Just Built a Dolly!

[LuckyProducer]

Hey guys, I just finished building a dolly. I tried it out and it works well. I ran into a problem going down or up a hill. The camera on the tripod will have a tilt to it, but then I remembered that one of the cheapy tripods has a swivel that pans and tilts so that can be fixed. But I was wondering what I would do if I went parallel to a hill making my board tilt sideways. I know that I can just pan my camera down to make it even, but the track will start sliding or whatever and stuff. I was thinking of putting things underneath the track to make it even, but what can I do to make a 30-60 ft track even. Do you guys have any suggestions?

P.S. I am also going to be using a monitor. This is probably easier to operate it right because then you have to look inside the viewfinder or at the LCD screen. Someone can be running along side you holding the monitor (mine is small and runs on batteries) or I can tape it to the floor of the dolly while I look down. What do you think?

P.S.2. Do you guys have any suggestions or tips on how to work with a dolly to make it smooth or just basic tips on camera movement. I've never worked with one before. I will learn a lot by just playing around with it. But if you guys learned anything of your own, feel free to tell me because I need as much advice as I can get. Thanks!

[LuckyProducer]

I can post a picture of my dolly for you guys to see how it looks. It cost my like $120 or so.

[pookie_old]

For a home built dolly, you'll need to level the track. Trying to work with a tilting track will drive you mad.
To work with a dolly to make it smooth...add weight. Dollies are seldom light.

[blckhawk542]

Post a pic of it

[LuckyProducer]

I'll post it tomorrow.
I was fooling around with it and I ran into another problem:

I have a condenser boom mic. It captures dialogue really really good. I am really impressed. Although it doesn't capture the noise from my camera, it captures the PVC under my dolly as it slightly shifts. It's not the wheels making the noise, it's the PVC slightly shifting on the pavement as the dolly wheels by. I tried different things like turning the microphone more on the other side. I tried to find a way to put the volume lower on the mic but I can't do this. I thought about putting towels on the bottom of the PVC so when it rolls, it would roll on top of the towel, but my mom would kill me if she saw her beautiful towels on the ground getting dirt all over it. So I have no clue. I ran out of ideas. Do you guys have suggestions?

P.S. As for the hill, I can simply move my tripod legs to make it even. Do you guys know a good way to trap the tripod legs on the dolly. I was thinking of drilling three big holes on the surface so the legs can hook right inside. This would help. Do you have any suggestions?

[pookie_old]

As for the noise from the PVC, get some neoprene, it will kill most of that problem.

[LuckyProducer]

Ok, but would that fix the problem of the PVC rubbing on gravel or pavement?

[pookie_old]

Get the neoprene, (they make wet suits and mouse pads from it), and cut it into strips about 6 inches wide and as long as your tracks. Don't overlap them, or the dolly will jump.

[LuckyProducer]

Are these expensive and where can I get this. Also, do I put this under the tracks?

Thanks a lot for your help guys! You guys are great!

[pookie_old]

Go to any dive shop, surf shop, or used clothes store, and look for a used, dead wetsuit.

btw, "under" the tracks.

[Jay Rodriguez]

ah, excellent idea using the neoprene

[LuckyProducer]

Ok, here's the pictures of my dolly.

Dolly (http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=7/20614311546.jpg&s=x1)

Dolly 2 (http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=7/20614420554.jpg&s=x1)

Dolly 3 (http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=7/20614480562.jpg&s=x1)

Dolly 4 (http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=7/20614553212.jpg&s=x1)

Dolly 5 (http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=7/20615042959.jpg&s=x1)
(We had to do this way because the metal rod we got had weird holes. The wheels would be touching the wood. So we did it like this and then scraped grooves under the wheels so it wouldn't touch the wood.

Dolly Test Video (http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Dolly-Test)

This is the best run I did. On picture two, you see behind the dolly there is a bag of rice, this white weight thingy, pool paint, and behind that my monitor. I put it all on top of my dolly and then my camera and tripod. I then stood on it. This is what I got. But I am still not pleased because it takes several takes to get just this and you can still hear the PVC shifting on the pavement. Do you guys have any suggestions on the smoothness and noise (I havta see where I can get the neoprene thing). Thanks guys!

[Slimothy]

WOw. that is one loud ass dolly! Good job on the build. good luck w/ the neoprene.

[LuckyProducer]

Hey, did anyone look at the pictures and the video I posted up? I was just wondering because people usually answer pretty quick. Alright, I'll be patient. Lol!

[LuckyProducer]

Guys? Can you help me out here? Why is it so loud and bumpy? It seems fine. The wheels are nice, the PVC too. there are no bumps on the PVC. Even on the connectors. What should I do? I start shooting in a couple of days. (thursday).

[blckhawk542]

Sweet dolly bro!!!

that pool is looking niiiice....:grin:

Could it be becuase you shaved the grooves off the wheels?

Maybe a bold or nut isnt in tight enough on the wheels...which causes the wheel to go back and forth when being pushed to make that sound.

Is your track like perfectly straight? i noticed you used like a glue or something on those pipes....the pipes have slight bumps...and when you ride over them..it makes the sound.

jus a few ideas..

[pookie_old]

Since you seem to be using skateboard wheels, it's very unlikely they're all round, they aren't intended for dolly use after all.

Take one at a time off, and run it on the tracks, you'll probably find a few that don't track...and they need to be changed.

[esmat]

get some big soft londbord wheels and new berings they are a lot smoother than regular wheels or get rollerblade wheels

[ARRIguy]

Thursday wow that's coming up soon! I'm not there to see it perform but here are some thoughts that might help you out:

Your wheels are now offset (not directly opposite each other. this would have the effect of pushing the track very slightly one way and then the other. It could produce a sort of grinding on the pavement - probably adding to your mic noise and possibly some unsteadiness in the dolly. Since you're energy is is going into distorting the track, it may also take more effort to push .

If your still having any trouble with tripod shifing on the dolly you could try a DIY professional tie down system. Rig up a short length of chain that runs from the middle of your tripod to the dolly floor and snug it with a turnbuckle.

If you having trouble with your starts and stops consider adding a brace from the dolly handle to the platform. There's a lot of force needed to get the weighted dolly rolling and to have good control (i.e. smooth moves) you need everything as tight and wobble free as you can get.

Good luck with the shoot!

[ARRIguy]

If you can't get to a dive shop for the wet suit rubber, I just thought about a quick and dirty solution to cut the noise made by tracks on pavment: about 6" wide cardboard strips under each track. If there's still noise, wet down the cardboard. Cleaning up is where the "dirty" part comes in :happy:

[LuckyProducer]

Alright! You guys gave me a lot of awesome ideas. I will try some of these tomorrow. I found this other way to do it. He said to get 2x4 wood and then put it under the tracks. Make groves on the wood to slip the poles in. And also, use bricks or something heavy on both sides of the tracks to hold it down, because right now, I have nothing holding it down. It's free. I will try tomorrow, do some film, and post the video if it is any different. Thanks guys! If you come up with anymore ideas, let me know.

[Ben Sliker]

hey, one big thing is to make spacers for either end of the track. Get 2 - 2x4's that are the width of your track and cut 4 small pieces of wood to put on 1 side of the wood, creating grooves for the PVC to go through, just make sure both pieces look exactly the same. Also, make sure your track and wheels are clean, a can of WD-40 wouldn't be a bad idea either.

[LuckyProducer]

Alright, thanks, but I don't understand what you mean. Do you have a picture of this? Do you put the 2x4 under the tracks? I don't understand the 4 small pieces of wood on 1 side of the wood part. Can you try to explain this more in depth or include a picture? Thanks!

[LuckyProducer]

Oh alright. Guys, I know exactly what's making the noise. I put heavy bricks at the end of the tracks. It worked a lot better. The noise reduced and it is a lot smoother. But what's wrong is, when the dolly moves, the PVC rolls to the right or left. It even make the bricks above move as well. I can put on more weight to stop it from going anywhere but I don't have anything else to put on top of it. Also, I don't want to put a whole pile of weight on them. It would be way to hard to transport and to heavy to carry. do you have have any idea what I can do to stop those freakin' pipes? I tried to tape it to the floor but it pulls the tape out. I guess the more way you put on the dolly, the more the PVC rolls. I'm just guessing. Maybe I should film the pipes moving and post it up. But meanwhile, tell me what you guys think I should do. Thanks!

[Neil Rowe]

your wheels are out of alignment. , or the track is bent . the first is more likely . thats what causes the track to roll to the side. yo need to be sure your wheel trucks are aligned straight with each other on the platform. then once they are aligned and the track is straight, they will roll down the track straight.

[LuckyProducer]

What is a good way to align it? I try to align it as best as possible by eyeballing it, but it still does it. Grrr...this is getting me so frustrated. But I thank you guys for responding.

[LuckyProducer]

wow, I put the pipes on my grass. my grass isn't cut, but it became reeeallly bumpy. This sucks. I spent $150 on this dolly and now it sucks. I don't know what to do anymore. I figured out what to do on pavement (sorta) but now on grass, I might as well use my monopod and use it as a steady cam. What do you think?

[LuckyProducer]

I was thinking...maybe my pipes are too flimsy. I want to go to home depot and buy a set of metal ones, thicker plastic ones, and a bunch of 2x4s. I think they should resolve the problem. I will also see if they have WD-40. Probably not but it's worth a try. Give me some hints of you guys have any more. Thanks!

[Neil Rowe]

use a straight eadge and align the sides of your trucks on one side to the same long straight edge. make sure the straight edge is in line with the platform and running parallel as well. you do this by having a straight edge on your platform, and measuring to make sure the line from your strauight edge is the same distance from the side at all points. then you do the same for the poopsite side.. if the other side is not a straight edge then measure all the way from the first straight edge side .. that way all of your trucks will be aligned straight on the platform.. mark your drilling holes by sticking a marker down through the mounting bolt hole on the trucks, and then drill and secure making sure they are aligned alont the stright lines perfect. then tighten them on..

for riding on grass. you need to have no grass on the track.. it will cause bumps.. yo cqan lay a little mat under the tracks or cut the grass more there.

[LuckyProducer]

I have no clue what you mean about trucks, but thanks for the reply anyway. I went to home depot today and bought 24 pieces of 2x4s 3 feet long. I put these under the track and it works soo awesome! All of the noise is gone. But....(i hate that word)...there are several bumps still. I moved the dolly slowly to see where it made the bumps and they are caused by scratches, connections, and slight indentions on the pipes (not all the way around though). I can always turn it around, but when I move the dolly, the pipes usually roll around and then there are always bumps. I was thinking of buying water hoes to cut in the middle and put it on top of the pipes. That would work perfectly, although I reeeaaally don't want to spend that much money. They are usually expensive. My track is 30 ft long (probably longer in the future) so I would need 60 ft of hoes. That can get quite expensive. Does anyone have an idea? This is the last element I need to fix. I already fixed the noise problem and it runs a lot smoother now, but now I need to fix several bumps that messes up the shot. Let me know. Thanks once again!

[LuckyProducer]

I'll post two pictures and a video of the new 2x4s soon.

[LuckyProducer]

Ok guys. Here are my posts. How do you suggest I should take out these smalls bumps out? I already know about the water hoes, do you guys have any other suggestions or ideas?

I am including two pictures and a video of the result of putting the pieces of wood below the pipes.

Click here to see the dolly and the track (http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=7/20721221675.jpg&s=x1)

Click here to see below the dolly (http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=7/20721202786.jpg&s=x1)

Click here to watch the video (http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Dolly-2x4)
(This is not the greatest but it's the greatest I have so far. I know I can do better though. But I am just on a low budget.)

[blckhawk542]

was that the sound of your shoes/flip flops dragging on the ground? or the dolly?

[pmark23]

Try using angle-iron (it's cheap, but really heavy), or aluminum tubes (more expensive, but light) as the track. They won't flex or bend as the track runs over them.

[LuckyProducer]

pmark, the flexing and bending is fine because it rolls on the wood pieces. I don't think these jumps are from that. I think they are from scratches and defects from the pipes.

I couldn't buy iron because it would be impossible to put it inside a car for transportation. With PVC, it's easier because you can bend them out the back window.

And yes, those were my flip flops. Lol! I was going in and out of the pool.

Does anyone else have any suggestions? Do you think if I did that hose thing it would work? Any other ideas? I only have tomorrow until like 2:00 to try your ideas and then I shoot at 3:00! Ahh! My first scene in my feature film! lol!

[ARRIguy]

Did you try my suggestion of putting the wheels opposite each other instead of staggered as you have them? The staggered configuration you have is probably making the pipes bend and twist and the cause of some (or all) of your problems. Unless the wheel configuration you have is what's called for in plans you are following, I would try that. It may mean getting a larger size of angle metal to accomodate doing this.

[LuckyProducer]

Well, I sorta can't do that because the wheels that are on there now are sorta permanently on there. Because the extra screw that was sticking out, my bro-in-law sawed it off and then hammered the rest out. that made a little edge at the end, so I can't take it out. Or else I would try that. But then I would have to make groves on the bottom of the platform so the wheels won't hit the wood, because it was doing that before. so we just dig groves on it so the wheels can pass through.

what should I do?

[ARRIguy]

File the ends of the bolts down to where your past the deformation. Otherwise just cut the bolt with a hacksaw or grind the nut off, put the wheel opposite the other wheel and put in a new bolt in.

[Phil]

was that the sound of your shoes/flip flops dragging on the ground? or the dolly?
ha, man, I gotta ask too. What's that sound?

As for "what do I do?" Iamloser is building a really nice set of 4X4 for cheap, and it's the wheels, bolts, and bracket...might want to check it out. http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=29983&highlight=iamloser+dolly

[LuckyProducer]

Hey guys! Today I had my first shooting day. It went great. But we took so long to do it. It took us more than one hour to get one minute of footage (true final footage that is). But it's all good. Before the actors came, me and my friend got WD-40 and that took away the sound of the dolly moving, but it is still a little bumpy. But now it's barely. I really wanted to use the dolly on this scene, so I decided to try to hold my camera, handheld, on a monopod, as I rode the dolly. That way, I can try to make it as still as possible while riding the dolly. It turned out ok, but I don't want to do this everytime, I want to be able to just mount it on a tripod and push. Lol! My handheld way isn't the best way, but I did it.

check out the rough cut of the scene. remember, it is a rough cut, but let me know what I can do to make it better. I learned a lot from this today. I learned to watch shadows and reflections. On some of the shots I saw my shadow and another I saw a shadow of the boom mic. And then this other time I saw myself filming because the actor's sun glasses were super shiny and it showed me filming. So, two things I must watch for now.

This one kid told me to mount the tripod on the platform. Cuz right now I just have it on top. Would this make a difference? I don't think it would because if the platform shakes, so would the tripod and camera, so it would be the same right? or not? Let me know.

Let me know if you guys have any suggestions on making no bumps.

About the metal pipes, I wouldn't be able to use it because first, it's expensive, and second, it's hard to transport in a car because it doesn't bend, and if it does bend, it's done.

Let me know...

Click here to watch the rough cut (http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=43small)

[235 Studios]

Here's my .02-

I liked the content - it made me smile :) . As for the dolly shots, I assume that they were the ones at the begining when you were tracking with the guy. I think that they would have come out better if you had kept it mounted to the dolly rather then going handheld on the dolly. A dolly shot would work there as you track with him. But because you did it handheld, that is how the shot looks, and it is hard to tell that you're "dollying". Not that it is necissary bad, but I assume by your post that you wanted a dolly shot rather then a handheld look.

BTW, I loved the dance at the end! LOL!

[LuckyProducer]

Thanks for the compliment. And yes, I did want a dolly look, but I just don't know what I should do about my dolly. It gets too bumpy. I'm thinking of buying thicker walled PVC. I'm not sure if this would solve the problem. I got WD-40 as well and that get's rid of all noise and makes it smoother. But the pipes bend and turn too much. On that shoot, it bent and twisted like crazy. Give me some suggestions and ideas if you guys have any more.

[j]

Get 10' aluminum pipe from Home Depot, it's like $10 ea, and will last you forever.

Also, get a bike rack for the top of your car and strap the pipe to it.

I once had 2-8' straight and 2 curved track (real track) strapped to the bike rack on my bmw 320 back in the day.... wish I had taken a picture....

-J

[LuckyProducer]

Why would I want to put it on top of my car? That aluminum pipes will cost me $60! Because I want 30' of track.

[LuckyProducer]

Hey guys, I made a second cut. I added a little crossfade. Check it out.

2nd Cut (http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=43-2nd-cut)

[Bradbro]

Here's an idea, how about at around the center point of your track, (using the 2X4's underneath like you had them) In the center 2x4 have a bolt sticking up on each end, and then drill holes on the bottom of your pvc and snug them over the bolts. This might stabilize your rig and keep the pipes from spreading out. You could also repeat on the ends. Also it seems as though your noise problem was a non-issue because of the music bed you had under your scene. In your pool demo you could hear the filter running in the background anyhow (in addition to the flip flop noise). You probably wouldn't want location sound for that particular shot anyways. Good luck!

[LuckyProducer]

thanks for the tip but I actually gave back the PVC and got metal pipes. It works soo much better. It is really smooth now. and no noise.

[j]

>Why would I want to put it on top of my car?

You strap it on top of your car because most cars are not 10' long inside.

>That aluminum pipes will cost me $60! Because I want 30' of track.

ok. Do you know how much "real" track would cost for 30'?

-j

[j]

>About the metal pipes, I wouldn't be able to use it because first, it's expensive, and >second, it's hard to transport in a car because it doesn't bend, and if it does bend, it's >done.

Sorry, with regards to the bike rack, I was referencing the above logistical concern...

-j

[LuckyProducer]

Oh ok. Well I got the metal pipes and they work great! Except, I didn't get the bike rack. I am just doing my best to put it inside. How much do those bike racks cost anyway?

[j]

Wow, I found one online new for only $24!

http://www.discount-trailers.com/car_top_bar_carrier.htm

I remember once strapping 2 straight and 2 curved tracks to the top of my bmw 320 and driving around the LA freeways with my hand holding the track down thru the sunroof. I know there must have been grips in 5-tons passing my and laughing.

I tore my car to *shreds* in film school... poor thing...

-j

[LuckyProducer]

Sweet man. Thanks!

[Jay Rodriguez]

awesome... i have to order one of those roof racks!