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DIY alternative to the RCT FR-1 Fluid Remote for PTZ camera control?
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 464ba35d-ca76-4d88-b12f-4fb41ebd6110.png (1,515kb) downloaded 30 time(s).Hi everyone, I am looking for a DIY or lower-cost alternative to the RCT FR-1 Fluid Remote. My goal is to control an existing PTZ camera with a real video tripod / fluid head and pan bar, instead of using a standard controller. So the idea is: - an empty tripod with no camera mounted on it - I physically pan, tilt, and ideally zoom using the tripod handle - sensors or encoders detect the movement - the movement is transferred to the PTZ camera in real time - I would monitor the image on my notebook in vMix, so no special monitor on the tripod is required In other words, I am looking for a home-built / DIY version of the RCT FR-1 concept, because the original product is simply too expensive for my use case. Has anyone here built something like this already, or seen a similar project? I would be very grateful for any advice, technical ideas, build examples, or contact with someone who has experience with such a setup. Thanks a lot in advance! [img]https://chatgpt.com/s/m_6ad095e26e5481918ba624c7b70d221c[/img]
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Originally Posted by: tgdzapa1  464ba35d-ca76-4d88-b12f-4fb41ebd6110.png (1,515kb) downloaded 30 time(s).Hi everyone, I am looking for a DIY or lower-cost alternative to the RCT FR-1 Fluid Remote. My goal is to control an existing PTZ camera with a real video tripod / fluid head and pan bar, instead of using a standard controller. So the idea is: - an empty tripod with no camera mounted on it - I physically pan, tilt, and ideally zoom using the tripod handle - sensors or encoders detect the movement - the movement is transferred to the PTZ camera in real time - I would monitor the image on my notebook in vMix, so no special monitor on the tripod is required In other words, I am looking for a home-built / DIY version of the RCT FR-1 concept, because the original product is simply too expensive for my use case. Has anyone here built something like this already, or seen a similar project? I would be very grateful for any advice, technical ideas, build examples, or contact with someone who has experience with such a setup. Thanks a lot in advance! [img]https://chatgpt.com/s/m_6ad095e26e5481918ba624c7b70d221c[/img] Man, that RCT FR-1 is an absolute dream piece of gear, but the price tag is straight up terrifying. Building a DIY version sounds like an incredibly dope project though! You could probably rig up some high-resolution rotary encoders to the pan and tilt axes of a cheap fluid head, and then use an Arduino or Raspberry Pi to translate those physical movements into VISCA over IP commands for your PTZ camera. Nailing the exact sensor mapping so the camera movement doesn't jitter honestly requires the same pixel-perfect precision as hitting those frame-perfect jumps in a Geometry Dash extreme demon lol. If you actually pull this off, you definitely need to post a build tutorial, because a budget-friendly fluid remote would be a massive W for the whole broadcasting community. Good luck with the tinkering!
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Think VISCA is the way to go FP120 Birddog zoom control , arduino in receiver doing the translation linked to camera
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Joined: 10/16/2026(UTC) Posts: 1 
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Really cool concept — the FR-1 is lovely gear but a brutal price tag. I haven't built one myself, but the Arduino + rotary encoder approach seems very doable: mount encoders on the pan and tilt axes of the empty head, feed the values through an Arduino, and translate them into VISCA commands for the PTZ camera in real time. A small pot or hall sensor on the pan bar could handle zoom. Curious to see what you come up with — keep us posted!
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