Hand-Built Video Dolly

Finished Video Dolly

Now that I have a digital SLR that will record high-definition video, I want to take advantage of it and produce video pieces for my clients.  However, as most photographers know, the shape of dSLRs does not always enable steady hand-held use, and if you want to introduce intentional camera movement, most results look like they came from the cutting room floor of The Blair Witch Project.

This has spawned a whole new-fast growth industry in accessories for video dSLRs that allow the photographer/videographer to get better footage with motion effects, which add impact to the resulting video.  One such accessory is the video dolly, which allows the camera to be moved laterally in a smooth motion.  Like any new cottage industry, the prices of said accessories tend to be outrageous.  And as many of my peers will attest, said author of this blog will likely come up with a unique, hand-built, inexpensive solution that will operate at least as well as its over-priced brethren.  My peers have dubbed me “MacGyver” and it is a moniker that has to be earned…and it is not just thrown around like a party favor.  Here is my story...and my honey of a dolly.

The video dolly consists of two parts: a track and a carriage.  My design came from seeing a photo of the underside of a similar carriage that was built for a totally different use.  The rest of it resulted after building and rebuilding it in my head and on paper until the kinks were worked out.

Unfinished carriage sub-assembly

 The carriage consists of small wooden platform that is attached to two lengths of inverted aluminum angle iron, to which are affixed eight soft rollerblade wheels.  A small tripod ball head is mounted to the carriage using a standard ¼”-20 knob from underneath.  The camera attaches to the ball head.

The underside of the carriage

The carriage rides on the track, which consists of two three ft. long lengths of the same aluminum angle iron which are mounted to cross braces of square aluminum tubing and a plywood base.  Triangle-shaped oak wood blocks were epoxied to the underside of the aluminum angle iron.  These help dampen any vibrations and also allow a method of attaching the pieces together.  There is a threaded ¼”-20 insert in the wooden base that allows it to be mounted to a standard tripod (as shown), or it can be set on a flat surface and used in that manner.

Carriage and track

 The aluminum pieces were hand sanded with fine sandpaper to give them a brushed metal finish, and the plywood was finished with hand-rubbed tung oil.  This obviously is optional and has no bearing on the functionality of the dolly, but gives it a nice appearance.

Aluminum and wood video dolly

The camera and carriage have to be manually moved along the length of the track, so the fluidity of the resulting video is totally dependent on the fluidity of the operator.  Too fast, and the viewer might feel like they're looking out the side window of a car; too slow and it's difficult to maintain a smooth pace.  I've experimented and found that the pace I prefer is a 30-second trip from end-to-end of the 3 foot track.

The aluminum pieces ($28) and roller blade wheels ($10) had to be purchased, along with some hardware, but I already had the ball head and plywood, so for less than $40 and a few hours of time, I was able to build a dolly that works as well as its $500 cousins from the rich side of town.  The aluminum and plywood make it very lightweight, but I didn't want to make it too lightweight, because a little bit of heft helps with the fluidity of the motion effects.

Until Steven Spielberg calls and wants me as the cinematographer on his next project, this hand-built model will satisfy my needs until I feel the need to get something bigger and….gasp…more expensive.