dollytrax sample

Imaginate

Imaginate

Well-known member

I thought I'd share this sequence shot with the dolly trax system. This is a cheap floor dolly that you can actually sit on. Sometimes track, pan and tilt shots can be tricky with slider systems. I thought the dollytrax did great as we back into the corner here and pan. Then the running shot as we reverse track him the dolly is lightweight enough to run with it and get it up to speed with someone running.

 
I liked both example videos but it appears as though Dollytrax isn't available anymore. I can't find anyone selling them anymore.
 
I am always suspicious of any dolly system that omits tracks of some kind.
This looks like a nice product, but only for floor surfaces that are already VERY smooth to start with.
Your demo shot doesn't look all that smooth really - although I acknowledge that your high-speed and high-energy sequence was probably going to generate rough footage regardless of how it's shot. But I've seen those shots done many times with only a moderately trained steadycam operator and a $600 rig.

The problem with "no-track" dolly setups is that the surface they ride on is nearly never really smooth enough that you don't still have problems in post with the footage. Floor and road surfaces are such that you'd need a wheel with a diameter of more like 2-feet to get a smooth roll.

I'd love a system like this to finally render really good results - I'm just skeptical.
I've been getting smooth-as-glass shots by throwing down a 4x8 foot sheet of masonite on everything from carpeting to cobblestones to gravel - then I put a good skateboard on it, and a Manfrotto monopod on the skateboard....90 percent of the time we NAIL the shot with that gear with almost zero set-up time.

Please do some more shoots and post your results here.
This product looks like it might almost be viable.
 
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