Macro Speedlite: A DIY Plan

I am about to hack a YN460II Speedlite and convert it into a lens-mounted Speedlite.

Pop-Up Flash Diffuser for Macro Photography

Currently, I love taking insects pictures with the help of extension tubes. I cannot say it is macro photography because the magnification is less than 1:1. But I will refer to as Macro photography.

It is common to set a bigger f-stop number and higher shutter speed in macro photography to maintain sharpness and adequate DOF. Unfortunately, all of these result in a dark picture, and an additional light source is required.

The light source every DLSR owner has at their disposal is internal/pop-up flash. But pop-up flash is not ideal for macro photography. A simple accessory will turn a pop-up flash into a macro photography friendly flash.

The accessory is known as a diffuser.

Here are some pictures I took with the diffuser.

DIY Quick Strap for Your Camera

I plan a trip and I think I will need a quick strap for my camera.  I was considering buying one, but when I saw how a quick strap looks like I decided to make one.

What you need to make a quick strap are:

a tripod quick release plate

a key ring

a bag strap

The assembly is straightforward:
Insert the key ring into the thumb screw.

Hook the bag strap hook

into the key ring.

Here is what it looks like when a camera is attached:

You are good to go!

Here is the video how I assembly this.

Simple OCR in Visual Basic 6

Do you want to make an application that has OCR ability within vb6?  Well, I did and I almost gave up because I could not find an OCR ActiveX.  Then I found Tesseract.
Although it is not an ActiveX and seems only usable for Visual Basic 2008 or higher, but we can actually make use of its capability.

Download tesseract from here and install. Then insert this line in your VB code:

Shell "tesseract <image files> <output file>"

for example:

Shell "tesseract c:\cap.bmp c:\output", vbHide

Tesseract will convert the image ("cap.bmp") into text and save it into a TXT file ("output.txt").  Then, all you have to do is read the output file.

Here is a short demo video:

The VB6 Project can be downloaded here.

UPDATE
Shelling tesseract in Windows7 doesn't work.  The quick solution is to create *.bat file, and shell it.

You can create *.bat file in notepad with following line:

tesseract c:\cap.bmp c:\output

For example, if you create "ocr.bat", the shell command in vb6 will look like:

Shell "c:\ocr.bat", vbHide

BVH Motion Reassigner

This is a project that has been abandoned for months. When the first time I revisited this project, I could not recall what the purpose of the software. But the name, BVH Re-Assign, suggests that it will enable us to reassign motion data from one joint to another.

Later, I recalled that I began developing this software when I played around with MakeHuman and Blender. MakeHuman, after imported into Blender, accept BVH data, but not all BVH acceptable to MakeHuman. So I thought, what if I develop a software that can copy motion data from any BVH to a BVH structure (or in Blender called empties) that has been proven to be acceptable to MakeHuman.

...Something happened and I abandoned the project.

Although I have left the world of 3D, but I guess I will return and need this functionaly. So here I am, continuing the project.

In this stage, the software can copy or swap motion data between two joints. It’s not there yet but It’s getting there. How it works? Those who familiar with Visual Basic 6 can download the project here. Those who familiar with different programming language, the workflow is as follow:

First, extract joint information and motion data into two different table. My tables are: JOINTS_INFO and MOCAP.

The former is created manually in MS Access, the later is created during the runtime, because I never know how many joints the software will deal with.

When the user select joints to copy from and to copy to, the software will copy the xrot, yrot, dan zrot fields of both joints. Then, depending on which operation choosen by the user, the software will copy or swap the motion data dan copy them back to original table.

Finally, the software will create an output BVH based on modified data. BVH Hacker showed me so far so good.

Stay tune, hopely I can make it.

DIY Camera Slider Idea

After I made a test footage for my DIY Jib, I recalled my DIY Camera Slider Project that has been abandoned for along time.

The idea is to use a Tile Cutter like this:

Parts that I will use for DIY Slider are:

To improve setup time, I will not use any nuts and bolt, but instead I will use a rubber chord.

I drill a hole on the rail holders for the chord:

Here is when the chord is attached to the rail holders:

Almost done:

Now I have to make a camera plate and rail holder plates.
Hmm, Maybe I'll just steal my wife's chopping board like before and make the camera plate and rail holder plates from it.

Make Yourself a Tripod Quick Release Plate

Did you lose your tripod quick release plate and cannot find the replacement in any store even at eBay?  The best suggestion will be to buy a new tripod.  But what if this is not the right time to spend money for another tripod?  I suggest you to make yourself your tripod quick release plate.

It is easy and takes no more than 15 minutes, if you have the right tool.

What you need is a thick (no less than 8 mm) plastic chopping board, you can steal it from your wife.

Tools that you are going to use:

1. Measuring tools
2. Hack Saw
3. Sand Paper Disc for angle grinder
4. angle grinder
5. bolt for your camera

Here is how to do it:

Measure your tripod quick release plate receiver.

Cut your chopping board 1 or 2 mm bigger.  This is to allow you to fix any error during next process
Sand it to the right angle and the right measurement.

Test it into your tripod quick release plate receiver.  You have to make sure that it sits perfectly and you can lock it

Now you have to drill a hole and insert a bolt for your camera.

UPDATE:
Someone asked me to make a Quick Release Plate for his Excell Vipod 300.  So, I gave it a try...