1,700+ Studios and Zero Motors: The Real Footprint of Dealership Vehicle Photography
Vendors love footprint numbers. Some count drive-through tunnels. Those tunnels can put images on your VDP, but the cameras catch the car in motion and the raw captures come out distorted. Re-rendering software then rebuilds most of the car for the few images that get posted. That’s a reconstruction of your car, not a photograph of it.
When the question is who photographs real dealer inventory, here is our number: more than 1,700 360Booth studios in all 50 states and six countries.
Here’s what that footprint means for your store.
1. 1,700+ Studios Didn’t Happen Overnight
Autoexact started shooting dealer lots in June 1997. The 360Booth design was finished in 2012. The patent was filed in 2014 and granted in 2015. We are in our 13th year with the same manufacturing team. Our in-house computer vision team started building SHOOTit AI in late 2019. Today there are 360Booth studios in every one of the 50 states.
Every one of those dates is on the record. Read the full timeline in Dates Don’t Lie: The Real History of Autoexact, 360Booth and SHOOTit AI.
2. Tunnels Rebuild. Studios Photograph.
A drive-through tunnel shoots the car through fixed cameras while it rolls past. The angles are distorted, so software has to rebuild most of the vehicle before anything reaches your VDP. What the shopper sees is a rendering.
A 360Booth photo is the camera’s capture of the real car under controlled light. Nothing gets rebuilt. The paint, the wheels and the wear are the ones on the car.
That matters, because your listing photos do more selling than anyone on your floor. See What If Your Hardest-Working Salesperson Never Clocks In?
3. No Motor. No Turntable. No Waiting on a Repair Tech.
A 1,700-studio footprint is only possible with equipment that keeps working in a real dealership.
Motorized turntables and rotating platforms depend on motors, gearboxes, sensors and control boards. When one of them fails, photography stops. Inventory backs up while the store waits days or weeks for parts or a service technician.
360Booth was designed without a motor or a turntable. The vehicle stays still. The studio walls, background and lighting move around it by hand on a stationary track with V-groove wheels, using roughly 20 to 30 pounds of pushing force.
Moving the light, not the car, also makes better photos. The operator positions the studio to control reflections on the body panels and to light the cabin for interior shots. More in Why Does a Manual Vehicle Photo Studio Work Better? and Why 360Booth Does Not Use a Turntable.
4. Stills Plus Exterior and Interior 360s in 1 Minute 20 Seconds
In automation mode, 360Booth can shoot the still photos plus exterior and interior 360s in 1 minute 20 seconds.
SHOOTit AI guides the employee on the iPhone and catches dark, blurry or poorly centered shots while the car is still in the studio. The fix happens at the shutter, not two days later. See Fake Backgrounds Fix the Photo After the Damage Is Done. SHOOTit AI Fixes It at the Shutter.
Then the photos move. On average Wi-Fi they reach Autoexact in about 50 seconds after the employee hits save. Autoexact runs more than 300 custom data feeds and sends photos to vAuto and other vendors every other hour. Read The Detailer Washes It. The Detailer Shoots It. It’s in Autoexact in About 50 Seconds.
5. Real Photos of the Real Car
No offshore editing queue. No replacement backdrop pasted behind a car shot on the lot. No software rebuilding the parts a camera missed. The studio controls the light before the shutter clicks, so the photo shows the car the buyer will drive home. More in Your Car Doesn’t Need a Filter. It Needs a Room.
Four Questions to Ask Any Vendor
- How much of the car in your VDP images was photographed, and how much was rebuilt by software?
- What happens to my photo department when your motor fails?
- How long from save to my data feed?
- Show me your filing date.
For a full buying checklist, see What Should a Dealership Evaluate Before Buying a Vehicle Photo Studio?
1,700+ studios. All 50 states. Six countries. No motors. No excuses. 360Booth Authentic Capture™.
FAQ
How many 360Booth studios are installed?
More than 1,700 360Booth vehicle photo studios operate in all 50 U.S. states and six countries.
Does 360Booth use motors or a turntable?
No. The vehicle stays still while the studio walls, background and lighting move around it by hand on a stationary track with V-groove wheels.
How fast can 360Booth capture a vehicle?
In automation mode, 360Booth can shoot the still photos plus exterior and interior 360s in 1 minute 20 seconds.
How fast do the photos reach the data feed?
On average Wi-Fi, SHOOTit AI photos reach Autoexact in about 50 seconds after the employee hits save. Autoexact sends them to vAuto and other vendors every other hour.
Are drive-through tunnel images the same as studio photos?
No. Tunnel cameras capture the car in motion at distorted angles, then software rebuilds most of the vehicle for the few images posted to the VDP. A 360Booth studio photographs the real car under controlled light, with nothing rebuilt.
When was 360Booth patented?
The patent was filed in 2014 and granted to 360Booth in 2015. The full timeline is in Dates Don’t Lie.
Related Reading:
- Dates Don’t Lie: The Real History of Autoexact, 360Booth and SHOOTit AI, 1997 to Today
- Why Does a Manual Vehicle Photo Studio Work Better?
- Why 360Booth Does Not Use a Turntable
- The Detailer Washes It. The Detailer Shoots It. It’s in Autoexact in About 50 Seconds.
- Your Car Doesn’t Need a Filter. It Needs a Room.
- What Should a Dealership Evaluate Before Buying a Vehicle Photo Studio?
