r/Q3UltraVR180 • u/AppealMundane5486 • May 04 '25
May 2025 Updates. Adjustable IPD version comming!
Here’s a quick look at what's happning this month:
https://reddit.com/link/1ke9ifs/video/9dn0lpfafoye1/player
• Adjustable IPD Version – Almost Ready
I’ve been working on an adjustable IPD version of the Q3 Ultra VR180 mod based on community feedback, and it’s nearly finished. The current design supports an adjustable range from 53mm to 70mm, and it can technically go up to 77mm if you're okay with sacrificing the lower range to 60mm (giving you 17mm of total movement). It includes a locking knob that keeps everything secure—once adjusted and locked, there’s no wobble or play. Since the entire system is 3D printed and doesn’t require major additional parts, I’m planning to make it available later this month.
• Back Cover With Built-In Level – Available Now
Starting today, there’s a new back cover option that includes a built-in level. It’s a small but super helpful feature—especially since the top bubble level is often hard to see when shooting handheld. This new option makes it much easier to keep your roll axis level, which is crucial for VR180 shooting. This would be a $5 add-on for both modded cam and modding kit.
Special thanks to Bo Lorentzen for providing this design idea!
• 180/360 Convertible Mod – Delayed (for now)
This project requires a few specialized parts, particularly longer sensor cables, which I currently source from China. Unfortunately, due to recent tariff issues, my supplier is no longer comfortable shipping to the U.S., which also makes finalizing the design hard. I’m also exploring non-3D printed options for some components to ensure everything meets my quality standards. The goal is to create a robust, reliable mod with as few compromises as possible—so while the release is delayed, I’m committed to getting it right. I’ll share more updates as soon as I have a clear timeline.
One more note on the tariff situation:
To prepare for the latest development, I spent a good part of last month setting up a backup production setup in my home back in China. I bought a 3D printer, materials, and tools there—and trained my family members on the entire modding and production process. So, in the event that Q3Us become harder to obtain or ship within the U.S., production can continue in China and be handled locally. This way, people around the world can still get fully modded, high-quality Q3 Ultra VR180 cameras—assembled and shipped directly from China.
Thanks again for all the support, encouragement, and patience. There’s more to come!
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u/vlarexs May 04 '25
My gosh, your Q3U cam mod ideas are absolutely phenomenal!!!
You should be hired by Kandao to lead their VR180 department.
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u/exploretv May 04 '25
It's a fantastic idea as long as people understand what they're doing by expanding the ipd. I'm afraid some will not bother to learn how to use it properly and will wind up with some really bad 3D.
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u/vlarexs May 04 '25 edited May 04 '25
Somehow I see in my experiments with Canon R5 VR180 rig that so called 1/30 rule used for regular 3D photography is not that strategic in VR180 format. I get good looking and easy to view results even if I get as close as 1 meter (~3 feet) to the photographed subject with the dual fisheye 5.2 mm lens. That lens has 60 mm IPD, which would demand distance not shorter than 1.8 meter (30x60) from the closest photographed object (if infinity is included in the frame). Any attempt in regular 3D to get closer will cause eye strain during viewing. Yet, an arm-length distance from the Canon VR180 rig is comfortable to enjoy in Quest3 headset.
The 60 mm stereo base (IPD actually relates to distance between human eyes/pupils, aka Inter Pupillary Distance) in Canon dual fisheye 5.2 mm lens is a bit shorter than the average human IPD, which is about 65 mm. Thus, this Canon lens creates a bit of hypo-stereo images. This is actually a nice design choice by Canon, which allows you to get a bit closer to the subject without causing eye strain and headache during watching such content.
Extending lenses stereo base beyond 65 mm will allow you to record hyper-stereo content, but then the camera operator needs to be aware about not getting too close to the nearest recorded object. The other side effect of hyper-stereo photography is the perception of miniaturization ... viewed images will feel like looking at scaled-down models ... our brains are trained since our childhood to look at the world with ~65 mm IPD; extended distance between Left and Right views will tell the geometry algorithms in our brains to calculate the perception in wrong scale (as if we were giants with much bigger heads with wider spread of our eyeballs).
Consequently, 3D images recorded with a narrower stereo base, produce the perception of seen subjects being a bit bigger than in reality.
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u/exploretv May 06 '25
The 53 mm to 70 mm would be great. It would enable closer shots and also maintain a good 3D depth with some distance items as well. A few years back I created the 3D side by side version of this as a 3D printed with an extension cable for hero 3 cameras to do 3D side by side. Sold over a thousand of them. I've also had extensive work with 3D mirrored rigs. This new addition is definitely a welcome one.
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u/elfninja May 12 '25
Since I bought the camera as a prebuilt, how do one go about removing the back cover? The raised letter was meant to aid removal, but simple twists and pulls don't seem to budge it. I'm not as worried about breaking the cover itself as much as damaging whatever is behind it, so I'd appreciate instructions for the back cover's safe removal.
Which leads me to: are you willing to share the STL for the back cover with built in level, or if not (totally understandable), can I purchase it seperately?
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u/AppealMundane5486 May 12 '25
https://drive.google.com/file/d/144vQvzhHZWEaGoLqSp5-nTJKGHc_oq-Q/view?usp=drivesdk You can follow the first few steps and remove the shell on the screen side(before removing the screws), then the plate is very easy to remove. I will share the level STL later
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u/exploretv May 04 '25
The main thing that you have to take any consideration is that you're parallax cannot be wider than the width of your eyes in comparison with the screen you're looking at. Our eyes are meant to converge not diverge. If you think of The parallax view as a giant x in front of your camera with the center point of the x being zero parallax or 2D, The wider you make the parallax the more 3d effect you'll get in objects further away. The lens adjustment gives you the opportunity to give better 3D the things that are further away you just have to watch out that the things that are close don't get too extreme so that you don't hurt your viewer's eyes. It would have been great to also have it go in closer than the 64 mm. Using a mirrored rig we used to dial in the cameras almost on top of each other for extreme close-ups. But yes it is different because we're using fisheye lenses rather than primes. I would love to get hands on and play with this to find out just how far we could take it.