I've seen this episode of Make on PBS a couple times. Usually, I think about making the antenna project at the beginning of this clip, but after watching the Super Bowl and seeing cameramen holding steady cam cameras run onto the field, I'm intrigued. It would be useful to have something to steady video when we go out and it might help me remember to take the video camera out more often.

Hell yea! Now you're talkin' my language Ben! (I only drink beer... brewing is too much work.) It's been awhile, but I did extensive "better home movie" web research before my trip to NZ. It has made a huge difference in presentation and how I feel about my movies.

That is a good steady cam. The drawback to it is the same thing that makes it a good steady cam... the weight. It's heavy and bulky and you don't wanna carry it and assemble it everywhere that you might want better footage. But it's a great start, and one can even buy a ready made kit at steadycam.org/ if averse to shopping at HomeDepot. (But if you are averse to that we will revoke your man card and immediately issue you a vagina.)

I blame Blair Witch and reality tv for making handheld cinematography 'ok.' It's not ok. It's nauseating. (Let alone the content of reality tv, but that's a completely different rant.)

First thing about better cam footage: take your hand outta that strap, and get it away from your face. Your footage will be shaky, and from the same vantage point every time. YOUR eye level, which sucks when your shooting the munchkins, as you only get the top of their heads. Cams have swivel screens for a reason. USE IT. For low "kids eye view" shots, cradle the cam in your hands and look down at the cam, not your subjects.

There are more complicated, but smaller and lighter DIY stabilizers out there, however some of them require some mechanical skill to create. homebuiltstabilizers.com/greyhandheld.htm is a great resource (for lots of DIY cam equipment).

Alot of emphasis is put upon the gimble, which is where the mechanics come in. But really, your wrist will provide enough of a gimble for smooth footage, if you're shooting with a lightweight camera and as long as you're not shooting for long periods of time.

The simplest easy multi purpose steady cam is an adjustable mono pod, and one or two ankle/velcro weights attached about 1' below the hand grip. Gives you an adjustable height ground stabilization point, and smooth pan/dolly movements. Just hanging the cam below your hand in a sling of some sort or even a plastic grocery bag(not kidding) can give you nice smooth crane/jib like movements(though the bag might kill your sound). You can tie a string to a cam, step on the string, pull up so the string is tight and shoot without the shakes.

Another much ignored shake elimination tool... EDITING! Don't include the shaky footage of picking up/setting down the cam in the video. It makes the viewer queasy and they can't see what's going on anyway. Leave it out. (And shorter vids mean a happier audience - it is afterall a youtube 2minute clip soundbite world.)

Definitely do something for stabilization. Trust me! You will be SOO much happier with your footage. And your audience will thank you. (Well, no, they probably won't say anything. But they'll notice.)

Okay. This is an advanced workshop, and I just stand in front of the camera. Claims to be an expert notwithstanding. I sure hope Troy, Dixie and Aaron check out this thread because I have no idea what ya'll are talking about.

Daddy Clay wrote:
Okay. This is an advanced workshop, and I just stand in front of the camera. Claims to be an expert notwithstanding. I sure hope Troy, Dixie and Aaron check out this thread because I have no idea what ya'll are talking about.

I hear ya. I had no idea until I saw a guy in the end zone running around with a High Def camera mounted on a stick with a weight on the bottom. And I wouldn't have know what it was if I hadn't been interested in the antenna project in the same clip. It makes perfect sense that a weight hanging down would improve the leveling of the camera and make your motion smoother. I just didn't think that was all there was to it (and I'm sure there's more but the basic principal seems solid)

Awesome advice Concretin!

Another good habit to learn is to start using your own body as a tripod. In other words, try to lean up against something as often as possible when shooting video.

Shooting the birthday party? Lean against a doorframe and pull your elbow in against your body.

Shooting something in the backyard? Sit down on a chair and rest your elbow on your knee.

Shooting something at the amusement park? Walk up to a low fence and put your elbow on the railing. You get the idea.

And....as Concretin points out....don't hit record until AFTER you've started to lean up against something!

I have built one of the DIY steady cams shown in this video. In fact there is a picture of one in our book Filmmaking for Teens. It worked pretty well and the kids we taught mastered it pretty quickly. One of our employees also built a DIY Fig Rig, but I did not use it.

The number one thing I have done is practice, practice, practice on being steady. It comes with time, and a lot of our dadlabs shooters fresh out of school do not have it down yet.

The hardest thing at DadLabs is to keep the camera steady when Brad, Clay and Owen start to get really funny. Nothing shakes a camera like laughing.

As Nick mentioned, shots from eye level are boring. So a great thing to make your footage better is to vary the angles and composition of your shots.

This one is for you DaddyClay... only $100 for your iPhone steady cam...

www.gizmag.com/iphone-isteady-shot-stabilizer/13325/

But it looks fairly easy to hack... could buy this and then modify the camera mount for any cam, and add a bit o' weight to the balance arm... but $100+ just for the fancy gimble is still too much.

PVC is too cheap and easy to work with to not experiment...

My roomate in college made one of these. Totally worth it, and easy as pie.

Check it out:
www.techtilt.com/2010/06/06/diy-glidepod/

Super simple and very cheap. Stabilizer, monopod, collapsable, and will allow you to get that 'elevated' perspective shot that I'm so very fond of.

I was all geeked about this yesterday, but further reflection and I'm not so sure. It's only rising to 7 feet, right? I can hold it higher than that. Sure, I can hold it up, but then I don't really need that base, do I? As a Steady-cam, I'm not sure why that's any better than figuring out how to hang a water bottle or something from the bottom of a monopole. I'm starting to think that a monopole with something to hang something from the bottom while collapsed is a much simpler way to go.

Or am I missing something?

You are not missing anything. Yes, simple counterbalance is the key to the "steady" part of the the steady cam. So yes, hooking a waterbottle to the bottom of your monopod will work (just make sure it's not floppin' around bumpin' the pole).

The PVC base just adds a bit of versatility. This would let you set the height with the monopod, and set it on the table/ground/whatever. With just a monopod, you ALWAYS have to hold it. But it's also not quite as bulky as a tripod.

Also, with the collapsible monopod, the steadcam function has more range. A longer pole will give smoother movements, but you can only move DOWN so far. Collapse the monopod, and you can move from say 15" off the ground to your reach.

Elevation: yes, you can hold the monopod up, the base just gives you a few extra handles/rest points. Not required at all, but holding the rig up will still get you higher than just about everyone else for a bit more unique video/pictures.

You can go a bit more expensive, probably $100 or so, and get a couple of specialized adapters (or build your own), and a collapsible painters pole for the elevated stuff. But then you don't have much of a steadcam because of the pole length.

Does that all make sense?

Absolutely. It just seems like a mediocre replacement for two (three if you include a tripod) things. I figure I can get the monopod and figure some sort of stabilizing weight for about $25 and then do the painter pole and adapter for another $30. It's two gadgets, but not a huge problem to me. I think you'd get better performance from it.

It looks like I'm going to miss the Maker Faire in Detroit since it's the same weekend as my MiL's birthday party here. I hope they do it there again since the Henry Ford's really getting into the innovation side of their mission. More on that another time, I think. I expect a bunch of DIY and "Open Platform World" things to relate to photography and family fun.

Here's a simple and cheap solution for putting your iPhone on a tripod or monopod for better photos/video...

photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/glif-iphone-tripod-mount/

A great stocking stuffer for your favorite shaky-video-posting-iPhone-phreak.

This looks perfect for the stability-challenged iPhone users around. My only problem -- I use a bulky Otterbox case because I occasionally run ("pedestrians," I know) with my phone.

Might be worth ditching the box to use this dealy.

After a little bit of curiosity I found this guy who builds his own steady cam with a 3 axis gimbal... kinda cool.

lifehacker.com/5595556/build-a-diy-iphon...-smooth-iphone-video


There is also this... for 5 bucks less. Made by Steadycam. HA!

www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/745820-RE..._IPHONE_4_MOUNT.html


I am planning on getting a iPhone4 next month, so this might be good for me. I am just not looking forward to having to convert all my h264 vids for editing in final cut. *shakes fist*