Poor mans motion control rig, anyone?

[HunterGather]

Does anyone have any creative ways for using a machine of some sort to achieve a motion control rig for a camera?
I want to try some rotoscoping and such with the camera actually moving, so I need to have the camera be able to always move at the same precise speed and angle for X amount of times and then composite/cut out/rotoscope/etc.

Nothing crazy. I'm fine with a 360 degree turn or a long straight line.

 

[hsilver]

http://www.kesslercrane.com/motion-control-s/104.htm -Possibly can rent something from here

 

[Nostromo]

Googling will get our eyes ogling at a large number of results in all varieties and flavors.

 

[HunterGather]

I googled, then I came here.

 

[evil_santa]

i found a motion control forum ,

http://www.mocoforum.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi

 

[Dale Campbell]

Here is an egg timer rig I made for a DSLR. It is easier and less precarious with a point and shoot type camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDsvCH457p4

That gives you a 360 in about an hour.

To do a straight line you need some kind of track and some kind of motor.
Dirt cheap way is to get a BBQ rotisserie motor (search ebay) something like a tile cutter or rolling paper guillotine and a piece of string.
Fasten the camera to the moving bit of whatever you are using tie the string to it, fasten the motor at the other end and tie the string to that then set it running.

Same principal works with a ladder and skateboard wheel type setup which gives you a longer run.

 

[notjustjay]

Googling for "poor man's motion control" suggests some interesting ideas. Here's a trick involving shooting on a much larger plate and digitally cropping/zooming:

http://peet.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/screening-room-the-poor-mans-motion-control/

When I think of controlled and accurate linear or rotational movement, I think of stepper motors and servos. There are a lot of DIY folks building robotics and CNC machines. You don't need to build either, but some of the mechanisms may be of interest. For example, a stepper motor driving a threaded rod could provide controlled and repeatable linear movement to a platform mounted on nuts, and at varying speeds. You could easily control it using free CNC machine software.

 

[HunterGather]

Thanks for the input, guys.

That cropping idea may work in some cases, but i'd need to try it out to see if its too tedious or not.