Da1lyDr1ver

iTrader: (6)

hello

i was wondering if anyone has a camcorder mounted on their car for the purposes of auto-x or road racing. ideally i would like my camera to be behind the driver/passanger seat so it can get a shot of partially inside the car and through the windsheild.

i tried googleing this topic but the mounts for sale wouldnt be compatible for our cars or mounts the camcorder in different locations i do not like.

i have RSX seats, so that may be a bit more challenging to find the "right" mounting kit.

i would like to purchase a kit since i'm not too creative when it comes to these kind of things. however, if you built your own, could you provide details so i can get some ideas?

thanks for any help.

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

HAHA... let me find some pics of this little set up I threw together for driving on the open back roads around here....

(NEVER TRY TO PUSH YOUR CAR BEYOND ITS LIMITS OR YOUR LIMITS)

Basically what I wanted to do was add a camera in my car to show what it was like from an in car perspective. I took my tripod and adjusted it so the two front legs were extended out, and adjusted to the height of the floor. Man, your really going to have to take a look at the picture, cant explain this as well as the pic can. The third leg I pushed down into the seat belt hole on the rear passenger side until it touched the sheet metal under the cushion. This was basically good enough, the tripod leg was just a perfect fit in the seat belt hole that it didn’t move around during daily driving. But whatever, I wanted more insurance that it wouldn’t move around with some more aggressive driving. The point of the tie downs is so the camera does not become mobile in the cabin and cause damage to YOU- DO NOT PUT A CAMERA IN YOUR CAR IF IT IS NOT SECURE!!

(NEVER TRY TO PUSH YOUR CAR BEYOND ITS LIMITS OR YOUR LIMITS)

So, I have a coupe and we have some funky lower seat belt stays. I've attached a picture of a time when I had it halfway taken off to remove a panel (note- you do not need to unbolt these!!). I took some tie downs that you'd find in most automotive stores to tie stuff down to your roof racks or truck bed, the kind with the clamp. I strung two around the bottom seat belt stays and over the tripod head. These are like giant belts that pull the tripod to the left, and to the right. Then my only issue was it rocking forward and backward. So, you know those red child seat hooks on the rear deck? Yeah, time to use those puppies. I laced another tie down through one of those and around the tripod head to pull it back. I made some more adjustments to where the camera position would be-- so it would catch all the action, and not a whole lot of my roof, or a whole lot of my dash and floor. If I remember correctly, I slid my seat somewhat forward and then reclined it to get the seat out of the way, and also to hold it in there just a tad more---not like it needed it- because when I was standing outside and shook the tripod- the entire car shook- there was absolutely NO play. So it was in there and ready to go, although it was night time, damn.

The next morning I screwed my camera on, along with a WIDE-ANGLE lens, double checked everything again and stated up. (If your going to be driving a little aggressive I don’t think I should have to mention it- and if I do, you probably shouldn’t be driving aggressively in the first place—but make sure your engine is warm before you start pushing it so you don’t cause under-the-hood damage) So driving down the local roads in the city wasn’t anything new. But when I made it out to the open roads, man… pretty amazing. The camera didn’t move around at all. The angle caught the entire steering wheel to the right mirror, the whole windshield, stick shift and speedometer. Pretty ridiculous video footage when I was whipping around corners in the back road to see my hands just spinning the wheel around, and me shaking around in the car and everything speeding by while shifting gears. But seriously though, I'm not trying to paint the picture that I’m a speed daemon or a ridiculous ricer or whatever, but until you strap a camera down in your ride and take it out on the back roads for some fun, you have no idea how amazing it looks on camera.

(NEVER TRY TO PUSH YOUR CAR BEYOND ITS LIMITS OR YOUR LIMITS)

All in all, I was happy and all but my battery died way before I was done playing!! Be sure to bring fully charged batteries, and/or extra batteries that have juice in them!

Also, a note on filming and sound. I was able to catch the engine noise with out issue (high revs). My buddy has an automatic tsx and wanted to do some filming after he saw my set up. So I though I’d wire a microphone in his engine bay, but it didn’t turn out so good- high wining noise like a supercharger- although he doesn’t have one, and LOTS and LOTS of wind. Basically, stick with the cabin noise to begin with and then try out other things if you have the know-how. As for me, I produce lots of audio tracks for singers and rappers so I know mics and audio hardware really well, but I haven’t been able to find a good engine sound producing setup yet. If you try any in engine-bay mic setups, let me know what mic you used, the placement, and how well it worked.

PLEASE NOTE:
Driving down a city road with a tripod in your backseat with a camera that is recording- with the screen flipped out makes your feel kinda weird. Learn to turn out the record lamp on your camcorder, and don’t keep the screen flipped out. I had it flipped out and it blocked my rear view. And the time I had it flipped forward I kept being distracted by it. Be cautious. Why? Well other people might look at you weird, but you might also attract the wrong attention- aka cops. Now why would a civic have a tripod strapped to its backseats if they are obeying the laws? Also for theft reasons, I live in a place that if someone sees a civic with a tripod strapped in the back, there must be a camera close by. And for God sakes, do not leave your camcorder in your car when you’re not driving it! Also think about coming back into town after doing some crazy driving- it could become evidence if a cop pulls you over!! And once again, I can’t stress this enough NEVER TRY TO PUSH YOUR CAR BEYOND ITS LIMITS OR YOUR LIMITS!!! NEVER TRY TO PUSH YOUR CAR BEYOND ITS LIMITS OR YOUR LIMITS!!! NEVER TRY TO PUSH YOUR CAR BEYOND ITS LIMITS OR YOUR LIMITS!!!

Enjoy!!

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

lol.. nice setup..

Da1lyDr1ver

iTrader: (6)

Thanks for the little writeup Triz. but, i was looking for something a little cleaner (bracket and clamp?). none the less, i dont think the officials at the racing events would look too kindly upon that camcorder set up.

Boilermaker1

iTrader: (16)

No one will ever let you on a track with something like that. Its gotta be firmly ATTACHED to the car. Not just strapped down.
With RSX seats it'll get more fun, I'd see what the RSX guys are doing. My guess is you'll have to make a cross bar and bolt it to the seat belt mounts, or see if you can come up with something that bolts to the back seats, etc... Mine's mounted under the head rest.

Ohhh I just had an idea.
Get 2 pieces of something (steel, wood, etc...) make one a bit longer than the other, put the short one in front of the passenger seat, the longer one behind, and bolt them together through the "seatbelt" hole in the seat. Mount the camera to the end of the one behind the seat. But that will mean only you can be in the car.

Da1lyDr1ver

iTrader: (6)

thanks for everyone's input. i guess the search shall continue. i'll try posting this on clubrsx.com too, but it looks like i'm going to have to get creative...

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

Never been to a track, haha- i drive a civic. But hmm.. if thats the case then you could do some welding to some of the pillars i guess. Their are headrest mountable camera attachments- dunno if thats track legal either though. Goodluck