The Noble Robot
Active member
I was browsing through the DIY Figrig threads and I figured, well, I better take my 10 bucks to Home Depot and build one myself.
Armed with nothing but the knowledge that the DVX uses a standard 1/4"-20 screw as a tripod mount, I went to Home Depot and designed and built my rig right in the store from scratch (Turns out, hardware stores let you cut and saw pieces in-store, which was really useful)! Then I dissasembled it, brought each part, took it home, drilled the hole for the mount, spray painted it, and glued it together.
Well, it turns out I'm an accidental genius, because the thing is inspired! It's probably just my excitement at how well it works (kudos to the original maker of the FigRig for inspiring all us DIYers with his design), but I'm so dammed proud of myself. ;-)
Instead of solid PVC or ridgid tubing, I used two flexable-but-short PVC hoses for the "loop." I did this simply because that's what I found, but it turned out to be perfect.
This way, I can make subtle twists to the rig as I move, and it has a limited amount of "give" and shock resistance, which really smooths out my motion. Plus, the hoses are thick and fit in my hand really well, and are textured and rubberized, so the rig doesn't slip, staying put in my hands.
Plus, in a particular stroke of suprise practicality, the "loop" is held securly together by a 4" metal "peg," and it's not glued together, so I can seperate it at the top, hold both hoses like handles, and it becomes a great low-angle rig.
Plus, by using the "peg," it gives the rig a shape that makes it easy to orient correctly.
I also added a "kickstand" at the back (instead of the more common cross-pipe found at the bottom of other DIY PVC rigs), which is more stable, looks a lot less ugly, and is nicely hidden by the camera when it is attached.
Check it out! Here are my pics.
I cut the end of the kickstand at an angle, so that it sits level on a flat surface.
Although it may look like it, the camera is not touching the table, and thus I can set the rig down on the dirty, filthy non-sterile ground without offending my OCD sensibilities (at least when it comes to my DVX!)
Here is the real unique feature of my rig. You can imagine the benefits of a polymorphic form factor.
Me in faux-action, pretending to demontrate the alternate function of my rig.
I realized none of my pics had the LCD open, which is of course how you'd always operate a rig like this, so there, fits nicely.
All told, it's not altogether as special as I'd like to think, but I'm particularly proud because I just walked into Home Depot with no idea what my rig would look like, and 20 minutes later I walked out with this beauty!
Armed with nothing but the knowledge that the DVX uses a standard 1/4"-20 screw as a tripod mount, I went to Home Depot and designed and built my rig right in the store from scratch (Turns out, hardware stores let you cut and saw pieces in-store, which was really useful)! Then I dissasembled it, brought each part, took it home, drilled the hole for the mount, spray painted it, and glued it together.
Well, it turns out I'm an accidental genius, because the thing is inspired! It's probably just my excitement at how well it works (kudos to the original maker of the FigRig for inspiring all us DIYers with his design), but I'm so dammed proud of myself. ;-)
Instead of solid PVC or ridgid tubing, I used two flexable-but-short PVC hoses for the "loop." I did this simply because that's what I found, but it turned out to be perfect.
This way, I can make subtle twists to the rig as I move, and it has a limited amount of "give" and shock resistance, which really smooths out my motion. Plus, the hoses are thick and fit in my hand really well, and are textured and rubberized, so the rig doesn't slip, staying put in my hands.
Plus, in a particular stroke of suprise practicality, the "loop" is held securly together by a 4" metal "peg," and it's not glued together, so I can seperate it at the top, hold both hoses like handles, and it becomes a great low-angle rig.
Plus, by using the "peg," it gives the rig a shape that makes it easy to orient correctly.
I also added a "kickstand" at the back (instead of the more common cross-pipe found at the bottom of other DIY PVC rigs), which is more stable, looks a lot less ugly, and is nicely hidden by the camera when it is attached.
Check it out! Here are my pics.
I cut the end of the kickstand at an angle, so that it sits level on a flat surface.
Although it may look like it, the camera is not touching the table, and thus I can set the rig down on the dirty, filthy non-sterile ground without offending my OCD sensibilities (at least when it comes to my DVX!)
Here is the real unique feature of my rig. You can imagine the benefits of a polymorphic form factor.
Me in faux-action, pretending to demontrate the alternate function of my rig.
I realized none of my pics had the LCD open, which is of course how you'd always operate a rig like this, so there, fits nicely.
All told, it's not altogether as special as I'd like to think, but I'm particularly proud because I just walked into Home Depot with no idea what my rig would look like, and 20 minutes later I walked out with this beauty!
Last edited:
