DIY Circle Track!!! Finally!!!

ChainSmoker

ChainSmoker

Active member
After many failed attempts and dollars spent, I think I finally conquered the circle track. Well half of it anyway.

TrackTopLeftCorner.jpg


TrackfromRightSide.jpg


TrackfromLeftSide.jpg


Pretty simple and straight foward in construction I laid down some plywood, drew my circles (9 foot outer radius) with a homemade circle jig, and then screwed my pvc on top of the drawn lines and voila! The circle track was born. There is alot of work to do still like cut it down to size so I can transport it, repostion some screws so my wheels don't roll over them causing bumps in the ride (like it does now), reinforcing it all together, and shimming it to match up with my straight track should I ever need to shoot around a long dining table or something. I think total cost for this beast was about 80 dollars, but as usual I overbought on the plywood and screws and stuff so it can be knocked down to somwhere around 60 bucks probably. Not too bad for an 18 foot circle IMO. I do have a small and crappy piece of footage (exporting is not my thing) of it in action. Nothing fancy, but it works. Please excuse the mess in the garage as I just moved and made this a priority over cleaning. Let me know what you guys think... good, bad, I already know it's ugly lol.


http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f366/ChainSmoker5000/?action=view&current=CurveTrack2.flv


Just an update - I got the track cut into 45 degree sections so it is now fully portable. All that is left is to put some bracing on the bottom side and make some connectors. I'll probably end up painting the wood as well to give it some protection and make it look a little more presentable too.

CutTrack1.jpg


CutTrack2.jpg


Off to build the other half!!!
 
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Looks like you could cut that out pretty easily with a jig saw. I'm wondering, did you bend the pipe as you went and screwed it in place, or did you bend the pipe first on a "special" piece of equipment and then screw it down?
 
I should be able to cut it into sections with a circular saw pretty easy, and then trim the excess with a jig saw. Thats the plan so I hope it works!
 
I bent the pipe as I went along. The pipe bends really easy once you get it anchored down with a couple of screws. I have tried those "special" tools in the past i.e. spring benders, heat guns, and that was a complete waste of time, money and material... at least it was for me. I know other people have had good results with them. Just not me.
 
It's way to bumpy to my camera on the tripod. Footage would look worse than it already does. I'm going to finish tweaking it and get some people over here so I can do some decent testing with it.
 
1st round looks not bad. In the second round is a bump at the end but finaly a very nice Job! Congrats!!! :beer:
 
try to get some footage where your subject stays in the exact same frame throughout, then youll have sellable footage :)
 
If you live in an area of warm climate then the best way to get curved track is to lay the pvc on a curved surface, such as a galvanized pool or similar... forget about it for 2 weeks... you could also help it along by adding weight to the ends of the pipe... but this is the gist, and you'll be running curves in no time.

The pvc must be pre-curved and in manageable sections for this idea to catch fire... I'm going to work out curves (and prove it) next... busy week right now.

Oh and the best way to join PVC is to use 1.5" for the track... then buy 1.25" for the junctions... cut that into 12" long pieces and cut a half-inch groove out of it longways... then compress it to slip into the 1.5" tubes... perfect every time.
 
Chain,
Have you tried a three wheel trackless dolly? I made one out of plastic and in-line skate wheels. At first I was thinking, "now what?" Now I use it for almost everything. Check out my entry in Dramafest and you'll see lots of footage using it.
 
Thank you for the praise RWM. I think that bump was my foot kicking the sled when I went to turn off the camera. Don't remember now.
 
Ya PaPa we are going to use the track on set in the next couple of days and get some real footage with it so we shall see how it turns out.
 
Hey Jeremy, as for the track connectors I use same method that Matt mentions above except with 1/2" PVC pipe, stagger them, and she's all locked up and good to go.
 
Hey Wild, I remember seeing a thread in here a few months back where somewhere built a monster size skater dolly similiar to what you built and I agree the footage was pretty incredible. I just wanted something to interlace with my straight track so I went for this configuration.
 
Right on, I just finished editing 4 separate passes done with the skater dolly to create an arc of the room with a character appearing and reappearing and reappearing in different places. Easy to do if the camera is locked down. Not as easy when you are moving the camera... Yup, it's in the film.
 
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