Slow Motion 3D Video Highlights

Last week, we published a tutorial and video showing how anyone can make 3D video using a simple 3D Camera Rig that anyone can build. This week, we take the concept to the extreme by mounting a pair of high speed cameras to the 3D Rig and recording 3D Slow Motion Water Rocket launch Videos!

 

We also put together a short video of 3D Slow Motion Water Rocket Launch Highlights, from various launches we have done over the past few years. You will be able to see 3D Camera Tests, Chase Camera Launches, and some good old fashioned bottle launching fun! Check out the Slow Motion 3D Video on our YouTube Channel here:

 

 

In case you missed it last time, you can read the 3D Camera Rig tutorial at the following link: http://www.uswaterrockets.com/research_&_development/3D_Camera/report.htm

 

 

3D Water Rocket Video Tutorial

A while ago, we created a Dual Camera Rig, which is used to make 3D Videos and Photos, and we used it to take a number of 3D videos of our experimental Water Rocket launches. Since the weather has been too cold for conducting experiments, we decided to catch up on some of these older projects which we documented but never formally published.

 

 

 

On our website, we have released a new tutorial, showing you how we built the 3D Camera Rig, and how to use it. We also included some instructions for how to combine the 3D photos and videos you take with the 3D Camera Rig into stunning 3D images you can view with Red/Blue 3D glasses and YouTube Videos you can view with one of several 3D viewing options available on YouTube. They even have modes that you can use with no glasses at all (sometimes called "crosseyed" viewing).

 

You can read the tutorial at the following link: http://www.uswaterrockets.com/research_&_development/3D_Camera/report.htm

 

We have also compiled a short video montage of High Definition 3D Video clips which we have recorded over the past few years using the 3D Camera Rig. Check out the 3D video samples on our YouTube Channel below:

 

 

We hope you enjoy the 3D Videos, and would love to see any videos that you create using our 3D Camera Rig concept.

Staging Mechanism for Air-Start of Multi-Stage Water Rockets

Over the past few weeks, we've been engaged in a discussion on the Water Rocket Forum after we posted a video we found on YouTube about a toy Water Rocket which we had never seen before. The toy had a unique launching system where the rocket is tossed in the air and a lanyard attached to your wrist activates a launching mechanism when the rocket reaches the end of the lanyard.

 

A forum member going by the name "Bugwubber" took up our challenge to reverse engineer the toy, and was able to figure out the system by analyzing the video frame by frame. He came up with some diagrams and a video showing how it operates.

 

We built on Bugwubber's work, by combining it with our own Radial Deploy System to create a concept for our own type of staging system, for which we have started a new project series to share our work. 

 

A unique feature of the system is that it has the ability to be initiated while in flight at any point in time, simply by changing the time delay after launch. Instead of the typical staging system that will only fire at burnout, this new system is cable of delaying until a more favorable booster firing altitude has been reached. This ability is known as "air-start" in rocketry terminology, so we adopted it for this design as well.

 

We've linked to the first video to kick off the new project, showing our concept and an animation illustrating how it operates. We hope you will follow along as we continue to build and test this idea in the coming months!