Camera Remote Head - Help Needed
Hi to all ,
I am a movie technician up here in Montreal. I have been thinking about this little project (not so little) of bulding a custom Camera Crane but most importantly a Camera Remote Head.
I am a total noob in robotics, and I need so serious advice about the gear i need to purchase.
Entry line "pro" camera remote heads are 3000$ and more. I want to build a nice looking and very efficient device for less than 1000$ - Im hoping it is possible.
A very good reference of what I want to build can be seen here : http://www.abc-products.de/jpg_all/v5_schatten.jpg
I am hoping that knowlegable people on this forum can help me choose motors - controllers and a joystick and interface for my little project...
So here is what this Remote head needs to do (in no particular order) :
- Pan and Tilt (obviously)
- Hold and move a 15 pound camera (max weight) : HVX-200 - XL H1
- Remotely controled by a wired (or not) joystick (up/down = tilt right/left=pan)
- Variable Speed ( with variable pressure on joystick also)
- The movements needs to be very smooth and farly accurate.
- The Starts and Stops need to be even smoother (even at max speed)
- The head needs to be very light and the smallest possible for the camera size and weight (the arms and construction will be in aluminum)
- It needs to be able to make a 360 pan turn in less than 5 seconds
- It needs to be very silent (we record dialogs in the movies ya know)
- The electronics should be farly resistant to different weather (we shoot outdoors)
Im sure I could go on... But ill stop here for the moment.
I really need to get advice on what type of motor ? , gears ? motor controller ? , joystick ? Radio controlled ? Can i also have a computer interface If I need one ? And please please WHERE should i purchase all of this ...
Any ideas ? Suggestions ? They would be more than welcome
I am thanking you all in advance for your help !
-Luc
I am a movie technician up here in Montreal. I have been thinking about this little project (not so little) of bulding a custom Camera Crane but most importantly a Camera Remote Head.
I am a total noob in robotics, and I need so serious advice about the gear i need to purchase.
Entry line "pro" camera remote heads are 3000$ and more. I want to build a nice looking and very efficient device for less than 1000$ - Im hoping it is possible.
A very good reference of what I want to build can be seen here : http://www.abc-products.de/jpg_all/v5_schatten.jpg
I am hoping that knowlegable people on this forum can help me choose motors - controllers and a joystick and interface for my little project...
So here is what this Remote head needs to do (in no particular order) :
- Pan and Tilt (obviously)
- Hold and move a 15 pound camera (max weight) : HVX-200 - XL H1
- Remotely controled by a wired (or not) joystick (up/down = tilt right/left=pan)
- Variable Speed ( with variable pressure on joystick also)
- The movements needs to be very smooth and farly accurate.
- The Starts and Stops need to be even smoother (even at max speed)
- The head needs to be very light and the smallest possible for the camera size and weight (the arms and construction will be in aluminum)
- It needs to be able to make a 360 pan turn in less than 5 seconds
- It needs to be very silent (we record dialogs in the movies ya know)
- The electronics should be farly resistant to different weather (we shoot outdoors)
Im sure I could go on... But ill stop here for the moment.
I really need to get advice on what type of motor ? , gears ? motor controller ? , joystick ? Radio controlled ? Can i also have a computer interface If I need one ? And please please WHERE should i purchase all of this ...
Any ideas ? Suggestions ? They would be more than welcome
I am thanking you all in advance for your help !
-Luc
Comments
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NerdMaster
For
Life
Take a look at the Pan and Tilt servo driven systems that ServoCity.com has recently released.
http://www.servocity.com/html/pan___tilt_systems.html
I don't know if they will be as smooth or quiet as you are looking for, but they may be good for proof of concept R&D as they use a·commonly available range of servos and·are easily Basic Stamp driven·or controlled.· Consider digital servos with an all·metal gear train and full bearings rather than sleaves.
Hope this helps,
Tim
Post Edited (Tim-M) : 9/20/2006 4:58:27 PM GMT
-L