cheap diy teleprompter

posted Mar 24th 2005 5:36am by
filed under: Uncategorized

diy teleprompter

this hack is a prime example of how to make something useful out of something useless.

the $1 teleprompter:

  • 1 clear cd case cover

  • 6 cd cases

  • scotch tape

just set this contraption on top of a laptop screen and the clear cd cover reflects the laptop screen in your direction.  your webcam is positioned just behind the cd cover, so your line of sight is aimed directly at the camera.

several of you sent this in, but kris was the first.  thanks!



18 Responses to cheap diy teleprompter

  • anybody says:

    What’s with all the DIY telepromters lately??

  • I can’t think of a good use for a teleprompter for a non-newscaster though except for video blogs or something (which I don’t think sound very nifty)… and it certainly doesn’t *LOOK* cool. So, unless I could think of something else to do with it that was really cool, I don’t think my friends would be impressed. :P Still, saving $999 is always good.

  • hd says:

    herhaps they should rename it the “$1+IBM laptop teleprompter”

    cool concept though. you can propably get away with a pocketpc or LCD instead of using a laptop.

  • tweaq says:

    yah for the DIY stuff, but couldn’t you just use the laptop and set the webcam on top of hit while running powerpoint or soemthing?

  • dahoop says:

    That’s the point, unless you’re pretty far away, you can tell you’re not looking at the camera. This lets you look almost right at the camera while reading.

  • LWATCDR says:

    Could this also be used as a cheap HUD?
    Using a pair of polarized filters might make it work even better.

  • Adam says:

    pretty cool for those who would need it and dirt cheap too. too bad the guy acts like a robot when he uses the thing though.

  • Ed3 says:

    Y’know, a similar setup with a PDA could make for a cheap HUD in the car…

  • Matt says:

    this could be used for other things such as a airplane style HUD, or overlaying.. something… holograms anyone?

  • matt says:

    here is another homebuilt prompter, much nicer looking, a bit more expensive.

    http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/22302.html

  • Bozzle says:

    Actually, this solves a problem I’ve been bothered by for years now, one that has nothing to do with teleprompting.

    In video conferencing, especially with a friend, it’s incredibly annoying that you can’t look into each other’s eyes. Talking to someone who is constantly looking at the ground ruins much of the fun for me. But with something like this, you can watch the image and have the camera right behind it–problem solved. Maybe I’ll go rig something up with my iSight and see…I can already a foresee a few geometry issues, but I think it should be pretty doable.

  • Steve cooley says:

    I’ve built a text reverserator for your DIY teleprompting needs. Check it out and download the source so you can run it on your own box and not have to wait for my slow server at home to render your text.

    http://somejunkwelike.com/backwards/

  • hannu says:

    Here’s free “software” for teleprompter: http://www.cueprompter.com

  • Keith Wells says:

    Here’s another free online prompting program: http://www.freeprompter.com. You can also order an actual webcam teleprompter on the page as well for $59.95.

  • chester says:

    can you give me explicit instructions how to construct this? thanks.

  • Sofiaa says:

    [...]if you really want a good deal im importing brand new pc and laptops starting from rangeable price. Here is the link :
    http://www.electrocomputerwarehouse.com/
    [...]

  • John says:

    I wrote a cheap teleprompting software solution for $25 at http://www.directprompt.com I think it scrolls pretty smooth. Its good for DIY teleprompting.

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