Shooting good video can be an arduous task if you’re working all by yourself. [Pave Workshop] developed a series of gesture-responsive tools to help out, with a focus on creating a simple intuitive interface.
The system is based around using a Kinect V2 to perceive gestures made by the user, which can then control various objects in the scene. For instance, a beckoning motion can instruct a camera slider to dolly forward or backwards, and a halting gesture will tell it to stop. Bringing the two hands together or apart in special gestures indicate that the camera should zoom in or out. Lights can also be controlled by pulling a fist towards or away from them to change their brightness.
The devil is in the details with a project that works this smoothly. [Pave Workshop] lays out the details on how everything Node.JS was used to knit together everything from the custom camera slider to Philips Hue bulbs and other Arduino components.
The project looks really impressive in the demo video on YouTube. We’ve seen some other impressive automated filming rigs before, too.
Impressive project! Feels like there is a missed chance to automatically zoom exactly to where the fingers are pointing.
Agreed this in neat, and the way he’s demoed it is fun too.
I’ve been contemplating a similar project for a while where the zoom would be defined by the gap between the joints at the base of both thumbs and finger when held like a frame, so hold the hands up to frame the image you want and it drives the zoom until it just can’t see you hands. In theory with the Kinect sensor it could also see the plane your hands are set on and if you had the camera motion controls available drive the camera to observe that plane to.
I then figured the focusing would be done by a similar method to this guys zoom – pinch to drive the focal distance to the right spot, or perhaps gesture to the correct object(s) to be in focus.
Haven’t even come close to starting that idea though, as to really make it work the way I want means building some camera motion rig, buying a new camera (or possibly new lens) as I can’t manage to control the focus on my current camera from the computer (yet anyway, maybe its possible and I’m just missing something), etc – way to much work when as it stands I barely use my camera in a way this idea would be useful for anyway. Though I have enjoyed using it alot more since I knocked together a less obnoxious for the space around my desk tripod replacement, so maybe one day.
Now that sound boards are fully digital and tablet operated I see where gestures could interface to the “board” not just for a show but to use in a live-studio environment. DJing too!
I would probably get motion sickness watching a video using this setup, if the subject was an Italian.
(A lot of hand motions while speaking)
B^)