The best DIY slider? Pros and cons?

[mikecazzx]

I have been researching these. Here is my opinion, does anyone differ?

Let's forget the ones with pipes sliding over pipes or similar.

Igus, Zaza still has to be moved by hand which can lead to issues when played back.
Put a crank wheel on it and i think it get's worse, not better.
Motorize it and finally it's the best.

Aside from that we have wheeled models.
In this arena I think the skateboard bearings, not wheels are the best.
Bearings rolling against perfectly formed rails or aluminum L channel.

Skateboard wheels, could have imperfections and cause bumpiness, true?

So far I cannot find a design that beats the skate bearings. Hopefully I can also use a gravity fed weight with a pulley to move the slider. I have seen that done with the Igus.

If anyone knows the smoothest budget slider - let me know!

 

[Calomile]

drylin sliders are very smooth, as are wheels - as long as the surface is perfectly smooth/round you'll get a good slide. If you ask me it matters more what it's sliding against. If both surfaces aren't perfectly smooth then it's going to look dodgy.

While I agree that a motorized slider might be best, unless you spend the cash you might end up with something that's very noisy - not a problem if you're doing a pickup shot where you can use a wild track as replacement audio, but if your actor is trying to give an oscar winning performance and it's drowned out by motor sounds that's not so great! Personally I liked the igus/zaza sliders with the bungee chord mod to pull the slider along, utilising the friction of the slider and the elasticity of the rope. Cheap and effective, like all the best solutions!

 

[mikecazzx]

drylin sliders are very smooth, as are wheels - as long as the surface is perfectly smooth/round you'll get a good slide. If you ask me it matters more what it's sliding against. If both surfaces aren't perfectly smooth then it's going to look dodgy.

While I agree that a motorized slider might be best, unless you spend the cash you might end up with something that's very noisy - not a problem if you're doing a pickup shot where you can use a wild track as replacement audio, but if your actor is trying to give an oscar winning performance and it's drowned out by motor sounds that's not so great! Personally I liked the igus/zaza sliders with the bungee chord mod to pull the slider along, utilising the friction of the slider and the elasticity of the rope. Cheap and effective, like all the best solutions!

Yes I forgot to mention motor noise is less important to me than smoothness. I will check out the bungee and the drylin stuff.