Easy $40 Camera Dolly

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kene555
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Easy $40 Camera Dolly

Post by kene555 »

Well, I looked around at several designs, and they all seemed to be rather straightforward. However, there was alot of nonsense (IMO) about using these angles and 8 skateboard wheels. I came up with another way to do this, and it'll cost ya $40!

(Actually $37 with tax).

You need to get two poles (I got 2 poles for fences - 10 feet long at $9.50 each. Then, purchase a 2'X2' piece of floor board. This can be found in the floor section of your local Lowe's or Home Depot. It will be a few boards put together with a corrugated-type sheet of plastic on the bottom. About $6 here. Next up, wheels. I already had these at home - but you'll need 4. They're the general office chair wheels, you know, the plastic ones that look like 2 discs with a space between them - they'll need a metal base on top so you can connect them to the dolly. These run from 4 to 5 dollars per pair. Finally, a couple 2x4s (I had these too).

What you do is take this all home, then flip the flooring board so the wood is facing up. Mark off areas to screw the 4 wheels on - you'll want a uniform length from the edges for all, so no torquing will occur. Screw in the screws, so that the wheels are attached. After you have the wheels in place, you've got your dolly platform ready!

Next, get those 2x4s. You'll want to measure the diameter of the 2 poles, then drill in 2 holes in both 2x4s, an equal distance between both holes (The same distance that the wheels are apart on your dolly platform.) After you have your holes drilled in the 2x4s, you can slide in the 2 poles, then you can place the dolly platform on top - you should be good to go!

It's a simple thing to build - maybe an hour if you're good with tools.

Some pics to show it:

Image

Image

And the first video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB-7Fk0jX1k

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tB-7Fk0jX1k"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tB-7Fk0jX1k" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>


As you can tell, silky smooth movement. It's best if you have one person pushing the platform(I found it works best when pushed with another small slab of wood) and one person to operate the tripod. As you might see, it's rather difficult to push and use the tripod.

However, this is a great project, easy to build, and it can be disassembled quickly for movement to your next scene!
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Ornsack
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RE: Easy $40 Camera Dolly

Post by Ornsack »

Apart from the auto exposure etc, that panning shot looks amazingly professional!
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kene555
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RE: Easy $40 Camera Dolly

Post by kene555 »

Thank you very much! I just set the XL2 to auto so I could get a quick shot.

I will be using this tomorrow on a new vid, written by DarkElastic from the Orkney Movie Group for a contest I am entering.

I was really pleased when I watched it. You get that giddy feeling of accomplishment...and no one in your family understands what's so amazing about it!
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Zacatac927
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RE: Easy $40 Camera Dolly

Post by Zacatac927 »

i absolutely love 28 days later music... to the house... mmm


oh yeah and sick dolly, does it make any noise?
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kene555
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Post by kene555 »

No noise at all!

It's really quiet. And yeah, there's some great music from that movie. :D
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Post by Jperson »

You get that giddy feeling of accomplishment...and no one in your family understands what's so amazing about it!
Know 'zactly what you mean there. :D
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