Orbital Camera Rig, Part 2

Yesterday was manufacturing day for the camera rig. All the pieces were measured, cut with the chop saw, then assembled.

The sawdust from cutting the PVC was pretty intense.

Finally, I put it together for a dry fitting.

So, I brought it home and put it up...

And it was too big! It was then I realized that I had measured for 1/2" PVC, but had purchased 3/4" for added stability. So tomorrow, I'll be doing a little trimming up of the top and bottom, as well as a little re-cutting for the top to make it easier to mount my tablet for live streaming. Here are some more pictures f how badly off I was.

At least the fire's been nice.

Orbital Camera Rig, Part 1

I have really enjoyed screencasting lately. I find that it is fantastic motivation to do my homework. However, there is a problem: not all of my homework can be done on my computer. Specifically, I am taking a structural steel class and an architectural drafting class which both require hand sketches. Last week, I played around with that a little bit by propping my laptop on an angle and using it's webcam which was okay, but it didn't give all that good of coverage and my drawings were a little difficult to see. So yesterday I decided to model a camera rig. First, I  measured my coffee table (as that's probably where the rig is going to be spending most of its working time).

Then, I downloaded a pile of PVC components from Google's 3D Warehouse and built the model. I used the model to calculate parts and quantities, then made a trip to Home Depot to acquire the parts. To mount the camera, I am using a tutorial I found on Instructables. Here's the model.