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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

My DIY Timelapse Dolly...

Wish I had the skills to build this stuff - really nice work. We've been using the P+S Technik Skater Mini with the motor kit and a D200. Here's a shot taken at sunrise from the roof of the Bangkok Sheraton taken in 2007. I moved the angle of the wheels partway through the shot - so we only used the final arc in the finished product:

http://www.graetzmedia.com/skater_bangkok.mov

And another short one from Brisbane (needed a slower shutter pretty badly - this was early experiments before we got some ND filters for the D200):

http://www.graetzmedia.com/skater_path.mov

skater_moco.jpg
 
Mo-Co timelapse part 2

Mo-Co timelapse part 2

The pan+tilt head runs via stepper motors and can be programmed with a laptop using C-Basic [which I could never figure out] or you can bypass the computer and use the the manual controls on back of the 'brain'..this is the metal box on back of the head which contains the steppers & PC boards. There are directional switches for each axis [pan & tilt] as well as a dial to set the stepper's rate.
The track is 8'6" long, runs off another stepper and has a separate control box. The track has a Mitchell based hi-hat which a regular head may be installed or you can use the mo-co pan+tilt head. Everything is portable and uses standard 12vDC camera block batteries. We've hauled the mo-co head all over the US and shot, the track gets limited use. The mo-co track was built for Wes Craven's DRACULA 2000 picture and used along with the pan+tilt head in New Orleans for that production.
Check out this sample of the pan+tilt mo-co head in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHM_EmyTSHI
This was all 35mm but probably would work better with a lighter weight camera like the RED.
 
Dan, all you'd need is some 2x4's and plywood, then something to hold them higher with and you got a great setup... can you program the acceleration and deceleration of the dolly to be more gradual? Great stuff and super fast setup. However I'd like to see something with a different lens though, I am just not a fan of fisheyes personally.

Jeff, looks like it was lots of work but great results and control. That was Lawrence of Arabia score you used right?
 
Hi Roberto,
The audio was VARIATIONS ON A THEME by Thomas Talis..some 300 years old :-)
Thanks for the kind words regarding my stuff...too bad there is a weird stutter in the YouTube video playback :-(
 
Jeff sometimes there are framerate conversions that really screw up your video, causing stutter.

Very cool rig there. I like the "monorail" style of track. I considered something similar, and may try something like that for future projects. Can you sync the dolly motion with the pan, tilt and shutter, for "shoot-move-shoot" timelapse?
 
No, since the head was built separate from the rail, they will not sync together. I do find that this seems to not matter much. Seems that the blur factor captured while the shutter is open & the camera moves seems to help remove some of the typical 'stop-motion' sticatto [spelling?] that TL work sometimes displays.
The pan+tilt head is able to be controlled by a laptop and the C+Basic program that came with the head has several unused channels that could be set to control things like capping shutter, lights [such that you might need for shooting plants growing or blooming], another stepper motor like in a model-mover, etc. The rail/track is simply a control box with a manual variable speed control to run the track's stepper motor. I suppose you could install a control board and link the pan+tilt head with it, but that's beyond my abilities :-)
 
Tom, your work is incredible!!! I really like your desert night starscapes!
Chris & C.H., thanks for the very kind words regarding my work :-)
Hey, if anyone is interested, I might be willing to sell this stuff...it sits around most of the time and I recently sold my Arri 35-3 & Mitchell with their Norris intervalometers...so I'm down to my RED and a Bolex for TL work.
Anyone interested?
 
Tom, you are a creative genius.
May I ask where exactly this was shot? The scenery is beautiful.

USlatin said:
Haha... Pink Floyd, insane desert imagery... I keep thinking that you need to get out to Canada and shoot HDR timelapses of the auroras, never done before stuff where you really get tons of detail on the shadows of the landscape while retaining all the sharp detail on the lights...

and sell it to HBO instead, or project outdoors at 2k and charge admission for parties massive parties... lol...
Click to expand...

I'm actually headed to Churchill in March to do just that. At this time of year, the lights are continuous for days..it's really quite spectacular. Here in the 'Peg, the lights are frequent, but it's really a crap shoot as to when they will occur, so better to go where they appear the most...and although I have to ride a train for 50 hours, I don't even have to leave the province! :)
It will be my 1st real time lapse project,( I'm soooo green) but now Im incredibly inspired to build a very amateur version of said dolly.
I love this forum. :)
 
iris, that dolly setup was right near my camp at Jumbo Rocks.

Here are the rough coordinates:

33.990251,-116.061491

you can copy & paste that into google maps' seach box. just southwest of the campsite is an amazing landscape of rocks and joshua trees.
 
Tom said:
iris, that dolly setup was right near my camp at Jumbo Rocks.

Here are the rough coordinates:

33.990251,-116.061491

you can copy & paste that into google maps' seach box. just southwest of the campsite is an amazing landscape of rocks and joshua trees.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I did the google Earth thing and it shows some nice terrain out there. :biggrin:
 
The problem with Churchill is there are no mountains for foreground. Just tundra and hungry polar bears. Head to western BC to get a nice combo of Aurora's and mountains/trees/streams/bears!

_mike


digitaliris said:
Tom, you are a creative genius.
May I ask where exactly this was shot? The scenery is beautiful.



I'm actually headed to Churchill in March to do just that. At this time of year, the lights are continuous for days..it's really quite spectacular. Here in the 'Peg, the lights are frequent, but it's really a crap shoot as to when they will occur, so better to go where they appear the most...and although I have to ride a train for 50 hours, I don't even have to leave the province! :)
It will be my 1st real time lapse project,( I'm soooo green) but now Im incredibly inspired to build a very amateur version of said dolly.
I love this forum. :)
Click to expand...
 
Mike Prevette said:
The problem with Churchill is there are no mountains for foreground. Just tundra and hungry polar bears. Head to western BC to get a nice combo of Aurora's and mountains/trees/streams/bears!

_mike
Click to expand...

good call... I guess the bears are a given, but BC will be 'bout 40 degrees warmer too....:)
 
timelapse stepper gear

timelapse stepper gear

Jeff Barklage said:
Hey, if anyone is interested, I might be willing to sell this stuff...it sits around most of the time and I recently sold my Arri 35-3 & Mitchell with their Norris intervalometers...so I'm down to my RED and a Bolex for TL work.
Anyone interested?
Click to expand...

pm sent
 
k9zzf7.jpg


Out in the boondocks of the arizona desert I found this huge saguaro cactus. I'm really loving the results from this dolly. It's very addictive to shoot with!
 
BTW, I might be selling this dolly and stepper motor if anyone is interested in adding some DLSR timelapse dolly action to their arsenal. I will probably just sell it for what the parts cost me, around $1,500. It includes the Mumford Time Machine and Rotary Stepper.

Just PM if you have interest. I'm trying to free up some space in all the gear I'm hauling around.
 
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