Cable cam anybody?

[logicfilms]

Made this today now it needs some tweaks but it works great.
Cost $94 at home depot .This test was not to great because I use cable to bumpy I will do a test with rope in the park and post it on Thursday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-hAjMPNEYc
http://my.tbaytel.net/ziggy/one.jpg
http://my.tbaytel.net/ziggy/two.jpg
http://my.tbaytel.net/ziggy/three.jpg
http://my.tbaytel.net/ziggy/four.jpg
http://my.tbaytel.net/ziggy/five.jpg
http://my.tbaytel.net/ziggy/six.jpg

[xfoo]

not bad for a first try... alittle jittery but better than i expected..

try running 2 cables and possibly a way to counter balance it. but nice idea very simple :)

[MattinSTL]

You need to unify the pullies with the chassis of your design... no swinging... lose the screw eyes and get the pullies directly mounted to the square rig. That will smooth out your action a lot I'm sure.

My intentions are precision pullies with bearings... directly fixed to the frame that holds the cam... so nothing lose anywhere. I think that's gonna' be the answer... and like Pontiac said, "wider is better". Get those pullies as far apart as possible, but with them still anchored solidly.

Well that's what I'm going to do anyway.

[PaPa]

meh, doesnt look useable for film purposes. too bouncy, ill stick to my steadicam, crane n dolly :) w00t!

if you get something working, show! im definately interested in the idea and your the first ive seen to give it a shot! DO IT!

[logicfilms]

Thanks I went an purchased new pullies after I used it they are going to be solid to the frame and wider the bolts can be offset so the camera can ride level even if it's going down and I will use the climbing rope because it will be smooth.

[logicfilms]

Did anybody notice the pink video noise in the the clip after I did a couple of runs my camera had lots of this I took the battery out for awhile and it went away then I filmed the snowbirds tonight and it happened once again but just for a sec or two.
When it did it in the day time I could just tap on the handle and the video noise was bad . Anybody have this happen?

[Kdawg]

I just noticed the loud pink pants lol.... But seriously.... nice idea I bet if you work out the things you mentioned, You'll be on to something.

[tbanucci]

Wow- you would never catch me putting my DVX on that, even though you have the safety rope in place it seems a little scary!

Anyway, to imrove on your design, I would widen the wheel base by two feet or so. The longer you have it, the more control you would have over your rig and the less shakey-ness in your footage. Also, some bigger wheels would help as well, plastic ones might run smoother...

[tbanucci]

One more thing- you could definitely use some counter weights at the bottom of your rig. The heavier your rig is, the smoother your footage will be.

[MattinSTL]

I've got some extra lighting parts that I'm about to pop on the marketplace... you may want to take a look. The adjustable mount is what I plan to use for my cable cam... I'm going to put a Manfrotto QR plate on it. There's no reason to use a tripod head since you won't be panning or tilting as the cam runs the cable... and this mount is good for 50 LBS! I'm also going to put a level on the mount so that it's easy to set the cam up as you want it and compensate for whatever angle the cable/rope is running.

[Boy]

bolt a peice of square aluminum tubing on the top and then mount the pulleys on that.. it will securely widen your wheel base

[mcgeedigital]

http://www.aerialvideo.com/photogall/cablecam/vegasthrillcam.jpg

http://members.arstechnica.com/x/bobdole/06_29_05_Side_Profile_1.jpg

[MattinSTL]

Thanks for the inspiration... couple things I hadn't thought of there. I've got a sheet of lexan collecting dust... I still think the pullies should be FIXED in position though. Wide and stiff... uh... you know... that's my hypothesis.