Zero-cost Steadicam!

[theEEvans004]

The thing about the steady cam is that it has ball bearings located at the handle that take away any of the shakiness from walking or moving. If you want a true smooth shot you need to ball bearings plus the counter weight to keep it from tilting. It takes your limbs completely out of the equation.

[rawnhansen]

Works, but only when walking.

[babbleintooblivion]

If you attach any camera to something with a steady floor-centered base and wheels, you can get perfect steadicam i.e a shopping trolley/cart

[mygoodstuffreviewed]

That's a pretty good idea. I'm going to try that out, but it seems to me that it you have a very heavy camera on the top you could weight the tripod legs somehow to give even better steadiness.

[marianneoberle]

You are a brilliant man.

[SonyVegasVids]

Thanks man finally i can film smooth video

[musickbastard]

great tip man, i was saving money for a steadicam but i HAVE TO TRY this soon... thanks

[cbass2272]

RUN AWAY KITTY.

[hydrote]

Don't you just love youtube captions?

Real words: "they say it's not gyroscopes..."

Youtube Captions: "they say it's not terrorist groups..."

Hmm....

[wbeaty]

@hydrote I thought state champ was sexually based on gyroscopes!

I think a lot of people make that mistake...

[xcode394]

@wbeaty hey man i like your video. but just curious, what if my camcorder already has a steady-shot capability built in, would i still need a steadycam?

[erichhaubrich]

@hydrote 2:46 "of racism in the end he recruits" - Scene shows cute little kid. Funny stuff.

[reon10]

Nature Photography?

[EpicChrisOFC]

Subtitle at 0:28 "That explain how stinkin actually works in the person they say is not terrorists" WAT.

[mousaey]

Hook up the av outlet to some video goggles and you can live in third person!

[Danno21F]

AWESOME. Thank God you're smarter than me. Thanks!

[LovelyTrueRed]

By far the best idea. Thanks so very much.

[cam1657]

Practical genius!

[chromelleader21]

just watched it with CC on as instructed, the secret message is..."young sexual terrorist groups"... gotta love YouTubes closed caption generator. try it with other videos and see what other words are severely out of context.

[missfelemban]

Thank you So much. Am going to try this on my 5Dmark ii and let you know the results.

[TNT24sexy]

i guess this does work pretty well but the best is the steadicam that is in the video called "Make a $30 steadicam"

[Arasbos]

Zajebiste (great!)



[TheAcademyPresents]

yessss i f#$%ing love u

[dean0waterz]

2:46 - URRRGH MOTION SICKNESS!

[tylerdlynch]

"It's not terrorist groups" lawl at captions

[AndrewTheMacGyver]

names andrew i will be posting a video on how to make a real deal glidecam copy this week i can give you a tip on what it will be made out of " TOYS " write me and ill give you another clue so if you really want a glidecam watch my videos this week you will be shocked on how stupid we all have been trying to make these dumb cheap ugly fake weak glidecam ill show you how to make a solid glidecam so suscribe and ill tell you my secret before i make a video on it

[AndrewTheMacGyver]

@AndrewTheMacGyver i only made an account so i can show the world a better and cheaper way to build there own diy glidecam copy

[NandoZen420]

works (very roooots....)!!! but impossible to show this to my client....

Gooooooood Weeeeeeeeeeeeed.....amhhhh????

Nice!!! Try spend your time teaching us to build a real steadycam!!! I Hope you splifff and dream with a revolutionare project!!!

Thanks!

[xiniks]

whahhaa put transcribe audio on and it translates: "When I first started out i thought state champ was sexually based on gyroscope" lol thanks great vid

[superflykid1]

Thanks! :)

[okbk96]

Now that's smart

[bishoplord]

I found out about this tip by mistake by using a monopod. Funny, I found this monopod in the grass during a 4th of July event. I always wondered what I could use it for and then one day I attached my digicam to it and held it out in from of me (like you did) and noticed it had the same camera effect like in Requiem for a Dream and The Hangover. :) BTW, mine was zero cost as it didn't cost me anything. Hopefully the tripod you had was free as well, otherwise.. it's not zero cost ;)

[Scortech]

Nice tip. Funny to listen to you and reading the caption.

[DGrieux]

That is great. However, in my case is not zero-cost. My camera weights around 3 kg an the tripod maybe 5, so I might need an extra egg for breakfast.

[glupsamja]

"When I first started out I thought state camp was sexually based on gyroscopes"

haha i love that part - 00:17

[PouyaNia]

VVVVV this is a good idea though between now and the time you finish saving up for one! but "JUST COUNTERWEIGHTS" don't end up costing up to 90k

[PouyaNia]

you got the basics down

hate to break it to you

BUT

A high end steadicam is way different than you are thinking + you are definitely underestimating the power of a real steadicam. That tripod wont hold itself with some rails, if you upgrade the tripod it'll be too heavy to carry with a couple of fingers. If ur going the cheap route I'd at least recommend a DIY video for a real one, cuz at the end of the day it's supposed to take the shake out of your walk & I could see yours wasn't all there

[SamuelMeaden]

haha the translation is hilarious

[zazoozaz123]

Hello, Mr. wbeatty, Thank you for this tip! Quite useful.

I thought as I watched... take a light-weight stick of any kind, attach any kind of clamp to the end of it, then clamp it to the spot of fulcrum that you pointed out. Then maybe you wouldn't always need to keep your arm exytanded. If you use an old broomstock or mop handle or anything you have lying around, its still free.

[randomsha5211]

CTFxC hahaha but this really helped me thank u

[MeMyselfAndVincent]

omg! xD turn translation on! xD

[ibraheem456]

i don't know what is this .. but i came here for CTFxC !  <3

[rollcd111]

i saw ctfxc go here

[SenorFusion100]

ctfxc ftw

[lukaszrogala]

no cost bullshiit, you need to pay for tripod ;p

[NotANerdJustAGeek]

anyone here because of charles trippy?

[CTFxC]

this is SO helpful! thanks!

-charlestrippy

[neaped]

@CTFxC FTW!

[NotANerdJustAGeek]

@CTFxC FTW!

[wbeaty]

@CTFxC yeah, I bought an mpeg cam for shipboard trip, and realized I could BE MY OWN CAMERA CREW. A trick useful to all weirdo loners making odd youtube vids.

Check out the video responses, one guy put his camera on a fishing pole, aimed back towards him. Hold it so nobody sees the pole. A flying eye follows him as he walks under streetlights.

Also: hold tripod upside down with camera 2" off the ground. High speed cockroach ground cam for Army of Darkness.

[xAMPUTECHTx]

haha at 2:43 the transcription says "of racism in the end he recruits".

[EDLTV]

thanks, great work

[pootustangus]

ty!

[gaussman08]

kipkay just got pwned

[shearersboots]

Great tip well explained . Thanks my man! Regards from Newcastle, UK.

[MsJas666]

the steadicam merlin is $800+ the steadicam hague dmc(for dslr) is around 300+

this is great but still not as smooth as i would like it but i do not want to pay $+ so much great tip thank u

[lifeobzervr]

Great Tip! Did it and with a little help from a damaged mic stand and some old rollers, I'm getting a cheap rig that I can run with my cam. THANKS!

[asderso]

i tried it exactly the way you told me, still the tilting and moving continues, no smoothness like you do, please help !

[wbeaty]

@asderso go see this one: New Zero Cost Steady-cam theory

It's just a tool that lets you hold it steady yourself. You have to practice to hold it steady. (It still swings side to side though.) My idea just makes it easier to learn when you compare it to handheld cam.

And the $14 DIY steadicam project works much better than mine. And a real steadicam works much better than the $14 one.

[asderso]

@wbeaty thank you for your kindness, long live the East Coast !!

[asderso]

wbeaty thanxxx men !!

[phrankus2009]

The cheapest/best solution is a decent mono-pod with an ankle/wrist weight velcro'd to the foot. If you DO get a mono-pod, make sure the head can tilt ! (important).

[phrankus2009]

Seems to work fairly well but ... LORD! ... Get a getter tripod !

That crank-up POS may work OK as a crude steady-mount but you will miss many shts getting that tripod set up and level, ... not to mention the head is not appropriated fr tilting and panning as slowly as HD/CMOS requires. ... I recommend a Libec (or even an IMPACT) 2-stage pod with a ball mount ... lookie ... much better/faster/smoother !

Libec TH-950DV ... or ...

Pearstone VT2500B

[viggoM35]

Amazing things happen if you actually use your brain once in a while. ;)

[hackstudent]

i want your cat

[SidneyTurnerMedia]

God damn! I feal stupid for not thinking bout this.Thanks!!!

[kouzikakouzi]

We just need to use our brain more often..... Thanks for uploading

[ImBigCorHoe]

run away kitty :)))

[zoklo10]

Good Job sir, i thought i was insane, without knowing the techniques i've been doing the same thing with my mono pod, i just hold the camcorder on the bottom base and it balance quit good, makes perfect sense.

[SeanCarbone]

I'm going to try this for sure. Thanks

[H0LL0WBELLY]

genius.Thanks for posting.

[H0LL0WBELLY]

genius.

[indiesk8r1]

awesome tip

[ucheucheuche]

That beard's got wisdom in it!

I need one of those, tripod not beard, sorry wisdom not tripod. Yes beard. :)

[RonansRecordingShow]

Cool. I am going try this out tomorrow!!

[TheLilla100]

heeyy!! genius!

[thecakeisbake]

YOU GAWDDAMN GENIUS YOU

[adnannj]

amaizing, yes it does work with small cameras very well.

[mayraav12]

WOW thanks...really saved me a lot. just tried it! works like a charm XD

[nobauhaus]

that's really useful. well done.

[hmike]

thanks man !! 

[PiazzaDePain]

the Spike Lee shot ! this video really helped!!! thanks !!!!

[steffywok]

Nice tip - cheers!

[philomorphologian]

The observation is intelligent and the demonstration is effective. The video is tinged with a humorous streak! I enjoyed it.

[SecretDimension]

Good job sir. I just got my tripod today and this trick worked a treat!

[reckless105]

Check my steady cam video,way better than this

[MaghoxFr]

cool house dude

[pipesgt]

What a very clever idea. Thanks for sharing. It is funny how simple this idea really is. I tried this a few minutes ago and was very pleased with the results. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Cheers

Jim

[brainflakes]

Great idea, but it could do with more weight on the bottom to stabilise the rig. I'm going to experiment with a monopod to see if it's strong enough to support a decent counterweight.

[hayvesjr]

Wow....this is so freakin ridiculous that its ingenius..Good job there bud. I'm going to try it out on a video shoot this weekend to see how it works..Thanks.

Can't wait to see your next invention.. :)

[RubicsCubeProduction]

Goodness, you're a goddam GENIE!!! Thanks for that tip, it's been the most useful i ever found on youtube.

[stealingyourlaughs]

Wow thanks for this vid! by the way you resemble the actor that does the voice for Sam Fisher in the game Splinter Cell.

[Slixys]

best way to build a steadicam is to go with the merlin design, I built one for $10 and some parts lying around, the real hard part is using the steadicam and balancing perfectly, dynamic balance is tricky when you're working with a lightweight platform.

[georgesp1234]

@Slixys what sort of stuff did you use to build a merlin style steadicam? PLease reply!

[Slixys]

@georgesp1234

Copper pipe and a traxas gimbal

[fuckinwok]

Amazingly simple =)

[ccccony]

Excellent tutorial. Thanks for sharing the ideas, I'm definitely gonna try this. =)

[BDGLZ]

I used this a bit in some early stuff but have just built the $14 dollar option. Yours is a good one, i must admit, but for the end result to simply turn out better (and often noticeably so), the more money you spend, the better your end product will look. yours is good for less demanding shots on a budget, though I can't imagine running with it. the $14 one keeps the camera upright and steady, but a lot is still left to the camera man. the pro options are steadier yet (based on what i've seen).

[klimbimmel]

@wbeaty

it works great !! THX !

[HelloChello33]

i have to try this!!!

but im not sure if it will work on a bigger camera... hope it does :P

thanks for sharing :D

[18529]

sorry. that was too lazy! haha

[NonProfitProd]

Great Work, Man. Good explained, will help a lot of People. If you need a fast Way to get Pictures, that are ok, it's the best and cheapest Way i ever saw... but you must have a lot of Experience with it. I know, that noone can just take a Steadycam (doesnt matter how much it costs) and can use it properly, so my help for the other people is: practise practise practise! ;-)

[xuavi]

Please remove this video from Youtube! Because of you I lost my job in steadicam factory! Anyway you should be a physics teacher! Thank's dude! :)

Ohh watch yb2normal's DIY Steadicam Glidecam video! He uses only ppr pipes.

[DGizzle4life]

Nice Video Man....Can you tell me what Camera where you using by the way???

[njneopatriot]

Great idea ... It really works. Thanks for sharing

[clubtablist]

verry verry nice dude u saved me 400 euros

[Elysianwarrior]

clever ,great idea

[maggosh]

Hey, thanks for the tip. I bought a $25 tripod a few months ago, and I've been experimenting with certain ways to hold it to simulate steadicamness.

[ChadRuesch]

Wow! Thanks! yep it works lol

[trhkgfyjhkhuyfjhugf]

hahaha gooooood

[JakeAndAngusMovies]

Come check out my steadicam i made myself and footage.

[Elvarks]

Guys, I think I have found the perfect tripod - steadicam: Manfrotto Modo 785b

- for small cameras. extend it all the way and spread the legs out 20 degrees and

you can run as fast as you can and it won't shake!

[LesHerstik]

@Elvarks Tell us more about this technique with the Manfrotto.... cheers

[Elvarks]

@LesHerstik You can see an example on my channel

[nateonjesuslane]

very cool.

[streetmirage]

This is awesome-totally gonna try this now!

[benatkin815]

i've got the same tripos - and use the same trick!

[spoth0]

I´ll try!

[jamesclementcook]

dude you are the man. thank you. very smart and a nice vid

[MasterUnholyWar]

Cool, never even thought of this! Thanks a lot!

[youwiko]

Zero$ Steadicam from junk

[FriendTape]

I use the smoothmount and I love it, plus its only $130 in my opinion it works as well as the stedicam merlin. do a youtube search for smoothmount to see it.

[srg13]

In reality, it's not just about the counterweight - a real Steadicam's arm (which I've only seen on very few DIY rigs) is definetely the most important, followed by the gimbal (where the arm connects to the sled) and then the counterweight. The arm has springs inside it which takes most of the weight of the camera (it's connected to a vest on the operator) and isolates the movements of the operator's walking.

[gasdive]

I open the legs out too and that gives you significant inertia in yaw in addition to the pitch and roll inertia that you demonstrate in this vid. Good work!

[marconciomarconcio]

The video is of course interesting cause it shows you that the basis of stabilizing camera is no magic trick, but your footage is not so smooth.

If you're really poor, build a "poor man steadycam" and it will cost you less than a tripod.

See my channel shorts if intrested in results.

[Hnetusulta]

Awesome!! Thank you!!

[moirajane]

You are a genius - I was about to sell my old tripod but now, with the addition of a couple of wrist weights (rarely used for exercise), have a brilliant steadycam and it really works!. Thank you for sharing.

[Joshalots]

thanks

[BROKENHOUSEFILMS]

you remind me Lynch from Kane and Lynch

and thank you by the way =)

[dbheath2008]

I've used this technique in many years - and it gives really fine results. Good idea to share it here, cheers !

[jimionetube]

I decided not to throw my old tripod away after I watched your video. Thanks a bunch!

[seka744]

Everybody should send this guy a dollar.

He'd have $175,281

Great video. Great tip.

Good for you.

You're awesome.

[apodo360]

@seka744 as OCT 9, he earned 220,398

[naps1saps]

Just a tip for other viewers, if you extend the legs you will reduce twist movement (left/right in the camera)

[chadicious]

Excellent tip. Thank you so much for the idea!

[mastermequon]

yeah! just tried it out, it's not the real deal, but wow what a difference. thanks

[vistageek00]

Thank You

[soccom8341576]

I've been using that for a while too, though I found it rather dangerous to hike and use a steadicam at the same time.

I modified a tripod just for this purpose, by making the last lengths of leg heavier with solid plastic.

It's possible to use a gyroscope to enhance a steadicam, but not really necessary unless you want very high steadiness.

[SixMagicNumbers]

The man is a genius! I had to try this out and I've been walking around the block filming with a Canon DSLR that shoots video on my tripod.... I wasn't sure until I watched it back but the results are amazing! Thank you for posting this!

[helixscape]

Thanks - I owe you a drink at the bar dude!

[bobcranehomevids]

mate thanks so much ! that's so cool, who'd have thought !, guess I had a steadicam all along in my tripod! will try this later today - these tips are appreciated thanks for sharing very nice of you, I'm subscribed.

[SwitchRich]

Excellent. This is just what I need when I'm out filming on my bike. Ignoring the saving the fact that you don't have to carry a huge steadicam with you is a massive benefit.

[TheOpticFilms]

He looks like Jack Nicholson AND Philip Seymour Hoffman with the hair!

Fantastic video, very helpful thanks!

[feedyourspeakers]

I started watching this expecting to see ' another steadycam vid' but listened to what you said about it all boiling down to proper counter weight. Simple and effective! good video

[jliebow]

Impressive in its simplicity. At the same time, the video is filmed with a wide angle lens, which on its own helps create a more stable image. It would be interesting to see how effective this system is with a normal lens.

[perservesexy]

wow

[RATHAHONNI]

Good idea,when i seen that type of cam with the weights on the bottom i also thought of the tripod and a way of attaching weights to the tripod.But i never tried it,thats why i'm a dreamer and i'm glad some people are doe'rs.

[necron1001]

thank you so much. i just spent maybe 20 minutes running around my kitchen testing this out and its a beaut

[dablet00]

how do u hold the tripod with the cam? i tried and it still shakes. not as much as before...but definitely not as steady as yours

[terryfink]

Thats how it works.. awesome

[gus99flech]

looks great thanks for tip but only prob is I dont have my old tripodlol

[02FLSTC]

It helps... Thanks for the idea...

[jordankade1]

Haha it was also be zero cost if i already had a steady cam already haha, just kidding! thats a great idea, thanks! i like the skylights in your house.

[Joeyws23]

awesome. Thanks

[arvendal]

Great - thanks!

[CANKA85]

wow - great tip !!!

[daniloentidade]

Thanks, excellent idea !!!

[lork1993]

goood idea yeah!

[valt3r24h]

The idea is important.

[Warhawk666]

Awesome!

[Methelinhill]

What a great idea! Thanks for sharing.

[qbukhari]

Excellent tip and thanks for sharing !!!

[dimoschka]

nice, but it takes a little bit to much space :S

[elelamb]

Good tip, but not quite the same effect!

[causeisempty]

thank you so much

[TKRJ1]

looks quite decent for 0 bucks! good tip!

[wiibart]

Thanks for this video, it explains perfectly how a steadycam works.

[sourcekings]

this is good im not going to lie ive seen ther others and if you get the big tripods im getting one for 100 bucks and its heavy so this will really work for me. thank you.

[chrisofnottingham]

Outstanding!

[christopherfilms2009]

You get what you pay for... lol

[C0CK00]

Then where's my BJ?

[N37BU6]

Is that a K1000?

[odinwillbeatyoudown]

How about fastening your camera to a piece of wood like the Evil Dead folks did?

[jrox007]

I do this with my monopod, I have added weight at the bottom and it works pretty damn good. Plus the monopod is handy when needed =)

[noronproducciones]

He looks like Jack Nicholson (Watch at 2:24)!

well...great observation!, and it could work even better using some king of grip at the balance point (looking for something useful in my garbage to try it) :)

[RCheadturner]

Thats fuckin awesome!!!!!

[ProfetaParanoia]

thanx a lot!!!!

[staunch911]

Good video