My LUMIX Hardware Controller Is Complete

[mercer]

This is really impressive!!! It makes me want to buy yet another GX85 or a Sony camera. Which Sony cameras will this work with and what kind of controls are you envisioning?

What about the BMMCC...

Is there any way to produce a version that has a monitor as well... with clean, multiple connections that would attach the monitor through HDMI and also hook into the other connections for menu control?

Also, an Intellivision controller overlay could be a good idea so the operator can easily see what each button works. And then you could just switch out the plastic overlay for each camera.

[BTM_Pix]

1 hour ago, mercer said:

This is really impressive!!! It makes me want to buy yet another GX85 or a Sony camera. Which Sony cameras will this work with and what kind of controls are you envisioning?

 

Theoretically, any of them which can be controlled over wifi.

The only Sony camera I've got is the RX100M5 so I'm using that as the testbed so I'll be back to stalking camera shops to test other models!

It should be able to control the same functions as the Lumix version but there is an issue surrounding focus control.

Its not listed in their API but...well...you know....hacks and stuff

1 hour ago, mercer said:

What about the BMMCC...

Maybe.

I've got a use for the MicroStudio (which is controlled in the same way) so if I get one then I'll obviously look to creating controls for it.

1 hour ago, mercer said:

Is there any way to produce a version that has a monitor as well... with clean, multiple connections that would attach the monitor through HDMI and also hook into the other connections for menu control?

I do have a mechanism for an option this where I make a monitor app that runs on Android that the controller talks to and passes the commands on to the camera.

1 hour ago, mercer said:

Also, an Intellivision controller overlay could be a good idea so the operator can easily see what each button works. And then you could just switch out the plastic overlay for each camera.

Well if you want to incorporate retro gaming technology into camera control then, of course, that is catered for as well ;)

[sanveer]

2 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

I do have a mechanism for an option this where I make a monitor app that runs on Android that the controller talks to and passes the commands on to the camera.

I guess Mercer meant a version which probably attaches to a monitor or a a Smartphone so that one can see the video. The Linux app does this, but the interface is meh and the functions seem limited. Also it has a strange delay and it drops way too many frames and has very low resolution.

I wonder if these controls can be ported via an app to a smartphone too? I love the way it is, I am curious because sometimes I want to shoot something Guerilla style, without permission and I would love the flexibility of checking the composition or video from my phone and pretend that the camera around my neck is off or something. 

8 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

It has an internal micro SD card slot actually which will be used for boot mode selection (i.e. Lumix,Sony or Blackmagic) and it would be easy to write a settings log to that for each recording instance.

Wow. Like a multi-cam controller, swappable according to which camera you're using at the moment. Very impressive. 

 

8 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

The Blackmagic protocol has a 2 value control for screen brightness (I'm going to take a wild guess that these are ON and OFF !) so, yeah, thats not an issue. 

Wow. So you've already added juice to the BMPCC4k. It may just be able to pull 60 mins or more. That's excellent.

8 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Yes, it will be done in batches.

It fits in a standard cellphone to thread mount adapter like this one (which is being used to attach it to the gimbal in the first post) and after that you can mount it to whatever you want. 

These are between £3 and £5 on eBay so there's no point me re-inventing the wheel and doing something myself.

Fair enough. It would be a waste to unnecessarily stock mounting options, especially when people could crib about quality control on those.

8 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Yes, it will be reaching a wider audience once a more thorough presentation is ready.

Excellent. This is probably the most exciting hack in the M43 and Mirrorkess space this year. And even more exciting is it's Black Magic (and multi-cam) integration. Wow. 

[mercer]

@sanveer I was referring to a combination external monitor and camera controller for the BM Micro. A couple months ago @BTM_Pix was talking about cheap Chinese HDMI displays, so I was curious if he could combine that with this controller and create an all in one monitoring/menu solution for the Micro.

Btw, @BTM_Pix I really dig that Nintendo controller style. I don’t mind scrolling up/down if the interface is still simple?

As far as Sony cameras go... some type of control that cycled through the various picture profile settings would be pretty darn cool. If my memory serves me correctly you created something similar for Panasonic picture profiles a while back?

[sanveer]

38 minutes ago, mercer said:

 

@sanveer I was referring to a combination external monitor and camera controller for the BM Micro. A couple months ago @BTM_Pix was talking about cheap Chinese HDMI displays, so I was curious if he could combine that with this controller and create an all in one monitoring/menu solution for the Micr

 

Ok nice. That would be pretty interesting. 

[BTM_Pix]

1 hour ago, sanveer said:

I guess Mercer meant a version which probably attaches to a monitor or a a Smartphone so that one can see the video. The Linux app does this, but the interface is meh and the functions seem limited. Also it has a strange delay and it drops way too many frames and has very low resolution.

Thats exactly what I'm talking about.

The smartphone will become the monitor (via wifi) to the camera and my controller will pass its controls to the smartphone which will relay them via the wifi link to the camera.

So it will be kind of like the Panasonic app but with hardware controls.

1 hour ago, sanveer said:

Wow. Like a multi-cam controller, swappable according to which camera you're using at the moment. Very impressive. 

Yes, it will boot to the last one used or you can hold down a key at boot to select a different control type.

1 hour ago, sanveer said:

Wow. So you've already added juice to the BMPCC4k. It may just be able to pull 60 mins or more. That's excellent.

Well, lets not count our chickens just yet  There is a control there but the extent of its effect remains to be seen when I get the camera.

1 hour ago, sanveer said:

Excellent. This is probably the most exciting hack in the M43 and Mirrorkess space this year. And even more exciting is it's Black Magic (and multi-cam) integration. Wow. 

There are a couple of hoops to jump through yet but if it works as well on the Sony and BM cameras as it does on the Panasonics then it might be a decent little tool.

45 minutes ago, mercer said:

@sanveer I was referring to a combination external monitor and camera controller for the BM Micro. A couple months ago @BTM_Pix was talking about cheap Chinese HDMI displays, so I was curious if he could combine that with this controller and create an all in one monitoring/menu solution for the Micro.

Yes, with a bit of 3D printing that would actually be relatively easy to put together.

45 minutes ago, mercer said:

 

Btw, @BTM_Pix I really dig that Nintendo controller style. I don’t mind scrolling up/down if the interface is still simple?

Yes, its already built in to be able to use it.

I'm just mapping some logical pattern to the controls. Probably navigate with the D pad and value up and down with the A and B controls.

45 minutes ago, mercer said:

 

As far as Sony cameras go... some type of control that cycled through the various picture profile settings would be pretty darn cool. If my memory serves me correctly you created something similar for Panasonic picture profiles a while back?

Yes, the controller has that integrated now. You can switch through profiles and edit each parameter off a dedicated key.

The goal is to do the same for Sony and BM but I'll have to look into each of their APIs to see how granular the controls are.

[sanveer]

15 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Thats exactly what I'm talking about.

The smartphone will become the monitor (via wifi) to the camera and my controller will pass its controls to the smartphone which will relay them via the wifi link to the camera.

So it will be kind of like the Panasonic app but with hardware controls.

Wow. The Panasonic App is not bad, but it could get much better. 

 

16 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Yes, it will boot to the last one used or you can hold down a key at boot to select a different control type.

Nice. The options of jumping between cameras ?

 

17 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Yes, with a bit of 3D printing that would actually be relatively easy to put together.

Hahaha. 3D printing is like sunscreen against sun caused cancer. It IS the cancer. I am sure there are many Off the Shelf Monitors.

 

I am being a Little Greedy, but do you think you could do a Multi-Cam version where one could control 3 BMPCC4k cameras or 3 Panasonic GH5s cameras with one controller? ???

(Ignore the multi-cam request if it sounds ludicrous). 

[BTM_Pix]

32 minutes ago, sanveer said:

I am being a Little Greedy, but do you think you could do a Multi-Cam version where one could control 3 BMPCC4k cameras or 3 Panasonic GH5s cameras with one controller? ???

(Ignore the multi-cam request if it sounds ludicrous). 

Yes, slave modules are able to be incorporated.

[Andrew Reid]

This is quite amazing.

Congrats BTM_Pix!

It looks lovely and ergonomic. It also has a bit of style. Looks like a Gameboy from the 90's updated for 2018  In a good, minimalist way.

I am all for stand-alone physical interface to an app. Touch screen and apps in heat of the moment can let me down.

May I ask how many have you made? Would you like a guest blog post about it on front page?

[BTM_Pix]

24 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

This is quite amazing.

Congrats BTM_Pix!

It looks lovely and ergonomic. It also has a bit of style. Looks like a Gameboy from the 90's updated for 2018  In a good, minimalist way.

I am all for stand-alone physical interface to an app. Touch screen and apps in heat of the moment can let me down.

May I ask how many have you made? Would you like a guest blog post about it on front page?

Cheers

I currently have a handful of them while I'm finishing them off. The wireless interface module for the recorders is just on a bit of breadboard at the mo !

I've started the Sony implementation and looking at their API, I might be able to help you with some of those A7iii woes actually.....

Yes, a guest blog page would be splendid when I've done my demo video.

[Andrew Reid]

Great stuff. Looking forward to seeing what you can do with the A7 III

[BTM_Pix]

Now with added Sony

https://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/27182-sony-a7-iii-first-impressions-what-is-going-on-with-metering-in-video/?do=findComment&comment=237887

[Dimitris Stasinos]

@BTM_Pix This is a killer project, nice work! How complex would be for me to make a hardware controller with just a big chunky rec button and nothing else? Lol, its a pain in the a$$ to trigger this camera (gx80) for gimbal work...

[BTM_Pix]

14 hours ago, Dimitris Stasinos said:

@BTM_Pix This is a killer project, nice work! How complex would be for me to make a hardware controller with just a big chunky rec button and nothing else? Lol, its a pain in the a$$ to trigger this camera (gx80) for gimbal work...

From the hardware point of view, you'd need a wifi capable Arduino or similar, a switch, an LED (optional) and a power source (either USB or Lipo).

Software is obviously all custom from scratch so you'd need to write that too

For something like you are trying to do though, I think I might be tempted to look at a cheap generic 3.5" or 4" Android smartphone and an app. They have the advantage of being an integrated solution so you wouldn't have to mess with wiring and powering options and a case and at £30-50 they'd work out to be not much more expensive than buying the components.

I'll knock a quick app up tomorrow to show you what I mean.

[BTM_Pix]

21 hours ago, Dimitris Stasinos said:

@BTM_Pix This is a killer project, nice work! How complex would be for me to make a hardware controller with just a big chunky rec button and nothing else? Lol, its a pain in the a$$ to trigger this camera (gx80) for gimbal work...

6 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

For something like you are trying to do though, I think I might be tempted to look at a cheap generic 3.5" or 4" Android smartphone and an app. They have the advantage of being an integrated solution so you wouldn't have to mess with wiring and powering options and a case and at £30-50 they'd work out to be not much more expensive than buying the components.

I'll knock a quick app up tomorrow to show you what I mean.

 

Well, thanks to a bit of jet lag boredom, that escalated quickly and tomorrow is now today.

I have an Alcatel Pixi 4 (4) which is a cheap 4 inch Android phone which you can get for £36.50 off Amazon. They also do a 3.5 inch version as well. 

As a phone its not going to give Samsung or Apple any sleepless nights but its a good little tool for stuff like being a pocket hotspot or running custom remote control apps

This is it running an app I've just made will basically turn it into what you want which is a big record button for the GX80 (or any Panasonic camera).

You just press the screen to toggle between record and stop (red when recording).  Cheaper and easier than knocking up a piece of hardware for a task like this.

App is here if anyone needs it.

https://mega.nz/#!5mpXTB4J!4v8WNh1l8E7HpqO9piV43LdL5NPWECVH694ye2ICDVw

 

[Dimitris Stasinos]

@BTM_Pix Thanks man! I will try this as soon as possible. I tried to attach my phone on the gimbal last week but my thumb could not reach the rec button on the lumix app. This seems to solve that problem as the whole screen is a trigger button. Nice!

[BTM_Pix]

1 minute ago, Dimitris Stasinos said:

@BTM_Pix Thanks man! I will try this as soon as possible. I tried to attach my phone on the gimbal last week but my thumb could not reach the rec button on the lumix app. This seems to solve that problem as the whole screen is a trigger button. Nice!

Yeah, there's no way you won't be able to reach this one. You could operate it with boxing gloves on and still get it into record

Mmmmm....operating in boxing gloves as a gimbal shock absorber. Now theres a thought !

[Dimitris Stasinos]

25 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Yeah, there's no way you won't be able to reach this one. You could operate it with boxing gloves on and still get it into record

Mmmmm....operating in boxing gloves as a gimbal shock absorber. Now theres a thought !

I just tried the app. The phone connects instantly to the camera (actually faster than Image app...) and it works! This community is a gem, thanks to people like you sir!

[BTM_Pix]

17 minutes ago, Dimitris Stasinos said:

I just tried the app. The phone connects instantly to the camera (actually faster than Image app...) and it works! 

Haha...Don't sound so shocked that it works

Hope it does the trick for you anyway.

[Yannick Willox]

Any news on your controller ?

Would the 8 focus points also work with an adapted 4/3 AF Lens ? That would breathe some new life in those. Problem is they go awfully out-of-focus when zooming, unless I could press a button on your controller at the same time ?