Modern Vespa

Or this:

I'd go with one of the following

Here's a quick clip of the current level of vibration:

This is the one I had in mind:

Run it to the corners at the top. The angle is small enough that you can grind the parts as though they would be installed straight.

Vibration has been the downfall of every camera mount I've tried (though nothing this elaborate). I've also tried to dampen it with rubber, foam padding, all sorts of stuff. But finding a balance between tight enough to keep steady and not move around in the wind but not absorb every shake and bump was too elusive.

In the end, mounting the camera to me gave me the best vibration absorption... and the worst aim.

Eventually, I'll move up to a camera with image stabilization and hope that helps.

helmet cams

Mmmm....rotisserie penguin.....

That is a cool camera angle. Worth the work you are doing. Now you got me thinking about how to do something similar on my mp3

Maybe you can suspend the camera from that top bar and use a heavy weight on the camera for a ballast to keep it steady.

IBKING

Jess, that video was less jerky than I was envisioning. Generally I find that rubber bushings and bungees won't do much for large amplitude shaking, but a couple of bungees led forward might do the trick for you. Maybe the large black rubber truck tie downs.

Jess, could you simply mount the camera on a front rack? (Or clamp it to the leg shield).

Would not be over the shoulder but you probably could see the view screen whilst riding and maybe reach the controls without turning around.

I could. I could mount it a bunch of other places that would be much easier as well. In fact, I have in the past, and have even posted a few videos (several years ago, sorry about the low resolution).

But that's not really the point.

What I'm trying to do here is raise the bar (so to speak) for scooter video. I want stunning video quality. I want composition. I want context. I want something that transcends the pedestrian front-shot scene (which I find tedious and unexciting) to become art.

Lofty goals, to be sure. And I'm likely to fail. But I'm going to have fun failing.

Here's inspiration:

Love the inspiration, love the Coldplay soundtrack. I can see exactly where you're coming from. And from the two lots of footage I've already seen, you're getting close. Hope you get it sorted by the weekend!

Run a bungee from the bag hook to the top of the camera rig and call it done.

Myself, I'd just screw a RAM mount to the top of an old helmet.

Way to go Jess, I see your point! Looking forward to seeing the end result of your having fun.

Just curious (see, you have got me all involved now) what camera are you planning on using? Does it have that 'anti-shake' feature? (I guess it must. they all do today). OK, multiple cameras, edit the shots together, sound track (to capture the screams of innocent bystanders), How about footage of the tire hitting the road? (Like they show on "Top Gear"). Stop me someone, before I go crazy here.


BTW, how does one do a wheelie with a CVT bike? Hang onto the rear brake, rev it up, release the brake and yank the handlebars up and back? Then say hi to the nice EMT person...

Never mind.

I'm using the GoPro Hero HD, which doesn't have image stabilization. But that can be accomplished in software, if necessary. Goal #1 is to eliminate as much vibration as possible. I can't do anything about hitting bumps, but minimizing the time it takes the camera to stabilize again is important. Right now, it vibrates for about a second when I hit a bump.

Needs to be more rigid.

...are pretty damn expensive and have one use compared to my versatile little Kodak HD handheld. The newer model has image stabilization, so I'll eventually just upgrade for under $200.

Update: glasseye and I did some creative knotting of the rig to put the corners under tension. In theory, this should lessen the vibration out at the ends. In practice, it's not enough of an improvement.

Looks like I'm going to be doing some welding tonight.

OK, Put the camera ON THE GUY BEHIND YOU!

Jess - You may have inadvertently answered the question of how to carry a canoe on a scooter with that rig.

Sorry the ropes didn't work out and hopefully the welding won't be too much.

Have you considered emailing the author of the video you posted (Pashnit?) and asked how he set his rig up? It won't help with the immediate future but perhaps you can get some additional ideas for later?

http://www.pashnit.com/cam-mount.htm

seems he IS using ram mounts...

nope not really just make a mount for your existing camera that slips up under the cheek pad area, kinda like a large U only longer on 1 side to mount the camera to. and a little duct tape or velco , done.

Having more than 50mm of suspension travel would probably help.

After making it as ridged as possible, if it's still an issue, we can create a mount for the camera that damps out the rest. Just not before Saturday.

Have you tried foam between the camera and the tripod mount/base? I've taken some foam off of foam paint brushes and placed them at different points of the mounts (where the ram mount attaches to the mirror and at both ends of the arm). I perceived less vibration with the foam used at the mirror and the arm ends, but have yet to test the foam on the tripod mount/base; I'm also thinking of using velcro at this point.

Just received a Manfrotto Magic Arm this evening. Did some quick test footage before the light was totally gone -- stand by, uploading.

Cheers

Okay, here's the first video. This is a low-down shot near the exhaust. It looks like it's going to scrape the ground in places, but it's really got quite a bit of clearance before it does.

There's still some bounciness going on, but this really isn't bad.

That takes a nice video. It was also nice to see the LV movements in the vid.

Second video being uploaded now...

EDIT: Dammit. I selected HD for the second one, and so now it's going to take half an hour to upload.

Nice.

R

8)

It was quite clear. There's probably some software that could take out the remaining bounce. It was interesting to see the suspension in action. The sound was quite muffled but I'm glad it was there. It add s a dimension to the vid that is lacking when not there (play it w and w/o the sound).
Best
Miguel

Considering the camera was sealed inside a waterproof housing, the sound was pretty clear. There's actually an alternate back for the housing that allows more sound in, and the instructions say to use that one for speeds under 100mph. So technically I'm using the wrong housing back.

Okay, next video. This one is in HD, which you can watch full-size if you view it on youtube.com (instead of here in this little tiny window).

I think this video was bumpier than it actually should have been -- when I got home, I found that one of the screws on the Manfrotto arm-end had come loose, and the whole thing was moving around WRT the clamp.

The key thing with the Manfrotto Magic Arm seems to be how much meat it's holding onto. On the puny little square tubing I've built this rig out of, there's quite a bit of movement of the clamp itself, because it doesn't have enough surface area to really clamp down. Clamped to a table, on the other hand, this thing is rock solid. Surprisingly so. I'm thinking that if I weld some heavier square tubing to this rack somehow, I can have a good place to clamp. And since the Magic Arm is just as long as the length from the middle crossbar to the top, I could just cut the whole top of the thing off and be done.

EDIT: forgot to add the video!

Great efforts! The second one looks good but based on the noises, the mount sounds like its adding more than its share. Also, cutting off all the tall stuff will remove most of the movement in the rack as a whole.

Tim at Pashnit is local to you in NorCal and you might see if you can't but him a cold beverage and pick his brain.

A couple different things going on there: my windscreen is loose, and one of the mounts into the headset is rattling around quite a bit. The magic arm also acts as a big noise collector as well, and any sharp vibration along the arm is transmitted to the camera's mic. I'm a (silent) member at the Pashnit forum, and most or all of his tricks have been laid out there: http://www.pashnit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21832

Then it looks like you are well on your way. Looking forward to seeing more videos.

Keep up the good work.

Jess, The angle and video quality is fantastic mate.

When i first started reading this thread i wondered what you were up to?

I though you had built a monster motor for the Land speed trials..... are you going?

Cheers

That looked really good. The image of the passing landscape was steadier than the visible scoot or yourself.

(Although I fell puking on the floor after that little serpentine weave you did )

Yes, but it's unlikely that bike will need wheelie bars. I suspect just getting it moving off the line will be a challenge.