Smooth vertical and horizontal camera movement

[MikkoP]

I have a Canon EOS 60D camera. I want to use this to take some video by moving the camera smoothly in horizontal and vertical axis. For example, if I want to take video of the bezel of a TV, I'd like to be able to smoothly have the camera move down on the vertical axis with the lens facing the bezel in the same angle the whole time.

 

Something like this, but not this expensive

You know how products are shown in Linus' videos. Like here with the keyboard at 3:40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFWR8r5sdWY

I don't want to lock the camera on a tripod at a fixed height and tilt the camera because this changes the angle and I want to keep the lens facing the object the whole time in the same angle.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

http://www.edelkrone.com/eu/p/138/slider-plus

 

Edelkrone is top notch hardware at a decent price. You can build a simple slider yourself though, it's not very complicated.

[MikkoP]

http://www.edelkrone.com/eu/p/138/slider-plus

 

Edelkrone is top notch hardware at a decent price. You can build a simple slider yourself though, it's not very complicated.

 

Cool, thanks for linking that. Seems awesome but I don't have 440 € to put on that right now, at least for only one video. 

 

If I build one myself I could implement a gear system that automatically focuses my camera too. Or do these exist already? 60D doesn't have autofocus on video...

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Cool, thanks for linking that. Seems awesome but I don't have 440 € to put on that right now, at least for only one video. 

 

If I build one myself I could implement a gear system that automatically focuses my camera too. Or do these exist already? 60D doesn't have autofocus on video...

 

Making a system like that will be quite complicated as the distance you have to move the focus ring will differ from lens to lens.

[MikkoP]

Making a system like that will be quite complicated as the distance you have to move the focus ring will differ from lens to lens.

 

That's true. Maybe I'll make this slider first. D:

[MikkoP]

Making a system like that will be quite complicated as the distance you have to move the focus ring will differ from lens to lens.

 

This one seemed like good quality.

 

http://vimeo.com/55722439

 

Do you happen to know what those things are called that the aluminum pipes are inside? At 2:54 you can see the pipes going into those blocks. What are the blocks called? I'll check if I can get something like that from some of our hardware stores here.

[Puppet]

I use a Konova K3, really recommend it, might be slightly above what you were expecting budget wise though. There arent really any cheaper options to buy as they normally use mechanicals that rely on friction that tend to stick on vertical shots.

 

If you aren't using it regularly you could probably get creative, something that springs to mind is the pneumatics out of an office chair with some weights balanced on it? Or a car jack?

[MikkoP]

I use a Konova K3, really recommend it, might be slightly above what you were expecting budget wise though. There arent really any cheaper options to buy as they normally use mechanicals that rely on friction that tend to stick on vertical shots.

 

If you aren't using it regularly you could probably get creative, something that springs to mind is the pneumatics out of an office chair with some weights balanced on it? Or a car jack?

 

That's an good idea too, but unfortunately I need at lest 60 cm of vertical movement, so that's not an option at least for this case.

 

DIY sliders might not be as good for vertical movement when moved by hand, but I have some experience with microcontrollers and other electorincs so I could make a motor driven slider too. That way I get very smooth movement in vertical and horizontal directions.

[Puppet]

This one seemed like good quality.

 

http://vimeo.com/55722439

 

Do you happen to know what those things are called that the aluminum pipes are inside? At 2:54 you can see the pipes going into those blocks. What are the blocks called? I'll check if I can get something like that from some of our hardware stores here.

 

Those Igus rails all come as one unit, they are friction based and in my experience do tend to judder slightly on vertical movements. They might be available locally from an engineering supplier, their intended use is for like factory machinery etc.

 

They are surprisingly expensive for what they are, last time I checked was around £120, when you factor in the price of making it motorized I think it would be better to just put that bit extra in to get one designed for this purpose.

[MikkoP]

Those Igus rails all come as one unit, they are friction based and in my experience do tend to judder slightly on vertical movements. They might be available locally from an engineering supplier, their intended use is for like factory machinery etc.

 

They are surprisingly expensive for what they are, last time I checked was around £120, when you factor in the price of making it motorized I think it would be better to just put that bit extra in to get one designed for this purpose.

 

I found some good ball bushings at 18 €/piece. Not that expensive compared to those 500 € pre built things. 

 

I already started modelling the system. The external piece is for mounting the camera for vertical movement.

 

[Puppet]

I found some good ball bushings at 18 €/piece. Not that expensive compared to those 500 € pre built things. 

 

I already started modelling the system. The external piece is for mounting the camera for vertical movement.

 

Yeah if you can get those linear bearings they will do a much better job, especially on the vertical movements. The plastic ones become fairly useless over time.

 

Yeah I kind of caved in after a while and ended up going with the prebuilt option :lol: But your idea looks pretty solid, if you can make it motorized too then you are definitely on to a winner.

 

Best of luck, keep us updated

[TheMissxu]

I always thought people filmed at a high frame rate and replayed in slow motion, "dampening" the shake.

[MikkoP]

I always thought people filmed at a high frame rate and replayed in slow motion, "dampening" the shake.

Yea, this was what I thought too, but this way I don't need a camera to do 120 fps at 1080p.

[MikkoP]

Yeah if you can get those linear bearings they will do a much better job, especially on the vertical movements. The plastic ones become fairly useless over time.

Yeah I kind of caved in after a while and ended up going with the prebuilt option :lol: But your idea looks pretty solid, if you can make it motorized too then you are definitely on to a winner.

Best of luck, keep us updated

Thanks, I will post more pictures here when I make progress.

[Streamline]

Alternatively you could make the object you want to film move instead of making the camera move. Getting a TV on a movable table and then roll it in front of the camera is a much easier thing to do than making the camera move and still get a smooth shot. 

[MikkoP]

Alternatively you could make the object you want to film move instead of making the camera move. Getting a TV on a movable table and then roll it in front of the camera is a much easier thing to do than making the camera move and still get a smooth shot. 

 

So moving a heavy tv is easier than for example putting the camera on an RC car and pushing it? Hmm..

 

Well, I have ordered the parts for the slider. They should arrive around the middle of the month. Let's see what happens.

[Streamline]

So moving a heavy tv is easier than for example putting the camera on an RC car and pushing it? Hmm..

 

Just a thought.