Ultimaker 3 - Remote Shutter Timelapse Kit

thingiverse

PLEASE READ THIS OR YOUR PRINTER WILL EXPLODE! Hey guys, I just watched those awesome timelapse videos where you can see the printed object growing evenly from nothing while the printhead is fixed on the side of the printer. This effect usually requires a script in Octoprint, but I wanted to achieve it without using that with my expensive Ultimaker 3. So, I decided to find a way to do such cool timelapse videos my own way. Here's a link to the video that inspired me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8TgUKrv7dU The Principle: To get this awesome effect of an evenly growing object without flying printhead, you need to use a remote shutter to trigger a picture of each layer and stitch them together to get a video. The printhead has to physically trigger the remote shutter after every printed layer. First, you just have to mount the remote to the frame of your printer. Then, you have to mount a rubber stick to the printhead which is pressing the button of the remote and triggers the picture. The problem now is to get the printhead to move to the correct position after each layer. I'll come back to that later. First, let's describe the components: - The Camera and App: I use the camera of my old Samsung S6 Edge but you can use what's available to you. If you want to use a mobile phone too please be sure to find a camera app that has a manual focus, doesn't go to sleep automatically, works with a Bluetooth Selfie-Stick remote, and doesn't make a burst of pictures when the button is pressed long. - The Camera mount: I had to edit some designs from Thingivers but I got a very good 3-axis camera mount. It is very sturdy, easy to use, and you have full control of your angle. You can print it without supports but you have to glue the parts together. Please see the color-coded pictures to get the right parts together. - The Printhead mount: I designed a very sturdy mount for the Ultimaker 3 printhead. You can print it without supports and screw it to the printhead. To soften the touch between the printhead and the remote, I use a piece of a 7mm Hot-Glue stick; I call it 'Finger'. You can just cut a 22mm piece off and stick it into the printhead mount. - The Remote Shutter: I found a small Bluetooth Selfie-Stick remote on Amazon. It is powered by a coin cell and works for Android and iPhone. It has a little power switch on the side to save battery life when not in use. Here's the link: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B074XQQWV4 - The Cura Settings: The principle is to get the printhead to press the button of the remote when it switches the printcores after every layer, even when you print with single color. When printing a multi-color object, make sure that both colors are used in every layer till the end. For example, if the first color is only on the bottom of the object and the second color is on the top, then you need to add two 'Dummy objects' using both colors. Add them on the side of the printbed and make sure they have the same height (Z axis) as the original object. I use a 4x4mm cylinder as 'Dummy object'. If your object is very high, you need to make the cylinder thicker; else it will get knocked over. You can activate the Prime Tower; it won't interfere with the remote shutter mount. When printing a single-color object, you also need a 'Dummy object' in the same height (Z axis) as the original object. If you don't want to see this 'Dummy object' in the final video, remove the second filament from the extruder but keep the printer thinking that there is still filament loaded. Now, the printer is not able to print the 'Dummy object', and you can make it very thin (1x1mm) to save some time. But keep the same height (Z axis) as the original object! Have fun with your timelapses! If you still have some questions, then please comment.