Crowdfunding now!
View Purchasing OptionsHello again, X1Plus friends.
I spent most of this week’s update-writing time behind the camera again, well, behind the editing console anyway. But I’m pretty happy with what came out! I wanted to show off a unique feature of the X1Plus Expander, that’s possible only because of X1Plus’s tight integration with the X1 printer’s firmware: time lapses!
The X1’s built in chamber camera is fine, but not fantastic. One of the things we built X1Plus Expander to be able to do is to drive a mirrorless camera (or DSLR)’s shutter synchronously with G-code; that is to say, in such a way that you know that the shutter will fire exactly when you want it to and not a moment sooner or later. In combination with the ‘smooth timelapse’ support in slicers, you can get a beautiful time lapse from whatever angle you want, in as high a resolution and detail as your camera can give you.
Above, you can see my first attempt at a timelapse with a comparison against the built-in chamber time lapse. My video skills are fine-but-not-great, but I know that a bunch of you have much better video equipment than I do and a lot more creativity!
I’ll conclude this rather short update with a bunch of things that I’ve learned about time lapses the hard way so far. Even if you don’t use my hardware, or even an X1 printer, if you’re shooting time lapses of your prints, you can learn from my mistakes!
Anyway, I’ve been slowly making progress on manufacturing-related work, and it actually seems likely that I’ll be able to place the order just as soon as crowdfunding completes. Over the coming weeks, I’ll talk some about the behind-the-scenes manufacturing stuff involved, while I’m not too busy eating Thanksgiving turkey, that is. In the mean time, have you ordered your X1Plus Expander yet? Don’t wait until the last minute! My blood pressure will thank you!
Talk soon —
joshua