DIY Timelapse Rig

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Hey all,

So after looking at the price of a camera dolly and motor for time lapse photography and how expensive they can be, I decided to create my own. I searched on Youtube and other various sites and came accross some fantastic builds. Some were really simple and cheap, others were very complex and required a good understanding of programming and electronics. I settled for an mid range build. Something that's good and solid, yet not too difficult to build. Check out this video which inspired me to build my own;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHV0rqIVEfg

I didn't want to jynx it so I didn't take pictures of every step. I only have the one picture of the almost finished product, and I must say, I am quite pleased with myself. I haven't actually built anything that's worth remembering since my leaving cert woodwork project (12+ years ago :eek:)

The total build cost me €121.61 excluding the motor I wish to use. The motor costs about €40 on Amazon.co.uk (doesn't ship from Amazon.de, it's cheaper here ) So €161.66. It can be done cheaper, but I chose to buy a skateboard from Skate City instead of waiting for a cheaper one online.

I purchased some additional items and some parts I didn't use, or comes in packs greater than the number needed (bolts, washers, hooks and overflow piping).



Here's a picture of the dolly;


Camera dolly

A list of the products I bought and their costs;
1x Skateboard from Skate City - €75
2x 160cm shelving upright (you can use unistrut here too) - €17.13
1x wallplate strap 600mm - €1.45 (not needed)
6x M8x50mm Bolts, 6x nuts and 12x washers - €1.44
1x 3M lenght of overflow piping - €4.69 (only needed 5% of this)
1 box of M8 wing nuts 3 pieces - €1.55 (not used)
1 box of M8 washers 10 pieces - €1.79
1 box of M5x40mm bolts 10 pieces - €2.69
1 box of M8x80mm bolts 10 pieces - €7.19
1 box of steel hooks 3 pieces - €1.75
4x Rubber leg tips - €4.99 (not used yet)
Super glue - €3.99 (not used yet)
18mm plywood - I used some offcuts my local hardward gave me.

You will also need the following;
Flatwood Bit 18mm (needed to create holes for the tripods) - €4.69
Sliding square - €20
Allen keys (needed for detaching the trucks from the board) - €9.84
Wrenches - €10 approx
Saw - €10-15 approx
Drill


I will take more pictures later and explain each aspect of the build. I might also do up a guide if I have the time.

paddylonglegs

Hey. Nice post, I love timelapse and am into it small time. My dslr is fairly old so I restrict myself to smartphone timelapse as I know there are certain restrictions to quality etc, but I would like to eventually get into it with some better kit.

Quick question. What programme do you use for for post production of your timelapse to put them all together?

Thanks

Tiriel

Slightly off topic (quite a bit really) but I just saw this today and wow. I want to go to Norway - 5 months worth of photos in a time lapse. It's beautifully put together I think! http://vimeo.com/107469289

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

paddylonglegs wrote: »

Hey. Nice post, I love timelapse and am into it small time. My dslr is fairly old so I restrict myself to smartphone timelapse as I know there are certain restrictions to quality etc, but I would like to eventually get into it with some better kit.

Quick question. What programme do you use for for post production of your timelapse to put them all together?

Thanks

I use Lightroom 5. You just need to import the images and then go to slideshow. You can get some presets which you can use to convert the images into video. I think it's like 29.7 FPS. It's not too difficult, but it's really hard on processing power and RAM. I wouldn't like to try it on an old machine :P

Cork_girl wrote: »

Slightly off topic (quite a bit really) but I just saw this today and wow. I want to go to Norway - 5 months worth of photos in a time lapse. It's beautifully put together I think! http://vimeo.com/107469289

Norway is fantastic, but expensive. Pulpit rock in there at 1:04. It's awesome

Phil Taz

Great post, I like timelapse, think i'll be making one of these also.

dirtyghettokid

i looked into doing something like that a few years ago, but didn't have the bits…..how do you plan on adding the motor in? i have loads of old skateboards and bits n pieces.. it was the motorising part that had me stuck

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

dirtyghettokid wrote: »

i looked into doing something like that a few years ago, but didn't have the bits…..how do you plan on adding the motor in? i have loads of old skateboards and bits n pieces.. it was the motorising part that had me stuck

I forgot to add in the link for the motor. It's this one here;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sky-Watcher-RA-Single-Axis-Motor-EQ-2/dp/B00CYHU7EQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1412196830&sr=8-4&keywords=telescope+motor

You can't see it in the pic, but it has a part which is protruding from the underside of the casing. You can tie on a piece of heavy duty fishing line and then hook it onto the "cart" containing the camera. If you have the trucks and the wheels, then the rest of the parts are relatively cheap. I think the hardest part is marking out the holes for the bolts. You have to be really careful with that part or the tracks won't align with the wheels.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Ok so got a couple more photos so you can get a closer look;


This is the topside of one of the ends of the rail. I sandwiched the rails between two pieces of 18mm MDF. The hole goes through both pieces of wood. This is to help stabalise the rails. I originally had it going through the bottom piece of wood and then half way through the top piece (the stopper), but I found it wasn't stable enough.




This is the underside, I am going to add the rubber ends to the bolts here, so I don't scratch any floors.




The "train"? I'm going to call it a train :P You can see the hooks on either side. The hole in the middle is for the tripod head.




A better look at the end;




The train from the top side. I used the piece of overflow pipe to give me some clearance. It's still not quite enough. So I have two options here, add another piece of wood (which will also help stablise the tripod head) or increase the lenght of piping which will be a lot easier.




The tripod head placed on the train.




Taken from one end of the rail. As I am using two tripods, I can take a time lapse of the time lapse O.o. The tripods can be set up at different heights which gives some angle to work with.




Tripod going through the rail sandwich. I can raise the center post here which is really helpful.

aidanic

Can you link the motor you used on Amazon? Thanks.

OldGoat

Nice idea with the tripod.

I'm struggling with a zipwire rig I'm trying to build. The zipline is about 20 meters long but as it has to be temporary (and cheap) I can't put enough tension in the line to stop the camera bouncing/oscillating.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

OldGoat wrote: »

Nice idea with the tripod.

I'm struggling with a zipwire rig I'm trying to build. The zipline is about 20 meters long but as it has to be temporary (and cheap) I can't put enough tension in the line to stop the camera bouncing/oscillating.

Have you tried using pullies? It might help you with getting some extra tension. Although, 20 meters is a serious distance for a time lapse :P Looking forward to seeing the outcome.

aidanic wrote: »

Can you link the motor you used on Amazon? Thanks.

Yea sure, here you go;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sky-Watcher-...elescope+motor

I haven't received the motor yet. But when I do I will work on something to attach/detatch from the frame. This will help with transport and I can change directions in the time lapse also (although rotating the dolly will do the same :P)