I saw someone mention the book "Killer Camera Rigs That You Can Build " in another post so I went and found the website: http://www.dvcamerarigs.com/

I was wondering if anyone has purchased this book, and if they like it. What kind of results they got, and if they would recomend it.

thanks.

It isn't looking too professional in my opinion. The stabalizer
isn't a full on steadicam, that's for sure. I have only scanned the
first couple of pages on the site...

If you have bought this book, are you satisfied with the equipment you have built?

Hi guys,

I wrote "Killer Camera Rigs" so let's get that out of the way. As far as the stabilizer goes, most like it better than other hand-held units like glidecam because it uses bearings in the handle to isolate wrist movement. I can't comment too much on the look of the rigs:

"It isn't looking too professional in my opinion"

I designed them so just about anybody can build them with materials that are readily available. What I think is important, and what I focused on, is the what the shots look like, not what the rigs look like. Volume II will have a full rig with vest and arm.

A quick glance at the Quicktime movies on the site http://www.dvcamerarigs.com/killercontents.html

will show you the results you can get without much guessing about the quality of the rigs. You can also take a look at reviews from various magazines:

http://www.dvcamerarigs.com/Reviews.html

There are also comments from builders at:

http://www.dvcamerarigs.com/praise.html if you want to check out what other filmmakers are saying.
If you'd like to see what the pros say about the book:

http://www.dvcamerarigs.com/ProQuotes.html

Out of hundreds of books sold, I've yet to receive one negative e-mail on it's quality. Quite the opposite. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions you have. I think the worst thing that could happen is that you buy the thing and let it sit on the shelf. I want people to use these rigs, so I'm always available via e-mail to help with any problems or questions you might have with building or using the equipment in "Killer Camera Rigs That You Can Build". I have no influence on what book reviewers say, so you might want to take a look there first for an objective opinion from people that have read the book.

All my best,

Dan Selakovich
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Hi Dan!

I'd like to take a moment to explain a few things. As you can
see this thread is almost a year old and things change. One thing
is that I've read a couple of your posts and responses from other
people regarding your book.

Everyone seems to be pleased indeed. And having the author
around (which I don't think you where back when this thread
started?) is a definite plus! So thank you for that.

"It isn't looking too professional in my opinion"

I made this remark last year I think for the following reasons: I think the website is not looking professional. It kind of says (in my very humble opinion) "buy this! buy this!" which I usually don't like myself. For this I like Cody's site (http://www.codydeegan.com/) better since it gives you an insight in the plans etc.
It did not show any vest or arm (which from your response seems to be in the next book [great!] and not in the "old" one) which ofcourse, as you know, will not perform as well as a full system. Ofcourse a full system will cost much more as well!All in all I just didn't gave a good impression of perhaps what is
a great book (I can't say since I haven't read it). Especially the
website in my opinion.

Perhaps this is just me, but that was the reasoning behind me
not being too enthusiastic. The website being the main reason.
It just screams too much like a lot of scam sites (I'm definitely
not saying that about you or your book!). That always seems
to "scare" me, you know?

In the end your responses to this and other threads and your
support on this board have removed those fears/doubts for
me and I would be happy to point someone to your book with
the note they should thoroughly look at it before buying (but
everyone should do that with everything they buy in my opinion).

So again thank you for your support here and from what I read
in another thread regarding your new book it sounds interesting!

I would however seriously look at your website, personally.

Thanks.

I stand corrected! Didn't see the date, sorry. Actually, most people LOVE the site. I get e-mails every week from people that don't want the book, but comment on the site. I guess there are a lot of film noir fans out there. Most of the comments are on the "fun" of the site, and like it because it doesn't look "corporate". Besides, the 3rd printing of the book goes to press this month, so I must be doing something right. The "buy me, buy me" stuff is all in good fun, but I understand. I don't like those sites either. I was attempting to make fun of them. Guess it didn't come across as well as would have liked. But I DO appreciate your comments. Really.

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Dan,

I loved your website! I am not in "the biz" and only do home movies and family special events, but I was thinking of buying your book for the rig that allows you to shoot from a low angle (I think it was called the Pooper Scooper Cam). We have an 8 month old son (speaking of poop), and I am always following him around taping him getting into all kinds of mischief. Is that rig mobile? Or would you recommend using a Steadi Cam. I am using an original Canon Elura, so it's pretty light, but I could definitely use some help with the close-to-the-ground shots.

Thanks!

-Patrick

Hi Patrick,

The pooper-scooper cam is for you! It's as mobile as it gets. You wouldn't be the first to build it to get shots of their toddlers. It doesn't get easier to use; It'll take about 2 minutes. If all you need it for is baby shots, you could probably even build it without the spring (it absorbs shock of sudden bumbs. For example, I was haning out a car window with the rig to get a low angle of tires and the street while buzzing down Hollywood blvd.) I've also had people put the camera on the bottom of the Shock Corridor Stabilizer for their baby cam. As with everyone that orders the book, I'm always available via e-mail to help. Besides, who knows, you might get the film bug and start building the cranes and dollies before you know it!

All my best,

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

I guess it's abit late for me to post this but I just ordered the book myself. I have no experience in building stuff but an architecture student friend of mine (we're both USC students btw) has agreed to help me build them. I read a lot of reviews on the book already and I'm convinced this is what I need.

I have a Sony HVR-Z1U and will be using Redrock Micro's lens adapter. Dan, I hear you prived workshops at USC and stuff. I would love to meet you personally and discuss more. :-)

Hi Martin,

I think you'll be pleasantly gobsmacked about how easy I've made the rigs to build (1,334 step-by-step photos). I get e-mails all the time from people who've had no building experience that are successful. In fact, the most used rigs in the book around here; the dolly combined with the "Killer's Kiss Crane" are also the easiest to build. I'd start with these. (I almost never use my tripod any more)!

I thought I was suppose to teach my frighteningly successful NAB seminar "Finding the Right Shot" at the USC summer film program this year, but I guess it fell through. If you'll e-mail me, maybe we can set up a time to meet. I'm pretty busy trying to get "Son of Killer Camera Rigs" finished, but I think I can carve out some time.

All my best,

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Dan,

Can you give us some insight about "Son of Killer Camera Rigs". How many projects are in it and what kind of equipment do you have in it? Thanks for your time and your books!

Hi Adam,

Among other things: a full steadicam rig (vest/arm), a tire dolly with crab wheels, teleprompter, Mic shock mount with boom pole (and no, it's not made out of PVC pipe!), motorized pan and tilt for the cranes if I can get the price down (it's hard making a cheap one that's speedy, quiet, and can hold some weight!), and a few other surprises if I can fit them into this volume. I don't know when it will be ready. It should have been done by now, but I still work in the "industry" if something interesting comes along. Currently I'm helping Erika Lopez get her novel "Flaming Iguanas" to the screen. Wish us luck!

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Dan,
I bought your book a few months ago and have had a great time working through it. I just stumbled across this thread and wanted to add my two cents.

I found that the rigs are easy to build for any skill level and your instructions are crystal clear. You do a great job making these tools accessible to anyone with the time and initiative to build them. After hitting the local hardware store's scrap bin for plywood and finding free set of used wheels on craigslist (yes - it's as easy as it sounds if you live in a metro area) I was able to build the Dark Passage Dolly for under $30. It is smooth and quiet and only took me a few hours to assemble.

One of your crane designs is next on my to-do list, and I have to say I can't wait to see your pan/tilt head plans. Maybe your new book will be done by the time I finish the crane? Please keep up the good work.

Best,
Erik

Hi Erik,

Thanks so much for the kind words! The next project should definitely be the "Killer's Kiss Crane" to go on that dolly! While I'm sure most get the book for the stabilizer plans, around here the dolly/Kiss crane combo are used 90% of the time. I'll even use this combo when doing a static shot because it's so easy to do, say, an over the shoulder then push in for a close up without having to reset a tripod. It take a little longer to set up the track, etc. but once you've got it, shooting goes a lot faster in the end.

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Dan,

I hope all things are going well. Did you have a good holiday season? What is the status of your next book, "Son of the Killer Camera Rigs"? Is there a chance to pre-order it before it is released?

Adam

I've also been looking at getting this book. I was wondering what kind of weight these rigs can hold. I have a XH-A1 that's something like 6 or 7 lbs. would this camera work with these rigs?

Hi Adam,

I've been so freakin' busy lately (still work in the industry, and gearing up to do a film of my own), that I've been thinking of offering the plans for the next book individually as a PDF download as I get them finished and get them back from the "beta builders". The total book would be a bit more expensive this way, but you could also pick and choose which plans you want. What do you guys think?

Kevin,

7 pounds isn't a problem. I just got off a shoot where we used the new Canon HD camera fully loaded down: much heavier than 7 pounds. The only rigs I wouldn't recommend are the stabilizer, which is hand held (it would hold the camera, but could you hold the stabilizer!) and the touch of evil cam, which anything over 2.5 pounds would be possible, but a hassle.

Best,

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Thanks for letting me know. I would be interested in the PDF format. Like you said you could pick an choose which ones you wanted. And for someone like me I can buy one when I have time to actually build it and wouldn't have a whole book of things I might not get around to building for a while.

I'm so glad to hear that. It would really leave me a lot more time to work on my own films as well!!!

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Well just ordered the book. I'll be looking for it in the mail in the next couple of weeks. Would like to see the rest of the stuff you have if you put it up for download on the web.

Well just ordered the book. I'll be looking for it in the mail in the next couple of weeks. Would like to see the rest of the stuff you have if you put it up for download on the web.

Couple of weeks! Try the next few days! I'm sure you'll get a ton of use out of it. We sure do around here! I'll let everybody know about the downloads as soon as they become available.

Thanks a million,

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Got the book today. Looks really nice. Thanks, I just need to figure out what I want to build first. I'm having a problem finding the square aluminum though. Guess I'll have to call a few places tomorrow.

The download option sounds good to me. Good luck on your film.

Got the book today. Looks really nice. Thanks, I just need to figure out what I want to build first. I'm having a problem finding the square aluminum though. Guess I'll have to call a few places tomorrow.

Make the dolly and the Killer's Kiss crane to go on it first!!! I'm shooting a film right now, and am completely overwhelmed, but if you can't find the square tube aluminum this week, I'll give you some help when I finish up the shoot on 1/22. BTW, I'll be using the killer's kiss dolly combo for 90% of the shots, so it's a pretty handy combo to have!

Best,

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

I have had the book for several months, and am very very pleased with it. I will probably only end up building a few of the rigs, but each one of them would easily save me way over the cost of the book. The ideas that Dan has come up with for the rigs are very functional, and so, so simple. I was particularly impressed with the idea for the gimble unit on the stabilizer, very clever indeed. As stated previously, they may not look as good as their 10-times-the-cost counterparts, but they do get the shots done very nicely. I am very eagerly awaiting the "Son of Killer Camera Rigs."

Thanks Eric! I just finished shooting my short "It Ain't Easy Bein' Dead" and if I uploaded it correctly, here's a photo of Mike Ferris (one of the top operators in Hollywood) using the dolly with the short jib; "The Killer's Kiss Crane". I've never upload a photo to DVinfo, so I hope it shows up!

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Hey Dan - I sent you an email about this a while back but never received a reply - Big fan of your book by the way.

Would you happen to have any video from your "Touch of Evil" rig in action?

Sorry Ari, you must have gotten lost. I get tons of spam, even with double filters working! Would you mind shooting me an e-mail today so I can make sure it's not marked as spam? dan@dvcamerarigs.com I always answer all e-mails.

The short answer to your question is 'no'. The original footage I had gotten was lost in a hard drive crash, and there is a whole DV tape missing of all the rigs in action (which really sucks, as I didn't get them all uploaded!!!). It's obviously a curse at work! The original shot took 4 people to accomplish: crane up a building, move across the roof, and crane down the other side: following a character climbing the fire escape, across the roof and climbing down the other side. I'd like to redo that shot instead of just throwing anything up, and getting myself and everybody else coordinated with the weather hasn't been easy! The secret of the Touch of Evil cam is that it is a helium balloon rig. There are obvious limitations to it: if it's breazy out, it can be a mess unless you use the wind to your advantage. A 2.5 pound camera takes about 10 3' balloons. Heavier cameras obviously need more. If you want to do a shot down a hallway, it's got to be a pretty big hallway! On the other hand, it can add AMAZING production value to your film if conditions are right. Hope this helps!

Best,

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

I just built The Killer's Kiss Crane. Works great. This book is very nice to have. Now I just have to find the time to build the dolly. Been having a hard time finding the L brackets but found some others that might work but are kind of narrow. I can't wait to get it all put together.

Hi Kevin,

You don't have to use the L-brackets. You can use any angle (L shape) aluminum or steel and run them the entire length of the dolly. In fact, your bed is probably sitting on angle steel. Take a hacksaw to it! You just need to be careful drilling the holes for the axles. Make sure they are ALL the same distance from the bottom edge of the angle or your dolly will wobble. To attach it to the platform, use smaller bolts than in the book. 1/4" or a little bigger along 4 spots on each side. When drilling into steel, aluminum, etc. MAKE SURE YOU CLAMP YOUR WORK!!! If the bit catches the steel will go spinning into your flesh if it's not clamped down.

The advantage of using angle the entire length of the dolly is it will hold a lot of weight without having to double up on the plywood. The disadvantage is you can't take the brackets off and move them to a different size platform. I have 3 platforms: a 12"x12", 24"x24", and a 3 foot by 2 foot that uses angle. I'll upload a photo of the one with the angle, so you see what I'm talking about. It uses a razor scooter as a handle and has scooter wheels. The only reason I'm using the larger scooter wheels is I found them on sale super cheap.

E-mail me if you have any questions: dan@dvcamerarigs.com

Oh, one more thing: those are the pant leg sand bags in the book that I'm using as dolly stops!

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

I also bought your book, Dan, a few weeks ago. (I even took it to Cancun to read while on vacation :) Me and my wife are really impressed with it!

We love that you've laid all the plans, large photos, and easy (and fun!) to read instructions. And we finally finished building a dolly! (People at work teased us as the dolly looked like a skateboard for a very big kid! We were building our rig at the back of a restaurant.)

We had some setbacks (finding bolts with the threads running all the way through; going to Home Depot, instead of Ace True Valu where people actually help you!), but we finished building it in under 4 hours. We bought some pipe, and flanges, to act as a handle for the dolly as well. The dolly came out to be 35" by 4 foot (so we can fit it inside our trunk).

Then my wife just finished sewing up 5 sandbags! She's proud of those too cause they look like production bags (blue canvas bought from Hobby Lobby). She didn't use the plastic, instead she reinforced the bags by lining them with more canvas; and she insists it's better than yours :) (Don't worry Dan, I don't think she'll be writing any how-to-books anytime soon :)

Anyway, just wanted to thank you! I highly recommend this book to any creative person willing to try to build something simple, yet simply amazing.

--JA

Hi Jeff,

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Yeah, Home Depot has been really bad since they sold to somebody else. Even for things like BOLTS for gosh sakes!

Tell your wife no worries! Feel free to improve on any design! I actually love it when people use the plans as a base to make the rigs to fit their needs. A filmmaker in the UK couldn't find the parts for the crane attachment, so he used the front fork of a bicycle. Brilliant! Plus it's so great to hear you are making sandbags. They aren't very sexy, so I think most put them on the bottom of the list. They really should be the first thing everyone makes! (Especially if you can't drive down the road and rent them like here in Los Angeles). Like c-stands, you seem to never have enough!

If you want to put different handle on the dolly, a razor scooter handle works great (even folds down to fit in your trunk). Shoot me an e-mail ( dan@dvcamerarigs.com ) and I'll show you how.

The killer's kiss crane is a great little jib. I hope you'll build that next and stick it on the dolly! There's a photo of Mike Ferris, one of the top operators in Hollywood, using it on my last shoot earlier in this thread.

Keep up the great work! I'm always a little disapointed when people buy the book and let sit on the shelf. Keep building and send me a copy of a movie when you finish it! (cause that's what it's all about, right?)

Best,

Dan

Thanks for the support Dan!

We're actually taking the dolly out to beautiful Monument Valley and shoot our very first documentary. I'm still thinking about building the Killer's Kiss Crane and attach it on the dolly, like you suggested, but we may not have time (or materials, since Monument Valley is the middle of nowhere--it's kinda like being in a Home Depot minus the beautiful scenery...yeah, I'm never gonna let that one go :)

Speaking of C-stands, I'm currently looking around the web for some. Not living in the valley anymore, I could easily go to Wooden Nickle and pick up a used, beat up one. Do you happen to know anyone/company that's selling 'em? Preferably with arms and knuckles?

--JA

Speaking of C-stands, I'm currently looking around the web for some. Not living in the valley anymore, I could easily go to Wooden Nickle and pick up a used, beat up one. Do you happen to know anyone/company that's selling 'em? Preferably with arms and knuckles?
--JA

Let me just say Wooden Nickel rocks! Unfortunately the only place I know of is ebay. They've got a few listed--most without arms and knuckles, but there are a few. There's also a penny saver like rag for film equipment. I can't for the life of me remember the name, but I'll put my thinking cap on and try to come up with it. Maybe they have an on-line version.

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

My only issue from the samples: Poor dog : (

I'm glad this post popped up recently or I never would've known about this book. Looks really good. I'm curious if anyone's ever mounted an xha1 with lex adapter on the stabilizer in the book. Would it be too much weight? Thanks.

BTW the crane looks amazing.