Homemade Stedicam & Crane Pics Online
Homemade Stedicam & Crane Pics Online- special effects and filmmaking
Hey, A lot of people have E-mailed me about my Dolly, Crane and Stedicam. I have responded to quite a few, and thought that I might post the plans and pics on my corporate web page. I put it off for a long time for lack of time, but I just now put some stuff online that I think you guys will be interested in. Anyway, go to my site and tell me what you think. there are some pics of my homemade Stedicam, and a video clip of a Jib Crane shot. Tell me if you want more info and plans, or if I am just wasting my time with uploading this stuff.
http://www.worldav.com/jb/productions.htm
Hope it helps out.
JB
[This message has been edited by Webmaster Dale (edited 04-19-99).]
Jbell, your product looks great! However, what prompted you to "reinvent the wheel"?
Was the Steadicam Jr. too pricey? Did it perform poorly? Are you selling your product or the plans?
Thanx!
If you have ever seen the Steadycam Jr., you would know that it is nothing like what he built. It is basicly a over priced pole. The cheapest steadycam runs around 14,000 bucks. The steadycam jr. is about 400 bucks, but is not a harnessed system, or even fully ballanced. I think he did a great job of making his own version of the steadycam. I hope that iet holds up, and that the bearings are smooth enough for it to float right. The springes in the full steadycams are made from titanium, as it is the only type they found that could hold up to the stresses and movement. The bearings must be high precision in order for it to float with out excess force needed. It should only take the thumb and index finger to spin the camera in any direction. If it takes any more force that that, it is not going to stay in the hight it is set at, which will cause it to have a bounce when you move, meaning it is not doing what it was built for.
If you don't really know the difference of the Steadycam Jr. and the full Steadycam's, go to the web site. The have pictures of all of them, the basic prices, and what camera weight they can handle. The top of the line Steadycam is adjustable on teh fly with internal moters, and cost 45 grand.
Rex Winfrey
Critter Creation Shop
PS. I wish I could afford the 24 grand for one that could handle a large video, or small film camera.
Jbell, do you have plans for what you made? Also, around how much did it cost you to make the stedicam?
GeN0CiDe
PS: I think you should keep the site, and add more info 
I've worked with Steadicam Jr.s, and they're excellent. The small camcorder pictured on Jbell's rig (photo on his site) prompted me to believe he was targeting the prosumer market (if he's targeting at all), for which the Steadicam Jr. is aimed. The Steadicam Jr. also has an optional vest and arm attachment (the DV verion).
Jbell's version looks like a cross between the DV Steadicam and a Glidecam. I was just wondering what prompted him to build it? What are his experiences with the other products? Was he dissatisfied?
Good work, Jbell!
COOL!!!
AWESOME!! Your da MAN!! BTW: COOL office!! Hope you upload the plans!
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when life's tough or dull MAKE A MOVIE!!
Well I'm glad that some people responded to my post. I was beginning to believe that no
one cared.
The plans are in the works. I drew about 30 images of the various components and have
scanned them. I need now to annotate them and put them into an HTML so check back
to the site (hopefully soon).
For Robotic Dream:
I have never actually had my hands on a glidecam or steadicam jr, or any other
derivative of the real thing. To be honest I never could justify the money for one of them
for my video hobby.
For GeNOCiDe:
The rig cost me nothing. Everything it is made from scraps in the built shop at work, and
stuff I had in my garage. I've also built a dolly and crane. The only thing I spent money
on were 8 rollerblade wheels for the dolly.
I first saw the glidecam series of stabilizers in a B&H catalogue along with a prosumer
crane. I went looking for all the information I could about the glidecam stuff as well as the
full line of Steadicam products. The glidecam looked to be pretty simple to me so I built a
rip-off of the one with the forearm brace. Even though it was made almost entirely out of
aluminum, it put a lot of strain on my back. I decided that the best solution was the create
a down sized version of the Steadicam. I was targeting the final version to be able to
support one of our SONY EVW 300 cameras in the warehouse, but I decided to make a
smaller prototype to fit a consumer camcorder fist, to find out what problems I had not
foreseen. That prototype is what is pictured on the site.
More to come on the site.
See Ya,
John
[This message has been edited by Jbell (edited 04-19-99).]
Hey jBell that looks great and i am excited to get those plans, it looks really good from those pic. I have been looking for the plans for a steadycam for a while. I just hope that i can follow your instruction and my machining skills hold up. Thanks again for sharing with the rest of us
Glad to see you've actually done what I've always entertained doing! I like to tinker with things myself, and have cannibalized a few tripods in my time to make camera crabs to get those cool low angles. Unfortunately, my time is so limited these days, I don't have much time to experiment.
Congratulations on a cool looking product, Jbell.
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