Preparing a sleeve

Import an STL or OBJ, align the camera direction, and trim the underside before building a mount.

Import a source mesh#

Choose Import sleeve STL / OBJ. Mount Maker reads ASCII or binary STL and polygon-mesh OBJ. Imported geometry is interpreted in millimeters. There is no automatic unit or axis conversion; compare the reported dimensions to your real camera before continuing.

OBJ materials, textures, and imported normals are ignored. Triangles, quads, and flat concave polygons are supported. Triangulate curved surfaces or non-flat polygons in the source application before exporting them.

Check the source#

The sleeve must be one connected, consistently oriented, closed surface. Open edges, detached surfaces, inconsistent winding, and degenerate faces can stop an import. Repair these in the source mesh application and export again.

Some unambiguous edge-touching contacts from older CAD meshes receive a tiny automatic cleanup, reported by the app. That cleanup is not a general repair system: it does not fill open holes or join unrelated parts.

Align the sleeve#

Point the camera lens along the teal CAMERA FRONT +Y arrow, with the camera top facing up along +Z.

Use the 90-degree shortcuts for rough alignment.
Refine the orientation with the X, Y, and Z sliders or decimal fields.
Use the 0.1-degree nudge controls for small corrections.
Orbit around the sleeve and confirm the lens direction and underside.

The arrow is a fixed guide. It never becomes part of the model or STL.

Trim the underside#

Position the horizontal cut plane below the useful sleeve material. Amber striped shading shows the portion that will be removed. Review it from several angles before applying the cut; moving the plane alone does not cut the model.

Prepare a flat underside with solid material where the sleeve will meet its support. Check that the cut preserves camera-retaining features and does not open an unwanted cavity.

Each cut incorporates the current alignment and resets the angle controls for the next adjustment. The preparation recipe keeps those operations in order, so undo and reopening a project reproduce the result.

Save it for reuse#

Choose Save sleeve and enter a name, author, camera compatibility, notes, and license or attribution details. Separate multiple camera model names with commas so each can appear in the camera filter.

Saving from Mount still captures only the prepared sleeve. It does not include the generated base, mount angle, access cuts, or drone settings.

Use Edit preparation to revisit a library sleeve. Start again from original sleeve clears its alignment and cuts so you can prepare the embedded source afresh. Undo restores the previous preparation.

Respect the source license#

Only redistribute source geometry you have permission to share. A sleeve's attribution and license fields record the author's information; Mount Maker does not independently verify compatibility or licensing.

Continue with Action camera mounts to build a base under the prepared sleeve.