Cheap captive dolly-rail system?

Ralph Oshiro

Ralph Oshiro

Veteran
Probably the most versatile mini dolly set-up I could wish for would be a small-surface (1' x 1') base, attached to a set of wheels that could hold a rail system captive. For the "track," suppose you took two cylindrical pieces of metal about 0.5"-1" in diameter and created various pairs of these "rails" in varying lengths, say, 3', 4', 5', 6', etc. Nothing too long, since the metal would flex. At the ends of the rails, secure them with a crossmember so that you have a "rail section." This "section" would never have to be assembled or "set-up." You could just lay this "mini-rail" section down, or C-clamp it across two ladders, or mafer-clamp it to whatever.

The dolly wheels would have to be designed such that it has a set of wheels both above and below the track (so that the track would be "captive") so that the platform could be inverted, if needed. One wheel set would need to "release" to be able to "clamp-on" to the rail. This would be great for:

1. Vehicle interiors.
2. Tracking vehicle hood-mounted shots.
3. Short, overhead tracking shots using only two stepladders and a couple C-clamps.
4. Tripod-mounted track runs (relatively short in length to avoid track flex).
5. Quick set-up, on-the-floor tracking shots that only need to run a few feet.

I know there are some monorail track systems (Losmandy?), but I think they're quite expensive. Does a product like this exist? Can someone engineer and design this system for us inexpensively?

Many times I only need a three-foot tracking shot but laying down traditional metal dolly track and wedges and cribbing would attract far too much attention. The beauty of this system would be near-instant set-up (of course, you still may need a wedge or two to level). You could lay the track on any horizontal surface and be ready to shoot . . . on a table, desk, a wall, a street curb, a staircase landing, an elevator, or other architectual or location element.

EDIT: Oh yeah, this would be only used with a high-hat and fluid head attached to the 1' x 1' board. If you needed a waist-level or higher shot, you would just mount the track on two tripods.
 
LowDown said:
It sound like you are talking about a camera slider, there are different companies making them, you can find one here:
http://modernstudio.com/pages/1/index.htm
Click to expand...

It sounds more like this:
track.jpg


Which would be a pain in the butt to make, but not that expensive. :laugh:
 
The key would be to have it remote controled, set up with like those little remote race cars, but of course with ultra slow creep speeds available.

In addition, it would be great to attach a remote pan and tilt head to it, like my Vista. Of course that really raises the price a lot.

I'll be making one some day, just not any time soon.
 
A simpler, yet effective, way to do this is with the Dark Passage Dolly in Dan's book at dvcamerarigs.com. You have to flip the dolly manually for underslung shots, but that might be a small price to pay considering the small price it takes to build. Or maybe I'm missing something about what NBCshooter wants.

Fox
 
LowDown said:
It sound like you are talking about a camera slider, there are different companies making them, you can find one here:
http://modernstudio.com/pages/1/index.htm
Click to expand...
Thanks, but, sliders are more for dolly-mounted cameras (e.g., "real" dollies like a Chapman or Fisher dolly) so that if the actor misses his mark, the operator can make a small lateral adjustment (especially for tight over-the-shoulders). That's why they're made of solid metal (rigidity), and built like tanks (to hold large motion picture cameras). I don't need anything near that robust.
 
Icarus2005 said:
The key would be to have it remote controled, set up with like those little remote race cars, but of course with ultra slow creep speeds available.
Click to expand...
Don't need remote control.
 
JasonFox said:
A simpler, yet effective, way to do this is with the Dark Passage Dolly in Dan's book at dvcamerarigs.com.
Click to expand...
Although I can't see the design on the site, the shot looks like what my dolly idea would accomplish. It just seems like such a useful product, I'm just surprised no one makes such a system. Even if it's simple to build myself, I would much prefer someone else (Rowe?) design, build, and market it so that I could simply buy something that's much better than anything else I might piece together.
 
Actually, just some channel and straight up-and-down wheels would do. Everyone has PVC pipes on their mind, but aluminum channel is just as easy to get. Heck, you could even make one to run along an aluminum ladder or a cable run like used in heavy duty commo facilities.
 
Anyone seen the Camtram? They have it at abel store. It uses standard dolly track, or even any fiberglass/aluminum ladders. Costs about $3395...I've seen it demonstrated, now just to develop a $399 one.
 
Actually I HAVE seen a ladder dolly. I bought my ABS-track style "T" dolly from some company in England that I remember seeing a ladder dolly on their site. I remember all of their camera support stuff was VERY reasonable priced, too. Lemme go look for that site and I'll post it here.
 
Well, here's the link of the company I bought my "tripod tracking dolly" from and the page where they show their ladder dolly.

http://www.b-hague.co.uk/Universal%20Tripod%20Tracking%20Dolly%20D5.htm

By the way, my Hague "tripod tracking dolly" works great and it only weighs a couple pounds, so it's easy and light to set-up and carry (I bought an earlier version which was only like $150--the new version has better wheels). Great stuff from a great company.
 
Yeah. Like that. And it'll probably run on PVC, too. (Maybe some of the bigger sizes, like 1.5"+, not the skinny stuff people have been using.)
 
NBCshooter said:
Although I can't see the design on the site, the shot looks like what my dolly idea would accomplish. It just seems like such a useful product, I'm just surprised no one makes such a system. Even if it's simple to build myself, I would much prefer someone else (Rowe?) design, build, and market it so that I could simply buy something that's much better than anything else I might piece together.
Click to expand...

Basically, it's just a small dolly that uses wheels mounted out to the side via L-brackets (two per axle/corner for a total of eight) instead of the usual bottom-mounted angle iron/skate wheels most DIY dollies use. That's what would allow it to hang upside down. Honestly, you could build the thing for under $50 in a couple of hours. I'm not quite sure what you're look for in the way of track, though. This would require the usual aluminum conduit.

I built a large version of this dolly for my main dolly. Probably not quite as robust, axle-wise, in a large format as far as weight support goes (but I'm not riding on it, either), but a small version wouldn't have that concern.

Fox
 
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