Workbook — PhotoRobot System Overview

The textbook gave you the mental model. This workbook makes you apply it. Work through the exercises in order. If you’re in a lectured session, your instructor will discuss your answers; if you’re self-studying, check the solutions at the end of this file.

Exercise 1 — Identify the workflow stage

For each operator action below, identify which of the four PhotoRobot stages (SETUP, CAPTURE, EDIT, PUBLISH) it belongs to:

Tip: more than one stage can apply to a single action if it spans the boundary. Pick the one where the operator’s primary intent lies.

Exercise 2 — Match the use case to the output format

A customer requests photo / video work. For each scenario below, decide which primary output format (still image / 360° spin / 3D model / animation / 360 video) is the most appropriate match, and why.

Scenario 2.1 An e-shop sells 5,000 SKUs of handbags. The product listing page is a static gallery with thumbnails. The customer needs photos that meet GS1 standards for online listing.

Format: Reason:

Scenario 2.2 A car reseller wants prospective buyers to “walk around” each vehicle on the website before scheduling a viewing. The webpage should be interactive — visitors should be able to drag, rotate, and zoom.

Format: Reason:

Scenario 2.3 A museum is digitizing antique items. The output must be a virtual replica that can be inserted into a VR exhibit and into an AR mobile app.

Format: Reason:

Scenario 2.4 A jewelry brand wants to advertise a new gift-box collection on Instagram. The campaign needs short looping content (under 5 seconds) showing the box rotating with the jewelry inside.

Format: Reason:

Scenario 2.5 A fashion retailer launches a new perfume bottle. Marketing wants both: (a) a hero image for the website homepage, and (b) an interactive 360 view on the product detail page. Same item, same photoshoot.

Format(s): Reason:

Exercise 3 — System fluency

Without looking at the textbook, fill in the blanks:

3.1. CAPP is the abbreviation for .

3.2. A is “the list of hardware in use for a particular photoshoot.”

3.3. In CAPP, the three-level data hierarchy is: → → .

3.4. Two PhotoRobot release tracks of CAPP are: (for production) and (for early access).

3.5. As of CAPP version 2.5.4, can now be supported through third-party camera integration.

3.6. The two primary peripheral integration points that have the most impact on capture quality are and .

3.7. PhotoRobot was founded in by , originally for internal use at .

Exercise 4 — Build a mental map

Draw (on paper or whiteboard) a diagram of the PhotoRobot ecosystem. Include:

• A “Studio” box containing: a robot, a camera, lights, the studio computer
• An arrow labeled “CAPP” connecting the studio computer to each piece of hardware
• An arrow labeled “Cloud” connecting CAPP to a “PhotoRobot Cloud” box
• A box labeled “Customer’s systems” connected to Cloud by an “Export / API” arrow
• (Optional) A “Mobile” box showing PhotoRobot Touch and Locator app icons connected to the Studio network

If you’re in a lectured session, share your diagram with the group. If you’re self-studying, compare your diagram to the one your instructor will share, or to the description in textbook.md section 3.

Exercise 5 — Scenario discussion

Read this scenario and answer the questions below.

A new operator at “Acme Studios” has joined the team. Their previous job was traditional product photography: handheld camera, manual lighting, lots of Photoshop work. They’re frustrated because in PhotoRobot, when they capture an item the post-processing seems to “just happen” — they can’t find where to crop and color-correct each image one by one. They are convinced something is wrong with the system.

5.1. What is the operator misunderstanding about how PhotoRobot works?

5.2. What concept (introduced in the textbook) should they study first to resolve this confusion?

5.3. Which workflow stage (SETUP / CAPTURE / EDIT / PUBLISH) is the operator probably skipping or undervaluing?

5.4. What is one piece of advice you’d give them based on what you learned in this module?

Exercise 6 — Pre-flight checklist

Before your first hands-on session in the next module (m02 Safety, or m05 Workspace configuration), make sure you can answer “yes” to all of these:

• I can explain in one sentence what PhotoRobot is.
• I can name the four workflow stages in correct order.
• I know what “CAPP” stands for and what role it plays.
• I can distinguish between a Workspace, a Project, an Item, and a Folder.
• I understand why customers want 360 spins, 3D models, and not just still photos.
• I know where to find the canonical product manuals on photorobot.com.

If you can’t tick all six, re-read the relevant section of textbook.md before moving on.

Solutions

Don’t look here until you’ve finished the exercises.

Exercise 1 — Workflow stages

• 1.1 — SETUP (hardware connection happens during workspace configuration)
• 1.2 — CAPTURE (running the photography sequence)
• 1.3 — EDIT (post-processing via preset)
• 1.4 — PUBLISH (generating output for delivery)
• 1.5 — SETUP (project / item structure is set up before capture)
• 1.6 — CAPTURE (Live View is part of operating the capture interface; adjustments mid-capture sit in CAPTURE stage)

Exercise 2 — Output formats

• 2.1 Still image / packshot. GS1 compliance + static gallery = still images on clean background.
• 2.2 360° product spin. Interactive drag/rotate/zoom = the defining feature of 360 spins. Cars typically use a Carousel.
• 2.3 Photogrammetry 3D model. VR exhibit + AR app require a 3D mesh, not 2D images.
• 2.4 360 product video (looping MP4 / GIF). Short, social-media-optimized, non-interactive — that’s 360 video, not 360 spin.
• 2.5 Both — still image AND 360 spin from the same item. PhotoRobot’s design assumption: one capture session produces multiple output formats. The hero image is one frame from the spin (or a separate still folder), and the 360 viewer uses the full spin.

Exercise 3 — System fluency

3.1 — PhotoRobot Controls App (sometimes referred to as “Controls Application”) 3.2 — Workspace 3.3 — Project → Item → Folder 3.4 — Stable and Preview 3.5 — any camera (third-party integration was introduced in 2.5.4) 3.6 — Cameras and Lights (also acceptable: lighting / studio lights) 3.7 — 2004 / Kamil Hrbáček / uni-max (Czech tool retailer e-shop)

Exercise 5 — Acme Studios operator

5.1. The operator is treating PhotoRobot like a traditional capture-then-edit workflow, where each image is hand-corrected after capture. PhotoRobot is preset-driven — post-processing happens automatically based on the configured preset, during or immediately after capture.

5.2. They should study the concept of presets (introduced briefly in textbook section 5) and how presets bind motion control, camera settings, lights, and post-processing into one reusable bundle. Full treatment is in m05 Workspace configuration and m11 Editing images.

5.3. They are probably undervaluing SETUP. In a traditional workflow most decisions happen in EDIT (post-processing). In PhotoRobot most decisions happen in SETUP (configuring presets). Their old habit is misallocating attention.

5.4. (open answer — instructor reviews) Reasonable advice: “Spend a day learning how presets work. Once you’ve configured the preset library for your customer’s products, EDIT becomes nearly invisible — that’s the system working correctly, not something being wrong.”

Done?

When you’ve worked through all exercises and reviewed the solutions, ask your instructor (or self-administer) the module knowledge check: 5 questions drawn from a pool of 12.

Knowledge check is not graded for certification — it’s diagnostic. If you score low, re-read the textbook section that the question references and try again. Then proceed to module m02 — Safety.