the first place. Nobody trusted mine.
Hi everyone - thanks for sharing your feedback, and we're happy with the largely positive response!
I see a lot of questions on pricing. If TrueView is currently $10 (and included with the $5 Secure fee), what would you be willing to pay for this videography service, per coin?
Thank you,
Steve
PCGS Marketing
I was thinking the same thing....
But I think the camera is mounted to the same "turntable" that the coin is sitting on. It would negate the need to do any rotation or manipulation after doing the video. (The difficulty then becomes the mechanical issue of tangling cords, but if the camera needs nothing more than power, and maybe a data path out, then that's not impossible to overcome. I'm familiar with a lot of Navy rotating "things", and slip-ring electrical connections).
Perhaps for some coins and not for others
JMO
I don't think I have any use for this service but I'm sure many others would
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I like it.
Actually I'm doing the same thing with a solar powered turntable. I like the rotating lights better. You don't get as dizzy.
Tough to say. It's neat, but not life changing or anything. Maybe another $10-$20?
I like the idea but it would be nice to see some alternatives (speed and lighting) to choose from in the way the coin is presented. Maybe more pausing at different points like we get when the obverse view switches to the reverse.
I think an even better option would be to format it where the user can "tilt" or "slide" the rotation ourselves, at our own speed and direction we choose. Have a little toggle on the bottom we can drag back and forth.
I think the sample video is too long. I'm inclined to think 10-15 seconds per side would be adequate. (It looks like it takes about 15 seconds to do one full rotation of the light around the coin. As easy as it is to rewind and replay the video, I don't think there would be any reason to go around more than once.
To some extent we've become spoiled with having TrueView's available for only $5 more. I'm thinking maybe a $10-15 range would be about right.
Maybe $10 if added to a TV and $15 if a la carte?
I guess that was an incomplete thought...why would anyone ever do a la carte at that pricing?
Maybe it would be $20 for Secure with video, $10 for just TrueView, and $15 for just video?
Another incomplete thought...that essentially amounts to just $15 for the video regardless with no bundling savings.
Maybe to additionally promote the Secure service level the price of a stand alone TrueView goes to $12-15, $15 for stand alone video, and $20 for Secure with both.
One thing that concerns me when it comes to other movements is that it would mean doing specific movements on a coin-by-coin basis. Which way to angle the coin and at what time? How long to keep it in a specific position on the coin? What should the movement of a coin animated onscreen look like? A twist? A wobble? A wave? Experiments I've done in this regard have looked a little unearthly once smoothed out.
Let's take a look at this next example that was made live today:
(There are things that I still need to perfect or course, looking at it on a huge computer monitor just now)
However, if I download it onto my iPhone:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vtcg47k6nkuotas/wheat.mp4?dl=0
I can open up the video in Photos, and I can scrub through the timeline of the video with my finger, going and back and forth with the light's movement very smoothly, or stop it at my leisure to look at a specific point. I find this preferable.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback so far!
Radiant Collection: Numismatics and Exonumia of the Atomic Age.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase/3232
What does it look like on a cameo proof @PCGSPhoto ?
Specifically, it would be great to see it on a PR65 or so to see how or if hairlines show up.
WOW!
I think this would be a great addition to the grading service!
I've made a number of examples of different kinds of coins, but I don't want to put too many public at this time. I will PM you an example.
Radiant Collection: Numismatics and Exonumia of the Atomic Age.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase/3232
it's cool technology, and it does offer a view of the coin in ways that most of us who collect like to see it. But we need a tilt button, too.
I think that $10 shot be about right for this service.
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Seems like the consensus on price right now is $10-$20 for the video, which seems fair. I don't know if I would opt for this option if it was much more than that.
I would agree that the video was too long
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Ok so I really like the second one with the Lincoln - the first one with the Morgan just seemed odd. I think the difference is you can see a bit of the tilt with the Lincoln so it seems lifelike. The Morgan is flat so it seems fake.
$25 seems about right for this expanded service
I like the Lincoln vid better too. It looks more like a coin would look if I were holding and rotating it. (The Morgan looked like it was on a merry-go-round).
$20.
It would help to know the format so we would know where it could be seen (forums, phone, website?).
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I noticed that as well, the Morgan dollar seems to have a lot of shadows, where as the Lincoln is more evenly lit.
$10 would be a great price. I would probably pay $15. If more than that I would probably only have certain coins videoed.
Definitely onto something here. It's very trick but it makes the coin look eerily alive...molten...like looking into a pot of wriggly worms.
I'd favor a view that simulates a coin being tilted under steady lighting so it resembles an in-hand perspective. More along the lines of what messydesk has shown us.
Lance.
Just tested generating an MP4 file alongside an animated GIF. File size is smaller than the GIF using x264 video codec at pretty high quality compression and it looks pretty darn good. I have to figure out how to make it automatically loop forever on playback, but I assume that's a minor detail. Of course, MP4 files don't embed as nicely as GIFs, and it appears I can't show it here without creating a YouTube account and uploading it. That's the other reason I went with GIFs at first. They're easier for the end user to use.
Here's a link to the file if you want to download and watch.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Needs a few more pictures thrown in to really get the motion down, but I like the back and forth movement of yours better than a continual circle like the pcgs ones.
What, no cool background music???
Well it is interesting to say the least.... I think it would be a great marketing tool for high end coins. Yeah, the name needs to be something catchier.
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