Am I on track? Or is it cra**?!
- Thread starter Erik Olson
- Start date
The Evil Mariachi
Well-known member
There's nothing cheap about filmmaking, my friend (except c-47's)...
I don't get it... what are we supposed to be looking at?
Tom Marshall
Actor!!!!!!
Erik, I always assumed you were on crack...
$370 for four 10' sections of dolly track? That's what my comment is about.
The CinemaGadgets people sometimes vacilate between geeking out and just writing pure specs. The offset locating pins note doesn't seem to be a rallying point, but most tracks are built this way and for those unfamiliar with Norm's track, it warrants description. Most of us with a grip background are very familiar with Norm's line of equipment, but their track certainly isn't on the back of most grip trucks.
Anyway, I guess the $370 for four sections of professional dolly track is astonishing only to me. In a forum where everyone is trying to reinvent dolly track, or somehow otherwise attempting to make it for free, I thought it was an interesting link.
But I digress.
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The CinemaGadgets people sometimes vacilate between geeking out and just writing pure specs. The offset locating pins note doesn't seem to be a rallying point, but most tracks are built this way and for those unfamiliar with Norm's track, it warrants description. Most of us with a grip background are very familiar with Norm's line of equipment, but their track certainly isn't on the back of most grip trucks.
Anyway, I guess the $370 for four sections of professional dolly track is astonishing only to me. In a forum where everyone is trying to reinvent dolly track, or somehow otherwise attempting to make it for free, I thought it was an interesting link.
But I digress.
e
More typical pricing... for one section of comparable track.
http://www.filmtools.com/trst10sehewa.html
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http://www.filmtools.com/trst10sehewa.html
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Tom Marshall
Actor!!!!!!
Yeah, but that's Filmtools... they're a bit overpriced...
Well, yeah, but 572% overpriced?
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ThereIsNoLimit
Active member
The price is rather confusing.
Why is the MSRP 1 400, the bulk discount 1 280, and the actual price 370? Doesn't make much sense.
Why on earth is this on lighting anyway
Why is the MSRP 1 400, the bulk discount 1 280, and the actual price 370? Doesn't make much sense.
Why on earth is this on lighting anyway
Macville
Well-known member
It's $370 a section or $1,280 for the 4 pieces. Very confusing if you ask me. The track at filmtools is so much more because it's matthews track. Not because it's really better, just because they put their name on stuff (yes, it's good stuff, but not good enough for the amount they charge over everyone else for gear.)
Matthew
Matthew
The price is rather confusing.
Why is the MSRP 1 400, the bulk discount 1 280, and the actual price 370? Doesn't make much sense.
Why on earth is this on lighting anyway
I've been around a while and guess I missed the grip section. Whatever. If you add it to your cart, it still loads 4 sections of track. I think they've got the cart or description set up wrong, but who knows. I'll order it and see if one or four show up at my door.
Norms is very good gear that you see all the time on the biggest trucks. I prefer FilmAir track to everyone else's if we're trying to make comparisons. But their kit is in a different league altogether.
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RyanT
Veteran
The price is rather confusing.
Why is the MSRP 1 400, the bulk discount 1 280, and the actual price 370? Doesn't make much sense.
Why on earth is this on lighting anyway
Because there is no grip section. This fits nicely.
I'm really confused now though.
Like I said... are we on crack? You have to drop your credit card number in there to get to the point where someone contacts you over shipping. I'm afraid that's when they'll break me the bad news.
Of course, you could always pull out of the transaction if the price isn't as stated on the site. Keeping an online store up and running without any errors is tedious and oversights can be many. Also, because we use the FilmAir stuff, this Matthews-style kit doesn't make any sense. Plus 10' sections travel 12' long and that's really long.
e
Of course, you could always pull out of the transaction if the price isn't as stated on the site. Keeping an online store up and running without any errors is tedious and oversights can be many. Also, because we use the FilmAir stuff, this Matthews-style kit doesn't make any sense. Plus 10' sections travel 12' long and that's really long.
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puredrifting
Major Contributor
Erik:
Do you have a grip truck or van? This stuff is heavy and bulky, easy if you have a grip truck or pickup but if not, this stuff is a pita.
Dan
Do you have a grip truck or van? This stuff is heavy and bulky, easy if you have a grip truck or pickup but if not, this stuff is a pita.
Dan
No, and we have 4' (6' folded) and 6' (8' folded) FilmAir track sections for exactly that reason.
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puredrifting
Major Contributor
Yup, yup. I have a Chevy 2500 HD Duramax Crew but it is the short bed and dealing with 4' of dolly track hanging out the back is always a PITA.
On the other end of things, I am pretty much done with dollies anyway. You will laugh, but I bought a DV Caddie mini dolly http://www.dvcaddie.com/dolly.htm from EVS, mounted two 6' lengths of 1/2" pvc to a piece of white coated MDF. All I have to bring are two Gary Colemans, each with a Mafer and I have a dolly that works for 6' straight moves that weighs about 5lbs and the whole setup easily fits even into a small car.
The DV Caddie costs all of $179.00 and the track cost me about $20.00 to make. With practice, I have been getting some pretty nice compund moves that are as smooth as doorway or Western moves that I have obtained in recent years. It looks like a toy but for HPX170 level cameras, this is a highly underrated tool, I am impressed with it. The option of doing nice moves on the ground or floor is another nice option as well.
My mantra has become lighter, smaller and cheaper with all things production. Too many kids fresh out of film school in LA willing to kill themselves for almost no money so the options of using a real dolly (Fisher/Chapman) with real track are becoming more and more rare, I only had two shoots in all of 2008 that I used a "real" dolly for. Rates and budgets are down but I can still do moves with this dolly or with my PortaJib. IMHO, Westerns, Doorways are capable of smooth moves with a great dolly grip and a smooth surface or track. But they are huge and heavy (relatively for a small crew). I have yet to use a small, lightweight ride-along dolly (like the IndieDolly) that provides truly smooth and professional moves consistently. Do they work? Yes. Are the results great? Not usually. I usually regret using them and wish that I would have had a Fisher.
For a lot of the spokesperson/intro talking heads and tabletop that I do, small straight moves are fine. Hence I bought the DV Caddie as a lark but now I am actually starting to really like it and I have shot some nice footage with it. Small enough for a single person to transport, sets up in about 3 minutes. I am also buying a GlideTrack, same idea as far as moves, but shorter moves (3' for the Glidetrack vs. 6' for the DV Caddie), but the Glidetrack is actually practical for run and gun, put it on a tripod and run around shooting.
I love real dollies but where there is a will and a lack of budget, there are still fun little ways of introducing small, subtle movement to any shoot.
Dan
astigmatic
Well-known member
hey, you inspired me to get an dv caddie dolly. how are you mounting your tripod head to it? Do you have issues with it popping off the tracks?