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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Posts
    729

    Video camera isolation mounts

    The back story -

    A couple of weeks ago our church bought a new camera system for our live Facebook feed and it includes a control panel system for live streaming and 3 new cameras. The cameras mount on rigid steel brackets and two were mounted on columns on the side walls with one on the back wall above the media booth. So the first Sunday morning when these were set up and ready our associate pastor had the pulpit so our pastor could babysit his new 'toy'.

    After the first service with choir and piano/organ I asked our pastor how the cameras worked and he was pretty pleased. Then, we had the second service... the one where we have the live band and far more lively music (I play acoustic guitar in the band). Music like bass guitar that can rattle the ceiling tiles. So I asked the pastor how he liked the second service and he was dejected because the two cameras mounted on the side wall columns were vibrating too much to even switch to them. We like our music loud, I guess!!

    They added screws into the column mounts, locked everything down, added screws to the cameras, and nothing worked. I told them we need isolation mounts but nobody knew what I was talking about so I didn't push it. I recognized that the problem wasn't the mounts, rather the problem was that the sheetrock around the columns was vibrating and resonating with the music. That meant no matter how hard you locked the cameras and their mounts down they're still going to vibrate. So Monday morning I sent Bro Terry a link to some isolation mounts and asked if he wanted me to make some to which he quickly replied, "Yessssssssssssssssssss!!!" The ones in the link I sent were $500 each, btw.

    This will take two posts to get the photos in but basically I drew this in Fusion 360 and cut them out of Baltic Birch since I have tons on hand as cutoffs from all the Longworth chucks I've cut.

    Drawing in Fusion 360 -
    Attachment 437526

    Plates cut on the CNC. This can easily be done on tablesaw and bandsaw, or with a template and router, etc., but I have the CNC so that's what I used. I also used the CNC to mark where to drill holes for the cable clamps.
    Attachment 437528

    Plates and cable clamps. I drilled the holes on the drill press and split the pieces on the bandsaw. I could have done this with the CNC but chose to use the other tools instead. I did use the CNC to mark where to drill the holes and cut each piece, though.
    Attachment 437530

    Cable clamps cut -
    Attachment 437532

    Gluing the cable clamps in place and using a drill bit for alignment. I had predrilled the plates so this made it easy getting the clamps in the right location.
    Attachment 437534

    Clamps finished and fixed on the plates -
    Attachment 437536

    Knobs cut on the CNC. Again, this could be done with a bandsaw but more consistent and much easier on the CNC.
    Attachment 437538

    Painted flat black to match the brackets and ready for cables -
    Attachment 437540

    Ok, I'll do another post shortly with the rest of the photos.
    David
    David
    Romans 3:23
    Etsy shop opened 12/1/17 - CurlyWoodShop

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Posts
    729

    Re: Video camera isolation mounts

    I used vinyl covered 3/16" wire rope cables and cut them to about 6" each piece. I cut a spacer to place between the plates for consistency between each camera mount. One side note - I couldn't cut the cable with anything I had so I had to buy a bolt cutter. Even that didn't want to cut this stuff until I realized that when I first cut the vinyl with a razor then the bolt cutter had no problem cutting the wire. In every case it cut all but about two strands and cut those with a cold chisel on my vise anvil. Any project that requires the purchase of a new tool is a good project!!
    Attachment 437542

    Here you can see the camera mount threaded lock, just like on a tripod –
    Attachment 437544

    The top plate where the camera mounts has a floating nut to hold the threaded lock and allow for secure mounting of the camera –
    Attachment 437546

    Set of three camera isolation mounts (upside down in the photo so they'd sit flat on the table) –
    Attachment 437548

    Cable close ups –
    Attachment 437550

    Camera on the column –
    Attachment 437552

    Close up of camera –
    Attachment 437554

    Camera with isolation mount. After our first test we realized that 8 cables were too stiff so I took one out of each quadrant.
    Attachment 437556

    More in a minute -
    David
    David
    Romans 3:23
    Etsy shop opened 12/1/17 - CurlyWoodShop

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Posts
    729

    Re: Video camera isolation mounts

    Comparison grabbed from monitor shows how still the view is on the left and how the right one is moving. It was actually worse than this but this is the best I could grab in a video. Also, this was just a CD playing and not the live band which I understand shook the columns much more than the CD.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    I'd have to say this is a successful project in that a simple, low cost solution, to which I could provide a solution in a couple of days, solved a problem that would have been an ongoing issue. And it was a fun project, too! I had the opportunity to design, engineer, and build something I've never tried and it worked. Hmmmmmm, I wonder if there's a market for these! LOL!

    David
    David
    Romans 3:23
    Etsy shop opened 12/1/17 - CurlyWoodShop

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