DVX100 and a homebuilt Dolly at DVinfo.net

John Hudson · December 28th, 2004, 01:20 AM

Below are 2 Clips showing a homebuilt dolly based on the Skateboard Wheel design. Cost of this dolly roughly $170.00. PLease RIGHT CLICK and SAVE AS

This first clip is the first test footage of the dolly

http://outlandpictures.com/movies/Dollytest.mov

The second clip is more dolly shots with an emphasis on the dolly itself.

http://outlandpictures.com/movies/Dolly2FCL.mov

All shot with the DVX100 in 24pa and cut in Vegas 4.0

Mathieu Ghekiere · December 28th, 2004, 07:25 AM

Great shots! Thanks for this information! I had already read a lot on these boards about the home made dolly's but now I finally saw one at work. Congratulations, beautiful shots!

Imran Zaidi · December 28th, 2004, 10:25 AM

That was some great stuff John! Couple of those shots you were gliding so well it almost seemed like a mini crane shot. Very nice.

I couldn't quite tell exactly how the bracket to which the wheels are attached was affixed to the plywood. If you happen to ever make a manual of construction, I'll buy it.

Thanks for sharing. It really reminded me how much I need a dolly for a particular scene or two I'm plotting out for a project for early next year.

John Hudson · December 28th, 2004, 11:52 AM

Tks guys

I wanted to share because I kow how expensive a pro dolly is and this shows that you an do it yourself with the same results for anywhere around $100.00 to $200.00 in materials. The wheels and bearings were $107.00

The Angle Iron (bracket) is attached with a threaded bolt drilled directly from the the top of the plywood, straight into the angle iron (where the iron has been threaded as well using a Die Kit (tapped).

: )

Cody Dulock · December 28th, 2004, 03:25 PM

another idea would be getting a cheap skateboard from walmart for like 20$... and theres your wheels and bearings, go to the hardware stor and get your bolts and all that other jazz...

John Hudson · December 28th, 2004, 03:49 PM

Originally posted by Cody Dulock : another idea would be getting a cheap skateboard from walmart for like 20$... and theres your wheels and bearings, go to the hardware stor and get your bolts and all that other jazz...

We considered doing this which would have made the skateboard wheels and bearings around $40.00 Plus Tax (instead of $107.00) and decided we wanted quality wheels and bearings. The Walmart/Target/Big 5 brand of Skateboards and wheels are crap' which is why they are $10.00 for an entire board.

If one is on a budget I would reccomend it but this dolly will get alot of work out of it and we wanted the most important part to be high in quality.

Cody Dulock · December 28th, 2004, 07:17 PM

actually, having skated for some amount of years now, the walmart, target, etc... decks have really slow bearings, which is really good for a dolly. plus those boards can hold up to 250lb guys, i've seen it, its crazy!! sorry not trying to dispute anything, thats just my .02cents.. i will make a dolly and try out the cheap crap and let you know what works, and what is just crapola!

anyhow, thanks for posting up the vids, good work on the dolly, and those are some smooooooth moves!

cody

John Hudson · December 28th, 2004, 07:44 PM

LOL

No worries on the dispute (I'm an old time skater; I am a whole 34 years of age) and felt strong about it.

No worries! I am sure both will work great!

John Norman · December 29th, 2004, 10:10 AM

Very impressive John.

Imran Zaidi · December 30th, 2004, 09:56 PM

Thought I'd add this.

Just today I picked up a Home Depot style dolly, which, while it doesn't have the custom weels so you can glide it over PVC, it does have a solid body that can hold up to 500 lbs, is small enough to go through doorways, has a folding handle, and sturdy wheel-bolt connections that could be modified with the skateboard wheels. Plus the cost was only $49.

http://www.rcpworksmarter.com/rcp/pr...33&rcpNum=4400

I picked up the 4401-06 model which has slightly bigger wheels than the dolly pictured. Control is very good, and it's perfectly smooth for the application for which I need it - smooth indoor wooden floor. I tried it on a sidewalk as well and with human weight on it, it was very smooth.

If someone out there is lazy like me and doesn't feel like building something, this is a great place to start. Also, the wheels can definitely be replaced with the skate-wheel application John used.

It was in the outdoor garden-area section of my local Home Depot. I believe Lowes carries it as well.

Arthur Babcock · December 31st, 2004, 12:43 PM

Very nice!

How difficult is it to move the dolly at a constant speed?

Thx,

Arthur Babcock

Imran Zaidi · December 31st, 2004, 04:19 PM

It depends on the floor and the weight on it, but with a person on it, it's very fluid and easy. I wouldn't try it on anything other than a smooth street or sidewalk or carpet or wood and maybe tile depending on the type.

If my needs go beyond it I'll tackle adding on the skate wheel thing with the PVC pipe. The current wheel brackets are just held on with 4 removable bolts so it should be pretty straight forward.

John Hudson · January 1st, 2005, 01:56 PM

Arthur

Very friendly in moving at a constant speed, slow or quick, start and stop. The Dolly has a nice weight to it and with an OP onboard it is not an issue.

FOr instances of uneven ground I'll be using PVC Track Rails 'Coped' over an ladder extension frame with the ladder leveled out using a shim/sandbag set-up.

Mike Sun · January 15th, 2005, 06:50 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by John Hudson :

This first clip is the first test footage of the dolly

http://outlandpictures.com/movies/Dollytest.mov

The second clip is more dolly shots with an emphasis on the dolly itself.

http://outlandpictures.com/movies/Dolly2FCL.mov

All shot with the DVX100 in 24pa and cut in Vegas 4.0 -->>>

By the way, could you please tell me the encoding settings you used? I noticed that your 2 minute videos are only just short of 20mb yet the resolution is very clear. I tried doing the same for my 2 minute clip, but the file size ends up being much larger.

What am I doing wrong? I used the Sorenson to compress it to .mov as well.

December 28th, 2004, 01:20 AM	#1
John Hudson Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: 32° 44' N 117° 10' W Posts: 820	DVX100 and a homebuilt Dolly Below are 2 Clips showing a homebuilt dolly based on the Skateboard Wheel design. Cost of this dolly roughly $170.00. PLease RIGHT CLICK and SAVE AS This first clip is the first test footage of the dolly http://outlandpictures.com/movies/Dollytest.mov The second clip is more dolly shots with an emphasis on the dolly itself. http://outlandpictures.com/movies/Dolly2FCL.mov All shot with the DVX100 in 24pa and cut in Vegas 4.0

January 15th, 2005, 06:50 PM	#14
Mike Sun Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 28	Re: DVX100 and a homebuilt Dolly <<<-- Originally posted by John Hudson : This first clip is the first test footage of the dolly http://outlandpictures.com/movies/Dollytest.mov The second clip is more dolly shots with an emphasis on the dolly itself. http://outlandpictures.com/movies/Dolly2FCL.mov All shot with the DVX100 in 24pa and cut in Vegas 4.0 -->>> By the way, could you please tell me the encoding settings you used? I noticed that your 2 minute videos are only just short of 20mb yet the resolution is very clear. I tried doing the same for my 2 minute clip, but the file size ends up being much larger. What am I doing wrong? I used the Sorenson to compress it to .mov as well.

December 28th, 2004, 07:25 AM	#2
Mathieu Ghekiere Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Belgium Posts: 2,195	Great shots! Thanks for this information! I had already read a lot on these boards about the home made dolly's but now I finally saw one at work. Congratulations, beautiful shots!

December 28th, 2004, 10:25 AM	#3
Imran Zaidi Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,315	That was some great stuff John! Couple of those shots you were gliding so well it almost seemed like a mini crane shot. Very nice. I couldn't quite tell exactly how the bracket to which the wheels are attached was affixed to the plywood. If you happen to ever make a manual of construction, I'll buy it. Thanks for sharing. It really reminded me how much I need a dolly for a particular scene or two I'm plotting out for a project for early next year.

December 28th, 2004, 11:52 AM	#4
John Hudson Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: 32° 44' N 117° 10' W Posts: 820	Tks guys I wanted to share because I kow how expensive a pro dolly is and this shows that you an do it yourself with the same results for anywhere around $100.00 to $200.00 in materials. The wheels and bearings were $107.00 The Angle Iron (bracket) is attached with a threaded bolt drilled directly from the the top of the plywood, straight into the angle iron (where the iron has been threaded as well using a Die Kit (tapped). : )

December 28th, 2004, 03:25 PM	#5
Cody Dulock Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: arlington, texas Posts: 420	another idea would be getting a cheap skateboard from walmart for like 20$... and theres your wheels and bearings, go to the hardware stor and get your bolts and all that other jazz...

December 28th, 2004, 03:49 PM	#6
John Hudson Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: 32° 44' N 117° 10' W Posts: 820	Originally posted by Cody Dulock : another idea would be getting a cheap skateboard from walmart for like 20$... and theres your wheels and bearings, go to the hardware stor and get your bolts and all that other jazz... We considered doing this which would have made the skateboard wheels and bearings around $40.00 Plus Tax (instead of $107.00) and decided we wanted quality wheels and bearings. The Walmart/Target/Big 5 brand of Skateboards and wheels are crap' which is why they are $10.00 for an entire board. If one is on a budget I would reccomend it but this dolly will get alot of work out of it and we wanted the most important part to be high in quality.

December 28th, 2004, 07:17 PM	#7
Cody Dulock Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: arlington, texas Posts: 420	actually, having skated for some amount of years now, the walmart, target, etc... decks have really slow bearings, which is really good for a dolly. plus those boards can hold up to 250lb guys, i've seen it, its crazy!! sorry not trying to dispute anything, thats just my .02cents.. i will make a dolly and try out the cheap crap and let you know what works, and what is just crapola! anyhow, thanks for posting up the vids, good work on the dolly, and those are some smooooooth moves! cody

December 28th, 2004, 07:44 PM	#8
John Hudson Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: 32° 44' N 117° 10' W Posts: 820	LOL No worries on the dispute (I'm an old time skater; I am a whole 34 years of age) and felt strong about it. No worries! I am sure both will work great!

December 29th, 2004, 10:10 AM	#9
John Norman New Boot Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Grand Prairie, TX Posts: 17	Very impressive John.

December 30th, 2004, 09:56 PM	#10
Imran Zaidi Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,315	Thought I'd add this. Just today I picked up a Home Depot style dolly, which, while it doesn't have the custom weels so you can glide it over PVC, it does have a solid body that can hold up to 500 lbs, is small enough to go through doorways, has a folding handle, and sturdy wheel-bolt connections that could be modified with the skateboard wheels. Plus the cost was only $49. http://www.rcpworksmarter.com/rcp/pr...33&rcpNum=4400 I picked up the 4401-06 model which has slightly bigger wheels than the dolly pictured. Control is very good, and it's perfectly smooth for the application for which I need it - smooth indoor wooden floor. I tried it on a sidewalk as well and with human weight on it, it was very smooth. If someone out there is lazy like me and doesn't feel like building something, this is a great place to start. Also, the wheels can definitely be replaced with the skate-wheel application John used. It was in the outdoor garden-area section of my local Home Depot. I believe Lowes carries it as well.

December 31st, 2004, 12:43 PM	#11
Arthur Babcock New Boot Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Carmel Valley, California Posts: 14	Very nice! How difficult is it to move the dolly at a constant speed? Thx, Arthur Babcock

December 31st, 2004, 04:19 PM	#12
Imran Zaidi Trustee Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,315	It depends on the floor and the weight on it, but with a person on it, it's very fluid and easy. I wouldn't try it on anything other than a smooth street or sidewalk or carpet or wood and maybe tile depending on the type. If my needs go beyond it I'll tackle adding on the skate wheel thing with the PVC pipe. The current wheel brackets are just held on with 4 removable bolts so it should be pretty straight forward.

January 1st, 2005, 01:56 PM	#13
John Hudson Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: 32° 44' N 117° 10' W Posts: 820	Arthur Very friendly in moving at a constant speed, slow or quick, start and stop. The Dolly has a nice weight to it and with an OP onboard it is not an issue. FOr instances of uneven ground I'll be using PVC Track Rails 'Coped' over an ladder extension frame with the ladder leveled out using a shim/sandbag set-up.