My next project was to build a camera slider. I wanted to make the design as simple as possible as I felt other designs were too complicated with 8 or more wheels. I wanted to use ball bearing wheels to provide a smooth sliding action.
I have come up with a design which uses only 4 bearing wheels, while the carriage remains captivate in the rail. This means the slider can be used at any angle, even upside down. The trick to this design is using roller wheels which are designed for sliding doors. See this link cowdroy.com.au/spares4.html or google "sliding door roller" to find them.
If you are going to build the slider then don’t use L channel as I have used. My supplier did not have any U channel of the correct size so I went for L channel instead. Using U channel will make the slider much simpler to build and stronger. Simply get two U channels and rivet together with flat strips. No need for my complicated L brackets.
See description on the flicker photos for a full parts list, tools list and build guide. I have made a few improvements to the slider since filming; see photos on the attached link. These include:
Added adjustable drag breaks to the carriage. This reduces any slack in the bearings and provides smoother sliding when controlling the slider by hand.
I have also build a controller for the slider to use for Time Lapse. See vimeo.com/17973866
WARNING:
All of the cutting and some of the drilling footage have been sped up to make the video shorter. Don’t try to cut or drill this fast or you are likely to destroy your tools or yourself.
THE FILM
As for the making of this film. It took much longer to make the film that the actual slider, with setting up all the shots between building a component. I have used my Light Camera Crane for a few of the construction shots see vimeo.com/17780636.
Shot on Canon 550d and Sony NEX-5, most shots using 50mm 1:1.8 prime lens. I used a set of Tiffen Close-up Glass Lens Set for the close up shots. Canon 10-22mm for wide angle. I used my Mountain Bike Ay-Up LED headlights for lighting. Music: Welcome to Lunar Industries by Clint Mansell. Edited in FCP and no colour correction.
See photos at flickr.com/photos/53188536@N06/