The Digital Bird DB3 VISCA Pan Tilt head Probably the most feature rich DIY PTZ head you will find anywhere on the internet capable of performing tasks you would expect from heads costing upwards of $2000. This head can perform all the WIFI functions available on the previous Digital Bird heads but brings host of new high end features including connectivity with OBS and vMix over an IP network.

The parts allow for two variants of this head.

• WIFI and VISCA with POE
• WIFI only

NEW FEATURES:

• 4 Axis support for Pan, Tilt, Zoom & Focus
• VISCA support for wired connection to applications like OBS and vMix
• WIFI Control for up to 4 Camera systems with 9 presets / camera
• 12V & 7.5V POE power through VISCA IP port
• Tally lights front and rear allowing your talent to see which camera is live and coming next.
• HDMI & SDI passthrough for proper PTZ cable management.
• Faster pan & tilt.
• Encoders on all axis for manual positioning of the head in program mode.
• Magnetic sensors on both the pan and tilt axis for accurate start points and homing.
• 16 position memory for OBS unlimited for vMix
• Aux power port to supply 7.5V or 12V of power to your camera (when using POE power).
• Updated user interface to provide more tailored operation
• The ability to mix WIFI and wired IP control simultaneously using the DB PTZ WIFI controller.
• Supports up to 3.5KG payloads

Links:

Full printable Instructions can be found here: https://www.instructables.com/PTZ-PAN-TILT-HEAD-DB3-DB3-VISCA/

Non Plastics parts kits: https://digital-bird-motion-control.myshopify.com/

Credits: This project makes particular use of two main open source arduino libraries for which I am very grateful

• gin66/FastAccelStepper A great resource for controlling multiple stepper motors with acceleration control on all steppers
• Seithan/EasyNextion Library An easy to use method of setting up and actioning commands from the Nextion displays.

Updates: 1st Nov 2023

There have been a number of updates to the parts over the past month so please be sure to download a fresh copy of the parts before you start printing. 

D-Tap Power

The way the D-Tap power operates has been changed. The D-Taps are primarily there to allow for larger more power hungry camera systems however the 12v supply from the POE splitter can only deliver 30W max which in most cases will be useless as it must power all of the head and the camera system. The best way to do this for larger cameras is power the system from 14v V-mount batteries or a 14/15V external power supply delivered through the D-Tap on the base. On the original system the D-Tap power was not used to power the head only supply power to the upper D-Tap port. Under the new system the lower D-Tap port can also power the complete head including supplying 14v to the camera system through the upper D-Tap.

This has a number of advantages:

1. You can know power the complete head and your camera system from a V-mount battery with a much longer battery life.
2. If you are building the WIFI only variant without the VISCA electronics having the assurance that you have adequate battery life is often very important on location. Being able to power the camera and head from a V-mount is a great option to have.
3. There is less chance of confusion about what power is coming from the D-Tap port. 14-15V in at the base the same coming out at the top.
4. An additional buck converter in the upper head running from the D-Tap power supply allows the upper head to also be powered from the lower D-Tap port.

Note: The head can still be powered completely using POE including supplying 7.5v power to the camera system through the Barrell Aux port this has not changed but the limitation is the Max 30W draw.

The parts now allow for two variants of this head.

• WIFI and VISCA with POE
• WIFI only no VISCA electronics in the base but maintaining the video passthroughs and D-tap power supply options

General

Some of the parts have been updated to accommodate the above changes. Another change has been an improved tilt belt tensioner pulley mechanism. The two small bearings have been replaced by a small idler pulley and the supporting plastics have been strengthened.

Release 6 of the digital bird firmware .

• Release 6 is now available from GitHub and effects all parts of the digital Bird Software. key new features include the following.
• WIFI PTZ control for an additional camera system. You can know control 4 camera systems from the Digital Bird WIFI controller. Remember a camera system may include a slider or a JIB combined with a PTZ head.
• An additional 3 preset positions for each camera system you now have 9 presets per camera system.
• You can know utilise the two main program modes A-B and Sequencer as presets which can be accessed either from the Digital Bird WIFI controller or by calling preset 15 and 16 from OBS or vMix through VISCA. In order to use this new functionality you must first setup your programmed moves using the WIFI controller as you normally would. That done you simply call preset 15 or 16 either using the new buttons on the WIFI controller or through VISCA. You can also set these up in bounce mode to run in a loop.
• We now have an additional feature in the PTZ menu [ALL TO] This allows you to send all 4 cameras to a specific preset at the press of a button. Very handy when you want all the cameras to place there attention on a specific actor.
• The settings menu now gives you the ability to set the length of pause you desire both at the start and end of bounce moves and before the system returns to home at the end of programmed moves. The default is 1" but you can know configure this from 1-10"
• Various small bugs and fixes have been addressed however there always seems to be more work to do. As always let me no if you experience problems.

Build Videos

So why build this system, and not just go out and purchase a cheap $800 PTZ head?

1) Camera quality.

• A cheap PTZ head will probably come with a cheap camera which can only be used for one purpose. With the Digital Bird system I can mount a vastly superior camera system with any glass I choose.

2) Flexibility:

• The next day I can use the same camera system for a completely different task. Nothing is restricting my choices and I am investing in systems which can multitask.
• The Digital Bird system is just as much at home making product videos as it is filming on a live set or outside shooting timelapse. The same cannot be said for most stock PTZ cameras.

3) Expandability:

• The ability to build the Digital Bird head into larger more dynamic motion control systems using the mini Jib or slider and have them all work together as a much larger system offers so much more flexibility and is a feature many systems costing more than $3000 cannot match.