This is the continuation from my previous post where I mentioned wrapping my little tripod around my neck to shoot videos from my perspective. So, here are some pictures of the "rig" that I used and how I made it, as well as some footage of some great bubbles from my second session using this setup. Woohoo!
Setting Up The Camera Rig[]
I'll let the pictures tell the story of setting up the first-person bubble cam. If the story still isn't clear, please comment and ask questions so I can clarify and add more detail.
I discovered, by accident, that the legs of my little tripod can wrap around my neck.
The tripod legs didn't quite touch, so it wasn't an entirely secure setup.
My Canon Powershot S95 mounted easily on the tripod, and sat quite nicely (though it would slowly slide down and fall off if I let it).
A closer shot of the Canon Powershot S95 mounted to the tripod.
Using paracord, I tied some figure eight knots on the ends of two of the tripod legs so it could hang around my neck without sliding off.
I tied a simple slip knot in the paracord at the back of my neck so the camera would rest on my chest at my desired height.
This shows how the tripod sat on my chest once I tied it with the paracord around my neck. Then, I realized that I still had an old smartphone in my electronics bin, and that smartphone had 1080p HD video capability. Shazam!
The mount point of the tripod. Do they just call this the screw, or is there a fancier term?
The custom camera mount that I used didn't fit perfectly on the tripod mount (height wise), so I used a washer to fill the space gap.
I didn't use any adhesive or anything, because the washer would stay snuggly on there once I screwed the custom mount on.
When I realized that I had a better (higher resolution) video camera all along (my smartphone), I found a suggestion online that a binder clip might hold the phone nicely in place.
I soldered a ¼" nut to the bottom of the binder clip so I could then mount/screw it onto the tripod. I know, my soldering job is brutal...ta-da!
The clip held the phone nicely. In the picture, that was actually my current phone, not the old one from the electronics bin.
I made sure to add some sort of bumper to prevent the clip from wrecking my phone's screen or case.
I used a medium-thick rubber band.
With the ¼" nut attached, the binder clip easily screwed on to the tripod.
My hack-job chest cam was ready for action: first person perspective video FTW!
Video Using The Camera Rig[]
I used the rig with my old device (HTC One M7) and my current device (Moto X Play), and found that I like the video from my current device better. Although, either device fit just fine in the custom mount. I'll play around some more with the HTC later, but the videos here are all shot with the X Play. Enjoy.
Big Bubbles - September 22nd, 2017
A selection of some big bubbles that I successfully closed off.
Big Unclosed Bubble Tubes - September 22nd, 2017
A selection of the coolest, unclosed tubes. The last one still blows me away. I LOVE the colours.
Big Bubble Survives In The Sky - September 22nd, 2017
A surviving bubble from the end of a tube makes a trip up into the sky.
Big Bubble Floats Over The Trees - September 22nd, 2017
Another surviving bubble from the end of a tube visits the treetops.
Bubble Juice[]
Here's the bubble juice recipe that I used for these bubbles:
- Tap water: 1000 g
- Dawn Ultra 3X: 44.4 g
- Guar Gum: 2 g
- Baking Powder: 2.2 g
Bubble Wick[]
I used Libman Jumbo Cotton Wet Mop yarn for the wick during this session:
- Top String: 72" - full ply
- Bottom String: 144" - 2 twisted strands