Jasper Giljam
themakeclass, av2a
http://blog.wdka.nl/make

This instructable will quide you through the steps of mounting a micro camera to a 4m telscope pole.
this tool will allow you to shoot movies with different pespective's and angles from security camera's and flying camera's.
This mini one man's crane is easy to operate and comes with a horizontal image stablizer, a tilt wire and lcd holder.
It's cheap and makes your footage more dynamic/ subjective.
Take a peek from a 4m high view watch the video below.

the results:

Step 1: All Materials

The list below contains all the materials you'll need to complete this whole instructable. This material list is divided in separated steps. First i'll give you the materials needed for the camera piece, second i'll give you the materials needed for the pole and last the materials for the lcd holder.

The material list for the camra piece:

- mini cmos camera (color,audio,dc8v)
- 8v battery
- styrofoam (4x4 cm)
- wooden block (10x5x5cm)
- ringscrews (2p)
- a roller (from a paint set)

The material list for the pole piece:

- a 4m telescope pole (look at your local window cleaning or paint store)
- brackets (4p)
- tiny rings (from keychain) (4p)
- wire (4m)
- audio/video cable (4m)

For the lcd holder:

- hardboard plate (40x40cm)
- wooden beam (100x2x2cm)
- nails
- brackets (2p)
- tiny screws (2p)

overall tool:

- screwdriver
- hammer
- pen
- knife
- gaffertape (ducktape)

in addition to recording you'll need:

-a camera with a av in socket or hd recorder.
-a lcd screen.

Step 2: The Camera Piece.

In the following steps i'll show you how to make the camera piece.
These are the materials you'll need for these steps:

- mini cmos camera (color,audio,dc8v)
- 8v battery
- styrofoam (4x4 cm)
- wooden block (10x5x5cm)
- ringscrews (2p)
- a roller (from a paint set)

tools:

- gaffertape (ducktape)
- pen
- knife

Step 1:

First we're going to make a socket for the mini camera, so we can place it on the wooden block. The material of wich we're going to make this socket, is the styrofoam.

We simply place the camera in front of the styrofoam and draw with the pen the outlines from the camera on to the styrofoam. Then we use the knife to cut the shape of the camera out of the foam.
Make a few cuts in the foam to make room for the wires. I made a little hole in the foam to fit the microphone in.
Cover it all up with a piece of gaffertape.

Step 2:

For this step we need the ring screws and the wooden block.
These two things are chosen carefully, the wooden block is a massive block to add some weigth to the camera so it always will be capturing the image from a nice horizontal position.
The ring screws have the right diameter to fit around the roller from the paint set (after you've striped the roller to the iron beam)

Take the wooden block and screw the ring screws into the top of the block. Note that these rings need to be allined exactly in the middle of the block, otherwise the camera would be constandly facing up, down, left, or right.

Step 3:

Now we need to attach the camera to the wooden block and do all the wiring so its a nice compact, balanced package.

Take the styrofoam socket with the camera in it and tape or, if you prefer, glue it on the frontside of the block. I recommend the top frontside, so the camera is facing forward. Note that if you deside to place the camera at the bottom of the block you're increesing the the movement within the image as the block automaticaly stabilize itself.

After you've placed the camera, tape the wires strategecly on the block. The wires come from the camera over the top of the block, between the ring screws, down to the back of the block.

Note: I've used the back of the block instead of the right or left side because this way the camera will stay balanced.
Since I also need the battery to power up the camera I've desided to place this on the block as well. This will be at the bottom of the block because of its weight. also use the gaffertape on this one.

Now just make sure everything is in place, you've got your video output and your audio output, and at the bottom you've got your power input, then tape it all togther till everything is nice tight.

Step 4:

Now its time to attach the camera piece you've just made to the paint roller.

First you take of the head of the roller so you'll end up with a handgrip and a curved iron beam. I bought mine like this, but make sure that in the back of the handle there is a hole big enough to fit the head of the telescope pole you'll need later on.
Now place the iron beam from the paint roller trough the rings of the ring screws (attached to the top of the block).
At the end of the iron beam i've wraped some pieces of gaffertape to stop the camera piece from slipping of.

The result:

There you have it, part one of this instructable is completed.
You've just made yourself a horizontal stabelized camera piece you can attach to a telescope pole.
Now we can move along to the next step, preparing the telescope pole.

Step 3: The Telescope Pole

This part of the instructable is all about the telescope pole.
These are the materials you'll need to complete this part of the instructable:

Material list for the telescope pole:

- a 4m telescope pole (look at your local window cleaning or paint store)
- brackets (4p)
- tiny rings (from keychain) (4p)
- wire (4m)
- audio/video cable (4m)

Tools:

-no tools needed.

This part of the instructable is quite easy, it basically comes down to shopping for a good telescope pole. Since the early ages women are always busy with cleaning and stuff, so the variaty is huge! Millions of cleaning devices are developed to reach every spot! So go to your cleaning store, or ask your mom for a proper telescope pole. I've picked one with a adjustable head piece so it give's my camera a lot more freedom to choose wich angle i want to use. Also, and this is very important make sure you'll pick one that will fit to the paintroller you've used earlier. But don't worry most of them do, but be sure!

Adjusting the telescope pole:

First you'll take the brackets and the tiny rings, in the bracket there are small holes to put a screw in but we're going to use them to put the little ring trough, so do this 4 times (for every part of the pole one and an extra one for the top).

Now you'll need the video/audio cable, the pole and the wire.
Fully extent the telescope pole so you'll know what length to cover.

Then lay the audio/video cable allong the full length of the pole. Now take the brackets and attach the cable and the pole to eachother. one bracket for each extentable part of the pole should be enough.

Now take the wire and pull it trough the little rings on the brackets allong the full length of the pole. This will be your tilt wire.

The results:

basically you've now completed the second part of this instructable and you've just made yourself a telescope pole to go with the camera piece you've created earlier.

If you want to see the result so far, feel free to attach the camera piece on the head mount of the telescope pole. Plug in the cable and play with your new made toy.

Step 4: The LCD Holder

First I want to say that this part of the istructable involve some measurements wich of course can be diffrent then yours depending on the size of the LCD screen.
For this part of the instructable we're going to make a holder for a LCD screen. This LCD holder we can clip on the pole an turn around when we turn the pole.

Materials for the LCD holder:

- hardboard plate (40x40cm)
- wooden beam (100x2x2cm)
- nails
- brackets (2p)
- tiny screws (2p)

tools:

- hammer
- screwdriver
- saw
- pen

Step 1:

First we're going to meassure the size of the LCD screen and extanding it with 2cm on each side. This 2cm is the size of the wooden beams we're going to use for this LCD holder.
Then copy this size to the hardboard and saw the pieces.

Now saw the wooden beams at the right size so you can make a frame of it on the hardboard.
Nail these beams at the edges of the harboard piece. This is going to be the backside of the holder.

Now saw 3 hardboard pieces to make 3 walls for the holder. 1 left, 1 right and 1 at the bottom and nail them to the side of the wooden beams.

At the back of the holder you'll screw on 2 brackets exactly in the middle of the holder. Make sure these brackets are allined in the middle of the holder otherwise it wont fit to the pole or it will be crooked.

The results:

This completed the 3rd step of this instructable. All we need to do now is to put everything together and run a test...

Step 5: Putting It Together

This part is the last part of this instructable and will show you how to put it al together so you can start recording.

For this part you'll need:

- the camera piece
- the telscope pole
- the LCD holder
- a camera with av in
- a lcd screen

First we're going to take the camera piece and place it on the head of the telescope pole.
Then we're going to attach the tilt wire to the camera piece.
Simply take the top end of the wire and tape it to the bottom of the block with the camera on it. Make sure the wire runs trough all the little rings and has the freedom to move with the camera.
Now hook up the battery to the power input and plug in the audio/ video cable.
Plug the other end of the cable into your camera or run it trough the LCD screen.
Make a few test and maybe set your pole head in a diffrent angle.

Now you can film stuf from 4m high or look at places you've never seen from that perspective.

this is the result:

Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Jasper Giljam
Themakeclass, av2a
http://blog.wdka.nl/make