Motion Control Dolly Rig - Group Buy

penfever

penfever

Well-known member
Hey all - found a really cool opportunity to buy a "pre-owned", never used, custom motion control dolly rig. For FX work this is invaluable - also great whenever you need perfectly smooth, precision, repeatable motion.

Talked to the guy - apparently this is a custom-built rig. Brand new, never taken out of the box. He bought it for a shoot (original cost of 10k, not 100k) but by the time it was built his shoot was finished and he couldn't use it.

So I'm gonna contact the company that made it tomorrow and get some details. Assuming they're reputable and he's reputable, I'm going to organize a group buy with anyone in Los Angeles who's interested. I'm expecting the out of pocket cost to be $2k, $1k if I get a bunch of people.

Pretty good price for true motion control!

If you want to be in the loop, just PM me!

http://www.peaceriverstudios.com/15_...l/TrailRai.pdf
 
Hey all -

So...
Here's the down-low. I've spoken with the guy who's selling the unit and with the guy who made the unit at length. I'm gonna lay down the following details.

The first detail (probably the one you're going to care most about) -
The price is higher than initally expected, BUT if everyone who contacted me is still interested, it still comes out to AROUND $2000 per person. Might vary slightly.

So around $2000.

Now here's the cool stuff -

This unit was designed for high speed - it can travel 20 ft of track in a few seconds (the motor was built to keep up with a moving automobile). It can also do low speed.

The dolly is motion controlled - it can be operated via software.

The extra cost comes from needing a motion control head to attach to the dolly, which would give us pan and tilt functionality (which I know is important to me, and probably everyone else also). What's nice about that is the same guys who built the unit build the head - so they would basically take it to their shop, verify that everything's in working condition (no reason it shouldn't be, it's never been opened), add the head, and also add a new feature they recently developed, an analog remote.

That means you can control all three functions with a 15-ft wired remote potentiometer - basically a knob. Dolly by knob - who needs a dolly grip?!

So that's pretty cool. It's precise to 1/20th of an inch (approximately), probably comes with 18-24 ft of track. Extra track or curved track runs about $1k per 6ft unit.

So, are people still interested?
 
Ok Penfever,

This sounds like a great find, but 2k is still quite expensive. Maybe we need more people. Also who would store it (or rather get to keep it. hahaha) who gets to use it and for how many days. Also who pays for insurance. what if one of us screws it up. How about rental. Would you rent it to recover some of the costs?

There are many issues at stake with such a purchase and some that would have to be figured out before proceeding. Also, I'm sure many feel as I do, that I would like to see a demo unit operational to see the capabilities. So now we are talking 10-15 people going to see the demo.

I can think of one idea where this dolly would be necessary to me for a spec commercial I plan on shooting, but its a spec commercial. (no money coming in from it, i would have to figure out other ways of shooting it.)

Of course this set up would be great for many situations, but not a necessity per say.

Anyway, organize a showing at the manufacturer's facilities, and I'll go take a look at the unit.

Thanks,

Luis
 
how much

how much

Or how much is the unit selling for? I am in San francisco, and could find this very useful. willing to double up but would prefer it to live up north.
 
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