DIY Equipment

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Awesome DIY motorized JuicedLink slider from Vimeo member Gary Bagelman. Not much on the details of the parts used, but i'm sure we'll be hearing from him soon. Gary has updated his video details to list the parts used to create his motorized version. I attempted the same using some inexpensive parts (all found here), but I didn't take the time to make it robust enough for vertical slides. Mine was mainly based on double sided tape and the cheapest servo available.

Gary claims that his setup can pull his JL slider vertically with no problems using a cog style belt driven pulley. [Thanks Gary]. I would love to see some examples of this. The great thing about the JuicedLink slider kit is that you can make your roller bearing as long or as short as you want. You can always swap rails depending on your requirements. With a smooth roller bearing slider + slow speed motor, you're able to achieve some very consistent slides on a budget. You can find some additional information about the JuicedLink DIY sliders (click here).

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find-price-button JuicedLink DIY Slider Kit

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rolling-golf-bagScreen shot 2011-12-06 at 2.57.55 AM

You've probably heard this tip a few times, but it's another great post for those who might be looking into an inexpensive travel bag for lightstands, tripods, jibs / cranes, or anything else that has some length to it [Thanks svem]. I'm currently using Heavy Duty Speaker Stand Bags (found here) for my equipment, but they don't come with rollers.

If you're looking for an inexpensive long bag with rollers to make things easier on your back, check out the Golf Travel Roller bags that are about 50" in length and have enough room for several tripods, monopods, lightstands, or a folding jib, and an extra pair of shoes (for golf).

Rolling Travel Golf Bag
find-price-button Golf Travel Bag Roller

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If you're stepping up your audio game and getting into 'Blimps', here's a clever DIY tutorial from Vimeo member HDSLR GEAR to create a nice PVC travel case. Blimps are special housings that will add an additional layer of wind protection to your microphones compared to just the dead cat windscreens. Here Joel is showing the Rode Blimp. [Thanks Joel].
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find-price-button Rode Microphone Blimp windshield Suspension System

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About a year ago I started testing out the Asus WiCast HD Streaming device to see if it can be used with DSLRs. When we visited NAB2011 in April this year (old video above), we found quite a few people using the Asus as a budget means to stream HD Video remotely. We had the chance to check out Jag35's booth and Wireless follow focus system. Hands down the most affordable follow focus system on the market.

Check out the video at 1:42 where Jehu pulls out a Steadicam Merlin with a GH2 streaming HD video to another monitor through an Asus Wicast. The Wireless FF can be controlled remotely while the operator moves around. Very much the set up i'm working on with a larger Steadicam rig. There's one major problem so far, and it's because Jag35 no longer has their Wireless Follow Focus kit available. They have been working on Version 2, which in my eyes means 'better'. Jag35 just sent me this twitter message today, so hopefully i'll get a chance to show the new V2 prototype at work on my WFF Steadicam project.

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I'm pretty excited to test this whole thing out. For more updates like this make sure you're following me on Twitter, and also following Jag35. If you don't require a Wireless Follow Focus, Jag35 also has a handle style remote (which can be mounted to a rig handle) to control the motorized FF. Check out the products at their website https://Jag35.com

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Jag35 Handle Remote and Follow Focus

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Another very clever DIY project from Vimeo member Lolo Two. Based on commom (and super cheap) EMT a.k.a Conduit tubing, this DIY micro jib breaks down into 3 small section. The conduit piping is held together with common Conduit couplers. I've seen quite a few DIY cranes and personally I think this is one of the most clever uses of off the shelf parts. Just about anyone 'Con-Du-It'. Of course Lolo Two is skilled in crafting the necessary brackets to keep the crane flying on a tripod. He says he'll update us on his build soon, but you can find his relative video page here. [Thanks Lolo Two]

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DIY Micro Jib / Crane - Sectioned with Conduit Couplers

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find-price-button Polaroid Motorized Pan Tilt

Here's an interesting product that was linked to from Venga. The idea was to use it on the Pico Flex Dolly. What you see above is an inexpensive motorized Pan / Tilt head with wireless remote. Previous popular inexpensive motorized pan heads were from Bescor, but this is a new version from Polaroid which says it's designed to support a full SLR camera up to 7lbs. That's quite a bit. It looks like it's using infrared for it's wireless remote, but says it comes with a 20ft sensor cord + another 20ft extension cord, so no worries about line of sight. Can be powered with (5) AA batteries or DC in. Could be a fun addition to some DIY projects out there. Anyone try this out yet? I'm thinking GoPro HD camera, or maybe my Sony HX9V mounted outside a car with controlled pan / tilt...

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find-price-button

Specifications

  • Panning Angle - 120 Degrees
  • Pan Speed - 6 Degrees Per Second
  • Tilt Angle - 30 Degrees
  • Tilt Speed - 4 Degrees Per Second
  • Maximum Load - 7 lbs
  • Power Sources - Remote= 1 CR2032, Head= 5 AA or DC Converter
  • Remote Transmitter Distance - 30'
  • Remote Sensor Cable - 20ft
  • Remote Sensor Extension Cable - 20ft

    • While the Bescor Motorized heads ran over $130-200 dollars, these Polaroid Motorized heads are listing for about $94 dollars on eBay (check prices here).

    Over on Amazon, the same Polaroid motorized Pan / Tilt head for SLR cameras runs just over $64 dollars and ships free for Prime members.

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    find-price-button Polaroid Automatic Motorized Pan Head With Wireless Remote Control For SLR Cameras & Camcorders

    [Update] Thanks to Steven for writing in. There may be an even cheaper price, but only a few in stock (Click Here)
    for Polaroid Wireless Motorized Pan Tilt Head

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    Backdrop-Standsbackground-support

    One of the things we installed in our second studio space is a 3 Roller Wall Mounted Background Support. This not only speeds up production when we need to swap backgrounds, but we were able to push the background literally against the wall, and eliminated the use of heavy backdrop stands on the floor giving us a little more space to move. Our next project is to build a ceiling grid to hang our lights.

    Wall Mounted 3 Roller Background Support

    The ends lock inside of the seamless paper rolls with individual chain drives to raise and lower each backdrop. It was very easy to set up. Keep in mind that this requires a wall to mount, and all 3 rolls have to be about the same size to work. There's a seller currently offering this for much cheaper than what we acquired ours for, and it's available via Prime shipping too. If you've got a garage or place you often set up backgrounds at, something like this is about $50 dollars well spent. Find it (click here).

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    find-price-button 3-Roller Wall Mount Manual Background Support

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    Great job from Vimeo member Oliver for this DIY motorized Pico Flex Table Dolly. It's a direct friction based drive wheel, which doesn't require much torque. The dolly rolls very easily with little effort from a motor. I was testing out something similar several weeks ago using a pulley wheel to a continuous rotating servo found (here). I used the same basic battery box, continuos rotating servo, and speed controllers as in the DIY motorized JuicedLink slider project. You can find a list of those parts (here). I can see that Oliver is using a servo tester, which is a much cheaper solution than the servo controller I was using. [Thanks Oliver]

    If i'm correct, that servo tester is just the basic ones found over at eBay (click here).

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    find-price-button Servo Tester

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    Just received my other two batteries. Now I have a nice 3pc LED light kit on all battery power. These will work on either my 600s or 900 LED panels (Video Test Here). These batteries won't work on the 1200 LED Panels (found here) because those run on 24V.

    tekkeon-mp3450i

    Besides using these for the 600 / 900 LED light Panels, there are several people who use them to power up accessories on their DSLR rigs. I'm waiting for some special mounts from CPMCameraRigs.com. They design a snap package that mounts to standard 15mm rails. Coupled with a special secondary battery. You can check out some of the mounting options over at their website (click here).

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    CPMCameraRigs.com Tekkeon Battery Snap Packages

    Literally just two days after posting about the Tekkeon back in stock, it was sold out and back on backorder status. Today I just checked (while writing this article) and it's back in stock again! These things are hot, and they'll be sold out again very quickly. Cheapest place i've found them is at B&H (click here).

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    find-price-button Tekkeon MyPower All Battery for 600 / 900 LED Panels