Thoughts? - Micro MoVi Stabiliser Gimbal for GoPro

[Ed Oates]

To be fair to Erics comments, my passive observation of GoPro and theyre marketing is also that they are very consumer-market based, and products and marketing itself is very "consumer driven / dependant"... theyll offer cheap cameras and gear to higher profile 'extreme' stuff, but their marketing is carried out by the consumer themselves. quite clever really. same with aftermarket products and accessories. they have their core product (plus minus), and the aftermarket firms fill the consumer market (and their various, highly diverse factions) with all the bolt on gizmos etc.

 

trying to cover all the niche mini markets would be a crazy task, and a financial nightmare. i dont think this gimbal would raise an eyebrow more than any of the various other cool go pro accesories you can dig up.

 

that said, to those who could use something like this to get shots that have not been previously acheiveable, its quite exciting. i personally find the development in the stabilisation hardware and software quite remarkable! what these things are capable of is nuts :)

 

implementation is the key, and how best to blend it into existing equipment and workflow.

 

any thoughts on how it could better do its job?

- hard wired monitor and mic connections?

- smaller? stronger? cheaper?

- different mount?

 

printing is a laser scinter printer (i ordered mine from shapeways). most 3D printers for home use are filament deposition. i prototyped several versions using that (cheaper/faster) but the laser scinter process is by far neater and stronger. it would be great to eventually injection mold it, but thats getting the cart in front of the donkey

 

cheers

ed

Edited June 10, 2013 by Ed Oates

[Kris Torch Wilson]

Ed,

 

I work occasionally with a guy here in LA who has become a bit of a Go Pro guru on several network shows. I doubt he frequents this forum so I will pass along your info. He's into all kinds of mounts as well as integrating the cameras into a system so that they can be controlled and monitored. Certainly a niche operation. The two of you may benefit one another.

 

Torch

[chris fawcett]

Thanks Ed and Kris for rescuing this thread from weenie waving and allcaps. I'm actually learning something here.

 

Respect.

[Ed Oates]

Figured I should actually make a vid of it working...

 

:)

 

Cheers

Ed

 

[Mark Schlicher]

If the consumer gopro market is several orders of magnitude bigger than the pro market, then you can bet that the noise generated by the movi will translate into high demand for a prosumer-grade setup like this.

 

For every hobbiest wanting to build one from rc heli parts and open source software there are probably ten who would love an off-the-shelf toy to play with.

 

And just like gopro itself, a few professional early adopters in the reality or extreme sports markets can drive the buzz that sells many more to the masses.

 

I also see this as a potential tool for corporate and documentary shooters,

 

Ed, whether or not you want to be the guy to do it, somebody will be first in to this big market and make some good money I suspect.

[Ed Oates]

Hey mark,

 

If I pull my finger out, I could get a run of say 10 units done, and get them into the hands of people who might be able to create something more skillful and interesting than videos of their own feet :)

 

If it went gangbusters though, then I'd need to sit down and figure out how to commercially make them, and that's something I have no idea about! But again, cart before the donkey...

 

I've had some messages from some folks who'd be keen to get one and give it a go. If there's anyone else (including say your friend, Torch) who reckons they'd have some use/enjoy rigging one up, let me know.

 

But long story short, I think you're right Mark. Get a couple into the hands of people who can take advantage of its potential, and let it ether prove or disprove itself. Figure out the next bit after that!

[Ed Oates]

Ok, overwhelming feedback is an understatement! Pm's coming in left and right. Thanks guys very much for the feedback and support.

 

I'm tweaking the design in response to comments so far.

 

Seems everyone is using a hero3 these days huh? I must be the only one left who's not upgraded :)

 

Things I'd like some feedback / comments on

 

- including a standard 58mm filter mount. With a filter in place (nd or cp for example) it'll lightly vignette on the full 170deg wideangle settings. Without a filter, no artifact. Otherwise I reckon a filter mount is a good idea?

 

- hard wired sd video out RCA plug on the body?

 

- manual tilt control knob?

 

- 3rd axis?

 

- if using the gimbal remotely, and using a wireless video transmitter, is sd video through an RCA (male) plug adequate? Need to accommodate the video transmitter too? Or can that be rigged separately?

 

- I'd prefer to keep the gimbal itself simple and small. Too many Add-ones consume space and weight, and detract from the very small nature of this contraption. Or atleast that's how I'm thinking... Thoughts?

 

What would you consider essential / desirable??!

 

Cheers

Ed

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

3rd axis would be nice especially with a manual override.

[Brian Freesh]

I agree on keeping it small, light and simple.

 

3rd axis for sure

 

no need to accomodate a transmitter so long as the cable is integrated or can be run without interfering with the range of motion.

 

I'll talk to some other people and see if I can't get some more input.

[Ed Oates]

manual control of all three axis can be implemented, thats easy...

 

question is, either

a ) wired control, with knobs on a handgrip

or

b ) remote control, using say a simple RC model aeroplane transmitter to control the 3 axis

 

or both options and a plug/unplug possibility

 

everything is doable, but i kinda need a single direction to focus on, to get a couple of these into the hands of some folks. if i try and implement every option all at once, ill never get a single unit working, finished and sent!

 

and FYI - for the 3 axis, there is a function similar to majestic mode, still with the possibility of manual override. i havent played with it yet, but the guys developing the software have posted some good video.

 

ill try and implement integrated plugs for SD AV out, and x3 integrated plugs for manual override control. you can then connect an RC receiver to these 3 plugs, and theres youre remote control, or you can connect 3 hard-wired potentiometer knobs, and thattll give you local manual control

 

and to whoever asked about the filter mount... the filter mount will be fixed, and cant be removed. but the filter mount itself, without an installed filter, will have no impact on field of view even at 170deg wideangle. the benefit of having a filter for outdoor shooting though, is significant, especially with a CP filter, even if it restricts you to use to medium wide. but yeah, as i said, if you dont want a filter, it wont impede the field of view, so no stress :)

Edited June 14, 2013 by Ed Oates

[Twojay Dhillon]

Very cool invention! I believe that MotoGP is currently using a design that is similar and they are achieving amazing results (although they don't use GoPro cams).

 

As an aside, but absolutely not as a discouragement: my good friend just left GoPro a short while ago; while there he was the Sponsorship Coordinator. I visited their HQ on behalf of the SOC: GoPro has next to zero interest in the professional market. Their market and marketing is clearly not in our world, but in spite of this we use their products. That's how cool and unique GoPros are.

 

Looking forward to seeing your finished product, Ed! B)

[flemming laybourn]

@ Ed : seems like a cool affordable product... go for it..! and ignore the comments from grumpy old men...;-)

 

good luck

 

flemming

[Lawrence Karman]

nice work Ed. Not to rain on anyone's parade but here's a web site that offers relatively inexpensive brushless gimbals:

 

http://www.hobby-wing.com/arris-cm2000-gopro-brushless-gimbal.html

 

 

http://www.hobby-wing.com/camera-mount.html

 

I only mention this so as to say it may not be worth your time, they are being made so inexpensively.

[Ed Oates]

yep... see the thing is, every chinese manufacturer has jumped on the bandwagon in the last 4 weeks, and the multicopter market is now bombarded with chinese gimbals that, well... lets say about 75% dont work properly. they nicked controller schematics, and run a hacked version of one of the 2 recognised firware packages... problem is, one of the 2 recognised firmware bundles is buggy and a real PITA to get working (and thats the 'original' - the hacked version even more unreliable).

 

control software/firmware aside, like a lot of chinese 'rushed to market' stuff, a lot of these are sub par, with crap components, jiggly bushes, out of balance etc etc etc. theres pages and pages on rcgroups.com discussing the multitude of gimbals... and very few well functioning gimbals.

 

its very very early days with this technology, so it will get better, and weeding out the duds from various manufacturers will take time.

 

plus, please dont get me wrong, but im not trying to compete with anyone. I just kinda evolved this idea as a side branch from this new tech... and came on here after a bit of chewing the idea over looking for feedback - whether you folks would find it an intersting gadget to facilitate some interesting shots. my day job is 1000miles from this area of interest, so im just in it for the kicks of designing/making something that someone else finds useful :)

Edited June 14, 2013 by Ed Oates

[Kelsey W. Smith]

Go for it Ed! I'll pay a little extra for quality and piece of mind anytime! :)

 

KWS