I'd like to see some pics of your homemade dolly's. I'm sure others would probably be interested in them too.

I'd like to see dolly's with tracks and dolly's without tracks.

I'd also like to hear the pro's and con's about your dolly setup.

Thanks,
Eric

http://sunens.uqac.ca/~jparchib/AlbumAVA/photos/photo_4.html
http://sunens.uqac.ca/~jparchib/AlbumAVA/photos/photo_8.html
http://sunens.uqac.ca/~jparchib/AlbumAVA/photos/photo_23.html
http://sunens.uqac.ca/~jparchib/AlbumAVA/photos/photo_41.html

Pros:
- Easy to build
- Easy to operate
- Very smooth
- cost less than 100$
- PVC pipes (track) are readilly available in any hardware store, so I can expand the tracks to any distance

Cons:
- One set of wheels on each corner is not enough to avoid little bump at the joint point. I sould add one more set.
- Hard to pan for more than 120 degrees. the plate dosen't allow the operator to turn with the camera.

Jean-Philippe,

Looks like a good setup... Do you have any closups of the wheels?

How did you build the wheel setup?

How do you keep the track straight so the dolly doesn't bind up in places?

Thanks
Eric

The track in that dolly is PVC conduit - much more rigid and less flexible than traditional pvc tubing. As long as the wheels are equidistant and aligned, you'll have no problems with binding.

Some closeups

http://sunens.uqac.ca/~jparchib/photos/wheel1.jpg
http://sunens.uqac.ca/~jparchib/photos/wheel2.jpg

Really simple. 3 steel plates welded together.

As Patrick said, the tracks are solid conduits. You drop it on the floor, and since the wheels are at equal distance, when you roll on it, the tracks adjust automatically to the right distance and stay here as long as the dolly is on it.

Jean-Philippe,

Thanks so much for posting some pictures of the wheels. I'll have to see if i can find some angle iron or go to a local welding shop and bring your pictures to them and have them build some for me.

Thanks again!

Eric

In my experience PVC pipe is not suitable outside on uneven ground. The dolly bucks and yaws about. Use steel pipe. Simple sleepers can be made to transverse lumps and bumps on the ground and keep the rig stable and level.

To solve the PVC problem, you can attach them to strips of lumber. The big advantage of PVC, is that you can connect them together without getting that tell-tale bump at each section! When attached to lumber, you can use apple boxes to raise them up a bit to keep your tracks out of the snow (damn, that looks cold!).

Dan Selakovich
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Dan,

Not too cold! These pictures was taken in march 2004, so in the last part of the winter... must be about -10 celcius. In January, temperature often drop to about -40 celcius here. That is REALLY cold.

Today, it is about 25 celcius, and the rest of summer is pretty warm, often close to 35.

-40 to +35 in only a few months :-) That's the good thing with a cold winter like this. You really appreciate the summer comming :)

Good Lord! When it gets down to 60 here in L.A., people are breaking out the parkas!

Dan

I've just built a dolly system (straight out of Dan Selakovich's book).

At first, just with PVC pipe was ok, then screwed it to wood, made two sleepers per length (one at each end) and made up a whole load of wedges for uneven ground. Also, each section is joined by slotting in wooden dowel which happens to be a perfect fit for the pvc pipe.

It's a really smooth rig, although I think I made the base plate a little small, only a tripod can be placed on it, but hey, what's a piece of ply ? Also, I used thinner ply than suggested, but doubled it up so that the top sheet has a series of large holes in to fit the tripod legs.

Declan,

so where are the pics? :)

Eric

So Eric,

You never heard of the famous Charles king's web site Home Built Stabilizers (http://www.homebuiltstabilizers.com) ?

It's THE internet source for pictures of homemade camera stuff!

Look at the dollies gallerie: http://www.homebuiltstabilizers.com/greydollies.htm

(By the way Charles, my full rig stabilizer isn't on your site anymore?!? :-) )

Jean-Philippe,

No, I haven't heard of that site but thanks for sharing! I browsed through it and it's very cool to see what other enthusiasts are doing!

Eric

You're welcome!

Yes good idea. You can brace your pvc with lumber, wood or timber, (depending on which part of the world you live.)

But. Have you tried the aluminium tubing used on scaffold towers?
It's light, strong and there is all sorts of gizmoes that come with it to brace the thing together.

I noticed you used both the track and dolly along with a wheelchair. Is one more useful then the other or are they equally important in getting a smooth shot?

Also...

This may be off topic, but I'd hate to start a new topic about this just to ask a small question relating to Jean's pictures.

What LCD monitor are you using in the pictures and are you satisfied with it? Could you give me a link to where I could purchase it? Any other comments you have about it?

I'm looking for an LCD monitor and throughout all of the threads concerning LCD monitors they seem to be widely varied.

Thanks a lot.

Hi Owen,

I've used everything imaginable for dolly track, but unless you've got the sections machined just right, you'll get the tell-tail bump at the joined sections. That's why I like the pvc so much. It's just easy. I've been working madly to solve the problem for aluminum dolly track for my book buyers that doesn't require welding, beautifully machined edges, etc. So far, I've had the best luck with angle ('L' shaped) aluminum. You lay the open end on the ground to form a triangle, and the wheels ride at the point of the triangle (this is for my wheel design. not sure if will work for the typical skate board wheel design). With good edges, it becomes pretty easy to join, but I've got a lot more shooting situations to try it in before I'm sure it's a good, workable design.

Dan
www.dvcamerarigs.com

Travis,

The dolly with track is definitly smoother than the wheelchair. When the traveling is straight in line, I use the dolly. But when I need something different, a circular movement, or a long travelling forward (in which case, dolly's tracks could be shown on the screen) I use a wheelchair if the floor is smooth enough.

Regarding the monitor, it's a Varizoom 5.6".
http://www.varizoom.com/monitors/tft.php#theworks

Works great, good resolution, and the ultimate pack come with a lot of handy accessories (Battery, carraying case, hot shoe swivel, AC cord, charger, sun hood, rca cable, ... )

But it cannot be switched to 16:9. Beside that, it is good, and recommanded by Chris Hurd here: http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/articles/article79.php

Hope this help,

Here are the photos of my (DVcamerarigs I should say!!) dolly system. It;s still being "adjusted" (like the dolly is a bit small).

http://www.xlr.demon.co.uk/img/dolly0001.jpg
http://www.xlr.demon.co.uk/img/dolly0002.jpg
http://www.xlr.demon.co.uk/img/dolly0003.jpg
http://www.xlr.demon.co.uk/img/dolly0004.jpg
http://www.xlr.demon.co.uk/img/dolly0005.jpg

The PVC pipe is easy to work with. You can see from one of the photos that the join has a 10inch dowel which fits perfectly into the PVC pipe. As far as bumps go, this setup was on an uneven lawn and the only wobble was where I didn't level it (i.e. no problems with the joins). It's simple to level. Just stick bits of wood under the sleeper/timber until it's right. The sleepers and timber are the key to it being smooth (in my opinion). On a nice flat surface it works really well.

Jean,

I see. I plan on making a dolly much like yours very soon. Now, If I only had a wheelchair. ;)

About the monitor:

It seems like a very reliable monitor. One thing, you said it cannot be switched to 16:9. Does this mean it squishes the 16:9 image to 4:3 or does it add a letter box to it where other 16:9 monitors would just have it fullscreen 16:9?

Thanks

Declan,

Very nice dolly! I think I'll build one just like yours. I like how you did the track and the wheels. It looks very portable in a truck or suv.

Thanks for posting the pics!

Eric

Here are the photos of my (DVcamerarigs I should say!!) dolly system. It;s still being "adjusted" (like the dolly is a bit small).


Hey Declan,

Nice job! But I'm wondering why you didn't send ME these photos! ;=)

I'm working on a gallery for the web site for all the "Killer Camera Rigs" builders, so I'll grab these. At first I wondered why you didn't use the removable bracket system in the book that allows you to put the wheels on different sized platforms, then I noticed the UK url. Guess the brackets aren't available there. Hold on to the current size. It's great for things like dollying through a window! The Quicktime demo on DVcameraRigs.com where the dolly goes through the back seat of a car is only 12" square. Then we've got one that's 2 feet by 3 feet that's "rideable". The Killer Camera Rigs dolly is low cost enough, even using the angle iron system, to make several sizes for different shooting situations. Also, build the "Killer's Kiss Crane" to go on that thing! It's such an easy jib to make, and will open up a whole new world of shots.

Again, nice job!

Dan Selakovich
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Hi Dan

Thanks for your comments, and thanks for the great book!!

I have only just built this dolly, and did a post here quick. The photo's are still drying!! I will send you feedback direct on any future builds I do.

As for the removable wheels, if I searched a bit harder here in the UK I would have probably found the right brackets, however I had an old angle iron bedstead lurking behind the shed which I knew would come in useful! Incidently, if you look at dolly0003.jpg, you can see that you only need to unbolt one nut to get each wheel off and transfer it. As I still have 3/4 of the bedstead left, I planned to make up some more brackets if need be. (in hindsight I should have made the bracket smaller, which I will do for the next one).

Feel free to use the photos in your gallery. The next project is the crane, just as soon as I can source the bits. Also, what would be good is a stabalizer that can take the XL2 (which is a heavy camera for handheld use).....next edition maybe ??

Cheers
Declan

Travis,

Yes, it's a 4:3 monitor and it squishes the 16:9 image to 4:3. Personnally I am able to work with this, but it is nice to know it before the purshase. :)

Hi Dan
Also, what would be good is a stabalizer that can take the XL2 (which is a heavy camera for handheld use).....next edition maybe ??


If you practice with the stabilizer just 10 minutes a day, I think you'll be surprised at how long you can go with a hand-held rig at the end of a month! But, yes, working on a full stabilizer rig for "Son of Killer Camera Rigs". It's been going through some improvements lately; like custom forming the vest EXACTLY to your body, and a fully customize-able sled. (I want to take full advantage of the fact that people will be building this themselves, FOR themselves). I hope to have the book out by Christmas. Very clever using an old bed frame on the dolly! Wish I'd thought of that!

Dan
www.dvcamerarigs.com

A good choice, IMO, on the external LCD for dollies or cranes is a portable DVD player like the Centrios 7" shown here:

http://www.pana3ccduser.com/showthread.php?t=2694

It does 4:3 or 16:9 (7" 16:9 aspect LCD) and has AV inputs and outputs. It also includes a 2.5 hour battery (playing DVD's), 12V adapter and AC adapter. Cost for this one was $230 CAN, ($185 US)

Seconds as in-car entertainment for the sprouts.

Dennis,

You are right, but it is less portable than a true portable LCD monitor, and you can't mount it on the camera for handheld work. Can't be mounted on a steadicam device too...