Camera Mount

[Loren]

Small project. Started yesterday, finished today.

The suction cup windshield mount earns high marks for being super-easy to use. But, it puts the camera (especially when I'm using my phone) in my line of sight, which sometimes sucks. And, I'd like an angle that shows at least my hands.

The Mirage has two-post headrests. Convenient place to hang a camera from!

So, I had some leftover 1" square aluminum tubing, some 3/4" x 1/8" aluminum bar, and various other bits and pieces out in the garage. I cobbled together this:



Simple bar with a pinch plate. One-bolt attachment. The bolt has a welded tab to keep it from rotating. The nut has a welded cross bar (part of the FASTiva's liberated hood prop rod!) to make it a wing nut. No tools required to install!

I don't have the Mirage here today, but guess what? The Rio has similar seats... and it fits just fine! I need to scrounge up another GoPro 90-degree adapter to give me the up/down angle adjustment. Otherwise, it's good to go!

[Jamie]

No vibration at the free end of the bar?

Somewhere lying around, I have a mount we made for Sam's Audi -- a square tube with a couple of U-bolts to attach it to both headrests, so it bridged the front seats, with the camera in the middle. Worked great.

[Loren]

Untested. I'll have to see how it performs.

The aluminium tube is very rigid, though. As long as the seat stays put!

[aw614]

I really wish I had considered using both sides of the headrests instead of one side for better stability. It does shake a bit, but nothing too crazy. I created mine out of PVC pipe and drilling holes through it.

My only problem with it on the GTI is how high the dash sits so I have to add a few gopro attachments to make the cam sit higher and over the dash, raising the seat helps.

[Evil MS3]

I made one of these for myself using a piece of 2x3 haha I measured and cut two holes that are the perfect size for the head rest posts.

Yours is obviously much better put together and I wouldn't expect much, if any vibration on it if I didn't get any with mine.

[Loren]

Got the camera angle adjusted and did a quick test run. I think the mount itself is okay. Doesn't bounce around too much. There's some vibration in there that comes through as noise, though. I may need to incorporate some rubber to isolate the metal bits and firm things up.

And I'm going to need to play with the camera settings. White balance, I guess? It's set to auto now, and it's clearly adjusting to the light levels in the car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaEp--oJoU4

This would be great for a two-camera setup with another forward-facing camera on the windshield! But, I'm far too lazy to do all the multi-angle editing and all that. Lately, I've been using my phone on the windshield mount, and I've actually been DOING it because it's easy. It's easy to take the video, easy to trim it to length on the phone, and easy to upload directly to YouTube. Takes very little time and effort.

Will have to play with this some more and see if I can get usable autocross-worthy video from it.

[aw614]

Is the camera angled towards down towards the dash dash? If you aim it upwards towards the windshield it might make it less washed out.

[Evil MS3]

That's the problem I had as well. I tried it on a super bright day and you could barely make out what was going on outside the windshield.

[Loren]

Is the camera angled towards down towards the dash dash? If you aim it upwards towards the windshield it might make it less washed out.

Yeah, that makes sense. I was hoping for visibility of feet on pedals, but it's way too dark down there, anyway. I can bring the angle up so that center of screen is the bright outside view.

[Loren]

Is it weird that I'm mesmerized by watching my own hand movements on the steering wheel?

[Jamie]

Is it weird that I'm mesmerized by watching my own hand movements on the steering wheel?

Interested, no. Mesmerized, yes....

[Loren]

Wrapped the headrest posts with some heater hose, that tightened up the vibration/noise problem. Angled the camera up some, and slid the seat all the way forward. That's about as good as it's going to get without hanging the camera way forward off of the mount. (which I may experiment with)

It's okay, I guess. I still really like the view of the course from a windshield mount a lot better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cq_U2lEJmE

[dbeng]

And I'm going to need to play with the camera settings. White balance, I guess? It's set to auto now, and it's clearly adjusting to the light levels in the car.

Not sure what settings you have on the camera, the GoPro has a spot meter setting for exactly this application. Maybe your camera has something similar.

This would be great for a two-camera setup with another forward-facing camera on the windshield!

That is exactly how I have been making my videos recently. It's not difficult with Track Addict and Race Render. Once you've figured out the basics it's pretty user friendly. I recently figured out how to save a template with my preferred settings which really helps to save time. Might be worth a try, but for sure it's never going to beat the simplicity of editing and posting direct from your phone!

[dbeng]

Is it weird that I'm mesmerized by watching my own hand movements on the steering wheel?

I'm not mesmerized by hand positions on the steering wheel in my videos, appalled is closer to the mark
I still have a way to go in proper hand placement during an autocross run. Even when I try to focus on it at the beginning of a run I'm usually back to old habits by the second or third apex.

[Loren]

I ordered a phone mount to fit the GoPro mounting kit. With that, I can experiment with putting my phone on the new mount. I suspect it has a better camera, and it's definitely easier to use.

Speaking of hand position... I think one of the reasons I'm "mesmerized" is that not too long ago, while I was shadowing Steve as he taught a driving lesson, I noticed that he "does it wrong". It's not "wrong", of course. You can handle the wheel any way you want as long as it works for you. There are some things that are more "efficient" than others, and some arguable "bad habits" to avoid... but, if it works, it works! But, since then, I've been thinking about it more, because I have to teach these things.

So, anyway... when I reposition my hands on the wheel for a turn, I typically grab the BOTTOM of the wheel and push UP. Steve grabs the TOP of the wheel and pulls DOWN. Net result, if we're doing like a typical 90-degree sweeping turn, we both end up with hands in the correct place mid-turn. Where my brain just fell apart, though... we were trying to teach a new driver to do basic "hand-over-hand". (if you've never watched an inexperienced driver trying to learn to park doing a basic shuffle steer... it's painful!)

If I'm turning right, I'm "leading" with my left hand. If it's a shallow turn, I'll drop that hand down and initiate the turn with that hand and then reposition the other hand. If it's a tight "hand-over-hand" turn, I won't reposition the leading hand, but I will still LEAD with that same hand. Turning right, leading with the left. Turning left, leading with the right. I don't think about it, it's just what I do. I think I may have developed this habit from driving a Miata without power steering and a lowered driver seat. It was just easier to push than to pull.

Steve was showing this girl the way he does it... which I'd never realized he did differently until that moment. When Steve is doing hand-over-hand, and turning right... he's not leading with the left. He's reaching over with the right, turning a half-turn, then grabbing with the left and following through. My brain hurts just thinking about it!