Magnetic Panning Time-lapse Camera Mount Couldn’t Be Easier

July 18, 2013 by Mike Szczys 28 Comments

magnetic-gopro-egg-timer

[Jeremy Cook] is getting in on the panning time-lapse craze with his offering for a camera mount that pans automatically. In this case he’s using a GoPro camera, but since the camera connects using a ~~1/2~~ 1/4 – 20 bolt it will work with any camera that has a standard threaded tripod mounting bracket.

The base of the rig is an egg timer he picked up for about eight dollars. It’s magnetic so that you can stick it to your refrigerator, but has enough gripping power to hold the camera upside down. The image above shows it stuck to his garage door opener housing. A PVC cap makes up the black part. Before painting it (with truck bed liner so that it’s a bit grippy) he used his lathe to remove the flat areas from the sides, and to cut it in half. He then drilled and threaded a hole in the center to accept the bold for the camera. The cap was super glued to the egg timer, which happens to have a window on the side so that you know how long you’re setting it for.

This is an easy alternative for those that don’t have the resources to make a 3D printed egg timer mount. The lathe step is not necessary, but since [Jeremy] had one he used it. It does make the final product look quite a bit nicer.

Continue reading “Magnetic Panning Time-lapse Camera Mount Couldn’t Be Easier” →

Showing Off A High-performance Brushless Motor Camera Gimbal

July 4, 2013 by Mike Szczys 30 Comments

gopro-brushless-motor-gimbal

Here’s [Tom Parker] showing off a brushless motor gimbal stabilizer for his GoPro camera. We saw a similar project a couple of weeks back that featured a 3d printed quadcopter mount. This offering is meant to be held in your hands. It keeps the subject in frame even if the cameraman’s hands pitch and roll (we figured aeronautical terms were best here). This image shows him demonstrating a level camera as he quickly rolls the frame from one side to the other. It doesn’t compensate for yaw, which is something he may change in the next iteration. We already like the results he’s getting with it.

About 3:15 into the video demo below we get a very quick description of the build itself. He started it as a project at University. Fabrication included work on a 3D printer, laser cutter, and vacuum forming machine. The grips are bicycle handlebar components. To overcome the stabilization system the operator has access to a joystick. Without this you’d never be able to aim the camera up or down because of auto-leveling.

Continue reading “Showing Off A High-performance Brushless Motor Camera Gimbal” →

Bullet Time With A Ceiling Fan

July 2, 2013 by Brian Benchoff 29 Comments

Bullet time has been around since at least the first Matrix movie (actually there was a Gap ad before that), and despite it being an oft-used cinematic technique, it still hasn’t gotten old. [Jeremiah] wanted to tap into the awesomeness of bullet time, and managed to come up with a great camera rig using only a GoPro and a ceiling fan.

The build really relies on only two components: a GoPro camera and a ceiling fan. In [Jeremiah]’s videos, a ceiling fan is mounted between two trees on a sturdy piece of lumber. The GoPro is suspended from one of the fan blades with the help of a piece of wood, a hinge, and a short bit of cable. After [Jeremiah] wired up the fan to a dimmer switch he could control the speed of the fan and Bob’s your uncle.

This isn’t the first time a GoPro has been used for a bullet time rig. In fact, our buddy [Caleb] did a similar build by spinning the camera around on a lazy suzan. Gotta love the high frame rate available on the GoPro, huh?

Vidias after the break.

Continue reading “Bullet Time With A Ceiling Fan” →

GoPro Panning Time-lapse With Ikea Egg Timer

June 4, 2013 by Mike Szczys 29 Comments

ikea-go-pro-time-lapse

[Sebastian Schuster’s] weekend project was to turn his GoPro camera into a panning time-lapse rig. You’ll notice it’s in a waterproof case as his demo for the hack was an outdoor session and the weather’s not the best right now. He put this together quickly, easily, and on-the-cheap thanks to the Ikea egg timer and a 3D printed camera mount.

An egg timer is a popular choice for panning hacks. Any type that includes a dial that spins on the horizontal axis will do. The Ikea Stam egg timer has that raised handle which is easily gripped by the 3D printed part. You can get a hold of the design files through a web service which is new to us. [Sebastian] used Tinkercad for the design, and shared it in his project post linked above.

This is just one more tool in his collection of camera hacks. A couple years back we looked at a motorized pan and tilt platform he built.

Continue reading “GoPro Panning Time-lapse With Ikea Egg Timer” →

GoPro Hack Delivers Live Video Feed For Piloting Your Quadcopter

May 13, 2013 by Mike Szczys 43 Comments

The GoPro line of HD cameras seem like they were specifically designed for use with quadcopters. We say that because the small, light-weight video devices present a payload which can be lifted without too much strain, but still have enough horse power to capture video of superb quality. Here’s a hack that uses the camera to provide a remote First Person View so that you may pilot the aircraft when it is out of your line of sight.

The camera in question is a GoPro Hero 3. It differs from its predecessors in that the composite video out port has been moved to a mini USB connector. But it’s still there and just a bit of cable splicing will yield a very clear signal. The image above shows the camera in the middle, connecting via the spliced cable to an FPV transmitter on the right. This will all be strapped to the quadcopter, with the signal picked up by the receiver on the left and piped to a goggle display worn by the pilot. You can see the cable being construction process in the clip after the break.

If you’re looking for other cool stuff to do with your GoPro camera check out the bullet-time work [Caleb] did with ours.

Continue reading “GoPro Hack Delivers Live Video Feed For Piloting Your Quadcopter” →

Bullet Time With A Single GoPro

March 20, 2013 by Caleb Kraft 38 Comments

Earlier this week I saw a video that was showing how some guys made some really cool bullet time effects with 15 tiny rugged awesome cameras called “GoPros”(that wasn’t a paid endorsement, they’re awesome). For those unfamiliar, the bullet time effect gained popularity from the first matrix movie. The footage slowed down to slow motion while [Neo] dodged some bullets, but the camera was still able to move around. To do this, they built a massive circular rig and mounted tons of cameras all around. Using these multiple angles, they were able to stitch together the scene in slow motion and “move” the camera.

Continue reading “Bullet Time With A Single GoPro” →

Make Your Own Steadycam Mount

March 19, 2013 by Jeremy Cook 13 Comments

[Ryan] wrote in to tell us about his partially 3D-printed steadycam mount on Instructables. In the video after the break, the camera does stay quite steady through some basic tests. The base is a paint roller handle, and the device works by using a long arm on the bottom with some weights to keep the camera upright. This handle is attached to the weights and camera through a 3-axis Gimbal system that allows the camera to stay relatively steady even if your hand isn’t. A full bill of materials and the needed STL files are provided.

Of course if you’re “old school” and like to use subtractive manufacturing methods, you can always check out this [camera stabilizer] from [Do-It-Yourself Gadgets]. The device works in a nearly identical manner, but the BOM seems to be: metal, screws, threaded rod. There are some cool animated GIFs of it in action on the site, or check out the video after the break.

As a “camera mount” bonus, check out this super easy [GoPro] (or any other small camera) clamp mount. Really clever. Continue reading “Make Your Own Steadycam Mount” →