How Big Should Your Housing Be?
by Peter Kirn
If you’re using the PS3 Eye (our camera of choice), a gentleman who goes by the name Peau Productions has worked out a handy calculator for determining the relationship of the distance from the surface to the viewable surface area. I’m taking this with me to IKEA to see if I can find a solution for a housing that gets roughly the right proportions.
Discussion:
http://nuigroup.com/forums/viewthread/3477/
And his super, super-handy blog:
http://peauproductions.blogspot.com/
Of course, what’d be really nice is a lens that allows you to shorten this distance. One trick you’ll notice in the Trackmate project – in the “hardwood curio” project, they put the camera at the top of the box, and use a mirror to halve the distance. That’s the reason that project uses the big border.
Or buy cheap lenses :
http://studioimaginaire.com/en/2009/03/01/254/
Jordan and I used an IKEA table for the first Brick, and although it worked well, we found the restrictions rather limiting. You can order your exact size using 80/20 10 series framing for about $200 and then wrap the outside in black duvetyne cloth to block the light and enclose the sides. This gives you total control over the dimensions and allows you to build in extra space for the projector/projector mount. The 80/20 let us go from a 30″ screen to a 50″ using the same equipment in a smaller footprint. Hope this helps.
We just ordered some of the PS3 cams from Peau Productions and they look great. We’re going to test this week
oh, and the 80/20 will break down and fit in a tube so you can easily transport the table.