The Frugal Floater (DIY Steadicam)
Another highly requested episode, my version of the Steadicam Merlin is done! If you really want a floating camera platform, this one might just fit the bill. There are a lot of these on the web and I hope mine works well enough to compete with the others, and payoff for those who build it.Fortunately, it's not too difficult to put together, but I have to admit that balancing it can be a real trial of faith. This is an issue with all of these types of stabilizers, so please don't put a hit out on me if it's driving you crazy. It's just the nature of the beast.
If you can get past the bumps and are willing to put in the time, you'll have some unique footage that you can't get any other way. Just don't try using this thing in the wind (or even a slight breeze)--it won't work!
PARTS LIST:12" length of 1/2" PVC pipe
7 1/4" length of 1/2" PVC pipe
5" length of 1/2" PVC pipe (shown with optional bicycle grip)
3x 90-degree 1/2" PVC elbows
1x 45-degree 1/2" PVC elbow
3x 1/2" PVC plugs
1x 1/2" PVC end cap
1/2" PVC pipe scrap
1/2" CPVC coupler
Traxxas 5151 universal joint for RC car
Rollerblade bearing
tiny washer
tiny machine screw
tiny lock washer
Sima Quickonnect
Macro slider rail
1 1/2" length of 1/4" threaded rod (or headless machine screw)
hockey tape
2x 1/4-20 machine screws (1 1/4" long)
1x 1/4-20 machine screw (2" long)
1x 1/4-20 machine screw (1 1/2" long)
4x 1/4" hex nuts
2x 1/4" wing nuts
2x 1/4" washers
3x 1/4" lock washers
at least 10x 1/4" fender washers (2" in diameter)
2x 1/4" fender washers (1" in diameter)
electrical tape
For the origin of the gimbal design and some amazing DIY floaters:
http://diycamera.com/stabiliser/index5.html
Comments
I used a 1/2" electrical conduit T box like this http://low.es/ujEmRZ
This gave me a mounting point for the front arm, back arm and the gimbal without having to engineer anything special. I also have a flat surface for camera mounting, but I need to find one of those puck thingies too.
In the video, you asked if anyone had a better way to trim the Traxxas joint. I do, and you do too! Just use your PVC cutters. Worked perfectly for me - after some prolonged diddling with the Dremel.
Thanks for the DIY. Now, if I can just get this d@3n thing balanced...
Good luck on the balancing part, it can be really aggravating.
Based on my experience yesterday, I'm thinking my 60D is probably too heavy for this rig, but I'll try again when I can do some finer adjusting.
Today, I'm going to attempt balancing my Kodak Zi8. Probably have to add weights to the top too since this thing weighs practically nothing. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks again for feeding my DIY habit.
Since my hands were occupied spreading, I threaded some fishing line through the ball and into my mouth. When the plastic was spread, I yanked on the line with my teeth and POP! The joint came out.
Putting it back together was much easier. Again, use a vise.
A better alternative would be to point to a seller's website where the items are currently stocked or the manufacturer's website.
BTW, I understand Hobby Lobby in the USA stocks Traxxas products.
Love your site and all the good work you post on it.
FWIW I was having such a hard time balancing the unit out I ended up setting the rear counterweight perpendicular to the unit versus the swivel setup that you have on your version. It made adjustments very quick and easy. I did this by having a 1/4" threaded rod through some scrap pvc tubing and putting some washers on that. With a few turns of the nuts I can adjust the left/right weight distribution and get it balanced. With the swivel version each time you adjust that it also throws the front/back balance off.
Keep up the good work.
I used the floater as the tutorial showed and had a lot of luck. I didn’t have a quick connect, so I just screwed my HDD Canon Vixia right to the plate, easy to balance. Along comes the manfrotto clone (which works great) and suddenly the balance was way too high for my Vixia camcorder and it was impossible to balance. I could still use it with my smaller camcorder, though.
After consulting my dad, we decided to fill the top traxxas joint with a strong epoxy, then drill it out and thread it. Then we got rid of the nut and hockey tape, cut down the traxxas joing so that just ½ inch was sticking up, cut the threaded rod about a ¼ shorter, screwed the rod into the bottom plate, then the, now, threaded traxxas joint to the rod. It tightens down very nicely and lowered the center of gravity to where it become very easy to balance. I think it took me less than 5 minutes to balance.
I think if you have a light camcorder, you don’t have to do this, but if you have a heavy one, this might really help and all you need is some nice epoxy.
Photos on the Frugal filmmaker facebook page, album: Modified Frugal Floater
You could do this kind of a trick with only a tripod, if you're hard up for the money to build this.
As you've mentioned before, the difficulty in using a stabilizer is getting it stable, which seems counterintuitive for a tool that's supposed to accomplish just that.
Thanks for this video; I might have to give this one a shot!
Mine were listed on Amazon as "BLUE DOUBLE LOCK ON LOCKING BMX MTB MOUNTAIN BIKE CYCLE BICYCLE HANDLE BAR GRIPS" so those keywords should work. They were shipped from China but arrived quite quickly.
Now to get it balanced...