playing around with my camera setup

[slngsht]

While looking at the trip vids with Al, I realized that on tight corners, most of what the video shows is the trees you'd plow down if you didn't make the turn...

 

 

 

So, I started playing with this:

 

 

 

 

Most of the hardware to control it is already on the car, so it'll be easy to do it.

 

 

 

In the vid, I'm controlling the motion with a mouse. In the car, it'll be controlled with a potentiameter hooked up to the steering shaft, so the camera will turn in the direction of the steering wheel.slngsht2006-11-10 22:01:53

[slomove]

Mazda, very nice technical solution (is it just an RC servo?). I was looking at something similar to

 

- be able to record rear, side and front views

 

- turn the bullet camera backward when not needed to avoid the dreaded bug smears

 

 

 

So far I had a hand operated swivel bracket for the camera but that was not that great.

 

 

 

Otherwise I never felt the need for a camera following the steering wheel (at least with a "normal" as well as wide angle lens) and the resulting video > (example here) is quite decent.

 

 

 

Gertslomove2006-11-10 22:49:34

[slngsht]

Gert, I love the music with that vid http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/thumbsup.gif

 

 

 

this is the vid that made me think of doing this:

 

Edit:

 

 

 

Later up the road, the turns get even tighter.

 

 

 

Anyway, this is mostly something for me to tinker with. It is more "want" than "need".

 

 

 

It is a standard RC servo. I already have a mini PC for running my dash, so a USB controller for the RC and reading the potentiameter will be very simple to implement.

 

 

 

Perhaps instead of reading steering angle, I can turn the camera to show the face of the passenger when the car exceeds 1 lateral G http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/wink5.gifslngsht2006-11-10 23:00:26

[slngsht]

Gert, the Johnsons at the Dragon had a really simple setup on their bikes, with a tiny joystick on the console that controlled a servo for orienting the camera.

 

 

 

If you want, I can find out where they bought that.

 

 

 

Mazda, very nice technical solution (is it just an RC servo?). I was looking at something similar to

 

- be able to record rear, side and front views

 

- turn the bullet camera backward when not needed to avoid the dreaded bug smears

 

 

 

So far I had a hand operated swivel bracket for the camera but that was not that great.

 

 

 

Otherwise I never felt the need for a camera following the steering wheel (at least with a "normal" as well as wide angle lens) and the resulting video > (example here) is quite decent.

 

 

 

Gert

[JohnCh]

Gert,

 

 

 

Very nice video quality. What camera setup are you using? I'm thinking of getting something for PNW2007 and am just beginning my research phase.

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

John

[slomove]

Gert,

 

 

 

Very nice video quality. What camera setup are you using? I'm thinking of getting something for PNW2007 and am just beginning my research phase.

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

John

 

 

 

It is one of the high resolution (480 lines) bullet cams with Sony CCD that I got from RFconcepts in the UK (there are US suppliers who sell virtually the same thing a similar price, like www.helmetcamera.com).

 

http://www.helmetcamera.com/acart/html/images/cameraOnly1.jpg

 

 

 

I record with a normal DV camcorder in the boot, that is controlled by a one-button LANC remote control next to the shift lever. http://www.helmetcamera.com/acart/html/images/WaterproofRemote.jpg

 

 

 

I would like to use a small flash card video recorder instead but so far I did not see one with a remote control.

 

 

 

Gertslomove2006-11-11 10:09:50

[slomove]

Oh, forgot....the actual video quality as recorded with the DV camcorder is much better than the web video. That is already compressed for much lower bit rate.

 

 

 

Gertslomove2006-11-11 10:26:07

[slomove]

Gert, the Johnsons at the Dragon had a really simple setup on their bikes, with a tiny joystick on the console that controlled a servo for orienting the camera.

 

 

 

If you want, I can find out where they bought that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, that would be nice. I was thinking of 3 buttons next to the camcorder remote control for forward/side/rear view. Maybe with automatic turning rear when the camconder is turned off. Well, I am getting fancy here....

 

 

 

I think the impression from your Dragon video also comes from the limited view out of the tintop and the dense trees wiping by. Out in the open from a Seven this is much less pronounced.

 

 

 

Gertslomove2006-11-11 10:36:21