Dynamic Perception Dollies

Have any of you heard of this?

Dynamic Perception

They make open source motion control dollies and motors. Six-foot track and motor for around $1,000 seems like a pretty good deal, but they did mention that the motor can be kind of loud which would cause issues for some stuff.

Check out the time lapse videos on their site that were shot with one of their dollies.

EZ FX has a rail dolly coming out that will have a timelapes option for the motor. The motor is totally silent. Pricing will be comparable, a few dollars more, but with many, many more features. Worth checking out.

EZ FX

Having worked on numerous mult-million dollar Hollywood sets, I can affirm that hardly anyone uses a motorized dolly. Occasionally for a specific effect it can be used, but 99 times out of 100 a dolly's movement is controlled entirely by a man called a Dolly Grip. The subtle acceleration & deceleration of human hands-on control is superior to virtually any motor. Sometimes you'll see a camera zip along on a motorized track for car ramp flip stunt or similar, but you can usually mimic that shot with a camera car mount on a secondary vehicle. The overwhelming majority of dolly shots are controlled by a technician (Dolly Grip) walking or running along with the dolly. An example you'll often see in films is when a couple is walking & talking, the camera follows them. But to appear natural, people often pause, look at something, move a little more, the speed changes are ... well, very human. Why bother recruiting an expensive device with all its inherent problems just to try & duplicate what one of your crew can do almost effortlessly?

The only problem I've had with dollies & track is their size, weight & cost in production time. To glide a big Panavision camera you need a massive dolly which requires its own truck & support team. Its track takes hours to set up & break down, with all kinds of fine tuning & leveling. So those poor Dolly Grips don't just get to slide the little car up & down the track, they have to do a ton of support work.

However, as we move to lighter weight cameras, all of that becomes unnecessary, or at least slimmed down considerably, as in this great invention which I much prefer for it's curving capabilities.

www.porta-jib.com/flex-trak.htm

All that being said, with today's lightweight cameras & emerging Steadicam technologies, including the new MoVI device from NAB 2013, if I have a choice of spending thousands on a ton of gear, track, etc, just to make a gliding shot, I'll go with the portable handheld unit over a mini-car that needs a truck for transport.

Ooh, those look good too. I've been looking for good movement tools for about 9 months now and still haven't figured out the best solution yet.

In July my "production company" will begin shooting an 8 episode web series. We shot the pilot episode last summer and had very little movement, so this time around I'm looking to use a dolly for some nice simple left/right in/out movement as well as a shoulder unit and tripod with really good pan tilt movement.

I also enjoy doing time lapse so that's why the motor was attractive, but it's not that important. I just need to be able to pull off nice camera movement. I'm currently using the GH2 and possibly plan on upgrading to the BM Pocket Camera if future shooting justifies the cost, then later down the line the BMCC Super 35 or whatever new version exists in a year or two depending on financial justification. So I'm also not sure if I should invest in more heavy duty gear so I don't have to replace it when I get a bigger camera, but a bigger camera is about two years away for me so I'm not sure it matters.

Cameras are evolving nicely. For movement I like the idea of the MoVi or some similar small steadicam type device. Combine that with the new versatile slider innovations emerging (check their videos).

www.edelkrone.com/slider-plus/

This one has a motor option add-on. Haven't seen it yet but perhaps it can be mounted diagonally for the tracking rising shot.

Yeah, I've had my eye on the Edelkrone slider since it was announced, but since I've never used a slider before I don't know if it will be long enough. The XL version only moves 2.6 feet, but depending on the lens that will be enough for some shots. And even if I had a 6 foot slider, I could only pull out so far before the track got in the shot anyway. I think I just need to see more reviews. It's just hard to buy something from the other side of the world without trying it first.