Can the camera(s) be used to record a video of the laser while it's cutting?

It’s certainly a “nice to have” rather than a critical feature, but…

Can we record video of the laser using the built in camera?

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TBD. Since we’re paying for the cloud service (it’s free to you), we have to be mindful of the cost of streaming live video from thousands of Glowforges. : )

Why not just have it available as a URL like a typical tcp/ip camera. I would hate to blow away any data caps anyone has for data that can be sent direct locally.

I was kind of expecting this could be made available. Not necessarily live… I don’t mind if it’s made available as a local IP but it seems wasted that you have 2 cameras that we can’t watch back/promote GF on YouTube using them?

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I was really hoping for the video/timelapse option like I get out of my 3d printer as well. Another reason (of oh so many) I’m not a fan of this product being entirely dependent on cloud services. Having some kind of local interface would be great, the cloud is not ideal for everything, as you mentioned the cost of streaming/processing/storing videos for thousands of devices. That’s the kind of functionality that is best handled locally.

Why not just store the video files for only the last job and provide a link so users can choose to download the video or simply overwrite it. You could also limit users to only being able to make time laps video to reduce file size. At the very least it would be cool to be able to take stills with the wide angle and high rez cameras. I think having access to the cameras in the Glowforge would be a great asset. I was really hoping to be able to use footage from the on board cameras to start a YouTube channel. Think about it you would have tonnes of promotion across YouTube as soon as users start receiving their Glowforges.

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I would love to be able to take advantage of the onboard cameras if there’s a way to make it work without being too much of an imposition on the servers. A way to send it to a local machine, or only allow time lapse, or only allow the last job to be downloaded or any of the other suggestions here would be great.

I was thinking of just placing my iphone on the top of the glass and putting it into time-lapse mode.

It would actually be great if GF would give us some tips on recording the process, so we can post fun stuff on our social media channels.

Why not allow users to designate a directory on their home computer and record video of all jobs there (in addition to whatever is sent to the cloud)? No unnecessary streaming necessary, unless I’m missing something (which is entirely likely). :slight_smile:

For the open house they put a Go Pro inside the Glowforge and it was held at a downward angle by what looks like a laser cut acrylic stand. You could possibly do the same with a smartphone.

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I made that stand in the 15 min prior to opening the doors. In fact, if any of you were there, when I waved hi to everyone in line and ducked back inside at 6:15, it was to design, cut, and assemble the gopro stand. : )

Noted about wanting to share videos - we’ll see what we can do! I think it’s pretty cool too.

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share the designs, Dan! UGC gold right here!

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Perfect. Solves the problem without a design change. Thanks.