DIY teleprompter advice

snodart

snodart

Veteran
I've looked into buying and renting... and as usual I'm thinking, "I can just build one of those for a fraction of the cost!"

I did find this link in an old DVXuser post:

http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/22302.html?cprose=daily

Looks like a good start to me.

But before I start working on a design, I was hoping to get a little help/advice from those of you who know a little bit about this subject.

So, from what I have gathered from various places, these are the key concepts (feel free to chime in):

1) glass at 45 angle from camera.
2) shield the glass from light.
3) Use white text on black background.
4) Have the text flipped (mirrored) for correct orientation
4) Have some form of scroll control or paced scrolling

Sounds too easy. Am I missing something here? I can see that scrolling and flipping the text might be a little challenging, but I'm guessing that between FCP, After Effects, photoshop, powerpoint, etc... I should be able to work something out. I see that there are a few cheap/free teleprompter programs out there as well. Has anybody used any of them?

Any ideas or input would be greatly appreciated.

:dankk2:
 
MalcolmOng said:
Why not just use a laptop?
Click to expand...

TeamJoeDawn is right. Using the teleprompter makes it appear as though the person on cam is looking right at the viewer. It seems like a small detail, but if you've ever seen a training DVD where the person is reading from a card, it looks like poop.
 
I've got software...

PlanePrompter-Screenshot.jpg


It can't flip/mirror the text, but if you don't have a video monitor that can flip the text, you can just use a 2nd mirror (like a perescope) to do it.

Download here: http://mikko.n3.net/files/PlanePrompter.exe (Right click, 'Save as')
My buddy who coded it wanted us to charge for it but I'v posted here with a DVXuser discount of an optional PayPal donation of $10. (mikkowilson@hotmail.com) [Yes, he get's $5]

- Mikko
 
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Thanks for the input all.

I think I am going to at least try plain glass and a nice hood to block the light from the camera side. If that doesn't work, then I might look at those prices again for the silvered glass.

Mikko, Thanks for the program. I sent $10 your way via paypal. Nice and simple... and it works great. I will have to find a way to flip it of course, but that should be easy enough. I probably won't need this again any time soon and the camera will be stationary, so I may just rig up something simple and keep trucking.

I will post pics and info when it is done of course.

Thanks again for the input.
 
Hi,
I've built quite a few prompters and I use a window film on the glass (Johnson window films..you need one that lets as much light through as possible they have all different strengths it works really well).I use a Sharp LCD tv 15 inch which you can reverse directly from the remote control and we usually feed it with a signal from a camera mounted in the ceiling focused on the papers on the desk in front of the reader they move the paper at their own speed can quickly edit sentences if they want and you dont have to train people to use them.I know its a bit lo tech but it works.
Mike
 
Thanks TeamJoeDawn,

We finished the teleprompter and it works great. We threw it together pretty quick, since we probably won't need it after this. We downloaded a free program called Promt 6.1. The free version only allows you to use 2,500 characters, and the full version ($44) allows an unlimited amount of characters of course. It flips the text and and has all the other needed options.

I will try and get some pics and "what we learned" info up in the next few days.

Thanks everybody for the help!
 
The light version only allows 2,500 characters. The one that deg mentioned is that one that we are using, Prompt. It works great by the way. $44 seems pretty fair for the full version. If it worked with your project, you could use the light version and break up the content into sections that are 2,500 characters or less.
 
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