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3D Printer Camera Mounts

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toratora
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3D Printer Camera Mounts

Post by toratora » Sat Sep 29, 2018 9:39 pm

As a budding motorcycle videographer one of the first things you will become aware of is where and how to mount the camera. It is at this moment that you become introduced to a world of gadgets that don't always suit your needs. Sure there are plenty of inexpensive mounts to be found on Amazon, and eBay, but you can't always find what you want—with 3D printing you can make it.

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MakerBot Replicator
3D Printers
Invented by Chuck Hull in the 1980's basic affordable 3D printers didn't come around until the mid-2000s when they started what has been referred to as the fourth industrial revolution. The prices have constantly dropped, and today 3D printers can be purchased for just a little over $100—although most people tend to get something a little more robust. While this enabling technology has far reaching implications we can find a small segment within this plethora of opportunities by making custom mounts for cameras.

Software
Like all hardware products there must be a related software application. With 3D printers this generally means some sort of CAD (Computer Aided Design) program with which to define the object being printed. This software models the object in 3D space within the computer, which the printer will then replicate. To allow the software to communicate with the printer it is usually accomplished via a plugin or driver.

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Blender 3D Modeler
File Interchange
These applications have common file types that can be interchanged so that the 3D models can be shared. Two of the more common types are, STL (STereoLithography) developed by 3D Systems, and COLLADA (COLLAborative Design Activity) curated by the non-profit Khronos Group. These files can transcend operating systems, applications, and also allow hobbyists to create object files which can be uploaded to sharing sites.

File Sharing Sites
There are many websites dedicated to sharing object files. One of the best knows is Thingiverse which is provided by MakerBot. 3dupndown is an example of a sharing site that allows users to also sell their models, as is MyMiniFactory. Additionally there is Yeggi, which is more of an aggregator linking to other sites.

Cameras
GoPro's Hero line is the most popular action camera, and there are more mounts available for the GoPro than any other. Contour enjoyed a healthy part of the market for a number of years, but is currently in decline. Sony has recently entered the market with a strong contender. Yi has produced a series of very affordable, and capable cameras. There are also a number of generic cameras available although the quality is generally equivalent to the pricing. Each of these cameras usually have their own type of mounting system.

Mounts
Being the most popular mount GoPro has became the defacto standard. Finding a GoPro adaptor for the other camera types allows them to generally enjoy a much wider spectrum of mounts. Another useful mount is the Garmin bicycle computer mount. While it's not nearly popular as the GoPro there are some creative implementations making it worthy of having in your mount collection.

Interesting Projects
Here are some interesting projects that I found while browsing through the online libraries.

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