Sliders. Not the little burgers you get at the bar. But a bar with a slider and a camera on top.

Sliders. Not the little burgers you get at the bar. But a bar with a slider and a camera on top.: I've been playing around with "new" video lately and that seems to call for lots of shots with sliders. Sliders are basically rail systems that allow you to do controlled camera moves parallel to a subject. A couple days ago I did a slider shot of my desk. It's different from a pan. Look: http://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/2012/02/yesterday-was-about-marketing-and-fine.html

I saw some really cool video, shot on location in Egypt, and I immediately wanted a slider. And then I started researching and checking prices. A decent rig started at $600 and went up from there. I decided I'd wait for the proverbial "big project" before I started dropping big money all over the place. And then my home science brain kicked in and I started thinking about ways to do it myself. One afternoon I stumbled over a supplier called, "Igus" on Amazon.com. This is how their product is described: DryLin® W16-A Linear Motion System for Camera Sliders. The price, delivered, was right at $150. I took a chance.

A few days later I got this long, incredibly well machined rail and a carriage assembly that runs on teflon coated Delrin wheels. The top of the carriage is a solid block of 1/4 inch aluminum. I grabbed a pair of goggles and the electric drill. I taped off all the wheel areas and drilled a 3/8ths inch hole right through the center of the square aluminum block with my titanium drill bit. Really. Very macho.

The rail has drilled holes every six inches or so which would allow you to mount legs or some other method of securing the whole system but I prefer to use Super Clamps and light stands. A clamp on each stand seems to work fine. The stands I'm showing in the top and bottom images are way too small. If the stands aren't strong enough you'll get a lot of wiggle and jiggle. Not what you want in your shots.

Now, when I use the rail, I mount it between two short Century Stands and that seems to do the trick. There's no play in the system. Just for added assurance I drop a twenty pound sandbag over the highest leg of each C-Stand. That makes for a rigid foundation.

In the illustrations here I have a Manfrotto ballhead mounted on the rig. It's fine for sweeping a camera back and forth in a straight line but sometimes I like to pan in the opposite direction of the slide or tilt up or down during a slide and I'd like to do it smoothly. For those uses, out comes the Manfrotto 501 HDV fluid head tripod. The leveler ball doesn't fit on the base but that's okay because I usually make sure the rig is level, from side to side, before we start shooting.

What do I use to level the whole thing? Well, I've just figured out a good use for my iPhone. It's called "Level-O-graphy." You can download a cheap as free app that turns your iPhone into a level. And it works pretty well. Also works as a plumb line. I whip out the phone, randomly do a couple of Hysteriagrams, and then switch to level-headed mode and blaze away. Distracting though, when your level rings...

I seem to have Super Clamps scattered all over the studio so they were also cheap as free and they do a great job of holding the rig in place. They break down quickly when were finished doing our Spielberg imitations.... JJ Abrahms would be proud.

So, the image below is pretty much all there is to it. With big enough support stands you ought to be able to use just about any camera but I've found that the larger the camera the better. The increased mass is easier to stop and start and move easily and, since it has its own inertia, a bigger camera tends to stay in motion more smoothly. That's it. If you want to play with sliders then just make one. When the big bucks roll in there will always be time to go for the fancy ones.

©2010 Kirk Tuck. Please do not re-post without attribution. Please use the Amazon Links on the site to help me finance this site.

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