Well being a techy type hands on mechanical guy I always have to try things with my own ideas. So I figure I will share what I am working on. This whole idea is based off a DIY CNC/Lase/Plasma cutter but limiting it to just one axis.
The slider I am piecing together will be a bit different than the DIY models I have seen. This one will incorporate an electric motor and a counterweight setup that will help with two things:
- Ability to have more travel distance
- Ability to only use one tripod
- Ability to control/maintain slide speed throughout the shot
What I will be doing is determining a maximum weight that will be applied down on the rail and then find an electric motor from a VCR, Printer or whatever I can find and make sure it can pull that weight. Reduction gears may be needed, but that is an easy add on.
Once the max weight is determine and the motor is selected, I'll then begin on the counterweight setup. What this will do is, when I have the camera/rig setup to the far left, the counterweight will automatically be pulled to the far right allowing the weight to remain in the center of the tripod. This will be set up with a banding system, so as the camera is moving to the left, the counterweight is moving to the right at the same distance. Pretty easy to figure out.
In addition to the counterweight, it will be adjustable. So if there is ever a time I would need to adjust the weight, I could easily do so. However, I would never want to adjust the weight heigher than a safe pull limit, it'd be more for reducing weight/taking accessories off the camera.
To make sure all of the weight remains in the middle of the tripod, the battery and motor will be centralized there.
Once things slow down a bit with work and home I'll snap some pictures but I figured I'd share while this discussion was going on.
Topic: DIY Slider (Read 3906 times)