Tag: 3D printing

Accell USB-C VR Adapter Under-Desk Mount

I recently purchased my first VR headset! It’s a Samsung HMD Odyssey+, one of the Windows Mixed Reality sets from a few years ago which I bought second-hand. It may not be spectacular, but it’s good enough to noodle around in Beat Saber every now and again.

There’s just one problem – my desktop is against the wall, and it’s a real pain to reach around to the back of the PC to plug in the headset. Not to mention that the added distance from the back of the PC to the front of the desk uses up a significant portion of the cable length and reduces your play area accordingly.

To fix this issue I ended up buying a VR breakout adapter which connects to the USB-C port on my GPU and splits into the HDMI and USB 3.0 ports required for the headset. Now I’m going to integrate it into my desk by building a 3D printed under-desk mount.

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By Dave Madison, ago

Guitar Hero X-Plorer USB-C Mod

When the sixth generation of video games consoles were released in the mid 2000s, console manufacturers began the process of transitioning from wired to wireless controllers. Both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 came with wireless controllers but offered wired options for gamers still reluctant to move on from the bulky tethers of yore. Similarly, many 3rd party controller manufacturers were hesitant to switch to the new wireless systems and only offered their controllers with bulky, permanently attached cables.

One such controller is the Guitar Hero X-Plorer, an Xbox 360 rhythm controller made by RedOctane. Modeled after a Gibson Explorer, the X-Plorer was released with Guitar Hero 2 and is still a popular choice today for Guitar Hero and Clone Hero players. It comes with a permanently attached 10 ft. USB cable that is great for playing from the couch, but is long and unwieldy when sitting at a desk.

To solve this problem, I’m going to remove the cumbersome USB cable and replace it with a sleek and modern USB-C jack.

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By Dave Madison, ago

Building DIY Split-Flap Displays

It’s incredible how far display technology has come. Nowadays LED walls are found at every major concert venue, flat panel televisions are ubiquitous, and everyone has a high resolution, full color LCD display in their pocket. It’s difficult to imagine that just a few short decades ago it was a struggle to create a large, dynamic display for an economical price.

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By Dave Madison, ago

3D Printed Light Stand PSU Mount

For my latest project I needed to film some footage in front of a greenscreen so I purchased some additional lighting: a pair of Neewer 660 LED video lights. These lights are a great budget option for videography but there’s one problem: the power supply. To drive the matrix of 660 individual LEDs the lights come with a standalone 15V, 3A power supply “brick” which connects to the unit via a barrel jack on the back. When the lights are raised up on a light stand this power supply dangles, only supported by the barrel jack and the soldered power wires within. This stresses the barrel jack and the power supply’s wiring which makes it more prone to failure.

To solve this problem, I designed and built a 3D-printed light stand mount for the Neewer 660 light’s power supply.

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By Dave Madison, ago

Modifying an RC Controller to Play Forza Horizon

I’ve always been fascinated by RC cars. The dynamics, the engineering, the speed… all wrapped up in a package that you can hold in one hand. Almost more than the cars themselves I’ve always loved the remotes. Ever since I watched Back to the Future and saw that awesome modded Futaba remote I’ve been captivated by the possibilities contained in one of those mystical black boxes. I was playing a racing game the other day when the idea came to me: what if I could modify an RC controller to control a racing game?

And just like that, I decided to convert an RC controller into a gamepad to play Forza Horizon 4.

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By Dave Madison, ago

Building McCree’s Belt Buckle from Overwatch

I decided to try my hand at building my own version of McCree’s belt buckle from Overwatch! I used references from the game in order to create a comprehensive digital model which I then 3D printed, smoothed, molded, cast, mounted to a buckle blank, painted, and weathered. Start to finish (and with lots of breaks in-between!), this entire process took me a little over three years to complete.

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By Dave Madison, ago

McCree’s Belt Buckle: Conclusion

Phew. Three years (three years?!?) and a lot of sweat, sanding, and tears later, I finally have a finished belt buckle! To be honest it turned out much better than I expected. There are of course some issues with it and things I wish I could have done differently, but the final prop itself is fit, functional, and looks the part. I may be biased, but I really do think my version of McCree’s buckle is one of best I’ve seen.

It was quite a journey to get to this point, and there were lessons learned for every step along the way. The buckle is done! Now it’s time to sit back, relax, and figure out what worked well for this build – and what didn’t.

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By Dave Madison, ago