I need some Help. Need a good idea?

[RJB]

  Ok everybody.  I know there are some very smart and clever guys here on the Forum.  Heres what Ive got:   Last year I got me a super duper, most wonderful, most awesome, most spectacular, and hopefully most bestest crab concretion ive had in a very long time!!!  Even though I paid moneys for this concretion, I know EXACTLY where it came from, (locality wise), and its the easily the largest concretion Ive seen from that location, and also, and very sadly, that locality is now gated and posted and closed off to any and all collecting, which is why I paid so much for it.  Actually I got it for a good deal cause it was from a good freind of mine.  Anyways, Over the last few months Ive been preparing for the preparation of this very special concretion.  Ive cut out a certain size piece of plywood, ordered and received two clamp on lamps and then ordered and received a camera tripod.  I still have to get myself a decent camera for the tripod.  Now here is what I really need help with.   My plan is to take lots and lots of pictures and then in the end of prep put all those together in a time laps kinda thing.  My problem is:  How to always put the concretion in the exact same place and the exact same angle  each and every time I take a picture.  Ive lost sleep over  this!   My fingers are crossed.  

 

RB

[Harry Pristis]

You could build a pedestal of epoxy putty -- four thin rims, rather than a solid pedestal.  Tack or glue a flat edge (e. g. a section of a wood yardstick) with two small "V" notches cut into it.  On the epoxy putty back rim, add two points which will register with the yard stick "Vs".  Whatever you do to the concretion, you can always find the position where the teeth of the base lock into the "Vs" of the stick.  You can later knock of or grind off the epoxy base.

[Bobby Rico]

When I scene print I use registration  marks. If you mark you on your desktop and tripod for the camera. You should be able to place it in the same place. Sounds fun project 

[Bobby Rico]

If you find out in your photos it has moved. I could sort it out for you in photoshop,  it will look prefect.  

[RJB]

8 minutes ago, Harry Pristis said:

You could build a pedestal of epoxy putty -- four thin rims, rather than a solid pedestal.  Tack or glue a flat edge (e. g. a section of a wood yardstick) with two small "V" notches cut into it.  On the epoxy putty back rim, add two points with will register with the yard stick "Vs".  Whatever you do to the concretion, you can always find the position where the teeth of the base lock into the "Vs" of the stick.  You can later grind off the epoxy base.

I so wish you had a picture so I could better understand what  your describing?  Im a bit confuse but i sure do appreciate you trying.

 

 

5 minutes ago, Bobby Rico said:

When I scene print I use registration  marks. If you mark you on your desktop and tripod for the camera. You should be able to place it in the same place. Sounds fun project 

I dont plan on moving the tripod at all.  and im not sure about 'registration' marks?    I do thank you though.  Im now thinking about Harry's putty idea.

 

RB

[RJB]

4 minutes ago, Bobby Rico said:

If you find out in your photos it has moved. I could sort it out for you in photoshop,  it will look prefect.

You are too kind my friend.  I may take  you up on that.

 

RB

[Bobby Rico]

10 minutes ago, RJB said:

You are too kind my friend.  I may take  you up on that.

 

RB

Please do . If your tripod gets knocked you will want to put it back in the same place. So worth thinking about. Cheers Bobby 

[RJB]

1 minute ago, Bobby Rico said:

If your tripod gets knocked you will want to put it back in the same place

Oh man, I hadnt thought about the tripod moving!!! 

 

RB

[ynot]

Put a ring of wood (blocks) on the plywood to hold the concretion in place and put marks on the ring and concretion to make the alignment (they could be color coded).

Then just set the concretion in the ring and line up the guide marks.

[Mediospirifer]

And put marks on the floor for the position of the tripod feet.

 

Good luck! Sounds like a great project. 

 

[Fossil Claw]

screw one of those plastic shoe boxes you can get at the dollar store to your workbench.  Fill up a plastic shoe box with plastic lid full of great stuff foam.  use a bread knife to slice the phone even across the top of the opening of The box. After the t

[jpc]

What I want to know is how do you make a time lapse movie out of all the stills.  I would love to do this with some future prep project.  

 

[Kane]

5 minutes ago, jpc said:

What I want to know is how do you make a time lapse movie out of all the stills.  I would love to do this with some future prep project.  

 

Upload them to a GIF maker like this one: https://gifmaker.me/

[Fossilis Willis]

Maybe you could use the lamps, or at least the shadows thrown by conc? I'm thinking turn on one lamp, say the right side, and lightly trace the shadow cast on the left side onto the left side. Turn off one lamp, turn on the other and repeat. Then you just realign the shadows for your pictures. Unless the prep causes the shadows to change significantly. I guess it just depends on the angle of the light, how much rock you remove, and so on. I can't wait to see how it turns out. Another masterpiece I'm sure. Is this a pulalius vugaris from the lincoln creek formation?

[jpc]

ron- how about make a small notch at the bottom of the concretion with air scribe.  Then make a little box for it to sit in, then put a bit of plaster in box and set concrection in wet plaster, let set...natural mold.  It will always fit the exact same way.  Make sure you put saran wrap or Al foil between the conc and the wet plaster....  . 

[RJB]

On 4/8/2019 at 9:40 PM, jpc said:

What I want to know is how do you make a time lapse movie out of all the stills.  I would love to do this with some future prep project.  

Ive seen it done but I wont be doing it.  My middle son says its real easy. 

 

On 4/8/2019 at 3:30 PM, ynot said:

Put a ring of wood (blocks) on the plywood to hold the concretion in place and put marks on the ring and concretion to make the alignment (they could be color coded).

Then just set the concretion in the ring and line up the guide marks.

Thanks Tony.  Im really liking this idea

 

RB

[FossilDAWG]

How about drilling 3 shallow holes in the underside, and mounting 3 pegs or nails on a board, so the concretion can sit on the pegs in only one orientation?  The holes would have to be adjusted so the upper surface of the concretion would form a flat plane (no tilting allowed!), so the camera could have the whole surface in focus.  To get the holes in the right place, mount the pegs first, put some paint/ink/whiteout on the tips, and sit the concretion on top to mark where the holes should be placed.

 

Don

[RJB]

2 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

How about drilling 3 shallow holes in the underside, and mounting 3 pegs or nails on a board, so the concretion can sit on the pegs in only one orientation?  The holes would have to be adjusted so the upper surface of the concretion would form a flat plane (no tilting allowed!), so the camera could have the whole surface in focus.  To get the holes in the right place, mount the pegs first, put some paint/ink/whiteout on the tips, and sit the concretion on top to mark where the holes should be placed.

This is exactly what I was very first thinking but I hated the idea of drilling holes into such a nice rock even though it would be underneath.    Im still not sure what im gunna do but thanks to all of you I have lots to think about.  Im not in a hurry with this project.  I just want to try and do it right, in my mind anyways.

 

RB

[Mediospirifer]

I'll second jpc's idea with a plaster mold. The mold doesn't have to be large, and you could trim it to a size that doesn't show in a top-down camera view.

 

Heck, you could make a mold wider than the fossil, then cut it down into a rectangular pedestal and sketch guide marks on the fossil that match guide marks on the mold. Draw a line for the edge of contact, with cross-lines that only line up one way (e.g. one cross-line on one side, two on the other). Then epoxy the mold to your platform.

 

Good luck!