I have got webcam some years ago, in a rather sad state with a missing foot. I already own some good webcams, I did not felt the need to fix this one, but as this is a very decent camera I still saved it a future project.
I had some RaspberryPi point and shoot camera, or motion detection camera setup in my mind.
But now, I as the kids are on vacation, I wanted to keep them busy, so I recommended them to create a stop-motion video. There were only two missing part for this idea: a decent camera, and a stop-motion software.
Unfortunately I couldn’t have find a good stop-motion application, so I have made my own.
Now as the software is ready, I have turned my attention to the camera, and especially a good stand for the camera.
Design
I did not wanted to spend too much time with this. So the design is rather simple, but it appeared to be still a flexible solution.
We have a heavy base, two bars, a head piece with a rotating block forming an arm like stand. You can imagine, that this can be handy on a stop-motion shooting.
Materials
I decided to go with some hard wood, to keep the structure slim. But I do not own any. Except for these junk hardwood floor pieces.
Build process
I have made the base from the nicer piece, and made 3 slices from the other one. Cut the bars to two 16cm pieces (that is a bit more than 6 inches). And cut the other pieces.
Sanded everything, formed a slot in the base with the drillpress, drilled the holes for the screws. I will use M5 screws for the joins.
Glued on the pieces.
Finished with linseed oil.
Conclusions
After some days of use there are some things to note.
- There is a problem with the arm, that it likely to tip. That is not a problem, when I want to clap id down. I might want to add a steal plate under the base, but with that, I can give up portability. An other solution is to provide some extendable legs.
- It might not need to have so many tilting rotating, points.
- This design is not perfect in the mean of portability. The stand does not fold well into a small shape, but it is not bad either.
- While the structure is stable, it can wiggle and oscillate to the sides.