Who has the best footage from a CHEAP DIY stabilizer?

Tnks for the nice words...well I havent done any tight shots yet...the skaters were shot wide because of they skate faster than I can run...lol tnks again...I will have to post some tight shots.

Steve
 
MattinSTL said:
When I come to a stop and pan around... that stability is coming from a 2" nylon belt around my back... if you hooked your tripod bag shoulder strap to both sides of a FigRig... and then extended your arms out to put the rig under tension, then you can brace it really well... it locks the rig to your body and you get a 3rd dimension of stability. The only downside is that you must release that tension and float the rig again when you start walking... otherwise the muscles in your back will introduce EVEN MORE instability then just trying to float it with your arms alone.


The FigRig is just a frame surrounding your cam... to pull the center of gravity off the tight little cam-axis... that frame can be ANY shape and it's going to do the same thing. Technically when you hold the rig out to the sides... neither the top, nor the bottom is doing anything... it's the mass relationship between your hands and the camera.


I'll post some more footage and pics of the little rig pretty soon. We have a really cool park about 30 miles from my house... and as soon as I get my grips in (thick foam grips to further dampen it)... I'll go down there and get some interesting footage. Maybe I can drag somebody along to demonstrate a practical application... and don't forget that this is about CHEAP... This is bottom tier stabilization! I'm not going to imply that it's great... but I want to hear whether or not people consider this level of shake acceptable/watchable.

A FigRig is $300... this will be no more then $50... and if somebody wants to they can build their own for $20. I will gladly show them how... pics and more footage in the next day or two.
Click to expand...

Sorry to cross-post, but try this PDF file I made last year:

R-click (ctrl-click on Mac) and download the PDF file...

[URL="http://www.geocities.com/kingvidiot83/FigRigProject.pdf"]http://www.geocities.com/kingvidiot83/FigRigProject.pdf [/URL]

It costs about $30 if you are resourceful.

I had made a comment inside the article about hanging it from straps, but the tension idea should be good if there is also a counterweight.

My rig is already pretty stable since I have an XL2, and the homemade FigRig + camera is already around 10 lbs.

It is definitely for short, controlled shots (or longer crazy ones). Don't expect a Boogie Nights or Goodfellas quality extended shot unless the operator is Arnold Schwarzenegger or Lee Haney.
 
I feel wierd calling you "King" but anyway... thanks for posting KingV... I admire any fellow DIY types... I like to see how others approach a problem. The one thing I would say is you probably added at least 2 pounds more then you had to with that aluminum plate. There is an aluminum track... in 1/8" thickness that has "legs" or whatever you want to call them... like this L and reverse that L to make a half a box... and then you see what I mean... plus you can get it in ANY length and any width, plus any height of the "leg". The good thing is that it's just as rigid as that thick plate... but with about half the mass (or less).

I'm lucky that in Saint Louis I have some good resources for metal. If you live in any major city there should be some places in the more questionable parts of town... where you can find metal "yards"... or large metal suppliers that supply to local industry. Try to make friends with a place like that. If I hadn't done that I could never do some of the projects I'm doing... I use a lot of aluminum extrusions and various sheet aluminum in all sorts of stuff.

I would bail on the "hoop" and go with a simple square or rectangle. I have a hard time understanding the point of the hoop of the FigRig... that outer frame could have been just about 6-8" from your cam on both sides... and then the top and bottom could just cut straight across... I don't get the point of the giant ring at all.

Would somebody like to explain that to me?
 
After looking at the Mike Figgis footage and his friend's (rig designer's) web site (linked from Manfrotto's page), I realized that the wheel is a great design since it's a very natural feeling (if you drive) and the options for controlled rolling of the camera, dutch angles, one-handed operation from the top for low shots or skateboarding, etc. make it great for experimentation (think Sam Raimi).

Other than that, it was already made (in my case) as a steering wheel, so the fabrication was minimal.
The reason I used the thicker plate was the fact that my hardware options were limited and I wanted to be able to used machine screws in the tapped plate. My XL2 camera is quite a bit heavier than the DVX, so I didn't want to risk any extraneous movement or flex on top of my own imperfect movements.

However, a boxy design would work just as well for most types of FigRig shots.

I'd like to see some of your pics.
 
This is pre-mature... but I'm pretty close to a design that I like... I also think it looks pretty decent. Sure it's no FigRig... but I'm planning to offer these to forum members for really really cheap.

For anybody that has a small cam... you'll really enjoy this. I've seen stabilizer footage from people with small cams... and everybody should realize that it's WAY easier to stabilize a small cam then it is to stabilize a large one. I have a Sony TRV17 (my first digital camcorder) and I'll post footage with that versus the DVX... the extra size, plus 1.5 pounds is a big deal.

Anyway... here's the gist... the final design will look better still. I want to call this, "Matt's Woody"... or possibly just "The Woody"... or something like that since it's made of wood. I've got tons of aluminum and I've experimented with a lot of materials... and poplar is pretty darn strong when you put it together right... and the best part is that it's SUPER lightweight!

figframe.jpg


It's pretty easy to see how I'm doing this... it's not a complex design... but if anybody wants help making one I can explain it. I'm planning to sell these for around $49 to forum members... It costs about $25 to make (the final design will have various grips and stuff that you don't see here).
 
Nice. Here's one of my FigRig style stabilizers (built these mid '05) (my assistant in the pic). Mine are basically like yours, but U channel rather than a complete frame. Handle on the bottom also allows mounting on a tripod.

Now that I see yours I'm thinking about retrofitting a bar along the top :)


homepic_06.gif
 
Here's my model I built last night. Works like a charm, but I'd like to add some weight on the base though for a bit more stability.

djrig.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top