Until you have it in your hands, it's hard to really grasp the concept of the Motorroid Universal Motorized Kit. Typically it is designed to motorize just about any Video Camera Slider on the market. Now, the more I use it, the more random ideas I have of how to incorporate it into simple dynamic camera movements.
Here's a couple of DIY projects (video below) using the Varavon Motorroid Kit in ways it was never intended to be used. Don't take the build quality on these DIY projects too seriously, it was something I whipped up in a matter of minutes to show proof of concept of what can be achieved.
The basic parts comprise of a strong motor and a pulley on the opposite side that can be attached with one bolt (or screw). When used with a cog belt, the system is strong enough to lift a good amount of weight completely vertically. For use with projects that don't need to pull heavy weights like my DIY Motorized Track Dolly or DIY Motorized Jib Crane, simple twine or rope will work just as well. I'm exaggerating with this large Jib, but don't forget about all those Carbon Fiber Mini Video Jibs (found here) which would be fun to motorize for travel projects.
Finally when the Time Lapse Control unit becomes available for this Motorroid kit, it will really open up some interesting possibilities for very smooth and consistent motion control projects. Even on my best day, I don't think I can perform a very slow Crane up movement for several minutes straight with one consistent speed.
Now i'm sure some of you will ask about the track dolly, so if you're looking for a Video Tripod Track Dolly, the only thing I can suggest is GO with the FAT WHEELS -not those thin roller blade type wheels.
Typcially all the high end professional tripod track dolly systems always use the fat skate wheels NOT the thin rollerblade wheels, and there is a performance difference. Here's a link to a bunch of Video Tripod Track Dollies over on eBay (found here)
Video Tripod Track Dolly Caster Wheels
So what's next? Maybe pull a wheeled dolly (Pico Dolly) across the garage floor instead of laying down tracks, or pull a GoPro on a cable cam setup across the park (I may try this one). Hopefully this opens up some ideas for what these new tools can do to add interesting movement to your footage. You can find the Varavon Motorroid Kits following via eBay (click here)
Varavon Motorroid Universal Motorized Upgrade Kit
