DIY – Dolly Creation Part 1

DIY – Dolly Creation Part 1

on May 25th 2010 with 37 comments

In the first half of this two part tutorial, we’re gonna talk about the dolly that we use and explain why. Tomorrow we’ll put it all together and show how good the end result can look. Enjoy!

Overview

QuickTip

Download QuickTip .flv

File size 57MB

 
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Pixel Mobb is a small team of creatives who love to push limits, work crazy hours, and passionately discuss ideas. Become a fan on Facebook or follow us on twitter. Peter J. Normandia is a director/editor, and Mitch Martinez is a DP, and owner of Stamphill.com.  

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  • Umair Irfan

    Love it! been looking for a good DIY dolly tutorial, I didn’t know I could order the assemblies online, great job guys!

    • http://pixelmobb.com Pete
      Author

      Thanks Umair. Look for tomorrows for more on the track(s).

  • http://hazystudio.com patrick riley

    Wasnt a tutorial this is nothing more than an ad.

    • http://visualfxtuts.com Topher Welsh

      This is pretty rad, but I would really like to see a DIY way of making the wheel mechanisms. Doesn’t seem like it would be too hard. some triangular metal peices, 4 sets of skateboard wheels, some plywood, and an over sized mounting hole for the Long Valley type things and mount that with a huge washer so it doesn’t slip off.

      hmmm maybe I’ll just make that tutorial. haha

      • http://pixelmobb.com Pete
        Author

        Interesting. The wheel mechanisms are the key to what make this dolly so effective.

    • http://www.noisejunkies.net Rafael Guerra

      yeah :(
      I am sure that are a lot of people in the same situation as me, but I personally don’t have access to any studio or expensive gear, I just wish there were breakdowns and maybe specific metal parts that we could find so we could make our own improvised one. Oh well…

      • http://pixelmobb.com Pete
        Author

        I would suggest trying simple things then like skateboards, wheelchairs, handtrucks, etc. Whatever is useful. This is for getting the best production value at the most affordable cost (in our experience/opinion).

    • http://pixelmobb.com Pete

      I completely understand, hence the disclaimer. The issue here, is we were stuck with a dilemma. Everyone wanted to know what Dolly we used to get such nice shots. Mitch did build the thing himself, but we could not take it apart and rebuild it. So how do you do a DIY without building something?
      It was not cost effective to buy the dolly parts and build them again. However, we did want to highlight what we used for everyone out there wondering, and we do think its a great product. So we decided to do an overview of the dolly, and in tomorrow’s tuts we assemble/overview the track(s).
      As far as an Ad, I have no association with Long Valley, nor have I ever. However, I have seen that dolly in action and certainly has helped us add production value.

  • Xposedbones

    “It’s inexpensive” ….. this is bullsh*t, just the wheels and the handle is 400$…. I was hoping for a CHEAP way to create a DIY dolly…

    http://www.longvalleyequip.com/dolly.php

    • http://pixelmobb.com Pete
      Author

      for something cheap, check online. There are plenty of Tuts on inexpensive dollies. Some of them are even quite good for certain things. However, when it comes to versatility, packing the gear, setup time, ease of use, and stability, we found this one one to be comparable with dollies at 4x the price.

  • WTF

    Whats up with the ads now? Total turnoff.

  • dj

    Pretty much advertisement. Also, under what definition does a “quick-tip” become so big that it needs two parts?

    • dj

      I forgot to add the point I wanted to make most. When envato went to a format which required us to watch a commercial before we saw what we came to see – I just shook my head. What can you do? Most sites do it now and we really shouldn’t expect something for free. Of course, even after we’ve wasted 30 seconds of high speed bandwidth for (lets face it – crap); then the content is interrupted once more with a crap popup which actually requires user action in order to shut it off and get back to seeing what we came for – content.

      The thing that makes all this junk-mail endurable is: The Content! Now, what was it we just watched? The “tip” portion of the thing could have been said in 15 seconds. Even if the intent was product review – where was the comparison – where was data which lets us make an informed decision. And by what stretch of the imagination does “cut a board” and buy everything else fit into the category “DIY”? This author did nothing in this entire “episode” except hawk a product! Despite the disclaimer about having “no affiliation.” When you use this kind of script/language you can pretty much forget about ever rehabilitating your credibility or lack of bias – no one will ever believe there isn’t an “agenda.”

      I certainly hope Envato didn’t actually pay for this, and that this is not a foreshadowing of a decision to support their sites through product placement and infomercials masquerading as “quick-tips.” For the most part and historically it’s the content which sets Envato sites apart from the bazillions of web “tipster sites.” It’s what we’ve come to expect – this was the first time I’ve ever seen such here, and definitely wasn’t expected.

      [If you want a REAL DIY tip on this very subject - flip on over to Film Riot, whose very episode aired this week and was on this exact issue. Make note of how they handled avoiding commercial bias]

      • http://pixelmobb.com pete
        Author

        dj,

        Glad you enjoyed the tuts enough to contribute so much thought on it. Don’t miss tomorrows.

  • http://www.holisticperceptions.com JM

    Hey this is great, I wish Envato would make a filmmaking/ video site that focused on this type of stuff.

  • Abojung

    BullS***.
    QuickTip – DIY Dolly Creation Part 1<<<<<<crap

    should hve changed to
    UselessLongTip- DDIY Purchasing Parts

  • http://chrisvick.com Chris

    Filmriot made a dolly for pretty cheap (around $100). Bonus was that the video didn’t come off as an ad.

    http://revision3.com/filmriot/diydolly

    • http://pixelmobb.com Pete
      Author

      that dolly on film riot is nice, just extremely limited. It certainly is better than nothing. The difference is the lack of give in the wheels, noticeable by the rigidity in the camera moves they showed (notice they don’t start or end very smooth). Also, there is no way to use that dolly on a curve track. Also, I wonder how much weight that can hold with just those aluminum parts. Can a camera guy get on the dolly with a camera? What about a heavy load like the RED One?

      Though I must say the short film around the tuts was quite entertaining.

      • Robert

        A RED One on a DIY dolly?? I think not.

        Also, $400 for mounted skateboard wheels is NOT cheap, regardless of how much “give” the wheels have.

      • Osvaldo_Tampico

        Mmmm a RED One on this type of dolly? I think that if you have money to buy a RED Camera you certainly have money to buy a good dolly! (I just imagined the RED One falling X( )

        How does the tripod gets still on the board? I mean wouldn’t it fall with the inertia or some bad move?

        You should probably add a hanger or Tripod legs holders. I don0t know!

        Dissapointed for this video! I was Hoping to get the instructions on doing it instead of buying it! But hey! Maybe you got some money from them or wanted to get a deal by getting them good publicity! It’s valid, what is not valid is to lie to us and let us down!

        Well, your tuts are good though, don’t do it again XD

  • http://pixelmobb.com Pete
    Author

    First off Osvaldo, not only does this dolly support a tripod with a fully equipped RED One, it also supports a camera man on it as well, plus a (light) assistant. And, instead of assuming I am lying and have some secret lucrative deal selling $400 DIY dollies, let’s look at the other possibility for a second.

    Maybe, even though $400 is not cheap, it is still extremely cheap when you consider the VALUE. Everyone does not believe this dolly can hold a lot of weight, or be as qualified as a legit, expensive dolly. However, that is the point of this tutorial. Instead of spending thousands on a legit dolly, you can get this one for $400 and it is just as good in our opinion.

    Plus, while there are cheaper DIY dollies, none can hold the weight, are as smooth, or as versatile as we have found this to be.

    Also, I am not sure what everyone who commented that this is an AD knows about advertising revenue, but I am in the business. Trust me, there is nothing lucrative about trying to hawk someone else’s product unless it is in mass quantities. Rest a sure, I have much better things to spend my time on.

    So please take this for what it is worth, or skip over it. If you have a better dolly, let me know, but as far as we are concerned, this is an essential part of the equipment we use, and extremely cost effective in comparison.

    It would be like me telling you how to get a brand new Porsche for $20k, and you telling me that’s expensive for ‘a car’. Sure, maybe for some cars, but not for a new Porsche. And if you want the quality of a Porsche for a fraction of the price when it comes to dolly, this is the best offer we have found.

    • Osvaldo_Tampico

      The problem here is not that this isn’t cheap or anything! I mean, I’m really thinking on buying the pieces cause it seems great to me! And not expensive at all! My problem was the HOPE I got for the title “DIY DOLLY CREATION” I mean! I wanted you to tell me How to buy the wheels, how to assemble them! How to build the joints! I don’t know! You should entitled your video “BUY PARTS OF A DOLLY AND ASSEMBLE IT YOURSELF” Or I don’t know something like that! Got it?

      Now, I think you tried to do something good by telling us about this deal, you were trying to help us! I supose! The only problem WE ALL HAVE is the title! You are LURING people to your video and letting them down by the title! That’s not cool man! Really! Admit it! It’s not a bad thing to admit when someone is wrong! On the contrary, is PLAUSIBLE! Change the title!

      Well, I like your tuts of lighting and stuff, and got a good advice about this dolly parts, just don’t get mad when someone or many tell you that you are wrong! Take care!

      P.D. Remember the point here is “YOU ARE LURING PEOPLE TO SOMETHING THAT IS NOT TRUTH”

  • Nomenclature

    My biggest problem was that this is advertised as “DIY Dolly Creation”. You’re buying a commercial dolly package and some wood and slapping them together.

    DIY means Do It Yourself, and buying a package that has “some assembly required” can in no way be considered DIY. And I second dj in saying: “…by what stretch of the imagination does “cut a board” and buy everything else fit into the category “DIY”?”

    It can’t. It’s an advertisement. You may not have any affiliation with the company, but literally both of the entire videos are just pointing out the great parts of a company’s product. You could try to pass it off as a “product review”, MAYBE, but as stated above, there’s no comparison! There’s no cons, there’s no competition, there’s NO REVIEW. It’s a biased jumble of statements about a commercial product passed off as a “Dolly Creation” tutorial. What are you creating? You’re just supplementing an instruction manual.

    Long Valley Equipment’s description of what you’re hawking:
    “Just add your own plywood and assembly time; includes all hardware, wheels, pushbar and complete instructions.”

    That’s not DIY.

    As a side note, I think Film Riot hit the nail on the head with what a DIY dolly is supposed to be. Your points about not being able to hold a camera operator (from what it looks like in your video, there’s not a whole lot of room left on the platform for anybody to stand) and not being able to support the RED One tell me that you’re completely ignorant of the DIY community. If you can afford a RED One and can afford a crew that has extra (light) camera assistants, as well as someone to push it and someone to operate the camera, you shouldn’t be dealing with DIY.

    DIY is for budding filmmakers and those with an entire project budget in the hundreds of dollars. Not for people who can afford to throw 500 bucks at a full dolly assembly (sans plywood).

    And actually, you just proved my own point:

    “It would be like me telling you how to get a brand new Porsche for $20k, and you telling me that’s expensive for ‘a car’. Sure, maybe for some cars, but not for a new Porsche. And if you want the quality of a Porsche for a fraction of the price when it comes to dolly, this is the best offer we have found.”

    So you’re comparing what your “tutorial” is to advertising a great deal on a product with great value. Yeah, that’s awesome, but it’s in NO WAY “DIY”. That’s more in the realm of “Shopping Advice”, but only advising one product.

    You gonna buy the parts and teach us how to build a car that runs like a Porsche for under 10k? That’s DIY.

    • Osvaldo_Tampico

      Exactly!

  • http://pixelmobb.com Chris

    Isn’t it awesome how some people find the time to puplit on the net… While others are actually trying to improve others lives or work flows. If you didn’t like the tutorial you have a right to continue to browse. Certainly you can build a dolly from complete scratch, align the wheels and balance the load… But… Would you also recreate an entire font for your direct mailer for a new client? I think not… You can even if you would like build

    If you don’t think 400$ is cheap, then what specifically are you shooting on? a Flip Cam? The lowest rung DSLR costs 900 for a body. A HVX costs 7k and anything in between is costly so someone crying over 400 dollars is a little ridiculous. Yes the video industry is an expensive one.

    I think the idea of “trying to pass off” or “bait and switch” is a tad bit tacky, if you want to really do a DIY tutorial then have at it guys.

    The web and car analogies stand up true it is the only place both behind your computer and behind a car steering wheel people forget their manners couth, and grow balls the size of tigers…And most likely in real life are the exact opposite..

    Come come now people, if you don’t like the Tutorial, no problem do a better one, or more towards what you feel the public wants. But can the massive amount of time wasted to post asinine comments… You are only being exactly what you are trying to do denounce. Some people love to hear the sound of their own voices, just to let everyone know they have an opinion…

    honesty if you got that much HOPE from a title of a tutorial well…. Need I say more, maybe the computer isn’t where you should be spending ALL of your time is it?

    • Osvaldo_Tampico

      Emmm dude, seriously, 5 minutes of writing won’t hurt you in your daily work or projects. But hey! It’s a free world! Just read this, It seems to me that you are the only irational and angry here! I just want to tell you what the problem here is:

      THE PROBLEM IS THE TITLE OF THE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      THE PROBLEM IS THE TITLE OF THE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      THE PROBLEM IS THE TITLE OF THE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      THE PROBLEM IS THE TITLE OF THE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      THE PROBLEM IS THE TITLE OF THE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      THE PROBLEM IS THE TITLE OF THE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      THE PROBLEM IS THE TITLE OF THE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      THE PROBLEM IS THE TITLE OF THE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      THE PROBLEM IS THE TITLE OF THE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      THE PROBLEM IS THE TITLE OF THE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      THE PROBLEM IS THE TITLE OF THE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      That took me 5 seconds to write.

      Now, come with a better argument and I’ll gladly give you the reason or send you again to the same place I’m sending you now ;)

      And now that I think of it AE.TUTS should do something about this video issue, PLEASE CHANGE THE TITLE!!!

      Take care!

      P.D. Let me just tell you that since yesterday I took as my personal project the problem of building a DIY DOLLY! I’m from México but we got here home depots and stuff, also, I’m thinking that it should be better to draw blueprints of pieces that someone could ask for in a blacksmit or a carpenter’s workshop. Watch this video: http://www.vimeo.com/11435910 ISN’T YOUR IMAGINATION THE LIMIT!!!??? Come on man! Seriously! Take care and don’t be a hater without reason ;)

      P.D.2 By the way haven’t you heard about Psychological projection? U got serious shit going on :| be happy! :)

    • James

      Chris: “Isn’t it awesome how some people find the time to puplit on the net”
      and
      Chris: “The web and car analogies stand up true it is the only place both behind your computer and behind a car steering wheel people forget their manners couth, and grow balls the size of tigers…And most likely in real life are the exact opposite..”
      and
      Chris: “But can the massive amount of time wasted to post asinine comments… ”

      Well, looks like we have a little hypocrite on our hands…

      Chris: “I think the idea of “trying to pass off” or “bait and switch” is a tad bit tacky, if you want to really do a DIY tutorial then have at it guys.”

      You have a perfect right to your opinion, and that’s fine.

      But like you just hinted at: this isn’t really a DIY tutorial, and you guys are trying to pass it off as one. Most of us have been enjoying all the tutorials here and been perfectly happy, and we just feel that we have the right to say that the entire video seemed all-too-close to an advertisement and that it doesn’t come off as advertised, because we feel that we, as the consumers of the content, should give feedback.

      If nobody gave any negative feedback, even if the entire thing was totally misleading, how would anything get fixed? Life is about feedback, and how you take it.

      Definition of “hope”:
      “A belief in a positive outcome”

      If you don’t get HOPE from titles of tutorials, then what’s the point of watching them? If you just click through, thinking ‘Oh, this will probably be worthless and I’ll be wasting my time’, maybe the computer isn’t exactly where you should be spending your time either; you probably need a visit to the psychiatrist.

      Before you get all defensive because you worked on or worked with the guy who made the “tutorial” (I saw your pixelmobb.com link ;) ), read what people are saying.

      DIY projects ARE NOT for those who are in the professional film industry, and you guys just don’t seem to get that.

      Just think of what this video is: explaining the instructions and features of a commercial product.

      It’s not a project where you ‘Do It Yourself’, unless you consider explaining a ‘Some assembly required’ product as DIY.

      Believe it or not, the way you guys have been handling our “asinine” comments hasn’t exactly been professional, and isn’t a great way to present yourself on the web. Calling all the people names who posted negative comments about your company’s video is just immature, and for ones who claim to be in the “professional film industry”, is just a bit out of line.

      What if we are using flip cams? What if we’re using a cheap Canon MiniDV and want to improve the production value of short films that we decide to shoot?

      Try to take the advice in stride, and just do one simple thing to stop everybody from being mad: change the title of the video, and stop pretending it’s DIY! You’ve both indirectly admitted it, it’s not a big deal, you can stop calling people names, and people will stop complaining.

      Problem solved.

      • http://pixelmobb.com Pete
        Author

        James,

        While most of what you wrote rings true, i think you missed the point. This was not name calling. This was pointing out that all of this hoopla is over the name of a title that in some people’s opinion is misleading. It is only misleading, cause of the expectations you had before you clicked play. As you can see from other comments on both tuts, there were many who enjoyed the tuts, and understood the value. That is who this is for. I think it is impossible to please everyone. For example, if i was looking for a DIY dolly tuts, and came across film riots, i would be disappointed. Well, i would be thrilled i found a cool short film site like that, but i would be disappointed, b/c having used homemade dollies like that, i understand their limitations in the professional world.

        Speaking of which, this is an AE site. AE costs how much? That’s right, brand new, it costs $999. That is not exactly in the realm of DIY, now is it?

        James: “DIY projects ARE NOT for those who are in the professional film industry, and you guys just don’t seem to get that.”

        AE is a professional application, no? This site is for AE users, meaning, chances are, they consider their work on a professional level. This TUTS is for AE users looking to get better production they can use to enhance their AE work.

        It is not for a person using a flip cam with no budget cause that person would hop on a skateboard, rollerblades, wheelchair, or something else with wheels. I think the idea of misrepresentation is a misunderstanding what the target market of the site is.

        Osvaldo,

        I’m a little confused by your last comment. Maybe you overestimate our intelligence. :)

        Sorry for the misrepresentation of title, but unfortunately, I don’t create the titles. I just submit the tuts. In fact, AEtuts had the same issue when we 1st gave them the tuts, so I would not blame them. After looking at the 2nd video and seeing the consistent requests for the dolly we used, they thought it would be good to run with it. Also, while this is not a DIY video per se, it is a DIY dolly, and that was the point of the title.

        As for all the other stuff, i mentioned this earlier. We were asked to show what we used to get the shots we did in our other tuts. This product was what we used.

        All I did was highlight that. For cost reasons, we could not show us actually putting together the parts even though Mitch did assemble the dolly himself from the parts he got from Long Valley. That was the main point of the vid. For a low cost, you can get a professional quality dolly.

        Sorry this title caused such an issue. You are right, the video is not a ‘DIY’ in itself, even though it is a DIY dolly that comes with step by step instructions on how to put it together, you know, kind of like a video that lists the parts to get with step by step instructions on how to put THOSE parts together.

        Nomenclature,

        I shoot with the RED ONE and I can’t afford a crew, lighting assistants, or anything else. In fact, I am the crew, lighting assistant, director, producer, etc. While that may not be the norm, it is true.

        Now, if your budget is in the hundreds of dollars, why would you spend any of it on a dolly and how the hell did you afford a program like AE? Using a cracked version?

        If you have a small-no budget, Use a skateboard, wheel chair, roller blades, or whatever else is available for free. Even film riots dolly costs $100. So why spend a 1/5 of the budget, as well as all the time, to build a temp dolly for a single project?

        DIY means do it yourself. Whether you go to Home Depot and buy the parts, or you get the same parts from a pro company, i don’t see the difference. If you build film riot’s dolly, all you are doing is buying parts and following their instructions. Same idea as Long Valley.

        The problem is the perspective of DIY. The meaning of being a filmmaker is you DO everything yourself these days. You need to be resourceful. We are by no means a ‘rich’ bunch of guys.

        We are a company built from scratch, with no funding but the money our work produced. Our work reached the level it has b/c of us using the best resources available, not the cheapest ones. If you can’t learn something from us, then I apologize, as obviously it means the presentation was not as good as it should have been.

        However, if you are truly a no-low budget filmmaker, with a $500 budget, check this out. If you bought the dolly with one project’s budget, you would have it for the rest of your life. YOur next project, you may not need to invest anything, an you still have $500 to play with, maybe even invest in the next piece of equipment. One piece of equipment at a time, and before you know it, you may be in a different league.

      • Osvaldo_Tampico

        So the problem is with ENVATO! Got it! Look My only problem was the title, and I say was cause I already know what it is. And then the answers given to the audience. I Want to think that you had the idea of helping us out by informing about this product, and believe me! I think is great! The price is not at all high! Is a pretty decent price for the product, my only problem was that I wanted a DIY per se. But well I think the point is clear, you weren’t the one choosing the title.

        Now,about the price of AFTER EFFECTS, don’t you think some of us have really good uncles or friends that could give us AE as a gift? or something like that?! I got mine like that when I started. Now I can afford my equipment by working. But hey! there is a lot of people that aren’t as lucky as some of us are.

        Now, don’t be naive, do you really think that ALL the ENVATO audience really have LEGAL AE?!? Come on! Not even in a thousand alternate universes! You saying that means something, you really think everyone have legal software or you were trying to attack the ones with ilegal software, wich is not cool.

        The point here is to help each other even when they record with a CELLPHONE CAMERA or a RED ONE. For me the purpose is the art and creativity everything else is not important!

        Now, come on! We are all designers! There is not need to fight! So, for me This matter is over, You were not the one with the fault, but your aswers weren’t the best attacking everyone. I know is the human nature to defend himself but hey! We are superior beens! Let’s act like that.

        Now! I’m working on a DIY Dolly now, a real DIY one, I’m visiting carpenter’s and blacksmit workshops and all the department stores I know exist in USA and maybe all the world. I thing no one has come with a good solution cause all the ones with the capacity and intelligence of building something like this are not interested in posting a video tutorial. I want to come with a good result for everyone! So! when I have a result I’ll post it. Take care!

        P.D. You know what you should do? Make a video about the pieces involved in that dolly of yours, measurements, materials, types of screws and stuff! Disarm it if it’s necesary! You should be able to arm it again! So we could make an imitation or something like that! THAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFULL!

      • James

        Pete,

        You do make a good point about the cost of AE, but I assume that seeing that Envato runs a series of educational sites, I would think that they would be aware that a huge percentage of their audience is students.

        A lot of us shell out almost all of our savings for AE or similar programs, even with student discounts, and are really looking for a cost-effective “Do-It-Yourself” solution. I’m shooting with a mini-DV camera, but I have AE and my goal is to save up to slowly upgrade my setup. I’ve tried the wheelchair thing, and I was wondering if I could do something better that wouldn’t break the bank.

        Envato has lots visiting professionals who want to learn new things, but just think, who would visit tutorial sites more than all other? Film students and hobbyists who paid up for the best.

        “However, if you are truly a no-low budget filmmaker, with a $500 budget, check this out. If you bought the dolly with one project’s budget, you would have it for the rest of your life. YOur next project, you may not need to invest anything, an you still have $500 to play with, maybe even invest in the next piece of equipment. One piece of equipment at a time, and before you know it, you may be in a different league.”

        The thing is, most of us don’t have that $500 budget, and if we had it, a dolly is not the first thing we would spend it on. We would save up to get something that would have a greater impact on our shots, and a dolly can be considered almost more of a luxury than a required piece of equipment for a DIY filmmaker.

        I just think you guys should reevaluate the audience, and just because you guys are professionals who read the site, doesn’t mean that everybody else is like you.

      • Osvaldo_Tampico

        Totally agreed!! I’m actually looking for a CANON EOS 7D! I’m working so so hard for getting it! And the lenses also! This would be my first buy.

        Now let me tell you that I want to built the DIY Dolly of every filmaker’s dream!!! I’ll just tell you that it involves MARBLES and/or drawers! Actually I found a metalic base with 4 wheels in a small new WALT-MART!

        I was working in some clients projects so I haven’t done much research about it but trust me when I say that I’LL GET THE PERFECT DIY!!!

        Take care!

  • Osvaldo_Tampico

    And of course! I have nothing against the creators of the tut! I really like their tuts, but again, they should change the title! ;)

  • Osvaldo_Tampico

    I think that the pwner of this video said “Let them talk! They don’t do anything to us! are like insects making noise!” or something like that cause they haven’t done anything to change the title or aswer our LOGICAL and REASONABLE questions and Complains! Why?! I don’t want to be judgemental but it seems to me that the one on this video is the type of person that has anger problems and likes to do the things his way or the highway! Too bad! i really tought they would be different.

    Well guys! I hope you’ll learn a lesson about “giving the audience what they want” I’m oficially presenting a complain to ENVATO for the title of this video. (and don’t come to me with a sad story about not been able to comment or do anything because of a dead familiar or sick one or something like that! Don’t underestimate our intelligence!)

  • Osv

    You know what you should do? Make a video about the pieces involved in that dolly of yours, measurements, materials, types of screws and stuff! Disarm it if it’s necesary! You should be able to arm it again! So we could make an imitation or something like that! THAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFULL!

  • know

    thanks for the tip.

    ps. I dont like your hat pete.

  • http://connorcrosby.me Connor Crosby

    I was hoping that the video was going to show me how to make one from scratch, not an advertisement for a $400 dolly!

  • Henry Túchez

    Hey! i’ve been watching your tutorial and to be honest when i found this web page i felt so happy because i’m introducing myself in tv production and After Effects. I watched this tutorial and i have almost everything to start but i can’t find the wheels. If you could provide me the name for this wheels or where can i find it i will appreciate.

    You guys rock! :D I am from Guatemala. :D