DIY Steadicam Glidecam

[trapstouille]

awesomes result, how did it cost ?

[UNKPCRIDE]

I made one of these. I think it worked great, however the problem we ran into was getting the thing balanced with other cameras. I suggest adding an adjustable camera mount that can slide the camera back to the front and left to right etc...

[gmonroy]

So cool!  Very well done, congratulations!

[Nighthawke70]

One thing I would suggest is a bicycle type clamp on the inner ring, allowing the rig to either be pitched up or down. I'd use something frictionless against PVC, like Teflon or stainless. The controller would be a bike brake style lever, designed to gently engage and disengage the brake, enabling no jitter transitions from any angle back to zero, or vice versa.

[Sirglory50]

I made your stabilizer, but i cant control it... How am i supposed to keep the camera from wandering around? how do i hold it?

[TVorNotTeeVee]

Hi. If you're still around could you help me out? I've been trying to build the "steady-cam" but I get stuck by the sizes of the PVC. The only skateboard bearings I can find are nowhere near 3/4" in diameter but just under 1/2" in diameter. Are you sure about the 3/4" inch aspect? 

[yb2normal]

@TVorNotTeeVee , Yes, sorry about that, the correct pvc diameter is 1/2" inch. It is a tight fit and you have to heat the pvc in order to press the bearing in.

[TVorNotTeeVee]

@yb2normal Thank you. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't a larger skateboard bearing that I wasn't aware of. Thanks for getting back to me.

[HADESRECORDS12]

Which is the measure the central screw of the steadycam and which is a total weight

[lollalot]

At the end you say "(c) YB2Normal" - Does that mean we're not actually legally aloud to follow this and make our own? or is that for warding off those who want to steal the idea and make money off of it? or is it just for shits and giggles?

[WorldClimb]

@lollalot IANAL! Copyright doesn't apply to what you make, only what you to sell. You legally free to copy this design if you make it yourself. If you post, or sell plans or products of a copyright design then you may break the law. Copyright applies to intellectual property but not to products unless they are patented. If this product is not patented you are free to make it and sell it. However as this video is proof it's not your idea you can't patent it yourself.

[yb2normal]

@lollalot , the copyright is for the contents of the video which is an original work of 'art' (ha ha) minus the music of course which is not mine. The stabilizer design was gleaned from various places on the internet so it's not mine to protect. The only part of the stabilizer I can take credit for is the PVC gimbal, but I think there are better designs out there. My later designs have discarded the PVC gimbal which in my opinion was finicky and difficult to build.

[tomsp1138]

@yb2normal Hi great stuff!. How did you mount the camera to stabilizer?. Could you explain about how did you make the camera mount? or could you recommend a video where they explain it. Thanks!

[jlnWind]

This is awesome mate!

[daafies2]

impressive

[chajdak1]

офигенный стедик!!!!!!!!!!

[AndrewTheMacGyver]

do not build these cheap glidecams i found a real deal diy glidecam setup so stop making these cheap glidecam's what you see is what you get cheap and flimzy junk i will show you all how to make a real deal glidecam this week i have friday and saturday off and i will be posting videos todays date is 3/29/11 so look out for my video's write me and i will give you a hint of whats to come to the diy glidcam scene.....

[AndrewTheMacGyver]

@AndrewTheMacGyver

[thoughtgrenades]

Steadicam Plans, the real stuff. Check my vids for the plans

[MrRobbitto]

friend, what is the song playing in this video?

[Shan2nu]

Brilliant work there. It's actually as good as a professional music video.

[PredatorMagic]

omg omg i want these thanks!

[BaconCZE]

Best DIY steadicam results I have ever seen on YouTube! Nice.

[CaptainClutch423]

Would a standard 608 skate bearing be good enough?

[dougdalby]

Beautiful result, functional product, doable instructions. Isn't this the DIY Holy Grail?

Thank you for sharing.

[AndrewTheMacGyver]

@dougdalby no its not just wait for the one im making you will all be marveld and how dumd you all have been spending money on ugly junky glidecam setups...

[13yaroza]

I finished mine but I have a question. How do you hold it. It is balanced but I have very limited directional control holding it at just the gryo

[GetFamousDesignsII]

Very good final video result! :D Take a look at my prototype! I built the rig today! the video only shows the 3d version! I will upload some footage shot with my homemade cam soon :D really like your idea!

[tadeuprimo]

Man, congratulations for this great balance.. perfect captures to a handy cam !

[xuavi]

Video is just like MTV Cribs style! :)

It's incredible! Thank's for sharing DIY instructions and this beautiful video with us.

[bazytherapper]

the results are incredible man. the camera just floats around. you have done a very good job, and thank you very much for sharing this with us!

[catascouts]

You have a great family.

Thanks for the inspiration. I made a glidecam just like yours and works great.

[currysteph]

thats a great demo of its capabilities but how did you make it....thats what I would like to see

[punkrooster1210]

would this work with a light camera?

[hatefuel66]

Very impressed. just throwing together some ideas of my own, or taking the leap and buying something off eBay. but the result you have achieved are amazing in comparison to the price, i think even better! I noticed on some of the commercial ripoffs on eBay that there was a slight pendulum effect. i cant see this on yours! keep up the good work

[supportren]

Nice job! Most stabilizers use two laws of Physics: center of gravity and Inertia. You can design your own while keeping these two things in mind. Here is my iPhone stabilizer which you can make from junk box items:

/watch?v=ilHCWFilP2w

[mastermequon]

just as good as anything I've seen. great job.

[w0rmaster]

did you put no thought at all into the soundtrack? for goodness sake

[hatefuel66]

I don't know if you noticed but there is a volume button on the video! Just shut the fuck up and stop being so negative.

[w0rmaster]

lol

[lbeeh89]

How to use that stuff? Sorry, i'm new to it =D

[icanseestars]

wow! that last shot going down the stairs was beautiful! good job man!!

[villaranvideo]

felicidades por tu estabilizador!, las imagenes de la grabacion son muy buenas...

lo mejor el precio!

;)

[pejeno]

amazingly smooth O_O

[haNiieeph]

do you have a video tutorial about this?

[RentPing]

Can you pan up and down with this unit or is it just a straight shot?

[leotecasi]

yeah, but you think that's abec 8 can be any better or it's gonna be the same of abec 1 for our pourpose?

[yb2normal]

For our purpose it does not matter.  The ABEC ratings measure very small differences that only matter at many thousands of RPM's.

[leotecasi]

hey, what sakate bearing you used? abec 1?

[yb2normal]

abec ratings are very precise, so if you have a bearing that is abec rated... even at the 'lowest' rating of 1, it is going to be plenty good enough for our purpose. Avoid skate bearings that are not abec rated.

[Slixys]

@yb2normal

I'm a skater, and for this purpose I'd recommend using abec11 builtin bearings if possible, or check out some black panthers, they're pricier than the cheap abec 1 but they have a friction coefficient about 1/20th that of the lower end skate bearings when not under a 150 lb skater

[Bas21]

Hi! i did the same stabilizer following your tutorial. Thank you very much. It works good if you go straight. I have problem with turnings. I mean the cam starts to spin on its axis and doesn't stop. How can i avoid this? i saw in your video that yours doesn't seem to spin. Tahnks and cogratulations!

[yb2normal]

The stabilizer is being constantly 'flown' by my free hand.  I gently hold the main rod and guide the camera to point in the direction of my desire. If the camera has a tendency to rotate even when you are standing still, then it is probably not aligned properly... all holes must be drilled perfectly square and the main bearing must be sitting perfectly flat.

[PhilStPierre]

@Bas21

What tutorial are you refering at ?

[leotecasi]

Very nice, do you think this could work with a small camera as Kodak zi8 or Flip Mino or even with a SLR camera like Canon7D ??

thanks

[yb2normal]

It's all about the balance... if you can scale the unit so that proper balance is maintained, then you can use virtually any camera.

[DidntKnowWhatToPut1]

works better then the ones on the market

[cbproducktions]

Nice, my friend just made one today

[deamonrx]

hi, great work you did there. i wanted to suggest you a cheap solution for a nice handle :) i found that one of my old bb airsoft guns does a decend job(completly disassambled with the weights taken out etc). you could connect that to the outer ring of your gimbat

[midtvideo]

Hello

The design is also excellent and if there is a need to be filming at 360 degrees - then it's fine, but I think the handle will be a small problem on my right hand with my camera which is great (Sony VX-2000).

What you write about the operation of the Merlin, I can easily recognize - currently have a handheld steadicam jr which works the same way.

Well, good luck in future with the experiment.

fp Denmark

[midtvideo]

Hello

Great nice video with nice stability. Considering himself to produce a model of Glidercam - though I had not just thought about my gimbal could tilt in all wreaths.

I thought orriginalen works fine - why 3 wreaths?

Well, but you may well have your reasons.

best regards

fp in Denmark

[yb2normal]

The outer most ring (wreath) is simply my attempt at a clever handle. If I eliminated the outer wring, I would replace it with a handle which had a bearing in it, since we still need to have freedom of movement in 2 axis.

[vistaway3008]

awesome, but can you explain how you fixed the camera to the rig you made?

[yb2normal]

The camera mount on this design was overly complicated... check out some of my other videos where I've put together a much simpler design.

[vistaway3008]

btw, isn't the main component of this system the fact that it's supposed to be on a spring? you seem to make it work well tho, I'm going to try doing this myself

[yb2normal]

The full size steadicams have springs in the arm to support the weight of the stabilizer. The smaller stabilizers for consumer cameras (aka the "Merlin") don't use any springs and are simply supported by your arm. Imagine the way you would walk holding an egg on a spoon, or a very full cup of water... that's how you cushion these small handheld stabilizers.

[zentalklaugh]

awesome

[abulmagd3]

nice

[fiman16]

hey! i absolutely love this first design! I just finished building one last night and I had a question on your method of actually using it..

I get that you have one hand on the 2-inch outer ring, but do you also have a hand on part of the wooden bar at the bottom?

I have tried doing pans as smooth as your and i find it hard to "put on the brakes" as you put it without a noticable jerk in motion.

Lastly, I was considering putting a spring on the rod between the bolt and the bearing. Is that wise?

[yb2normal]

My right hand is holding the outer PVC ring and my left hand is lightly touching the rod, just below the gimbal. The rod is narrow and you can imagine that it does not give me a lot of leverage, so I am prevented from starting/stopping the turns too fast.

[fiman16]

thanks for the help!!

[mikecurran]

Fasntastic results!

[canturgan]

Best steadicam results I have seen, include a wide angle lens and you've got 'The Shining' Would it handle a 5D?

[romeodawg]

Wow - works great!  Congrats.

[drboose]

I just built this gyro. It is truly awesome. The stabilization is worth the 10$ is parts ten ten ten fold. Best DIY steadicam right now. Thank you.

[tronjapon]

すばらしい！

[cookiemovies]

Great job and awesome result. How easy is to operate your "glidecam" construction?

[chobopan]

Excellent.

I wanna make too.

[jfenimorecooper]

Awesome!

[gohighoctane]

genius.

[srcunha]

nice house

[rafaelkakaroto]

great job!

[dogripper]

Impressive !!!

[nictamer]

Really nice contraption. But I hate to say it: the music is horrible, horrible.

[IceMurder]

Wow, nice!

[IrregularShed]

That's really neat. Watching you track up and down the stairs got me wondering about how to make it so that the camera could be tilted - my best hunch would be to try using a servo to do it, and have it controlled by a microcontroller like an Arduino or something. But hey, that's just me.

[colt45joe]

awesome.

[joesnose]

Absolutely fantastic. A job well done.

[furmedia]

...dude. i could see you in the mirror and i could see your shadow.

[xsxtxjx]

yeah, i guess hes never seen red dragon...

well done building the thing, but you might want to consider demonstrating this somewhere else. good job though

[GrahamJenson]

Great!!

[davidsookochoff]

AWESOME!!!

[anmpir]

AMAZING! How is it with running/ driving shots? Please upload those kinds of examples as well. It would do the public good!

[FrankTheHLYTank]

I LOVE IT!! it would be great to see how it performs while moving faster for more action type recording, also a 3rd person view of it in action.. you definitely gave me a weekend project though :-)

[animes25]

genius!

[ColdRoses27]

where is the video for your second revision of the steadicam?also what camera do you use?

[SuperBravoOne]

nice build on the gimabl, I checked it out on the site. +1 on the song

[95redtegls]

Props man This is Tight Love it

[dormiturefl]

awesome that you made this and props on the video but why this gay ass song? really dude? really?

[Ch28Kid]

OMG I want to make one for my film class nex semester.

[matthewhowardwolf]

At :42 that girl was thinking "don't film me. I will grow into my beauty!"

[elbuenlatex]

i wanna know how can i put one of those together... i'd love to. Or... do you sell them?

[mikerouse]

Brilliant

[DrCoolSex]

I want one

[mcskirt]

nice smooth footage... just don't edit any music into the footage next time

[TheRagingBeaverCo]

Some of the best footage I have seen so far with a homemade.

[oscarteos]

WOOOW!!

[halcncod]

Yeah sure is

[halcncod]

Anyway: video maker: Reeeaaallly nice, we have the same camera! DCR - TRV22E right? I've also got a home built steadicam, what do you think of it?

[yb2normal]

The TRV22 is a great little unit and has served me well. It even has a pretty decent 16:9 setting which was forward thinking at the time.

[oraibeclaor]

it's fantastic you desing

[NotSoExpertVillage]

do u like this better than ur gimbal version?

[yb2normal]

Both designs have their merits, but since the gimbal model is easier to build I tend to prefer that one, and recommend it to people who want to build their own. The design in THIS video has the potential of giving better results because the physics are more on your side, but it is harder to build.

[quadbravo]

See alot of these on YT. This design works really well. Wish there was a summation vid showing all parts and dims. If the dims aren't duplicated then the performance is off. Yb2normal nailed it. Excellent job.

[yb2normal]

Actually the dimensions are very dependant on your particular camera. Understanding the physics of why the stabilizers works will allow you to create a unit using locally available materials, in the dimensions suitable to your camera. Now maybe THAT's a video that someone needs to shoot... stabilizer theory!

[CiaoBoxx]

outstanding

[Raph333]

Its soo smoooth!

great job

[B3D5X]

Wow look at that house! Looks like you could afford a real steadicam!

[yb2normal]

LOL, actually I can afford the house because I *didn't* buy the real steadicam ;)

[B3D5X]

Lmao! Touche :)

[nileshcamera]

u r right

[MarkHarmer]

Agree - this is a very good steadicam and the best DIY footage I've seen too. I was going to buy the Merlin but it's just WAY too much dosh for the amount I'm going to use it.

[torawfordiz]

do u have a web site or somewhere that u can get a print out of the pic u show in the begining of this vid i was looking up stead cams on youtube cause i wanted to make my own i like this design the most but i think it might be hard getting all the peices right or makeing shore the people at home depot know wat im talking about with out a picture for refrenceplease respond

[yb2normal]

Yes... read the description of the video to on the right side of your screen. Thanks!

[kevbomb]

This is the best DIY steadicam footage I've seen yet. Is it difficult to tilt up or down due to the looseness of the gimgle in your hand?

[yb2normal]

I don't try to tilt it up or down... at this point I've just been 'flying' the rig trying to get good at it.

[Herr2Cents]

I was wondering if the bolts that you use cause much friction as the gimbal moves? I like your ideas on this.

[yb2normal]

Over time the bolts have started digging into the pvc and causing more friction. I think if I were to redo this I would grind off the threads or maybe add some kind of metal sleeve to protect the pvc from the bolts. Currently I'm flying my 'version 3' most of the time since the simpler gimbal (ball joint) is the direction I've been going.

[Herr2Cents]

the are covered bail bearings that you can buy on line.

[jmellady]

Was that a Lemond Etape I saw in the background?

[yb2normal]

It is my lovely wife's Buenos Aires. My road bikes have always been the Walmart variety so when she brought that home I gasped at how light it was and how much it cost ;)

[abejadeluz]

can you sell one to me ????

[yb2normal]

I'm sorry, there is so little time these days to shoot even my own video. Check out my other designs they are much easier.

[torawfordiz]

could u make a tut on how to put this together cause i think i get it but its still a little fuzzy

[yb2normal]

Look at my other video's on youtube, I have another design that is easier to build... the gimbal is the key.

[mateuszgosc]

awesome ...

[feifeihee]

I don't know what's that inside your gimbal joint.would you tell me?

[comraad]

it looks like someone is stalking the kids :D, just kidding , that is really brilliant

[mikosoft]

Reminded me of footages from The Shining. I think your stabiliser puts commercial ones to shame (for them costing so much).

[bunnyofwar]

great steadycam and cute kids!

[islandboystv]

Dont tell people how to make it. Sell it to them if they want it that bad. Awesome footage.

Good job on your unit.

[Maxxumless]

I have the Glidecam 2000 Pro and I have to say you've done really well. How heavy is it?  You have some pretty long shots w/o using a vest/harness.

[yb2normal]

All up, including my Sony TRV22 the unit weighs 3 pounds. My goal was to make a grab-and-go sort of stabilizer that gave me "good enough" results. The commercial units are definitely worth the money in my opinion, they help take the results the 'last mile'.

[Aroldo2k6]

woww this its awesome too :D

[iGraphic]

Can you do a video demo, of how to create this, because its very impressive, or do you want to sell me one ;)

[yb2normal]

hello! I have been working on a simpler design which is easier to understand how it is built, please check out yb2normal dot com forward slash DIYsteadicam3 dot html... I can sell you the new design :)

[dannysuru]

Wow nice job man!

I have been researching and am/was about to make a full rig.

I also was thinking simple is better and I like your gimbal joint.

Thanks

[EluraUser]

I got it, where the third axis is, the bearing for the rod. Duh!

[LeadHammer]

Another question: the plank is a conterweight, but you are also controlling the camera movement with the same plank. What is the proper technique to control camera movement while trying not to introduce jerky movement, and to let the counterweight to keep camera steady? I hope what I wrote makes sense :)

[yb2normal]

You are right, the plank is the counterweight, but you don't touch it in use. Instead, your free hand lightly grasps the rod just above the gimbal. The bearing is almost frictionless... it take only a light touch to get the unit rotating, and once started it will continue for a long time. At 2:32 you can see a good demonstration of this. I start the unit rotating, then quickly move down the stairs. The unit is rotating itself... I'm just following behind :)

[LeadHammer]

This is great stuff! You are saying that it is 3-axis, isn't it 2-axis instead? The inner plastic ring is firmly attached to the rod, it rotates in the middle ring (one axis), which rotates in the outer ring (second axis). Or am I not getting this right?

The plank on the bottom, I suppose it is both for controlling the camera (I see sort of round handles) and for offsetting camera weight to bring it below the suspension point (weights under the handles), right?

[LeadHammer]

I got it, the inner ring has a bearing for the rod to rotate. The third axis.

[DekkerStudios]

Wow i've seen a whole selfmade steadycams on youtube but this thing is really good.

[yb2normal]

Thanks! I'm still refining it, the camera plate has already evolved into a much simpler design (see other video on youtube)

[arbiche75]

wow amazing

[Spice1]

dang

that looks amazing

i just got a glidecam 200 with arm vest

and body pod

any tutorials you might know of how to made a smooth shooter

or something related

[yb2normal]

Thanks for the comment. I don't have plans for a smooth shooter, I just carry the stabilizer it's pretty light. There is a URL in the video description that will take you to a page that shows more pictures