Check this rig out, ideal for small product adv with a small camera. In fact I've not seen this before, it is brilliant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VetEtxeKVDQ

Cheers.

I hope that dude patented that before he showed the world.
That's brilliant.
Some company will make that, in a little fold up package, and maybe a large version for filming people instead of the macro stuff.

Paul.

You could mount heavier cameras and get them balanced by making "S" brackets with weight on the opposite end to counter balance the rig, making the rig smoother and able to pivot a bigger HD camera around too if needed.

Yes, it is brilliant, and like so many things it's because it's so simple yet superbly effective.

I'm a career scientist (when I'm not pointing a camera at something) with my name on a few patents around the world - I'm no patent lawer but for sure I have often worked with them and can tell you that, if he did not patent it before going public with this video (19th July 2008) then he's no chance now. Shame for him.

I could definitely see one of the big boys in tripods etc. going for this. Mind you, as shown it's so simple to make anyway. A nice weekend project for someone who has more time than me right now!

That's Edwin Bont, who has just joined us as a new member here at DV Info Net. So hopefully he'll find this discussion here and y'all can interact directly. Thread title changed from "This is brilliant" to "The Sphere Arm" (yes it's still brilliant, but it's also completely ambiguous -- please, please, please use specific terms for thread titles to aid future searches here).

I just started to film insects and i dont like the way tripods work.
On a tripod your camera discribes a circle and "looks" from the inside out.
What i want is that the camera is rotating around the subject.
So i invented this arm.
I have never seen it before so i had to make it myself.
This is a picture of the prototype made out of good old Lego
http://www.edwinbont.nl/forums/Tijdelijk/arm.jpg

Today i made an arm out of metal and wood.
And i made a small movie to demonstrate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VetEtxeKVDQ
HD version: http://vimeo.com/1371515
It is working the way i wanted, so i am happy with the first tests.

The arm is far from finished, ideas are welcome!

Remove it from youtube as quick as possible then get it patented, i don't know how to do get something patented but it sounds like Andy Wilkinson might know.

Paul.

It does strike me that the youtube videos that are dated when they are added is actually a pretty good support for the patent application - very difficult for someone to prove they invented it when the evidence shows different. It would seem such a good idea that patenting is a really good idea.

You could mount heavier cameras and get them balanced by making "S" brackets with weight on the opposite end to counter balance the rig, making the rig smoother and able to pivot a bigger HD camera around too if needed.

If you put something on the other side of the rig, it will be in the line of sight of the camera ;)

This is one of the most promising DIY on this forum!
Great work. Hope no-one steals your design to make money from it.
Keep those pictures coming

I've been thinking about this. It would seem that it's not a new design, but a modification of an existing one. It is really a post head, with the lens position extended backwards the same distance as the drop in the arm. The balancing advantages of the post arm are lost, of course, but the basic mechanics are the same. Attaching a machined extrusion (I used a spirit level!) to the base of my old post arm, setting the camera mounting plate back 400mm, produces good results, but aching arms!

SO I'm not sure how the patent things works now on a new use, but not totally new idea?

If you put something on the other side of the rig, it will be in the line of sight of the camera ;)

Only if you make the weight and camera form a "U" shape, if you set it in an "S" shape, the counter weight will be out of the line of sight of the camera, but still do the job it needs to in balancing the rig.

I think similar linkages are used to hold the X-ray cameras at your dentist so the camera can pivot around your head. Not exactly the same, but I've seen other uses of such linkages in the past