but it's close. a crane arm for a camera, for use in film projects.







AND!! a video of the test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx_TOD4DlSY

Cooooool

Now, make it half again as long, and build a cool base for it so it's not all wobbly

Video didn't load

[EDIT:] Nevermind, got it to work.

It'll break down.

Does the camera rotate to always be facing foreward?

Nice work.

Thine mother?

Nifty

well, yes the camera is always level horivontally (or, close to it) if that's what you mean. it doesnt have any panning abilities, like a tripod would. the whole arm spins around to move the camera.

and yes that was my mom.

Bah, then it's useless. Why would you want to look at the whole vertical of your movement? Boomsticks are designed so that you can start your shot in one angle and mantain that angle regardless of vertical changes.

how is it useless? if i wanted to do that, we could hook up a pulley system to rotate the board it's on. but until we need to do something like that, it'll be fine.

So I watched the video, and now I get it. It's a lot more useful then I thought BUT it REALLY wouldn't be as expensive as you might think to put in some moters to get smooth rotation. 200-400 bucks, I'd say. More expensive the smoother it'll be.

Also, even though you did a REALLY good job for not having a monitor, I'd suggest at least putting one on there.

How much did the design cost you? My company has wanted a jib like that for a while, but they're amazingly expensive. If we could build one like that (With rotating moters) for cheap, we'd be interested in colaborating with you.

I'm thinking RC moters, as those would be the cheapest, and quietest.

it's probably 10 bucks worth of wood, and an aluminum pole. so probably 10 or 15 bucks with everything. havent made the base yet (im thinking something like those heavy bases for umbrellas in those tables used in lawn furniture, so we still have the "uni-pod" movement, but with a sturdy base.

if i had the kind of wood and supplies i wanted, rather than having to use what my dad didnt want, i dont think it would have gotten more expensive than 20 bucks, though.

and yeah, we're trying to find a portable TV with A/V jacks on it so we can hook some cords going from the camera down to the pole area so we can see whats going on.

Get a 7" LCD screen that's meant for cars. Cost about 100e ($120), work with a 12v battery and have A/V RCA jacks.

What's this pully business? Could you create a tight enough pully to be proficient, but not make noise and squeek? And what about smoothness?

Jibs are expensive because of the electric controls involved. We've toyed with making our own in the past, but our cameras are big and heavy. How much weight can the one you built hold, and how much more money would it cost to make one that was operational with a 20 lb camera, or so? I'd imagine that the thing would get tiresome to move.

You could combine this with a dolly cart and simple home made wooden tracks, were you so inclined. A pottery-wheel type system could be designed to rotate the pole smoothly with your foot, and another crank could lower and raise the neck (To keep it smooth, and for heavier cameras.) I'm not quoting him, but I'd be willing to bet if you built a system like what I'm describing, my boss would likely pay for it, getting it here, and add a little extra for the trouble.

[to cavedemon] we're too low budget for even that. my friend works at this place, heartland america, and he's gonna get this: http://heartlandamerica.com/browse/item.asp?product=gpx-5-inch-black-and-white-tv-with-cd-player&PIN=41733&GUID=9FCA4D46-D030-4A75-A858-910B16D3D066&BC=10001001&DL=SCH2

should be able to mount on the side with a little work. might look a little weird, but it should work great. we might even be able to take it apart so we just get the screen mounted somewhere.

kirby, that's possible. the pully would take a while to perfect, but it would rotate the 2x4 that the camera is mounted to. it could be made quiet if the pully was made of plastic and rubber, and the base was actually meant for rotating right now. right now the only thing that makes noise is the bucket moving around, which we'll fix soon by possibly using weight lifting weights instead(like the professional ones do)

we havent tested it's limits yet, seeing as i dont want it to break and i really only care if it can handle my camera for now(it's about 1 lb.) but i wouldn't trust this one with anything more than 10 lbs. (mainly because one of the boards has a crack in it) once again if i had nice materials, i could definately see it lifting 20 or more lbs.

but yeah motors would always be the preferred method. it's just too expensive for us right now. i guess your employer could be a different story.

ok test two, this time more of a movie-orientated test. trying to make a short, 30 second clip of my sister climbing my roof. probably filmed in 2 minutes or less. camera angles completely improvised on the spot.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Fnywcab6vOI

i kinda aimed a bit low for the end of the first shot, but it worked alright. the screen on my camera was probably 15 ft in the air and i couldnt see it, so i guessed. i get my portable tv in the mail in a week or so, once i get that, it'll be perfect.

i've also make an INSANELY HEAVY base that works very very well(20x easier to operate because you dont have to keep it balanced)


the base


maximum altitude

I like it, works well. Camera was slightly off, but I guess you did your best for not being able to see what it could see.

Hahahah...it's so...small!

you're damn right it's small.

actually, the extra battery i bought (rediculously large, cant use the viewfinder cause it pokes you in the eye, haha) is the same weight as the camera with no battery, so it doubles the weight.

I finally bothered to watch the first video... and was reminded of Ben Stiller, blasted cazor

Is it just too coincidencial, that I'm starting to build one of those as well...

Now you're stealing designs? That's low, Gold.

I GOT THE TV!!!

AND A SNEAK PEEK AT THE FIRST SCENE CUT FROM RISE OF THE DEAD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU5UN6GgRO8

i asked kirb last night about it, and he agreed, cazor is ben stiller

That rocks

Well that was slightly odd.

Looks cool
Can you operate zoom and other functions without touching the camera?

And did anyone tell you that accessing the roof of your house looks like a walk in the park?