Full-screen scrolling teleprompter

I needed a teleprompter to help me make better looking videos for my website on woodblock printmaking, so I built this one, using nothing but a few pieces of scrap wood and glass, and only free software.

When recording videos, I discovered that I'm not much of an actor ... namely, I can't remember my lines! I tried to get around this by printing out a large-type 'script' and hanging it up next to the camera, but when I looked at the resulting video, it was obvious that I was reading something, and not looking directly into the camera. There was only one solution ... build a teleprompter!

Here's how I did it, in just a few minutes, using a couple of scraps of wood, a scavenged piece of glass, and an old shirt ...

Step 1 The wooden frame

The whole thing is made from five pieces of scrap wood: a square piece cut in half to make two equal triangles for the sides, and three cross braces.

The second photo shows them quickly tacked together. The width of this thing is just a little bit less than the width of the piece of glass that I'm about to 'steal' from one of the pictures on the wall. (It's evening, and the hardware store is closed!)

(This picture shows the parts sitting on top of my home-made table saw ... that's another story one day!)

Comments

[mkug12]

I tried the free software solutions quoted above but was frustrated with the limited feature set. I eventually ended up with PromptDog at http://www.promptdog.com.

[burstingfist]

I just put up a new, free and open source teleprompter software "Proverb Teleprompter" at  http://proverbteleprompter.codeplex.com.  It has many features of the commercial software, but it is free.  Please add any feature requests to the CodePlex page and I will add them ASAP. 

Some Features:
* Dual monitor support
* Time estimate to end of document
* Reads and writes RTF format (images & text formatting)
* adjustable font size and scroll speed
* Support for a variety of remote controls (media or powerpoint style)

[waif69]

I have tried the following for use on an old laptop that I had lying around and this works nicely. Oh, I forgot to mention, it is free!

http://www.freetelepromptersoftware.com/pcsoftware.htm

[blakeredfield]

I've been thinking of a HUD type for a sleek computer desk mod, but Im concerned with the viewing angle. I did some quick tests with mirrors and determined that it would ultimately be uncomfortable, because when you move the image position doubles acconding to the angle between you and the direct center of the screen. I really like this instructable. Flurry of ideas rushing around the place. Touch/Multitouch and motion tracking+commanding is the future inteface in computing and everything else guys. Lets make it first!

[christophor]

I don't need a teleprompter, but looks like a great way to make a multi-touch display with only a few parts. Thanks for posting this.

[tyeo098]

Care to explain?

[christophor]

Well, mainly I like the idea of the reflected image. Its transparent. The camera can obviously 'see' the person in front of it. With the right software, you could track where the person is pointing or maybe even where they're looking. When you look up 'cheap multitouch' and stuff like that, they are very similar to your teleprompter, only they use a webcam and some software to detect movement. The only thing is they usually take apart the monitor and set up some IR filters and stuff. This is a much simpler way to get a similar effect. I REALLY like the reflected image trick. I think one could make a Heads Up Display (HUD) this way. I bookmarked your post so I can explore this idea when I have some time. I'll let you know how it goes.

[tyeo098]

I know alot about multi-touch, never have built an actual table (cardboard box sensors though...) mainly because I didnt have a projector. I like your idea but I dont see how you can accuratly track blobs or give a surface to do the actual touching (since its angled) you could put another sheet perp. to the camera, but then you could see the sides of the box. [c../..| And the reflection wont reflect on a sheet of paper like a projector, which is needed to get blobs for tracking (DI style...) I guess you could use FTIR but thats not really the best option as you would need constrant background removal.

[christophor]

I agree about the blobs. It would be hard the way it is. I think if you could reflect the display onto the glass but flat, it would work. In other words rather than placing the reflective surface at an angle, put the monitor at an angle and the camera above it. Take this teleprompter and turn it around then tip it forward until the glass is vertical. Then put the camera above the top edge of the monitor pointed at the glass. Illuminate the glass with IR then put a visible light filter over the camera so it only sees the IR. When I was a kid, I had miniature Donkey Kong arcade game that worked almost exactly as I'm describing. It had a little color LCD display in the bottom, then a mirror reflected the image onto the glass so it looked like it was right in front of you. When you tilted it sideways, you could see the mirrors and stuff inside, but not if you looked right at it. Then again, I saw this guy on YouTube who does it in the open air. No blobs. You put your hand in a certain place in the air it has a line around it on the display, once it acquires your hand, you can move it anywhere. The system tracks the movement of your hand after that. Kind of like Minority Report but without the glove things. A few years ago, IBM or some place like that had a system that could see your eyes and where you were looking. So the operator looked at the stereo and said "Turn down the volume." The system determined what he was looking at and lowered the volume on the stereo. Right now, I'm thinking of how to use this teleprompter for a HUD, my video card drivers can do all the flipping and inverting of the image. I'm hooked on the reflected image idea right now.

[tyeo098]

So I guess DI is out of the picture then. And you do need a cover for FTIR, otherwise stray IR light might hit the CCD and cause false-blobs. But this cover, tracing paper, blocks the light from the reflection, rendering it useless.

[christophor]

What is DI style?

[tyeo098]

Diffused Illumination it uses an invert filter to track blobs. You can do it well in a well lit room. Its the same function on how those 'cheap multitouch' things work, with the cardboard box and the webcam, and the paper.

[christophor]

We use CF bulbs in our house, they are so dang efficient they won't activate a solar powered calculator. I guess that explains why my own cardboard box didn't work very well. I'll try it out in the garage where I have big giant fluorescent bulbs. In this case, I was thinking about something like DI but with IR only. So you put a few IR LED's that are focused onto the display/touch surface from the outside. Cover the camera lens with a visible light filter, that only sees IR. It would probably pickup ambient changes in IR, like TV remote or something unless the IR LED's are enough to saturate the camera's view area of the touch surface enough, that it any physical contact would block IR light. The software need to pickup IR shadow blobs instead of reflected IR brightness blobs. I think it would work if the software can SEE the differences in the IR light. I haven't really thought that through though. We wouldn't need a teleprompter to test that. Just the same cardboard box rig, but with no paper and 4 IR LED's pointed toward the touch surface saturating it with IR light. You should see a shadow when you touch the surface. It's a thought.

[tyeo098]

Well if its saturating the ccd then anything you do beyond blocking all the light from the ccd will have no effect. What It needs to do is reflect off of the panel, like paper or something. Thats way the light could pass through and be blocked by a finger or something.

[christophor]

Hold the phone!!!

Here it is. This is what I meant, except I was describing it backwards. This is better.

http://wiki.nuigroup.com/Di

Just have to make sure the diffusion material is transparent to visible light.

[tyeo098]

I know how Di works, but using it with this methos will be kind of hard.

[christophor]

What's CCD?

[tyeo098]

Its the chip in a camera that captures light.

[wizardofcode]

I wrote some cheap teleprompting software for DIY teleprompting projects that have Windows computers. It's at www.directprompt.com . I wrote the software for my own homemade teleprompter, and then decided others might want it. It has dual monitor support, and scrolls smoothly.

[PetroleumJelliffe]

Anyone know how to flip the whole monitor image vertically? Any special software or drivers? You could do this with your whole monitor and a webcam in back. This way you could look directly at a person's face while video conferencing, and still look directly into the camera. You also wouldn't have to manipulate your scripts into reverse order and read upside down.

[RichardFairhead]

I used your teleprompter as on of the starting points for creating mine. If you want to see what I did, here is the URL:

http://equipment-notes.blogspot.com/2007/03/diy-autocue.htmlhttp://equipment-notes.blogspot.com/2007/03/diy-autocue.html

Regards

Richard

[jomy]

I have found FREE teleprompter software for Mac and Windows.
It does the flipping for you and allows you to control the speed of the scrolling interactively.

FREE teleprompter software

[Crash2108]

Instead of flipping all of the media, why do not you simply flip the screen? (except for the stand being in the way)

[woodblock100]

I'm not quite sure what you mean ... If you mean just _turning_ the monitor, that won't work; the lettering is being viewed in a mirror, so it must be made into a mirror-image of the original. Because my monitor is still 'facing me' the lettering needs to be flipped vertically. If the monitor was turned around so that the base was away from me, the lettering would then need to be flipped left/right in software ... But you are right in that if I did it that way, I wouldn't need the second step of rearranging the pages of the pdf file ...

[Maud Media]

Man this home-made teleprompter is going to save my life. I too am wondering though, like Crash2108, why do you want to flip the lettering both horizontally and vertically? If I write "woodblock" backwards on a piece of paper (i.e. flip the lettering horizontally), and then go stand in front of a mirror, I see "woodblock" written normally in the mirror. I don't have to flip it vertically. Basically, I went and downloaded a piece of shareware called EZreader. It flips the script horizontally. You can toggle back and forth between white text on black field, and vice versa. You can smoothly scroll up or down. But it doesn't flip the lettering vertically. So what is the point? If it is about having the lettering scroll correctly (i.e. scrolling up in the mirror instead of scrolling down), then wouldn't you just have to write the script backwards (i.e. first line of script is actually the last line in the text file?) and then just scroll up, to appear scrolling down? Jeez... I can't seem to picture any of this in my head. I guess MENSA will not be calling me this year. Thank you so much for the design, but please help!

[woodblock100]

I don't flip it both horizontally and vertically ... just vertically. This is difficult to explain in words ... but think of it this way: Because of the way that the monitor is oriented, the data at the top of the monitor screen is reflected from the lower part of the glass, and of course, the stuff scrolling up into view at the bottom of the monitor seems to be scrolling down into view from the top of the glass. But of course everything is 'upside down'. So we need to 'Flip vertical' to make it readable. We don't need a horizontal flip, because the left side of the monitor is still appearing on the left side of the glass ... Other teleprompter ideas I have seen all have the monitor turned around so that it 'faces' the camera. For those systems, you need a Horizontal Flip, but not a Vertical flip ...

[LasVegas]

In the old days, we could just flip the Vertical or Horizontal Yoke wires of the monitor to reverse the image. Not as easy with an LCD though. :)

[Phred_Fidigets]

Great Job _ if you were to reflect the LCD into a mirror first, then to the teleprompters screen- the images would not have to be inverted. The whole setup would be much like a childs periscope the 45 degree mirror mounted below and pointed opposite of the teleprompter glass. You might want to invest in a first surface mirror from a surplus optical house - to eliminate ghosted reflections that could make your characters fuzzy and hard to read. Here are some places you could look.

http://www.anchoroptics.com

http://www.surplusshed.com (my favorite)

http://www.sciplus.com

[LasVegas]

You might consider printing your message in reverse order when sending to PDF. Then when you flip the pages in Preview they would be in scrolling order.

[woodblock100]

Yes, right you are ... save a step ... there's always a better way, isn't there!

[thearchitect]

Great stuff and great instructable! Thanks!

[ColumbusGEEK]

Dave you have that stereotypical, *I am a Mac user, I like to eat granola too.* look about you but I love your cleverness with the teleprompter. I am SURe I will use this knowledge someday.

Thanks!

[woodblock100]

Hee-hee! And here I thought I was trying to be basically platform-neutral on this one! I _did_ mention the software I use, but I'm assuming that users of other systems will be able to use corresponding tools on their own machine. Thanks for the comment! I'm reading it as I sit eating my breakfast here in Tokyo ... a deep dish of granola! :-)

[dorel]

I recommend the app Presentation Prompter, it's for Mac.

The app has a animated scrolling which you can toggle on and off.

Works just like a real prompter.

http://www.nextforcesw.com/presentationprompter.html

[cvelusc]

Incredible work. Not just the teleprompter, but also your woodblocks. Thank you for sharing!

[PieterPost]

This is great, thanks for sharing.