Having a set of 67yr old wobbly wheels was looking to improve my videos of my trains on our large 20X50 club layout, found this tripod trolley and though this should fit the bill!
That looks like a great idea, provided you have a very smooth floor. It seems to me that you would get a jerky picture when one of the wheels rolls through the crack in the tile floor shown in the photo.
Had the trolley had small wheels yes but this one come equipted with high quality 4 inch wheels ,barely feel the exspantion joints at all…look at the accompaning videos.any jerking was caused by my handling,as I said it’ll take a little time to learn to operate perfectly smoothly.
Do like the professional movie makers do, and put the tripod on tracks.
Rich
Very nice indeed. One thing to think about though; Don´t pan the cam at the same time you rotate it. That looks very odd…
The tripod will be a big help. Another helpful piece of advise is to keep camera movements (ie: zooms, pans and tilts) to a minimum and let your subject make the movement in your shots. In other words, less is more. Good lighting also plays a big role turning good video into great video.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/ten_steps_better_video.htm
Once you have captured your great video your next goal is to master editing.
I’m looking into getting an IndiSlider, which is a 2-3 foot track system that mounts to a tripod head (or can be set directly on a layout), allowing for tracking shots. A basic one goes for around $100, but the do make some elaborate ones that allow for overhead crane type shots.
The tripod looks good. Now show us a video after using it [swg]
Looks like it does a nice job on the floor surface at your club.
I do love tracking shots, but I have a suggestion. Using your first video as an example, you need to pick a primary point of focus (like the lead engine) and stay on it. Don’t zoom in or out. Just follow it and keep it centered in the camera. You did more of this in the second video when you primarily followed the caboose, and it seemed to work better.
Another useful tool for tracking/traveling shots is a steady-cam. This allows for vertical as well as horizontal movement. It’s hard to master though. I’ve worked with one once and it takes a lot of practice.
Thanks for some really good advice guys I’ll take that to heart,appreciate it…