Getting Smooth Dolly pans

[djkarn105]

I was shooting some product shots this weekend and was having one helluva time getting a simultaneous dolly and pan to be smooth.
We had a grip pushing the dolly and the Operator doing the pan to keep the subject in frame but it took what seemed like way too many retakes to get smooth shots.
I'm sure a better Dolly and Tripod head would help but does anyone have any advice?
Is it just practice?

 

[Tim Joy]

Was the operator riding on the dolly?

 

[RyanT]

Yeah, if the operator is riding that can change everything. Makes things a lot easier.

What head and dolly were you using?

 

[djkarn105]

No, we're using one of those cheap tripod dolly setups.

Just out of curiosity, why does having the operator able to sit on the dolly help?

 

[Ted Spencer]

Because even though the dolly is in motion, the camera isn't moving in relation to the operator. If s/he pans, it's just like normal. Panning a camera that's in motion makes it much harder to be smooth since one has to move in lock-step with it *and* pan it simultaneously. It's the old "moving target" situation.