Building 2nd dollie - integrating boom holder?

[matthewd5]

ok i finally got a chance to really use the dollie i had built.

it worked out fairly well, i didn't like the vibration that came through the tripod legs to the shotgun mic even though i had a fairly respectable shockmount.

it was just a sheet of 3/4 plywood and it flexed a bit, i am fortunate to have a good friend with a fairly large manufacturing business with both wood and metal shops.

i have my choice of 1inch, 1.5 inch and 2 inch square steel stock, i was thinking of something 4 feet long and approximately 34 inches wide, this would be a steel skeleton with a cross member half way across the narrow side and with a piece of plywood mounted on top of that.

this should prevent any flexing and give me a much more sturdy platform to attach the wheels to.

the question is, i was thinking of using a matthews plate (4x5 inches with a 5/8th recepticle) to hold a 5 or 6 foot grip arm to attach http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=277230&is=REG

i figured this would be slick because it seems most of the time i used the dollie the talent was walking in sync with it and this would keep the mic right above them without an extra person to get in the way.

as a big added bonus this would keep the talent in the place where i want them so i don't have to worry as much about keeping the focus where they arey, this way they can help me by being where they are supposed to be with a "moving" mark.

i figured to mount the plate about half way down the dollie so it won't get in the way of the shots.

has anyone got an alternative way to mounting the camera on the dollie than using the tripod?

it wold be nice if i could find something that is adjustable yet not anywhere near as wide as the tripod.

my 503/525 bogen tripod has the spreader at the bottom and the smallest it will go is approximately 32 inches wide.

i guess i could take off the bottom spreader and rig something else up to limit the spread so i could make the dollie something more like 48" long and 28 inches wide for more flexibility going through doorways?

matthew

[HansK]

it was just a sheet of 3/4 plywood and it flexed a bit, i am fortunate to have a good friend with a fairly large manufacturing business with both wood and metal shops.

i have my choice of 1inch, 1.5 inch and 2 inch square steel stock, i was thinking of something 4 feet long and approximately 34 inches wide, this would be a steel skeleton with a cross member half way across the narrow side and with a piece of plywood mounted on top of that.

Instead, you can purchase a piece of angle steel. SOmething like this:

http://www.metalsdepot.com/products/stainless2.phtml?page=angle&LimAcc=

Mount one on the bottom edge of each side of the 3/4" plywood. That should stiffen the whole platform.

[Terry_Lasater]

If I had all the resources available to me that you do, I would try to copy (as best I could) the Matthews Doorway Dolly design.

http://tinyurl.com/6a3lz

[matthewd5]

that matthews dolly is my ultimate goal!

i actually got to goto an industrial equipment show and one of the vendors had the double wheels with the gap that was almost exactly the right spacing for pvc.

i'm trying to build the best base i can and leave room for re-outfitting the wheels etc. for future improvements.

my ultimate goal is to find some semi-pneumatic wheels, the vendor i found only had dual wheels that were hard as a rock.

the ultimate dolly is the kind you can use without a track if desired.

the hardest thing is to come up with a camera pedestal, something like a tripod but that is too static, not enough flexibility in elevation/placement.

there is a more advanced matthews dolly that looks like it has a mini crane/jib arm/seesaw so you can raise and pan the camera in a fairly intense way.

matthew

[matthewd5]

oh and i do appreciate the metal stock link, i bookmarked that for ideas for future additions, but i have access to a custom machine shop that will take square tubing (see the square stainless tube on that site) and build me the rectangle of my exact design with a cross brace and then whatever surface i want on top.

they have a full woodworking shop and i can get plain playwood and throw down a carpet like the matthews (grey fuzzy roadie case lining) or go with a plain finished wood.

i like how the matthews has the camera tiedown!

with my first rough version i rigged bungies and spare weight plates from my skycrane jr. to give the dolly extra stability.

i just need to get to the next step in camera mounting, which in my mind is something that can go all the way down to say 12-18 inches ideally and have a fairly narrow base.

with my current setup i just use a bogen 525 with a 503 head.

matthew