Are you a photo booth company or event planner with questions surrounding how to buy a Glambot? Demand for Glambot services, such as those seen at red carpet events, is at an all time high. And while those high-end robots might be a bit out of reach, recent innovations have made Glambot photo booths much more affordable option for photo booth companies and event planners. That said, not all Glambots are created equal, so how can you know which one to buy for your photo booth company? Here are 12 questions you should ask before buying adding a Glambot to your photo booth arsenal.
12 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Glambot
How long does it take to set up the Glambot?
Glambots are engineering marvels, and any robot arm that can move a camera quickly and smoothly across any distance is worthy of celebration. However, many of the early Glambots that entered the market were made with a sole focus of achieving the ability to create smooth Glambot footage. Not all Glambot manufacturers considered the usability of their robots by hourly paid photo booth operators and the cost of the time that would be required to set up a Glambot. Many glambots ship in multiple pieces and require extensive tools and know-how to safely transport them and set them up at an event.
Most Glambot photo booths and robot arms require at anywhere from 1-4 hours to set up. OrcaVue’s Glambot stands high above the competition in term of ease-of-setup and setup time. The OrcaVue Glambot is ready to use at an event straight out of its road case and can be set up in under 2 minutes.
What is the process of recalibrating the Glambot?
For Glambot footage to be considered show stopping, it must accurately capture and frame event guests. At busy events, Glambot’s can get bumped into. If a Glambot’s movements are changed, even a fraction of an inch over the course of an event, footage captured by the Glambot could become unsuable and the movements may need to be recalibrated. For some Glambots this could mean that your Glambot activation could be down for hours at an event.
The OrcaVue Glambot was engineered to be recalibrated in under a minute! Simply pressing the return-to-home button and placing the Glambot back in it’s cable will automatically recalibrate all of the pre-programmed movements, ensuring that each video captured by the Glambot places the subject in the frame as intended.
What is the length of the reach of the Glambot?
Whether you’re purchasing a Glambot for your photo booth company, or renting a Glambot for an event, be sure to ask about the maximum reach of the Glambot arm.
What makes Glambot footage look so incredible is the Glambot’s ability to smoothly and quickly move a camera over a considerable distance. Therefore, the greater distance the arm can move the camera from the start of the recording to the end, the more stunning the footage. Many companies are selling mini robot arms that can only move a camera a few feet.
The OrcaVue Glambot boasts an arm travel envelope of 10’L x 11’W x 9’H.
Is shipping included in the Glambot pricing?
Glambots can be large, and heavy. If you know anything about shipping, large and heavy objects are expensive to ship. When calculating the cost of purchasing a Glambot for your photo booth business be sure to ask any supplier you’re working with if shipping is included in the advertised cost.
The OrcaVue Glambot includes free shipping for anyone who buys it.
Does the Glambot come with a road case? How do I move it?
Glambots are expensive pieces of equipment that need to be protected when they are moving between locations in order to ensure they work properly when they get to an event. Road cases are event-industry standard containers that ensure safe travel for technical equipment as it is transported. Be sure to ask any Glambot supplier you are considering making a purchase from if their Glambot is shipped in a road case that you can continue to use as you transport your Glambot between events.
The OrcaVue Glambot is shipped in a road case that not only protects the Glambot, but also allows the glambot to be used immediately after the road case is removed.
Does the Glambot fit in a small SUV?
Before purchasing a Glambot, be sure to consider how you will transport it from event to event. Unless you are planning on renting a box truck each time you book an event with your Glambot, you’ll need to measure the available trunk space of any vehicle you’ll plan to use to move your Glambot and ensure that any Glambot you buy will fit.
When in travel mode, the OrcaVue Glambot can be transported in a travel-safe road case with dimensions of 48”Lx20“Wx22.5”H.
What cameras can I use with the Glambot?
The cinematic Glambots that took over Hollywood red carpets in the lates 2010’s used high-end RED cameras to capture stunning video footage of celebrities while shooting high quality video at insanely high frame rates. Ensuring that these cameras stayed in focus on a subject they were moving toward a subject required an on-site technician to ensure that a robotic focus wheel operated correctly while the camera shot in manual mode.
For most photo booth companies operating a Glambot photo booth, it is recommended that an action camera, like a GoPro Hero 12, is used to create Glambot video footage of event guests. While action cameras don’t offer the ability to manually control the focal length of the content they capture, these cameras are the only cameras on the market that are able to accurately focus on a stationary subject while a camera is moving toward or away from the subject while the camera is in auto-focus mode.
Some Glambot manufacturer’s boast an ability for their arms to be able to hold the weight of a DSLR or mirrorless camera, however these cameras have yet to develop an autofocus feature that can be relied upon in a live event environment.
Was the Glambot’s arm designed for videography?
Buyer beware! A number of small photo booth manufacturing companies have quickly created a “glambot” product simply by purchasing a Chinese-produced robotic arm that was designed to manufacture electrical parts, and attaching that arm to a base produced in the United States. Many of these robot arms were not designed with the ability to move smoothly in mind, meaning footage captured using these arms may come out shaky and unusable. If your considering purchasing a robot arm that looks like the one featured, be sure to ask to see footage that was actually captured with that robot arm.
Are ALL of the Glambot parts manufactured in the United States?
If you’re purchasing a Glambot in the United States, ask the manufacturer if all of the Glambot parts are being manufactured in the USA. If parts are being purchased from over seas, there is a good chance that manufacturers will not be able to fix them easily, if they are able to fix them at all.
100% of the OrcaVue Glambot‘s parts are made, assembled, and supported in the USA.
How will I get the Glambot fixed if I need to?
In the course of transporting your Glambot and operating it at busy events, it is completely possible to run into an issue that will demand that you get your Glambot repaired. Before purchasing a Glambot, be sure to ask the manufacturer about their warranty policy, whether or not they will keep an inventory of parts on-hand, and what their process will be of supporting you if you need to get your Glambot repaired.
The OrcaVue Glambot comes with a 1-year manufacturer’s warranty. Since all parts for the OrcaVue Glambot are made in the Untied States, there will never be a shortage of needed parts. OrcaVue also offers customer a dedicated support team that is available during normal business hours.
Does the Glambot manufacturer have a history of creating and supporting products in the United States?
With demand for Glambot photo booths on the rise, pop-up photo booth companies have come out of the wood work in an effort to capitalize on the demand. Beware of purchasing a Glambot that does not have a history of creating products they support in the United States.
OrcaVue has proudly manufactured premier 360 photo booths that have been celebrated in the event industry for over 10 years. They spent over 2 years engineering and iterating on their Glambot before making it available for purchase.
Does the Glambot manufacturer also work in the event industry?
If a manufacturer is also in the event service business, as is the case some glambot manufacturers, they may become your competitor also–despite any protests to the contrary.
The event industry is a competitive landscape! Many event companies who have become aware of the demand for Glambot photo booth services have also tried to capitalize the demand generated by event companies to purchase them. As a result, they have quickly sourced parts from overseas to be able to offer a product. Be sure to know who you are buying your buying your Glambot from and don’t readily purchase a product from a company who also competes against you in the event space.
How To Buy a Glambot – Conclusion
The invention of Glambot photo booths has created an exciting time within the photo booth and event industries! But the demand for these photo booths has brought along with it companies who are trying to capitalize on the demand without first creating a quality product that can withstand the rigorous demands of event life. Take time to understand what it is exactly that you’re buying when purchasing a Glambot for your photo booth business.
For more information on OrcaVue’s Glambot, how to make money with a Glambot in the photo booth industry and more, be sure to visit OrcaVue’s Glambot product page and read more about how to successfully separate your photo booth business from the competition by offering Glambot services to your customers!