Adi Soffer

Yep. Just what the title says: our own home made Perry. Pure delight!

In pt.1 I showed you the various parts you need in order to build your own dslr dolly.  Now let’s pause for a second and look at some shots…

OK, back to building the dolly. Once you put all the pieces together you get this

I spray painted the parts and got a much more elegant piece of equipment:

Better looking… 

In this photo the dolly carries something called a “Grip Action Ball Head”. This piece of hardware is quite a useful little thing since it’s able to carry the camera in angles that your average cam head cannot. It is especially useful in the dolly scenario since, as I wrote in pt.1, one of my plans was to build a dolly track. Now, this track can be used to create shots that actually look like crane shots. All you have to do is lean the tracks against a wall or what have you, create quite a steep diagonal route for the dolly, level the camera (this is where this “Action blah blah” comes in handy) and push it up or down the track. The results are really great as you can see in the video above. I’ve also included some shots of the track itself since it’s important to understand that the wheels are riding on top of the track, and do not fit into it. That is the only way your nuts and bolts do not interfere with the smooth motion of your dolly. I hope you find this helpful.

Everybody wants a dolly. We want the elegant movements and those dramatic shots. We want to reveal the details of the scene by doing a smooth maneuver, a gentle glide, or a encompassing shot that accentuates the depth of our set. 

Well, it’s possible and even easy to create your own “skater dolly”.  

Here are the parts I’ve used to build my own:

Before coming up with this very simple design I’ve done extensive research on the net. There are many “spider” or “skater” dollys out there. Some you can order, and some designs are simply shared generously by diy enthusiasts. The dollys all basically share a few common features and most look great. To me, the important considerations were

A) light weight,

B) small size, and

C) two sets of independent wheels.

This last feature allows one to easily maneuver the dolly and create interesting motions with the camera. I’ve also decided on 4 wheels (and not 3 as some designs carry), simply because I’ve also planned on creating dolly tracks and this would make it easier for me to build and also make the dolly more stable.

The easy stuff was the 4 skateboard wheels. I bought used ones (as long as they’re not scratched or chipped it’s fine) and attached 8 ball bearings (2 for each wheel, on either side). You can buy used ball bearings as well. After a complete night dunked in an oil can the sand and dust comes out and apart from being smelly from the oil they’ll probably work just fine. 

Next you need the “base” of the dolly: The piece to attach the camera and the wheels to. I looked for something that is strong yet light enough. It needed to be able to carry my camera (Lenses and maybe an attached lcd monitor) yet be small enough to be able to travel on my dinning table if needed (obviously for what I had in mind, it was needed). Aluminum, 31 by 6 by 3 cm (12 by 2.5 by 0.75 inch) seemed about right. It’s hollow, and I drilled 3 holes in it.

The middle hole is a standard 1/4” that all cameras and quick plates use. This is where the camera will attach, using a quick plate or a ball head. The other 2, each distanced 2.5 cm from the edge of the base, are for holding the wheel rods. I used 6mm screws there, so the hole is 6.5 mm.

And now for the rods that will hold the wheels. Once I had my head wrapped around the problem, it was only a matter of finding the right professional handy man, with the right professional tools. I used 2 29 cm (11.5 inch) aluminum rodes, 18 mm in diameter. These needed to be long enough to keep the dolly and camera stable (- but not to long so as to be able to make sharp turns) and thick enough to A) carry the equipment, B) Have a hole drilled in them right in the middle, 6.5 mm, and C) to have their ends made thinner in diameter so as to fit into the wheels (this of course means the rods aren’t hollow - unlike your typical rod supporters)

As you can see from the picture, three things are happening there:

1. I threaded the end, to be able to lock the wheel in place.

2. The diameter has been thinned to fit into the wheel.

3. Closest to the untouched rod, you see a “step”. This is in fact to complement the structure of the wheel. You can see the way it fits in the following picture.

OK, basically you just have to attach the thing, right?

… To be continued …

Here’s what’s called a “teaser” of coming attractions…

Working on my electronic follow focus built around an arduino nano v3.0.

The code part is done (well, at least until I’ve had a few shoots with it and than I’ll know how to improve it) and now I’m into the mechanical part of building, soldering, fitting it all together into an ugly plastic casing. The more I progress the more I’m certain that this model is the prototype, and that the next one will be more pleasing to the eye - a more refined version based on all the things I’ve learned during the past weeks. It’s amazing how much fun it is to solve problems, especially when each solution brings you closer to the thing you imagine. I’m also amazed by the collaboration this thing is fostering around the net. The forum over at www.arduino.cc is absolutely amazing and the members are gracious, helpful and fun. So - I’ve still some time to finish this (working my way through this while keeping my day job, you know) and I’ll update. Next post I’ll describe my diy dslr dolly. 

Here’s a link to a simple yet great idea - executed marvelously:

http://vimeo.com/41098710

DSLRs are a great thing. They enable one to create unprecedented imagery in unheard of before ease and budget. As they became popular, a demand for complementary accessories arose. Dollys, cranes, stabilisers and more.

The problem is, these things may cost more than your camera… Now, if I were a professional DP this would make a bit more sense - although why should a DP own a professional equipment that is usually rented per day is a question in itself. This question is even more pronounced for a professional director, right?

On the one hand, it’s great fun to be able to use these cameras, which are affordable - and more so - I believe that as a director it’s necessary for me to play around with cameras and lenses so as to better my understanding of my collaborators on the set. On the other hand - calm down - you do not really need a top of the line steadicam for your canon… or do you?

Well, it seems there is a middle way here. And it’s even more of a fun way! That is, if you’re not afraid of trying to tackle an idea - figuring out a solution only to learn that it’s the wrong one - trying again - designing - consulting - researching - losing your patience  - and finally building your next dream toy!

(and then building it again to make it even better and more beautiful… v1 …and than v2…)

So this is the way it’s working for me up until now:

I’ve designed and built my own dolly, used it in professional shoots, and than decided I needed a crane…

And so I’ve designed and built my own crane.

And than I decided I need an electronic follow focus… Now, these things cost a fortune! And if you want to build one you have to be able to handle both the mechanics and the electronic stuff. You probably need to have some knowledge of programming, right?

OK wait! I’m getting ahead of myself here. First thing’s first: Slowly but surely I will share my diy projects here. And I’ll start with my first one on my next post - the dolly.