In this video I make a teleprompter autocue that uses my smart phone and mounts directly to the lens of my camera.
Original Teleprompter Video: http://bit.ly/2I4RRcX
Bluetooth Remote: https://amzn.to/2Ghsh2R (UK) https://amzn.to/2tfc1GR (US)
1/8" or 3mm Hardboard: https://amzn.to/2GkRLwi (UK) https://amzn.to/2tgRguA (US)
Single filter adapter: (choose the size you need): https://amzn.to/2tfD0SA (UK)
Filter adapter set: https://amzn.to/2Bs49GI (UK) https://amzn.to/2tdfJkr (US)
Filter adapter set: https://amzn.to/2UXAFb5 (UK) https://amzn.to/2WSYO49 (US)
Speed Square: https://amzn.to/2tiYYEc (UK) https://amzn.to/2GEHGJX (US)
Set square stationery set: https://amzn.to/2BwE2OC (UK) https://amzn.to/2GyMLDr (US)
Handsaw: https://amzn.to/2UQd23R (UK) https://amzn.to/2DsanXf (US)
Hot Glue Gun with glue: https://amzn.to/2teJlh5 (UK) https://amzn.to/2teuDGS (US)
Black Spray Paint: https://amzn.to/2So6nBi (UK) https://amzn.to/2Dp3GoM (US)
Tape Measure: https://amzn.to/2UT4VU7 (UK) https://amzn.to/2SDj2Qi (US)
Small Picture Frame 6" x 4" 10cm x 15cm https://amzn.to/2Dp40nu (UK) https://amzn.to/2SMAIJn (US)
Holesaw bit - check the diameter of your camera lens and search for the size you need and "holesaw", but check it comes with a pilot bit (some don't)
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In this video I'm going to make a simple teleprompter that attaches to a camera lens filter thread. And because most people who want teleprompters probably don't have a workshop full of machines like I do, I'm going to make it using some basic hand tools.
To make this, you'll need a smart phone with a teleprompter app, more about my app recommendations later in the video, some thin plywood - the stuff I have here is 1/8th inch thick which is just over 3mm thick, but you could use something like hardboard, a handsaw, a drill, a tapemeasure, a hot glue gun, a speedsquare or one of those triangular ruler things you can get from a stationery set, some black spray paint - I got mine from my local poundshop, some glass, I'm using the glass from a small picture frame and I actually got two of those for a pound from a pound shop too, a holesaw bit the same size or slightly bigger than the thread size on the camera lens that you'll be using, and a filter adapter for the camera lens you want to mount to which looks a bit like this. More detail on the bits you need and where you can buy them later in the video, and some useful links will be included in the description box below.
Some of you might remember about 8 months ago I made my first teleprompter - I have a video about that on my channel, link to that in the description box below. It worked well, but it was quite big. So then I made a smaller version, and that's this one here which I've been using ever since. But that one fell off my workbench last week and the glass smashed. I started thinking about how I could improve the design of this one and the first problem I wanted to solve is that this one needs a second tripod to be set up in front of the camera. That can take a lot of time to set up and get right especially if you want an unusual camera angle or if you're working in a tight space. Then I found the camera lens filter adapter in one of my drawers and that gave me the idea to make it mountable to a lens. Secondly, I felt I could simplify the design and make it much simpler for others to make - no hinges, no moving parts.
I'll include some useful links to the things you'll need in the description box below
First I did a simple drawing of what I wanted to make. It'd be a simple box 170mm in length which is enough to hold my phone and the piece of glass that I'm using.
It'd be 100mm in height and I figured that out because I wanted it to be sligtly taller than the height of my piece of glass while it was held at a 45 degree angle.
And it'd be 100mm deep which again is deep enough to hold both my phone, and the piece of glass at 45 degrees.
So my back panel would be 170x100
My top and back panels would be the same dimensions
And my side panels would be the length of the box minus the thickness of the material I'm using for the back panel which is 3mm giving me 167mm.
by 100 mm minus the thickness of the top and bottom panels which works out as 94mm.
If you're using a different phone, or different thickness of material, you can adjust these figures as necessary to get the dimensions you need to make yours.
Here I'm marking up the length for the back panel and then I square off the line with the speed square, and then I do the same to mark the width. I use the handsaw to make the cuts, and this ply is so thin that it cuts really quickly and easily. These cuts don't need to be super accurate as we're going to be using hot glue to stick everything together and it'll fill any gaps.
I label each panel. And then I can work on the top and bottom panels which are exactly the same dimensions and I mark up and cut those in the same way.
Now I have a back, a top and a bottom panel, all the same size.
Here I'm positioning the panels together so that I can just check the actual measurement for the side panels, and the dimensions I wrote down originally are accurate at 94mm, so then I can measure and mark up those panels too and cut them to size.
Next I take the back panel and I find the centre by holding a straight edge from corner to corner and drawing a cross. Then I can centre the filter thread adapter to the cross just by eye, and draw around the inside of it. This is the material that needs to be removed, and for that I'm using a 54mm holesaw which is exactly the same size as the diameter of my lens.
The holesaw has a pilot bit with it that will help to guide it straight. Then I can drill out the hole.
Time for assembly now and I'm using hot glue to stick the panels together and I'm holding up the side panels here just to make sure that they are positioned at 90 degrees. The hot glue sets really quickly so no need to use clamps, just hold it for a few seconds
Then I check the side panes fit ok which they do, and glue them in.
To add a bit more strength to the inside of the box I run a bead of hot glue down all the seams. Apologies for the awful camera angle here which mainly just shows how many grey hairs I have.
Next I put my speedsquare inside and mark up a 45 degree angle on the side panels. Here's another awful camera angle, sorry about that.
I'm going to use a couple of blocks of MDF now but if you don't have any of those you can glue together a few small bits of whatever material you're using to get the thickness you need.
I add hot glue and then stick them level with the inside of the line on both side panels.
And these blocks will be what the glass mounts to as you can see.
I'm going to use black spray paint to paint the inside of the box, this will make the words that will be reflecting on the glass much easier to read.
Then I leave that to dry.
Next I attach the filter thread adapter to the front of my camera lens, screwing it on all the way, and then I add a bit of tape as a marker for where the top of the camera lens is when the camera is held upright. I then unscrew it and I can then line up that bit of tape with what is the top of the hole on the back. I can then hot glue it in place. And I put a bead of hot glue around that too just to make sure it's held nice and firmly.
I can then give the glass a clean ready for it to be fitted, and I use hot glue to stick that in place to the mounting blocks too.
I then add a generous bead of hot glue on top of the glass to secure it in place.
And then I can add it to my camera, and that's it done.
I took this a step further and cleaned up the edges flush at my belt sander and then applied a coat of my homemade oil wax finish which is available to buy via my Etsy store. This isn't really necessary but I'm doing it mainly because I want it to look reasonably neat and tidy in the thumbnail of this video.
And that's it done.
It works great.
if you want to make one of these and maybe you're using a different size phone to me, or different thickness of material you can adjust the dimensions that I'm using to make your own.
First I want to cut a back panel, a top panel and a bottom panel, and all of those panels will be the same size - 170mm x 100mm. I'm using 170mm because I want the box to be long enough to accommodate the length of my phone and also the length of the glass that will later be added to the inside.
And I'm using 100mm because I need the box to be a little taller than the piece of glass when it's held at a 45 degree angle which measures about 7cm
If you want to make your own one of these, you can adjust these figures as necessary to get the dimensions needed to make your own
Next I want to make the side panels and to do that I'm going to position the panels and measure the space between them. my panel needs to be 94mm in width, and I already know the other dimension needs to be 100mm because that's the depth measurement used on the top and bottom panels.
The holesaw comes with a pilot bit which will help to guide it straight, mine just needs tightening with a spanner and then it's good to go.
Next I want to add the filter adapter. I actually already had one of these and I found it recently in a drawer and that's what actually gave me the idea to make this project! If you don't have one though, check the thread size on your camera lens, usually it'll be written inside the lens cap, and then search for whatever size it is - so for example 52mm and then put "filter adapter" and you should find what you need - I'll include links below which should help. If the camera lens you're using doesn't have a filter thread on the inside, then unfortunately this won't work for you.
So the glass I'm using is not the best quality, it's just glass from a very very cheap picture frame and it's very thin too - but that's actually a positive thing. The thinner the glass, the clearer the text reflection on the glass will be. If you use thicker glass you tend to get some ghosting of the text which makes it difficult to read. So the thinner the glass, the better.
This teleprompter works great, it's so nice to just be able to screw it on to the lens, put my phone in there and start recording without needing to set up an extra tripod every time. It won't work for everyone, for example if you change lenses frequently while you're filming, or if you use a lens that doesn't have a filter thread on the front.
One other thing to note is that the lens I'm using is a zoom lens and when it's set to it's widest angle which on this lens is 18mm the corners of the teleprompter start to show - but that's not a problem for me, I just zoom in a little bit to around 20-22mm and then it disappears, I don't often film myself talking at 18m anyway so no big deal.
The teleprompter app that I use at the moment is Teleprompter Premium, it does cost a bit of money I think it was around £10 but you can get lots and lots of other free teleprompter apps too like Parrot Teleprompter for example. Look around and find the one that works best for you. The reason I bought Teleprompter Premium is because it works really well with my bluetooth remote control so that I can speed up or slow down the text while I'm filming. I'll leave a link to that below too.
