Q. How do I purchase a DropKey Pop-up Studio in a Bag Professional version?
A: Go to Dropkey.com/shop and find products on pre-sale. Choose from your choice of the DropKey® Pop-up™ Studio in a Bag® Professional or Classic version.
Q. How do I become a member of the DropKey Creator Network?
A. Go to DropKey.com and sign up to be on our mailing list when the pop-up displays. Once you are accepted in our network you are a DropKey Creator with benefits that include promotions, discounts and early-bird specials. You can also join our DropKey Content Creator community page on Facebook.
Q. How does the Dropkey Camera app work with the MediaBook store for video clips used as backgrounds?
A. Sign up for a MediaBook account at Mediabook.tv and make sure you use the same email account for your DropKey account. Also make sure you use your iCloud account on iOS and Google Play email account if you use Android.
Using the DropKey app, users can shoot live chroma key with great lighting in the Pop-up Studios. Those users need location shots so we built an aggregated store for stock footage that will ultimately have millions of curated portrait and landscape green-screen backgrounds. Users can open the Mediabook.tv online store and purchase video clips of the locations they want to use, and they will sync to your camera roll across devices within seconds.
Q. Where are your units made?
A. We have three factories overseas with a fulfillment center in the US.
Q. Where are the items shipped from?
A. As of now units will be shipped from California.
Q. How do I talk to someone on your sales team about purchasing multiple units?
A. Simply choose a time to speak with our sales team here. You will receive a calendar invite and 30 mins with a senior member of our sales team.
Q. How exactly are the different extra backdrop colors changed, do they use magnets or velcro?
A. Different colored skins are available on our store and are zippered in and out. Pop-up Studios come in green but you can order different colors in the DropKey shop. Changing skins requires at least two people and is not quick and easy, but it’s an option that is quite valuable for photographers. Instructions will be given to you as an explainer video on our website.
Q. What happens if the airframe has/gets a puncture? Is there a preferred way of collapsing and folding it so that it doesn’t get damaged during storage?
A. Each unit comes with a simple patch kit. There is only one way to inflate the studios and it’s super easy. Check out the Tutorial video on our Youtube Channel here.
Q. How exactly can I use your app on my iPhone to give me a virtual background in zoom, or am I just using the zoom app to replace the background based on using your green screen?
A. We will be integrating with Zoom. Using the DropKey camera app will be super simple and intuitive. On ZoomApps, we are developing Green Screen Optimizer by DropKey and Video Backgrounds and Management by MediaBook.
Q. Do you have different power adapters so that the lights, inflator and control box work in different countries with different power standards and plug sockets?
A. We are shipping 110 A/C in phase one of our development. You can buy adapters for whatever country you are in.
Q. Are the lights controlled by the app or the controller box?
A. The lights are controlled by the DropKey camera app (and the user) using a proprietary communication system with a controller box that sits on the floor next to the Pop-up Studio.
Q. Where can we get replacement parts for the lights when they die?
A. The panel lights are LED and don’t burn out. They should last for the life of the studio. If they fail for any reason within the manufacturer’s warranty period, we will replace them. You can find replacement LED Panel lights in the DropKey Shop once we start shipping.
Q. How can I watch people using the DropKey App and the Pop-up Studio in a Bag ecosystem?
A. Please watch videos with instructions on our DropKey Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dropkey.
Q. What is the output file type when I make a video with DropKey?
A. Apple iPhones create .mov files. You can convert them using Quicktime or other converter.
Q. Can I use Android with the studio?
A. Yes.
Q. What are the dimensions of the studio in meters / feet?
A. The inflatable Pop-up Studio in a Bag Professional is 12′ Wide x 10′ High x 5′ Deep with stereo pro audio, including Cannon jacks, 1/4″ and micro inputs with two stereo headphone outputs. (3.658m Wide x 3.05m High x 1.524m Deep)
The inflatable Infinity Base is 9′ Wide x 7′-4″ High x 5′ Deep – can fit in any standard room with 8′ ceilings with a 6″ drop-down ceiling lamp. ( 2.73m Wide x 2.235m High x 1.524m Deep)
Q. What are the dimensions of the bag + system when stored?
A. Dimensions of the Classic storage bag stored will be around 36”L x 32”W x 16” H
Q. What is the weight of the bag + system when stored?
A. The weight of the Classic stored in the regular storage bag is about 50 lbs. The Professional is about 60 lbs. We are trying to reduce the weight for reduced shipping costs. (Estimates as we are trying to reduce materials and weight)
Q. The Dropkey App for Android does not seem to be available.
A. The DropKey app is currently unavailable now but will be in the stores when we ship. The DropKey app has already been approved on iTunes and we are migrating to Android in the meantime.
Q. What does the App do exactly?
A. It’s a camera app like Instagram or Snapchat that also performs Chroma key background replacement. You can take regular videos and use DropKey to also perform live chroma key when it finds a Pop-up Studio in your WI-FI. The controller box also acts as a router.
Q. Can you select an existing video or picture background replacement (either on online services or phone local library?)
A. Yes
Q. Does the DropKey app perform automatic adjustment of lights – using AI to match lighting between background and subject, and perfect “imperfections” in the key in real time?
A. Yes
Q. What are the possible output size for the video from the app (is there some limitation) ?
A. Not disclosed but all Apple and Android formats – no limitations
Q. Is there a possibility of streaming directly from the App?
A. Yes, DropKey is a live-streaming app. Just hit “go live” and you are streaming!
Q. Do I need additional lighting to use the Pop-up Studio?
A. No. We provide all the lighting you need with more than enough power to create the brightness of the NBC Anchor desk.
Q. Can you tell us what is the floor of the DropKey studio made of i.e. fabric or plastic? Is the floor washable and replaceable should it become damaged?
A. The floor is the same fabric as the “skin” which is kind of like a spandex type of proprietary material, it’s washable and is an Add-on here on Kickstarter and will be available in our store as a replacement part.
Q. DropKey App: Can you show in practice the difference between classic and pro version?
A. The app works no differently with either product. The app is fully explained in the Tutorial video found on our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dropkey.
Q. To use the AI to match light with background, do we need to be connected to internet, or is it only local calculation?
A. Our AI is proprietary but we can tell you it gets better and better and at this point is it awesome
Q.. Dropkey controller box: Can you show practically how it is used with dslr ?
A. DSLR cameras can be used to shoot with a great monochromatic background. Our mission is to Consumerize live, real-time background replacement using the supercomputing device everyone already has. The DropKey app can be used as a wireless lighting controller.
Q. What are the differences between Classic and Pro version?
A. The Professional is larger and includes professional audio. Please look here for specifications: dropkey.com/shop. If you want to use your own instruments and require additional inputs, we give you 10 inputs you can connect to your phone directly through our box. Please watch the Tutorial video to see how it’s done. The differences between the Classic and Professional are explained in detail in the Rewards video and Tutorial video on our Youtube Channel. The both work the same with the DropKey App.
Q. DropKey Panel Lights : Do they work on battery (for how long)?
A. No, it’s powered by a lithium laptop battery. We may develop a battery-operated version but would not be available until Q4 2022 (est)
Q. Do you provide different rgb colors in your panel lights?
A) No. our panel lights are bi-color, white and tungsten. Same as our tube lights on the matte. The CRI is >=96, flicker-free.
Q. In the classic version, there seems to have no two 36″ 12w tube lights for the matte. Can we add some?
A. No. Do not add your own gear to our setup as it is unnecessary. There are two 36” Tube lights on both the Classic and the Professional and they provide more than enough light to evenly light the matte, and the panel lights at 30W each are very bright. No additional lighting is necessary.
Q. Are there already independent reviews done on youtube or somewhere else? Did not seem to find some.
A. You can see several articles on our technology at dropkey.com/press most recently Gaming Trend here:
Q. Do you have a community Facebook or anything like that?
A. Yes, we have our Facebook Kickstarter VIP User Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dropkey
Q. Do the lights have manual switches and also control through the app?
A. No switched – it’s all automatic. The iPad and iPhone can be used together interchangeably. The example you saw was the iPad can be connected to the Controller Box controlling the lights and shooting as a second camera (called a two-shot) and the iPhone was shooting and syncing content to the camera roll from the cloud. You can use a switcher while streaming or recording live. The App records to the camera roll and can sync to the DropKey cloud, or you can connect DropBox. However, DropKey is “DropBox” for your camera roll and works specifically with your camera roll and assists you in our automated DropKey Ads Creator by subscription so you can store all your video in the DropKey cloud. So, no, smart devices don’t use memory cards – we sync to the cloud instead. You can download that to a memory card anytime. The lights do not have manual switches – they are all connected to power and are controlled by the Lighting Controller through the Controller Box with computational lighting if you want it—-or manual lighting if you want to shut them off.
Q. Can the system work if no WiFi?
A. Yes. The DropKey Controller box is a router in and of itself. It can be an access point to your home wifi (normal) or if you are away from Wifi it acts as it’s own router and you can connect your smart device to it!
Q. How far along are you? What’s your biggest obstacle?
A. We received a valuable Utility Patent in the US and filed it overseas, then developed our MediaBook.tv store for location-based video clips used as “background videos”. The DropKey Pop-up Studio in a Bag inflatables are being mass manufactured overseas and we estimate shipping will start in the Fall. We had a successful Kickstarter campaign and raised $250k with 800+ orders and have MRR with zero ad spend. Dropkey.com is taking pre-orders and raising $1M on Wefunder.
Q. Who competes with you? What do you understand that they don’t?
A. (Elgin, Veescope Live) We have not seen anyone in the turnkey studio space that offers a three-dimensional lighting structure (Pop-up Studio) that pairs via Wi-Fi with a camera app. There are tools on the market to assist with Chroma key but we are the only turnkey system of broadcast-quality content creation using artificial intelligence to match subject lighting and “perfect” imperfections in the matte. Our hardware and software solution allows us to monetize our Pop-up Studios with 20+ vertical market segments, from licensing the camera app to Mattel so little girls can make movies with a life-size Barbie, to creating the Deadpool app for fans to engage.
Q. How do you make money?
A. We will create or serve 20+ vertical market segments. The most significant innovation is the SaaS “DropKey Ads Creator” which will disrupt the ad agency business, a game-changer for small and large business ad creation for TV or social media. Our white-label licensing business will be robust once a few thousand studios are sold, Revenues will come from InApp storage subscriptions, hardware sales, ancillary eCommerce store items such as wireless lapel mics and replacement parts, and MediaBook.tv is live and selling location-based video clips used as green-screen backgrounds.
Q. What are the biggest risks? If you fail, what would be the reason? What has to go right for you to succeed?
Investors don’t usually love hardware but we partnered with an American company overseas for quality control and to engage with local manufacturing. Once we start shipping, TikTok and Snapchat creators who want to “level up” with their own Hollywood Movie Studio at home or on the road will purchase their own Pop-up Studio — which the whole family will enjoy!
Q. Can you tell me more about Equity Fundraising using the JOBS Act:
A. For those of you following DropKey®, Inc. and our Edison Award-winning Pop-up Studios launch, we are raising funds to scale and develop SaaS features to ease the pain of lighting for green-screen background replacement and super easy location shooting at home. Equity crowdfunding is still new, so a lot of the fundraising process is about educating investors on just what the heck this is. I hope the following helps people understand what it is that we are doing! Q: What is Equity Crowdfunding? A: Equity crowdfunding allows businesses to raise money from a large group of people at smaller investment amounts. In return, those people get a financial stake in that company. Obama signed into law the JOBS Act in 2013 allowing startups like DropKey get the full funding it needs to help the new creator economy – 50m people strong and growing.
Q: Is Wefunder a Kickstarter type of event?
A: No. On Wefunder, you’re not donating; you’re investing. You’re not just a fan, you’re an owner.
Q: Why are You Crowdfunding?
A: DropKey is Crowdfunding to utilize the power of numbers and the JOBS Act signed into law by President Obama; There is huge demand by Creators to have a portable studio that solves difficult problems in the physics of light, and also offer access to millions of video clips used as “locations” to reduce the cost of shooting in different physical locations. Investors can own a piece of the future of television made on smart devices at home or on the road, for as little as $100.
NOTE: Here’s a fun fact: in 2012, Oculus Rift closed a Kickstarter round of $2.4 Million. Two years later, Facebook bought Oculus for $2 Billion. If those Kickstarter backers had invested instead of donating they could have had a 154x return on their investment.
Q. What are your revenue projections for 2021 and beyond?
Please see wefunder.com/dropkey and check out the pro forma projections at the bottom of the page.
Q. Who owns the related intellectual property?
A. DropKey was granted a utility patent for it’s mobile software and inflatable lighting structure.
Q. Mediabook strikes me as an intriguing asset. Will users be able to purchase Mediabook content without buying a Dropkey Studio unit?
A. Yes. Mediabook.tv is open to everyone.
Q. What’s the exit strategy?
A. We will likely be acquired by a large media company like Facebook, Google, Avid or Apple.
Q. Is the $250K from the 800+ Kickstarter orders indicative of the average price per unit?
A. No. Kickstarter campaigns are indications of public enthusiasm, and our successfully-funded Kickstarter campaign showed very high enthusiasm for our studio. But hardware sales is only one revenue stream — we believe the 10x inflatable innovation will sell out as fast as we can make them.
DropKey is a SaaS company monetizing the 10x invention where our digital asset management of location-based video clips used as background content by subscription is by far an exponential revenue source. The DropKey Ads Creator is just one vertical market where we provide a virtual assistant for users to create professional commercials with no production experience required. Our primary revenue stream will be our SAAS subscription software. The studio is like a custom computer which integrates seamlessly with our software. But the software and hardware have completely separate revenue streams. Our studio can be used independently of the camera app as a wireless lighting controller, but the ecosystem we designed was to utilize the immense power of today’s smart devices with high-definition cameras to create crisp background replacement and well-lit videos with ease. Our SAAS offering will become available when we start shipping in Q4 2022. See our eCommerce store MediaBook.tv — we are developing loop technology where users can tag clips and loop them to make location shooting at home a valuable feature for streaming, well beyond Zoom background stills.
Q. What are your revenue projections for 2021 and beyond?
A. We filed our Form C (REG CF of the JOBS Act) via Wefunder and financial disclosures will be published on our Wefunder page in a few days. We are not allowed by the SEC to promote pro forma revenue projections but we believe the market for pioneering our hardware and software vertical market segments is huge (1B+). 3) Who owns the related intellectual property? DropKey owns the IP.
Q. Mediabook strikes me as an intriguing asset. Will users be able to purchase Mediabook content without buying a Dropkey Studio unit?
A. Yes, you are correct. Users can select whatever content they have on their camera roll or purchase “locations” on Mediabook where the purchased asset syncs instantly to your camera roll. We are developing an indexing system to mark streaming content as backgrounds. MediaBook is a sister brand within the DropKey ecosystem and the third of several revenue streams. MediaBook is a digital asset management eCommerce store, and we filed patents-pending to identify and process loops that appear natural at the loop point, whether it’s 2d video or a 3d gaming environment. Also, we are developing the DropKey camera app to include the ability for users to stream themselves “inside the game” like Beat Saber, etc.
Q.) What’s the exit strategy?
A. Acquisition by a public company such as Facebook, with which we already have a trademark licensing agreement for “Mediabook.” There is also the possibility of splitting the hardware and software and selling each to a different buyer.
Q. If I invest in your product, what is the benefits that I’m going to get?
A. You will ultimately become a shareholder of DropKey, inc., and the value of those shares should increase significantly if you believe in the product. See https://wefunder.com/dropke
