Create a Mini Studio using Raspberry Pi

This project will guide you on how to build your own Raspberry Pi Mini Studio to capture studio-quality photos. By the end of this project, you will have your own portable Raspberry Pi Camera set up and ready to capture object images and process the images to perform the necessary adjustments to obtain studio-quality images. The box serves as an imitation background to an actual studio which would enable the Pi Camera to showcase its full capabilities. 

Hardware Required:

1. Raspberry Pi 3B+
2. Raspberry Pi M12 HQ Camera
3. M12 8mm Portrait Lens
4. Raspberry Pi 15-pin Camera FFC Cable - 1 meter
5. 18cm USB LED Light Portable Tube Strip Mount
6. 12mm Momentary Push Button - Green
7. 12mm Momentary Push Button - Red
8. White Seamless Paper
9. Double-sided tape
10. Large Cardboard box W x L x H (30cm x 45cm x 30cm)

Startup Guide:

This YouTube tutorial will be guiding you through the process of setting up and initializing the Raspberry Pi Camera Module. Learn how to make the necessary connections and get your camera module up and running in no time. Watching this is recommended for those without any prior experience with using Raspberry Pi.

Code:

You will need to connect the Raspberry Pi to a monitor, mouse, and keyboard in order to start programming.

Once everything is set up, you can save this code as RPiStdio.py.

You can rename the code as anything you want as long as it ends with .py.

Below is the code:

Hardware Connection:

The 3.5-inch TFT Touchscreen LCD can be connected directly to the top of the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins. It should fit perfectly, with the edges aligned with the Raspberry Pi itself. The green start button should be connected to GPIO pin 16 and to the ground pin. The red stop button should be connected to GPIO Pin 26 and to the ground pin as well. The camera cable should be connected as how it was demonstrated in the YouTube video above.

It is important to note that just plugging the LCD will not work for the first time (you will get a white screen only) unless you have done some coding in Raspbian OS. Below are the very easy steps on how to install a 3.5-inch LCD on Raspberry Pi.

1. Ensure that your Raspberry Pi is connected to a monitor.
2. Turn on your Raspberry Pi (Power On).
3. Open the terminal on the Raspbian desktop, and type the following commands.

You can also revert the Raspberry Pi’s view back to monitor from the LCD by executing the following commands in the terminal.

With that said, you can also rotate your view on the LCD display by entering the following commands in the terminal.

3D Model for Raspberry Pi Casing:

You can 3d print your own Raspberry Pi casing that is capable of housing all the wiring, cables, and buttons that are required for this project.

You can download the STL file for this 3D model here: Raspberry Pi 3B+ Casing.

Hardware Assembly:

1. Tape the bottom of your box up. Ensure that it is tightly sealed.
2. Measure up all the dimensions and sides of the box and mark them out on your white seamless paper.
3. When marking out the dimensions on your white seamless paper, you have to consider the curved edges of the paper at each corner of the box when you are trying to stick it into your box.
4. Another consideration to make when cutting up the seamless paper is to make the cut as straight as possible to ensure even coverage.
5. Make the on your seamless paper to cover all the walls of your box. This ensures that the mini studio will have a white background throughout the entire mini studio.
6. Use double-sided tape to stick your white seamless paper on the walls of your box.
7. Once you are done sticking, you have to measure and mark out where you wish to place your LED light sticks inside your mini-studio.
8. Drill holes and mount the LED light sticks respectively.
9. Then mount your Pi Camera onto a fixed position in your box to ensure that the angle of your camera remains consistent.
10. Connect all your hardware to a power source and your mini-studio is now completed.

Demonstration Video:

You may also view the demo here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/YYyXZvBzhVayi7UL7

User Manual:

All your images will be saved under the naming format: “test_ImageCounter_TimeStamp.png”

An example of this would be: “test_1_18072023_113710.png”

Results:

Once you capture your object images, you should expect to see your photos look similar to what is shown below.

• When you click on the green button, an image will be captured.
• The program will continue running until you click on the red button to stop the program.
• Each image taken will be saved under a unique name using an image counter and timestamp.

The image attached above is the image taken without any image processing settings implemented onto the Raspberry Pi Camera Module.

This image is the image taken with all the image processing settings as shown in the program code.