i'm searching a way to make a iBook more versatile and portable by making a "laptop vest".
- I guess that a good way is to take a 12" iBook, remove the display and take the keyboard by attaching it at the back of the vest using mesh nylon to make sure there is no overheat.
here how to remove a display on a 12" iBook:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/83.18.0.html
- Buy somes extension cable to put the display at a certain distance that will allow you to put the display at the front of the vest and make sure that the cable can handle the shock of rough movement.
- Find a way to make the display "touchscreen".
in short story, the "laptop vest" is for using the Panasonic Dvx100a modified by Reel Stream.
http://www.reel-stream.com/
Its doing 1540x990 of resolution, 4:4:4 color sampling and got 9.5 of dynamic range... but only by using their software (ScultorHD) thats ONLY running on Mac (Macmini, powerbook,etc...) trough USB cable. I'm wandering if there is any way to "rig" this wonderfull device to be "more free" of movement by going handheld with a "laptop vest" for the capture.
Guess that way, with the "laptop vest" the weight could be well balance and allow you to walk with the iBook. Guess that i just have to make it if i want to know if its work, but i'm not a technical wizard and only asking if this idea make sens or if there is anyone who could help me "how to" make such a device.
thanks you in advance to help me.
around to the iBook's back keeping it directly attached to the base of the iBook. Then use an external USB keyboard or controller.
There's really no practical way to move the display away from the iBook's base. The LVDS data cable cannot easily be extended.
Interesting this reel-stream product. I assume it's a setup to make near-film-quality DV cinema on the cheap, yes?
dan k
exactly... but the things is the camera is connect to the computer trough USB, so it take ALL the bandwitch of the cable and there is no way to use any USB connection, because everything is at the limit. The frame rate is 24 fps and the resolution is 1540x990 and that way you can have 8 bits quality... by lowering the resolution into their sofware, you can allow more "information" trough the USB cable and get true 10 bits image quality ; mean nice keying (green screen removing), color correction with no loss of quality, etc...
This Panasonic Dvx100a modification is purely a good bless for indie filmmaking, the only things that suck, its that you cannot really go handheld or "guerrila fillmaking" when you have to be all the time connect to a computer.
Its only work on OSX, no PC, so i cannot archieve my goal by instaling this device on a PC tablet !
I wanted that way (screen at the front and the keyboard at the back of the vest) because i know that laptop get ventilated by the keyboard and i dont want to overheat the CPU. But if you tell me that its impossible to create a "laptop vest" that i could wear when i'm shooting handheld with this camera, i will search for another way i guess...
Here a picture of the Dvx100a Andromeda mount with a Mac mini. Great, but still too heavy for what i like to do...
http://www.reel-stream.com/gallery_individual.php?gallery_type=3&image_id=188
You might have more luck extending the internal keyboard, but it's till a fiddly little plastic ribbon cable - a sheet of cable with conductive tracks printed on it, quite fragile. If you could find the right connectors you could make up your own, more robust extension cable, and re-inforce the ribbon with a few layers of archive grade Scotch tape. This is a common mod for the ribbon cable in a Psion 5MX palmtop.
I second the idea of tabletizing the laptop. Touch screen overlays are not easy or cheap to find, but they are out there. Unfortunately USB will be the only way of connecting one. You'd be better off extending the internal keyboard - maybe you can strap it to your forearm
and carry the laptop in a vest pocket or backpack.
I have a fisherman's vest with pockets all over it, front, rear, under-arm, etc, so I can appreciate your thinking about weight distribution.
There's a few thoughts about keyboard mods linked from the most recent entry in my blog.