New into the world of DSLR video

Hi everyone

I work at a car dealer, and I shot a commercial a while back that everyone seemed to enjoy, so work is buying a T2i for me to continue making videos with. I'm pretty excited.

I was wondering what the best thing that you have bought or made for video purposes is.

I'm planning on making a home brew steady cam first, but I'm open to other suggestions too.

figure out what you need, then build/buy it... not the other way around?

lol thanks for all your help, chippy.

yes I'd much rather find stuff out the hard way than to learn from the experience of others. Wow, why didn't I think of that before. Thank God you're here to help me out.

well i mean we could recommend home brewed jib arms, dollies, car mounts, etc. but if that's not the kind of shot you need then...? so what kind of shoots do you need at a dealership? If all you need is a tripod then building a ____ isn't going to help you.

Here is what I made

We are thinking about something a little more organic this time... that's why I was thinking a stabilizer would be best.

Basically, my idea is to watch tons of Top Gear and imitate. Having just sprung for the camera, I don't think I am going to be able to get much more out of my co-workers. That's why I was thinking home brew stuff would work.

I have a tripod, although I am sure we could definitely use a better one... especially if I'm going to be putting jibs, cranes, sliders, etc on it. I also have an OK car rig... I used it for the wheel shot in the commercial I linked to. it's too shaky for anything more than moving detail shots though.

sorry I kind of snapped at you before, I feel dumb asking questions about stuff I know nothing about, especially when people are not helpful/sarcastic in response.
Thanks for not firing off another round.

1. Nice commercial you did!
2. When on a budget, you have the right idea of using DIY projects such as a steadycam rig of some sort. Its a simple principle so you should have no problems in that area.
3. For the type of commercial you seem to want to do, I think a slider would be the most useful to you right now. I saw a lot of that action in your commercial so I think it would be something you would get a ton of use out of!
4. Off camera LCD! Trust me, it makes a world of difference when using the T2i!
5. Keep posting your work!

I agree with BrickR, it looks like a slider is going to be most used for you. There are a number of different DIY styles on cheesycam.com.

Got a T2I 8 months ago and I am now shooting a short, here is the trailer http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=84wB0xx_nAg

If doing these gig is part of your job security and not be paid for, I suggest proposing a budget for the supporting equipments to your manager.

If you have the capital, just take advantage of it and don't waste time tinkering with equipments. The best DoP out there are the ones thats always in the field shooting and edit, not always on forums/internet, and spend good money on equipments.

thanks for the suggestions everyone!

this is the kind of info I was looking for. I'll definitely be looking at making a steadicam, a slider, and I'm going to see if I can get my uncle to make me a crane out of alluminum. he has a pretty serious machine shop so I bet I could make that happen for way less than $700, which seems to be the going rate.

Steve Hodges wrote in post #12430420
Got a T2I 8 months ago and I am now shooting a short, here is the trailer http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=84wB0xx_nAg

wow your shooting/editing looks really cool. Nice work.

robertwsimpson wrote in post #12432616
thanks for the suggestions everyone!

this is the kind of info I was looking for. I'll definitely be looking at making a steadicam, a slider, and I'm going to see if I can get my uncle to make me a crane out of alluminum. he has a pretty serious machine shop so I bet I could make that happen for way less than $700, which seems to be the going rate.

If you have access to a pretty serious machine shop, you have access to just about all the DIY stuff you'll need at a cheaper price! LOL
Just don't get so caught up in equipment that your creativity shifts focus on to gear, and not your projects. That's why I think you fabricating/buying what you know you need when you need it will help keep you on target.

Agreed, but there are certain things that I already know I want... like definitely a steadycam and probably a crane... I used a crane in the last video that I did and it was BOSS.

You might want to look into some motion control software, too, like Lock n Load X or final cut's Smoothcam. It can take your diy gear and make it look even more betterer, lol.

i really dont think a steadicam is going to be that useful for the type of shots you're getting. They are useful for when the camera is walking around, following a subject. Since your cars are mostly stationary, I'd say a slider and/or jib will get used far more often.

I want my videos to look more betterer!


yeah, you raise a good point. I'll have to think more about this while my camera is shipping here.