My VacuCam arrived today! My girlfriend, being the coolest girlfriend ever, got it for me as a gift. My MINI arrived yesterday and the VacuCam arrived today so it's perfect! I can't wait to give it a try. I have to figure out about the input to the family DV cam first though.

OctaneGuy, thanks for working with my girlfriend to make this happen, and my girlfriend says thanks so much for getting it out to us and doing your best to get it here ASAP... It's good timing because she's just about to leave town as well so it's good it got here before she left!

Look forward to trying it out and then playing around with the footage in iMovie - should be a blast. I'll be sure to post my work!

One question - is the number on the VacuCam badge a part number or a production number? Mine says VC-000009, does this mean I have the 9th VacuCam ever?

-mike

 

Hi Mike,
First off, congrats on your new MINI. Man that must be really exciting. I'm glad the timing worked out well. =)

Re: 9 th VacuCam
Yep its my production/serial number and while #9 sounds low, in fact its the first of the VacuCams in the field. Numbers 1 - 8 were retained for samples and demos, so you REALLY lucked out. LOL

Re: set up help
As indicated on the cover letter, feel free to email or call me for any suport questions. As long as I'm not in a position where I cannot answer the phone, you can expect a quick response. =)

Thanks again!

Richard

 

Richard, that's AWESOME! I really love the fact that it has a production number on it, and the fact that I got the first production unit is too cool! And thanks for the offer of support! I've figured out what cable I need to input to my DV camera and I'm going to call my local video/camera shop tomorrow to see if they have it.

Man between this and the detailing club you sure are doing a lot for the MINI community. I think I speak for all of us on NAM when I say that I hope you realize how much we appreciate it. I know I do.

And yes, it is an absolute thrill to have my new MINI. The wait was all worth it and I had it my expectations set so high, and the MINI delivers far, far higher. It is truly a grin a minute. Got my ClearBra installed today, and hadn't taken it on the highway until then, didn't want any chips, and now it is even better being able to go on the highway.

By the way, thanks for the Octane gel! Looks like cool stuff. Any relation to you being 'OctaneGuy'?

-mike

 

Thanks for the nice feedback and the kind words! Not sure what camera you have, but if its a Canon or Sony, Radio Shack has the cable you need. I listed the part number both on the Camera Video forum and the instruction booklet included with your VacuCam. I would link it here, but I'm thumb typing off a wireless device and linking URLs isn't as easy as from my desktop.

Just a couple other quick notes. Now that you have your new MINI, if you aren't listed, sign up on the National MINI Motoring database to find and meet local MINIs to you. Find it at http://findamotoringbuddy.com

That's a free tool I put up for the MINI community as well. Just call me Obsessed. LOL

Also, Octane Re-energizing gel is a product that my family company develops and manufactures. My customers refer to me as the OctaneGuy, and thus my screen name. Its pretty popular in the UK.

Go to http://www.firebox.com and search Octane
Also http://www.thinkgeek.com under caffeine

Also http://www.coolOctane.com notice my MINI at the bottom. =)

 

Very cool! I'll register with the Motoring Buddy Database right now.

-mike

 

Btw I loved your Delivery Pics! I remember that joy 1 year ago for me--and a very cute couple!

I did a double take on your shark fin--seems there's a radio antennae combined with the shark fin? My Nav is only the shark fin, and the radio antennae is integrated in the side window. Love the body colored dash too!

Just remember, don't mount the VacuCam if your car is dirty. I can't over emphasize that. If you care about your paint, which I'm sure you do, thoroughly clean the area that the VacuCam is applied to. This ensures the best sticking power and eliminates any chance of scratching your finish.

Just clean it with some Quik Detailer and a microfiber cloth, and use the suction cup stand offs!!! Haha, I'm sounding like a worried father. I'll stop now.

 

Thanks for the compliments! :smile: Yeah, on the 05's all the antennas are integrated together into the one on top. And yeah, the body color dash is outstanding I love it! I just hope it doesn't scratch too easily over time... Thanks for the heads-up about mounting the VacuCam, I read that in the instructions and was planning on it, but it's good to know it's definitely worth doing. I've never really gotten into detailing but I have read up on a lot of stuff and have bought a whole bunch of products to help me with the detailing (BradB helped a bunch - see thread here) - I can't wait to try it out! But I'll have to wait till next weekend as classes start this week for me, and I can't do it this weekend because the ClearBra needs some time to settle.

Thanks again!! I'm off to do some late-night motoring.

-mike

 

Cool!! Have fun and stay safe!! My anthracite dash has held up perfectly for the past year and 25,000 miles, I don't see why the body colored would be any different. =)

Talk to ya later!

Richard

 

Just got my Vacucam (#16) too!!!! I am sooooo thrilled to have this TOY/TOOL in my possession (thank you again Richard for everything you have done to make this possible) UNFORTUNETALY though I haven't been able to play with it too much because of one and ONLY one reason: JEANNE . I was able to film some Interior footage by "vacumming" (HEHE) the camera to the passenger portion of the interior front window !!!! <----Nice footage (I angled the shot to give it a more artistic feel) I'm really looking forward to editing that footoge with some up-and-coming footage. Hopefully tommorow will be a half way decent day and I can get out and MOTOR in a whole new way.

Hm- question to you Richard, I noticed in the "instruction sheet" that you have a Canon ZR?? or at least that's what's pictured.....anyhow......what do you use to get the footage to the computer??? The guy at Radio Shack (when I went to buy the Coupler) suggested firewire is this what I should be using???

 

Thank you!!! I'm glad you are happy and recieved your VacuCam.
But please stay safe and dry!

Yep, the camera pictured is the Canon ZR-10, although the footage that's captured on the website was from a Sony TRV-950. It doesn't matter really--the quality is the same.

If you've got a DV camcorder, then definitely the best way to get it into your computer is by firewire.

To do that, your computer will need a Firewire or IEEE-1394 port.

For a PC, if you don't have one built in, you can buy an inexpensive Belkin OCHI one for around $75 or so. Most Mac's have Firewire already built-in. Many laptops have it as well--both PC and Mac.

I have this one,
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProdu...duct_Id=125578

but I'd probably get this one instead since it has both types of ports:

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProdu...duct_Id=125578

You should also buy a 2nd hard drive, if your computer has only 1. It's generally not a good idea to record video on the same drive as your OS is on. HD's are cheap and get atleast a 210GB or larger drive.

For reference, a single 60minute DV tape is about 12GB of HD space.

I actually ran out of space inside my computer, so I bought a USB 2.0 interface card from CompUSA for $35. Then I bought an external USB 2.0/Firewire hard drive box from them for $50. Then I stuck an unused 7200rpm 200GB IDE hard drive inside, so now I have an external hard drive that I capture all my video to, and can move it to another computer if I want.

I edit with Sony Vegas Video 5 which is a great tool, but pricey ($600) for someone just playing around. They have a LITE version called Screen Blast Movie Studio that works very well and costs about $100.
http://www.screenblast.com/main/cont...re%2Findex.jsp

Premiere 6.0 or Premiere Pro are also good editing apps if you have access to them.

Hope that helps and I'd love to see any footage you come up with!!

Richard

 

I'm sending out replacement Velcro straps to all VacuCam customers because frankly I liked neither the color nor the quality of the ones I included in your kits. The new straps look better and should last much longer.

I have everyone's address except for Mlebeau since I shipped to your GFriend. Can you please PM your mailing address?

P.S. There is nothing physically wrong with the existing ones, and you may continue to use them, and use the ones I'm sending as backup. It's your choice.

Thanks

Richard

 

YEY ME!!!: Here's my vacucam video-

http://store.northamericanmotoring.com/video/OctaneGuyStore/1-S-TURN@A-TIME.wmv

Let me know what you all think!!

 

Check this one out...

http://www.clubscmm.com/members/phil...prings_wmv.htm

 

Hey Alpha-6,

Great looking video you got there! This is the first VacuCam customer posted video clip, and I think it's awesome! Great job!

Maybe we should do a compilation video of everyone's VacuCam footage.

Richard

 

I'd love to see some more videos. BTW, is there any way to get the micophone inside the car (without having the camcorder inside the car) to minimize the turbulance caused by the air rushing by? Just a thought.

Anyone know of a website where additional videos are located? I eat this stuff up.

 

You can start with this thread:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=28427

As for the microphone, the mics on the VacuCams are built into the cameras, so what I recommend is to use an external microphone. You can use a small laveliere Microphone and you'll need a small microphone preamp. Then what you do is route the audio of that mic in one of the audio channels of your recording device.

(Credit goes to Phil Kidd for suggesting these items)


Cat # 33-3013
$24.99


Cat # 32-1254
$19.99


Cat # 274-325
$2.99

The audio on the VacuCams are mono, meaning only one channel is used. So if you use that for ambient audio--say the left recorded audio, then just patch (attach) the external mic into the right channel. Now when you record, you've got 2 audio sources recording into a single camera feed, and you can choose to use either one or a mix of both.

To get a bit more complex, when using the video switcher in the Deluxe kits, I will use that external mic and patch into the right channel of all the camera feeds. The left channel of each camera is on the left channel, so no matter what camera is active, the right channel (external mic) is always recording.

This is an example of that
http://store.northamericanmotoring.c...cucam_pass.wmv

No matter what view you are seeing, you always hear the intake loud and clear. That's a Moss MINI intake btw on a 2003 Cooper--OEM exhaust.

http://store.northamericanmotoring.c...am_sizzler.wmv

This is an example of mixing the camera mics with the external mic--which is mic'd in the engine bay. You can see the benefit of the internal cabin mounted camera---it picks up cabin audio just fine.

Richard
VacuCam

 

Thanks for sharing. When you get the time to make more, please post them. I would really enjoy it.

 

Got my cams last week but have been too busy to do anything but pour out the box onto the floor and play with all the shiny things! Can't wait to get some footage!

Thanks for such a neat product for the MINI community! I'll let you know when I have something to share!

Love the octane!

 

Here are a few clips I have done. I will be posting more in the near future:

http://www.clubscmm.com/members/philkidd/

Note some are Quicktime and some are Windows Media.

 

Phil Kidd,

I can't the link to work, unfortunately. I'm looking forward to seeing your videos.

 

Ooops... sorry about that, it should work now:

http://www.clubscmm.com/members/philkidd/

 

Thanks Richard...