Tracking Dolly

ChainSmoker

ChainSmoker

Active member
I saw one of these on Ebay and thought this would be cool for capturing some feet walking or something like that. Actually, I don't know why I built this, maybe so I wouldn't have to hear the old lady nagging at me for a few minutes and it's another tool in the arsenal. I figure some of you guys might find it useful so here I post.

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Rich
 
Actually, I could think of some good uses for something like this. I was at a film shoot for some station promos for a tv station I used to work for. The film crew had one of these set up on some stands to get it to eye level and used it to dolly back and forth in front of our anchors who were sitting at a desk. It allowed for tight head shots with a dolly movement. I've been thinking of putting something together like this myself. It's easy to tear down and transport and can be small and lightweight.
 
I've been wanting to do something like this for a while... there's no law that says this thing has to stay on the ground. You can get some really nice, precision electric motors (dc) from electronics surplus stores... then put on a good reduction gearbox... and get that thing motorized. For short track lengths it would be pointless... but think long. Wouldn't it be cool to use a dolly like this to do a shot through a house or car? I mean THROUGH it... like in one window and back out the other side of the house... that's why I want one.
 
Thanks for the kind words everyone. This dolly is perfect to go through a car or window, or anything else. Just set your rails up on a couple tripods and voila', there you go. As for my rail system, my whole idea was to make it look and function like train tracks. I wanted it very sturdy to hold up to some weight and able to shim on unlevel ground. And this is what I came up with. On the material side of things, I used 1x2 MDF painted strips of wood cut at 4 feet 10 inches for the runners, with my 1 and 1/4 inch pvc pipe cut at exactly 5 feet in length. I left a one inch overhang on each end so I would have a small gap to allow for adding on more track and get a nice flush fit. The bottom rails are 24 inches wide so it fits through just about any doorway you can think of. For the inner spacing rails I attached them with 2 inch mending plates on the top side, and then screwed in from the bottom for a "she ain't goin' nowhere" fit. And it is all put together with 1 and 1/4 inch drywall screws of all things (had a box of them laying around so I put them to use). As for track joiners, I found that 1 and 3/8 inch wooden closet rod is a superb snug fit into the pvc pipe. I bolted one end in the pvc with an 8/32x2 inch bolt and leave the other end unbolted for a nice slip in and out shuffle of other track sections. The track never comes apart during use, and is as smooth as you could ever hope. Overall cost is about 10 dollars for all materials to make one section of 5 foot track. Let me know if you want me to post some pics of the track to help explain.

Rich
 
Rich cool dolly and rail system. Pictures of the track would help me because I have already have built a dolly. Tks
 
Glad to help out. Please post some pics when you get some track built. I would like to see how it turns out.

Rich
 
hmmm... maybe you could use it with a couple of step ladders and elevate the tracks to whatever level you need. anyone tried this before? my concern is the weight when it gets to the middle (dip). you could use 3 ladders. cool though.
 
I've never raised the tracks like that before. If I need to raise the camera height, I just throw on the regular sled and a tripod. Saves money on buying ladders and gear to haul around.

Rich
 
I have a high-hat dolly which is similar to what you've built and a dp I worked with had a track system that was made out of aluminum tubing on all four sides connected with 90 degree elbows (i've now built one out of PVC).

We then would take two c-stands and adjust the head to the level we wanted (well above ground) using a couple of clamps (I can't remember, but they're a standard grip dept. clamp) and viola!!!! instant dolly at hip-level, shoulder level...whatever.

Man, is this thing fast. Where where able to get setups all over the place. I was able to get slight dolly moves into all my shots. Good stuff. Keep up with this and head to home depot for some pvc. :)
 
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