Timescapes: Timelapse Dolly Project on Vimeo

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21. Birth of a Star

by Tom Lowe

1 month ago

20. TimeScapes 4K

by Tom Lowe

2 months ago

19. 4K EDIT in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5

by Tom Lowe

3 months ago

18. Electric Daisy Carnival Vegas 2011 Teaser - featur…

by Tom Lowe

6 months ago

17. Test Footage from Red Epic: "Ride of the Valkyries"

by Tom Lowe

11 months ago

16. TimeScapes: Rapture

by Tom Lowe

1 year ago

15. Timelapse Crane Unleashed

by Tom Lowe

1 year ago

14. Drivelapse 3 Dec 10 AE Stabed

by Tom Lowe

1 year ago

13. Behind the Scenes: Timelapse Crane

by Tom Lowe

1 year ago

12. Timescapes: "Death is the Road to Awe"

by Tom Lowe

1 year ago

11. Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light

by Tom Lowe

2 years ago

10. Timescapes: Timelapse Dolly Project

by Tom Lowe

3 years ago

9. 5D Mark II Test Shoot at Beach

by Tom Lowe

3 years ago

8. Timelapse: Day to Night at Joshua Tree

by Tom Lowe

3 years ago

7. Timescapes: Digital Timelapse

by Tom Lowe

3 years ago

6. "The One that Got Away"..... (Night Timelapse HD)

by Tom Lowe

3 years ago

5. Night Timelapse MOTION

by Tom Lowe

3 years ago

4. Stars and Rock Spire Timelapse - HD

by Tom Lowe

3 years ago

3. Tribute to Terrence Malick

by Tom Lowe

3 years ago

2. Drivelapse

by Tom Lowe

3 years ago

1. Timelapse: Nightscapes

by Tom Lowe

3 years ago

Get updates about my film and download my 1080p videos: timescapes.org

twitter.com/timescapes

I spent the last couple of nights testing my new dolly. It's custom made from aluminum and powered by the mumford stepper motor. The dolly is capable of "move-shoot-move" motion control.

A couple of photos of the dolly:

i40.tinypic.com/5b1x4.jpg

i39.tinypic.com/qreuwy.jpg

Credits

705 Likes

Bhavesh Patel
4 hours ago
jacques lambert
1 week ago
Quentin Théron
2 weeks ago
Tavit Kassradjian
2 weeks ago
Guillaume Thimus
2 weeks ago
Zingari Entertainment
3 weeks ago
Thierry Dauga Image
3 weeks ago
Corpo Films
4 weeks ago
marlo
4 weeks ago
Baptist Mid-Missions
1 month ago

Tags

Jordan Megahy 3 years ago

Oh... My... God... That is absolutely Amazing.......
My jaw is on the floor. Oh man that is fantastic!!!!
Antonio Segura 2 years ago

is a very nice video, greetings from Seville
Rick Lantz 3 years ago

Tom, that's so cool! Thanks for showing the set up.
Jason Chen 3 years ago

Sweet. The result is amazing. How much time do you need to set this up?
Tom Lowe 3 years ago

it takes some time, for sure. maybe 20 minutes right now. like anything, the longer you do it, the faster you get at setting it up.
Ben Millett 3 years ago

Beautiful. Too bad the sample is so short!
Pikku 3 years ago

That what i thought too.
Ian Lucero 3 years ago

Nice work Tom! I love your set-up. Your photography is beautiful.

We share a very similar dolly design.

170.tumblr.com/post/58707535/dolly-detail
170.tumblr.com/post/58707458/dolly-mounted

I've been trying to figure out a timelapse set-up or at least a way to move the camera remotely so I can get more consistent speeds.
Agambaros 3 years ago

Sirius and Canis Major on the sky....
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canis_Major

Beautiful
Blake Whitman 3 years ago

AWESOME. Nice work.
Blake Whitman 3 years ago

also, we have flickr support so you can put your photos in line on the side of the page, just fyi.
Richard Huntington 3 years ago

Wow, nice!
Terje Nesthus 3 years ago

Awesome rig man! Love it
Andrew Curtis 3 years ago

Very nice setup and results. My super cheapo pvc dolly is now complete and I will be doing some tests this weekend hopefully. Combined with the zoom rig it has some cool potential.
BigCrow (Crow Pictures) 3 years ago

Oh my fuc8ing god!
It's so amazing and not usual... Moving lapse...
Mike Hedge 3 years ago

wow. shit. genius
Dan Valentine 3 years ago

Awesome
Andrew Wilding 3 years ago

holy fucking awesome job.
Mark Rigler 3 years ago

i think we want one of these dollys
Jamie Thompson 3 years ago

You need to manufacture and sell those bad boys! I'd buy one in a heartbeat, except, for giving you the idea you'd give me one free :)
Tom Lowe 3 years ago

wait... i see what you did there.. :)
Jamie Thompson 3 years ago

cant blame a guy for trying
Matthew Gorveatte 2 years ago

lol; I am on the same train. send me one. buddy old pal. I do this now too, but i do it by hand my last one was a moving time lapse like this buy every shoot is hand pressed and focused all bracketed and hdr-rd. I zoom and pan thought time, but not like you. I now see that a controller would be more amazing. vimeo.com/5990932
Robb Cox 3 years ago

Great job man
ZHIC 3 years ago

That's fantastic.. can't stop staring at that system.. looks extremely professional!!
ben crowell 3 years ago

Nuts
Leonardo Dalessandri 3 years ago

Hey Tom... che tipo di motore hai utilizzato?
complimenti ragazzo, hai fatto un ottimo lavoro!!
Tom Lowe 3 years ago

Grazie.

Uso il sistema del motore di Mumford…

bmumford.com/photo/rotary/index.html
olivier auverlau 2 years ago

thanks tom ... i am working in a Pan tilt head that it can be added to your dolly !
Martijn Doornenbal 3 years ago

Wow that is an amazing setup! Beautiful timelapse shot. I would love to see more of that!
trondk 3 years ago

Very very nice, but you quite the set-up now. Your next investment isn't by any chance a bigger car? You might have to get a used Volvo BM BV202 :-D
Telemov 3 years ago

Wow. Great choice of music, too.
Juneteenth Works 3 years ago

very cool!
Wesley Kandel 3 years ago

Absolutely fantastic bro!
Brian Boudreau 3 years ago

OMG thats awesome Tom. tell me you have a longer TL coming soon :)
E-One Productions 3 years ago

Vraiment superbe, quel esprit creatif, c' est incroyable !!!
A quand les prochaines videos de ce style...
Bravo.
Ken Scott 3 years ago

love how you push the envelope Tom ... fantastic!
Exposedlight 3 years ago

You have got to be kidding me! That is one of the best shots I have seen in months. It's great to see creativity like this without having to resort to Shake, Nuke or AE.

Well done.
Ty Frey 3 years ago

Fantastic. How much track can you add?
Tom Lowe 3 years ago

well in theory i could add miles... heh. it's modular in design.
Jeff Gammons 3 years ago

Outstanding! Would love to see some furture videos using this setup. Great work!
North Frame 3 years ago

right...now i'm jealous
Jim Moreno 3 years ago

hot damn, that was amazing. Saying it's beautiful is an understatement.
JORGEFRIED 3 years ago

Hey Tom, how much money did you put on this?
Amazing!
Tom Lowe 3 years ago

about 550 bucks, I think. wheels were 200, aluminum was 150, and welding was 200. i already owned the motor and controller, which is around 800.
JORGEFRIED 3 years ago

Thanks for the info Tom!
1:1 Pictures 3 years ago

Unbelievably great footage!!!
What program do you use to put the photos together in a movie? I have a dinky one called 'photo-to-movie' I've been using but its not great.
Tom Lowe 3 years ago

Adobe After Effects. By far, it's the best program for rendering timelapse. It can even ingest RAW files.
Patrick Gleason 1 year ago

Have you tried Lightroom 3? It is supposed to have a great setup for timelapse...just wondering if anyone has tried it.
Ian McGlynn 3 years ago

Really cool!
Andy Orr 3 years ago

Awesome! Very well done! And love the Floyd! Hell ya! It's one fantastic song for a fantastic TL!
Eric Tsutomu 3 years ago

Oh my god...this is just amazing.
Vision One Films 3 years ago

Breathtaking, Tom. I don't even know what to say.
Andy Riddle 3 years ago

Awesome. I love Special Features!
Sherriff HD 3 years ago

Hell Yeah!
Adam Machowiak 2 years ago

Wow, just incredible...
individualEye 2 years ago

like
Ted Chandler 2 years ago

that's freaking great, man. reminds me of Planet Earth stuff. congrats.
Martin Whipp 2 years ago

Excellent work Tom,

Got something like that back home in the UK. I'll dig it out and try myself when I get back.

You've got me thinking about the stop-to-expose phase though. That's gonna be interesting to work out.
Firewerkz Films 2 years ago

AWESOME!! Thks for sharing
Scott Last 2 years ago

fantastic stuff Tom have really enjoyed your work, great build quality of the dolly. How are you keeping the cable tension applied, as it goes from the mumford head to your camera but not out the other side, or am I wrong.
Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing
Tom Lowe 2 years ago

heh... simple gravity. i just make it have a slight grade. not a great solution, but it works for now. i'm hoping to make a closed-loop cable system soon that will be more accurate and professional.
Allan White 2 years ago

Yes. Because, you know, these aren't professional enough already. =)

Stunning work. Got a lump in my throat when I saw the full HD version of your work.
Attilio Cerqua 2 years ago

WoW
Thomas Akira Nakasone 2 years ago

i love the inside look at the shot... it is a beuatifully crafted machine and clip
Peter Longno 2 years ago

speechless... HOW LONG DID THAT TAKE?!
Tom Lowe 2 years ago

oh it was only shooting for like 2 hours.
Will Fuqua 2 years ago

Wow, very nice. I was wondering how you got those time lapse shots in you're 'Learning to Fly' video. Now I just wonder how you moved down the road at a constant but slow speed with little camera shake.
Tom Lowe 2 years ago

very carefully. ;)
Joao Correia 2 years ago

freaking awesome !
Philip.Mast 2 years ago

This makes me want to pack up my gear and head west..
Tim Lüdin 2 years ago

Hi Tom

Your new stuff is killer. Specialy the new dolly shots.
You are mr. timelapse for me.
I also bought the 5D2 as a backup body for my 1DS3.
The 5D is da bomb. Also video. Now think Scarlet.
It's gonna be a great RED year.
Cya on Reduser.
Tim
Pompo Bombacci 2 years ago

Imagine how cool it would be have a person really close to that setup staring at the cam moving on da dolly!
Philip Bloom 2 years ago

well done Tom. Can you build me one? I will of course pay! Been trying to get something like this for a year now nut been too expensive.
Tom Lowe 2 years ago

sure thing, just pm me or hit me up with an email.
Scott Wittrock 2 years ago

Dude that's an epic rig. Thanks for givin us a little glimpse as to how it's done.
StaticCinema 2 years ago

do you have link or guide about setting up a stepping motor/controller to a dolly?
Jon Ross 2 years ago

dude that's awesome, I want one.
→Zac Boyet← 2 years ago

I have been thinking of making a setup like this.
doctordurden 2 years ago

***** Tom @ Timescapes Interview !! *****
timelapses.es/blog/?p=68
swae 2 years ago

holy freaking crap i saw your post on zaza's indie slider thread on dvxuser and had to check this out. sooooooo awesome!!!
MrMoe 2 years ago

Brillant! Great Work.
Daniel Hidalgo 2 years ago

You are the freaking man!!!!
Just awesome!
twenty:50 hoodlems 2 years ago

brilliant man...
keep up your efforts
luis garcia de armas 2 years ago

Very nice work. Are you thinking about commercialice it?
It´s an interesting tool...
Tom Lowe 2 years ago

i don't know how to commercialize it. if some company wants to work with me, let me know!
Jesse Merz 2 years ago

Beautiful.
TACTIC MEDIA 2 years ago

Brilliant result! Smooth motion.
rickflick 2 years ago

Looks like a careful engineering job.
Amedeo Fabroni 2 years ago

Wonderful work!
Matthew Kevin 2 years ago

great work... but why is it so short?
Rod Cole 2 years ago

This is the best DIY dolly I have seen and Learning to Fly is freekin' incredible. If you are not going to produce the dolly commercially (you should!) would you be willing to share some of the construction details?

Would also like to get your post workflow. I have the Adobe Premium Production Suite CS4 but only know Final Cut Pro, so anything you are willing to share would be helpful.
Tom Lowe 2 years ago

I very well might try to do something commercially, at some point, especially if I can refine the design.

For workflow, I just use Adobe After Effects CS4, which can ingest the Canon RAW .CR2 files directly, and then render out gorgeous 1080p and 4K sequences.
Zig Urbanski 2 years ago

My dolly track has to be assembled on site being lightweight, portable and elegant :-) I am refining by design with my structural software and would like to run yours for comparison. Would you be able to let me have some dimensions/measurements?
toferphotography 2 years ago

Just amazed with your work and the rig
DunnRight Films 2 years ago

Saaweeeeeet!
Daniele Gatti 2 years ago

a masterpiece. Good job!
Ali Afghah 2 years ago

defiant gear-porn ... I'm aroused!!

Thanks for sharing ...
ECS 2 years ago

seriously amazing.. beautiful choice of lighting and subject matter, its incredible to think that Ron Fricke and crew did this a while back but with enormous budgets in the millions.
Jarbas Agnelli 2 years ago

Amazing how smooth is the final rendered movie.