This means that the maximum length of time lapse that you can film with the 20 RPM motor is only about two and a half minutes – which is not nearly long enough. With the 20 RPM motor, at minimum speed it took the dolly about 150 seconds to travel the 19″ slider run – about 1″ every 8 seconds. Normally, a little camera shake can be fixed in post by using Warp Stabilizer, but because the slider movements were a little slower than I would have liked (with the 20 RPM motor), I also had to do some time remapping, which cannot be applied together with Warp Stabilizer (you have to choose one or the other – I chose to make the clips faster).Īctobotics GoPro Video Slider Slider Speeds and Motor Gearing for Time Lapse Video You can see a little camera shake in some of the sample video clips.
However, I think it would probably be more versatile to use the 45 RPM gear motor for live action video because you would have the option to film dolly moves that are a little faster and a little slower than the maximum speed of the 20 RPM motor.įor live action video, I found the slider moves to be generally nice and smooth, but because the entire system is so light, I did find that it was susceptible to camera shake by very minor jitter of the slider and camera – so you have to be very careful that the system is entirely stable and obstruction free for the entire slider run. This is a nice steady travel time for live action video.
I used the 20 RPM Precision gear motor for both the time lapse and live action video sample footage.Īt full speed, it takes the dolly just over 18 seconds to travel the 19″ slider run – or about 1″ per second. Point and Shoot Camera Mounted on Actobotics DIY Slider Slider Speeds and Motor Gearing for Live Action Video
To that list, I would also add a 12V battery tray with a plug end (I used my Dynamic Perception dolly’s 12V Li-Ion battery and a DIY plug end made out of a cigarette lighter adapter). Here is a list of the Actobotics parts that I used to build my cell phone time lapse video and GoPro slider: Fortunately, the Actobotics staff were very helpful in selecting everything that was needed. I should also note that although it is referred to as a Slider Kit – the kit does not contain all of the components necessary to build a functional robotic slider – you have to mix and match a few extra Actobotics components to complete the setup.īecause there are so many Actobotics pieces and components available, I found it somewhat overwhelming to figure out the specific parts needed to build a photography and video slider.
Actobotics by Servocity – Slider Kit A & Accessories