After raising $800,000, two Queenstown businessmen have officially launched their film equipment accessory Genie, which they say will revolutionise motion-controlled time-lapse photography.
Syrp founders Chris Thomson and Ben Ryan have now successfully negotiated the manufacturing process, aided in part by living in Asia for three months last year to oversee the production across several factories.
To date 1000 of the 1500 units comprising the initial production run, priced at $US990 ($NZ1100) have been shipped across the world. Feedback so far was ''awesome'', Mr Ryan said.
''Everyone's happy and stoked with it.''
The idea for the Genie arose early in 2010, after Mr Thomson, who has a background in industrial design, and Mr Ryan, a filmmaker, became frustrated with other motion control time-lapse equipment on the market. The found products to be ''extremely costly, very complicated and uncomfortably bulky''.
The pair designed a piece of equipment which they said was affordable and straightforward to use for combining motion control with time-lapse photography.
Their Genie is capable of either panning or linear movement, commonly used in time-lapse photography and also for real-time video shots.
''Our concept consists of a box that moves a camera under its own power and adapts to attach to any existing film equipment, allowing users to rise above standard filmmaking, by acquiring standout and vibrant footage,'' Mr Thomson said.
Rather than seeking out investors or sponsorship, in April last year the pair decided to raise funds for the production of the Genie on kickstarter.com, a popular crowdfunding website.
''After launching the Genie on kickstarter it soon became apparent that the demand for the device was really strong. After two months of raising funds we finished the project with $800,000 to kick-start the business and get manufacturing under way,'' he said.
Since then the business partners had been working tirelessly through the manufacturing process, using several factories in Asia - an experience they described as ''challenging'', particularly given the time constraints they were working to.
''We had so many pre-orders, we had to really push our factories to get everything done quickly ... it was quite intense getting everything done [while we had] people waiting for their products,'' Mr Ryan said.
''We've spent a lot of time working with our factories at every step of the production process to ensure the end result is top quality.''
Kickstarter backers, many of whom had supported the project by pre-ordering the Genie, were kept in the loop throughout the manufacturing process and informed of the challenges every step of the way through a private kickstarter blog. Mr Ryan said it was one of the biggest differences between the website and other funding options.
''Our backers know about every speed bump we came up against and they really are a part of the whole process.
''It's been a huge learning curve and we've faced all sorts of challenges along the way, but you learn from all your mistakes and we are looking forward to taking it all on board for the future.''
The Genie was now available for purchase online and was shipping through the revamped website, syrp.co.nz. However, the pair were not resting on their laurels. A new designer was on board, helping to create a new version of the Genie, products to integrate with it and stand-alone products.
