I've always kicked around the idea of mounting a camcorder in my rig for a "driver's view" of our racing..

In March or so I caught some footage on Speedvision and they had an in-car camera in a Trophy Truck.. you saw the race course ahead of you.. then you saw sky.. and still some sky.. hmmm.. and then ground, comin' up fast.. n' then the rig leveling back out.

Stomach got butterflies remembering the last time I launched my Scout during last summer's season..

Anyhow.. I finally picked up an 8mm camcorder off Ebay.

Our Memorial Day Rally is coming up in.. well, on Memorial Day Weekend.. next weekend.

Hopefully the camcorder arrives before then. :D Fortunately, it's the same as my current camcorder, so I have something I can use to build the mount n' such in advance.

Then *my* camera goes on the tripod with someone to film from the spectators' area, and the new (cheaper!) camera goes in the rig..

Our course will include flat sections, hard corners, some jumps, and often includes a few muddy spots.

Then factor in that at the end of the day, it'll be multiple rigs on the course at once, so I have dust from the other trucks and rocks getting kicked up to deal with.

Ideally, the camcorder will survive the summer race season, not just halfway through the season-opener. :D

So.. who's mounted a camera in their rig?

I know the tripod mount is weak, and it's only a small part of any idea I've had..

I want to suspend the camera from the main hoop of the rollbar. Put it just below the top of the cage, and offset it closer to the passenger seat a bit, so I can still use my rearview mirror.

I'd like to position it such that you can see the leading edge of the hood, and then the race course in front of the truck.

I'd like to "seal" the camera to some degree to protect the lens n' such.

My "creative" solution slowly formulating in my head thus far looks sorta like..

Finding a Tupperware container that'll be a decent fit on the camera. If it fits well enough, I could mount the plastic bin, then slide the camera inside, and use just the tripod mount to "center"/fix the camera, but rely on the tupperware to keep it in place. This sounds easiest, if I can find the right sized box.

I need to be able to open the container/remove the camera to change tapes/batteries or just to hit "record"

I think I'd cut a hole in the side of the container, and glue a chunk of plexiglass to the outside, for the "view port" to protect the camera lens from flying debris.

Then I just need to secure this box to the rig. Since I'm pressed for time..

I'm thinking perhaps U-bolts around the top of the main hoop to attach it.

Then I'll need to build a "U" to go down the sides and under the tupperware, with the tupperware bolted to the steel "U" and a hole through both to get to the tripod mount.

A ratchet strap or two could make sure the lid stays on which would keep the camera at least inside the box..

Hmmm.. I dunno.. it's a start.

Probably it'll break off on the first jump and the camera will land in the passenger footwell against the firewall and fall apart.

Maybe I'll pack it with some stryofoam just in case.. ;)

Originally posted by tsm1mt
Ideally, the camcorder will survive

Yup, that'd be ideal ;)



TEX

go to a camera store. Buy the largest screw on UV lens you can find. and silicone this to a hole u cut in the tuperware. Also they sell bags for rain to put over cameras. This may suffice. maybe put some motorcyle helment rip away face mask covers. (if they still make that... ) racers use to just rip off one layer of mud from their face mask by peeling off the rip away. Might work for quick dust removal.

Also put a UV lens on the camera. Assuming it has threads. This will help protect the lens from scratches.

hmmmmmm what else.... READ THE MANUEL. some cameras will say dont cover their cameras up.... cause they wont dispell heat correctly and that fawks up the tapes or heads or something. You may have to put some kind of hole for it to breath in the tupperware but maybe cover it with a lawnmower air filter? or something like that.

I use to just ram the tripod legs between the seat and tunnel.. and kept the third leg dead center and short up on the tunnle conslole (in a TJ) butttt... that was before I discovered HARDCORE. :flipoff2:

Originally posted by coachgeo
go to a camera store. Buy the largest screw on UV lens you can find.


UV lens on the way..


I use to just ram the tripod legs between the seat and tunnel.. and kept the third leg dead center and short up on the tunnle conslole (in a TJ) butttt... that was before I discovered HARDCORE. :flipoff2:

Well, this was an "oops" at the end of 2001..

Broken Dana 44 (http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/scout/jpg/racing/10_7_2000/just_the_crash.vcd.mpg)

And here's another clip from last June..

MPEG Clip (http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/gallery/albums/album64/tom.mpg)

Image Gallery (http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/postnuke/modules.php?set_albumName=album63&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php)

Somehow I don't think strapping the tripod to the trans tunnel will cut it. :D

I might just go with the camera on my "solo" for-time run this event, and then get it boxed up and ready for the "multiple rigs at once" action for the next race (including anti-rock protection).

On the timed runs, my dust is usually behind me, and unless there's a lot of mud, it's fairly dry.. I could almost get away with just bolting it through the hood.. (Hmmm...)

A lot of autocrossers have cameras mounted to their rollbars (http://www.autocrosssupplyhouse.com/custraccammo.html). I realize that you will be dealing with some different criteria than they do with the dirt, but perhaps the mounting will be useful and give you some ideas.

Just throwing the camera into a tupperware container then mounting the container will not give you satisfactory results. Even a small vibration will be magnified. To get the optimal viewing angle for the camera it needs to be mounted to the roll bar slightly behind and between the front seats at about eye level. The mount needs to be solid, allowing zero vibration, or the video will be almost unviewable.

I hard mounted a camcorder a while back and ruined it...due to vibrations of the vehicle and even a cushioned bracket fried the insides, couldnt handle it...make sure you do it right, those in race cars and baja are not the same ones we use....:(

What you can use (though it is more expensive) is a CCD camera head and a remote mounted camcorder, as long as you have video inputs on the camcorder. About the cheapest one I have found is a Sanyo found here: Sanyo at B&H Photo Video (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh2.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=ProductActivator__Aproductlist _html___245312___SAVCC3912___REG___CatID=1883___SI D=F593A7EE230)

The biggest problem I had with it (I tried it once) was trying to watch the video afterwards made you sick. Hardmounting it is really not ideal. Think about it this way, when you are in the driver's seat (or even a passenger), is your head locked in one position all the time? No. You are always looking around at stuff and keeping an eye on the trail.

Now, if you could rig up some sort of gyroscope to allow the camera to stay parallel with the trail somehow that would be tits. Even having it on some sort of cushion suspension would at least absorb some of the shock.

Matt

Rick Horwitz(PBB name Explorer) has a slick little camera mount in his rig. It mounts to the dash crossbar of his roll cage and I believe it has a handle on it so the camera can easily be pivoted.

I let the passenger HOLD the camera for a trip up Blanc Peak some years ago...they were belted in and used a shoulder mount to keep is fairly lever...we left the lense on the widest possible angle to try to cover as much trail view as possible....the operator felt good about the video when shooting it...we all nearly threwe up when viewing it....you would look around and people would be moving all over the place in their chairs as the truck bounced, tilited, etc...one of the kids actually fell over in his chair and another said he had a headache for two hours after viewing it....


It was erased shortly thereafter.... :barf:



did try a narrower view and jammed two legs of the tripod into the crack of the back seat and centered...them bungeed teh third leg to the seat bottom pivots in the runner....that work a lot better....secure, but was able to move a little....

Just try mounting it and driving around, watch the video...go from there...

byuild a plate to set the camera on use u-bollts to hold it to the cage mount it on the plate using the bolt that holds it to the tripod plus tie straps could make a cover to cover just the front and half way down the sides