Jan 24th 2013
Know How... 29
DIY Teleprompter
Make your own teleprompter for a lot less than buying one. You'll need tools and some elbow grease, but it's a lot of fun.
Today you'll get the know how to make a tiny teleprompter.
Once you understand the basics of how a teleprompter works, you can follow our guide or design your own. Definitely watch the video if you want to get a fuller picture of how to put it together.
Here's how we constructed our teleprompter in a box.
We found a wooden craft box at a crafts shop. We wanted a box that was large enough to house a camcorder, wide enough to be able to show off a 7-inch USB display and sturdy enough that we could modify it.
The craft box required a bunch of modifications to make it a proper housing. We inverted the box and used the lid as a base. Then we cut a hole for the USB monitor to be seen. A hole was then drilled into the base for a spot to mount the camera. The box itself required two cut outs. The rear of the box needed to be cut to allow for cables to stick out of the device. The front of the box needed to be cut to remove a large section for the camera to see out of as well as to see the reflective screen. We mounted the monitor using gaffer tape, but you could use brackets if you'd like. We assembled the box and then placed the reflective material at a 45 degree angle to the camera and above the monitor. Glass is quite good, but we re-used a CD case and mounted that with some gaffer tape.
Once that's all set up, you'll need some prompter software. Iyaz's favorite is Presentation Prompter for Mac OS X ($100). A free alternative is CuePrompter - it's limited to 2000 characters and is web-based.
At TWiT, we use Flip-Q for Windows which starts at $200.
Google Plus Community Spotlight!
Darlene Morrow
Hey Iyaz! You've created a monster. I've rooted my Kindle Fire, put Jelly Bean on it, jailbroken my old iPod Touch, got rid of the TelCo with Ooma and I've only just begun. Not bad for an almost 60yr old grandma Thanks :)
Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/know-how.
Contribute to our show! Send us an email at knowhow@twit.tv or leave us a voicemail at 408-800-KNOW (408-800-5669)
Thanks to CacheFly for the bandwidth for this show.