Oh, one more thing: those are the pant leg sand bags in the book that I'm using as dolly stops!

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

Killer Rigs Done Dirt Cheap!
 

I also bought your book, Dan, a few weeks ago. (I even took it to Cancun to read while on vacation :) Me and my wife are really impressed with it!

We love that you've laid all the plans, large photos, and easy (and fun!) to read instructions. And we finally finished building a dolly! (People at work teased us as the dolly looked like a skateboard for a very big kid! We were building our rig at the back of a restaurant.)

We had some setbacks (finding bolts with the threads running all the way through; going to Home Depot, instead of Ace True Valu where people actually help you!), but we finished building it in under 4 hours. We bought some pipe, and flanges, to act as a handle for the dolly as well. The dolly came out to be 35" by 4 foot (so we can fit it inside our trunk).

Then my wife just finished sewing up 5 sandbags! She's proud of those too cause they look like production bags (blue canvas bought from Hobby Lobby). She didn't use the plastic, instead she reinforced the bags by lining them with more canvas; and she insists it's better than yours :) (Don't worry Dan, I don't think she'll be writing any how-to-books anytime soon :)

Anyway, just wanted to thank you! I highly recommend this book to any creative person willing to try to build something simple, yet simply amazing.

--JA

Hi Jeff,

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Yeah, Home Depot has been really bad since they sold to somebody else. Even for things like BOLTS for gosh sakes!

Tell your wife no worries! Feel free to improve on any design! I actually love it when people use the plans as a base to make the rigs to fit their needs. A filmmaker in the UK couldn't find the parts for the crane attachment, so he used the front fork of a bicycle. Brilliant! Plus it's so great to hear you are making sandbags. They aren't very sexy, so I think most put them on the bottom of the list. They really should be the first thing everyone makes! (Especially if you can't drive down the road and rent them like here in Los Angeles). Like c-stands, you seem to never have enough!

If you want to put different handle on the dolly, a razor scooter handle works great (even folds down to fit in your trunk). Shoot me an e-mail ( dan@dvcamerarigs.com ) and I'll show you how.

The killer's kiss crane is a great little jib. I hope you'll build that next and stick it on the dolly! There's a photo of Mike Ferris, one of the top operators in Hollywood, using it on my last shoot earlier in this thread.

Keep up the great work! I'm always a little disapointed when people buy the book and let sit on the shelf. Keep building and send me a copy of a movie when you finish it! (cause that's what it's all about, right?)

Best,

Dan

Thanks for the support Dan!

We're actually taking the dolly out to beautiful Monument Valley and shoot our very first documentary. I'm still thinking about building the Killer's Kiss Crane and attach it on the dolly, like you suggested, but we may not have time (or materials, since Monument Valley is the middle of nowhere--it's kinda like being in a Home Depot minus the beautiful scenery...yeah, I'm never gonna let that one go :)

Speaking of C-stands, I'm currently looking around the web for some. Not living in the valley anymore, I could easily go to Wooden Nickle and pick up a used, beat up one. Do you happen to know anyone/company that's selling 'em? Preferably with arms and knuckles?

--JA

Let me just say Wooden Nickel rocks! Unfortunately the only place I know of is ebay. They've got a few listed--most without arms and knuckles, but there are a few. There's also a penny saver like rag for film equipment. I can't for the life of me remember the name, but I'll put my thinking cap on and try to come up with it. Maybe they have an on-line version.

Dan
www.DVcameraRigs.com

My only issue from the samples: Poor dog : (

xha1 + lex
 

I\'m glad this post popped up recently or I never would\'ve known about this book. Looks really good. I\'m curious if anyone\'s ever mounted an xha1 with lex adapter on the stabilizer in the book. Would it be too much weight? Thanks.

BTW the crane looks amazing.