Hello everyone,
I am a professional videographer working on motorizing an off the shelf slider for cinematic sliding video shots (not timelapse). I have watched dozens of videos on people diy motorizing their sliders with dc motors, pwm speed controllers, and some even adding in contact switches with dpdt relays to automatically reverse direction and I want to give it a go.
Simplest approach... use a drill or a battery powered fan with some fishing wire... Yes it will work, but I need more control, want to set and forget while I perform interviews, and do not have the capital to invest in one of the fancy multi thousand dollar rigs like a Rhino slider. I have a very inexpensive nice slider that has integrated panning control via a control rod in the center of the slider. (http://a.co/d/e71Oobh). At one end I can frame the subject, and the other the same and it will give me a very fluid parallel motion while keeping my subject in frame, such as during an interview. What I want is the ability to do what Parker is doing in this video at 14:16 with the Rhino Slider, (
) by adding in a dc motor with a speed controller that will go back and forth until the battery dies.
He is able to set it up to slide at a controlled speed, and it will automatically go back and forth while he is doing an interview, exactly my use case. (I don't care about the ramping which is an ease in and out toward the end of the slide, just back and forth at a continuous speed).
I am a computer nerd and could easily accomplish this with a little investment and some arduino programming with a stepper motor. With that said, sound is a concern and dc motors are much quieter. I also believe this is possible with straight analog electronics with lower overall cost.
I do not need assistance with the belt, driver design. I need help with the electronic solution.
This guy seems to have what I am looking for here:
However I am troubled by two things, at 5:32 his diagram shows "Carriage needs to be headed toward SW2 when started"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B06sUIMWtgdkR09BMGhSRTdoeGc/view
Which seems like some kind of design flaw in the electrical design. I want to be able to turn on my motor and regardless of what direction it is headed, it will automatically switch direction when it comes into contact with either contact switch. Second is that DPDT relay is frickin huge, can I use the smaller ones I find on Amazon rated for the voltage I am targeting? I want to put everything into a nice control box attached to the slider and as small as possible.
I plan to power this at 5v using usb charger battery packs. I could also utilize 18650 batteries (I vape), or 7.4v NP style batteries used in film applications, but have selected motors and parts based on 5v USB power supply (Is amperage a concern?)
These are the parts I am looking at getting to implement this approach.
DPDT Relay: http://a.co/d/fNdzmOA (this looks nothing like the dpdt relay in the sample video, what is the difference, should i care?)
Motor Driver: http://a.co/d/6JG6rAX (has directional switch and integrated off switch +1)
Limit Switches SPDT: http://a.co/d/1USMwRy (Only need two, and this little roller thing looks more reliable than the ones without.)
Finally a motor: http://a.co/d/8o3m5lP (cheap, and comes with a little mounting bracket so I can attach to my frame attachment for the slider)
So the questions I need help with are...
Is there a better wiring solution that the one presented in the second video that does not worry about the carriage direction at the beginning, or is this even a valid concern at all?
Can I use the DPDT relay I selected on Amazon instead of the big ugly one he shows?
Are the Limit switches I found suitable or the wrong thing?
Am I approaching the power supply properly or should I consider going up?
I saw a lot of videos adding a diode into the circuitry to prevent undervoltage spiking from the motor from the PWM modulator, is this a concern with the one I have selected?
Finally, Is there a more elegant approach to what I am trying to do here that I haven't come across yet?
I am a professional videographer working on motorizing an off the shelf slider for cinematic sliding video shots (not timelapse). I have watched dozens of videos on people diy motorizing their sliders with dc motors, pwm speed controllers, and some even adding in contact switches with dpdt relays to automatically reverse direction and I want to give it a go.
Simplest approach... use a drill or a battery powered fan with some fishing wire... Yes it will work, but I need more control, want to set and forget while I perform interviews, and do not have the capital to invest in one of the fancy multi thousand dollar rigs like a Rhino slider. I have a very inexpensive nice slider that has integrated panning control via a control rod in the center of the slider. (http://a.co/d/e71Oobh). At one end I can frame the subject, and the other the same and it will give me a very fluid parallel motion while keeping my subject in frame, such as during an interview. What I want is the ability to do what Parker is doing in this video at 14:16 with the Rhino Slider, (
He is able to set it up to slide at a controlled speed, and it will automatically go back and forth while he is doing an interview, exactly my use case. (I don't care about the ramping which is an ease in and out toward the end of the slide, just back and forth at a continuous speed).
I am a computer nerd and could easily accomplish this with a little investment and some arduino programming with a stepper motor. With that said, sound is a concern and dc motors are much quieter. I also believe this is possible with straight analog electronics with lower overall cost.
I do not need assistance with the belt, driver design. I need help with the electronic solution.
This guy seems to have what I am looking for here:
However I am troubled by two things, at 5:32 his diagram shows "Carriage needs to be headed toward SW2 when started"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B06sUIMWtgdkR09BMGhSRTdoeGc/view
Which seems like some kind of design flaw in the electrical design. I want to be able to turn on my motor and regardless of what direction it is headed, it will automatically switch direction when it comes into contact with either contact switch. Second is that DPDT relay is frickin huge, can I use the smaller ones I find on Amazon rated for the voltage I am targeting? I want to put everything into a nice control box attached to the slider and as small as possible.
I plan to power this at 5v using usb charger battery packs. I could also utilize 18650 batteries (I vape), or 7.4v NP style batteries used in film applications, but have selected motors and parts based on 5v USB power supply (Is amperage a concern?)
These are the parts I am looking at getting to implement this approach.
DPDT Relay: http://a.co/d/fNdzmOA (this looks nothing like the dpdt relay in the sample video, what is the difference, should i care?)
Motor Driver: http://a.co/d/6JG6rAX (has directional switch and integrated off switch +1)
Limit Switches SPDT: http://a.co/d/1USMwRy (Only need two, and this little roller thing looks more reliable than the ones without.)
Finally a motor: http://a.co/d/8o3m5lP (cheap, and comes with a little mounting bracket so I can attach to my frame attachment for the slider)
So the questions I need help with are...
Is there a better wiring solution that the one presented in the second video that does not worry about the carriage direction at the beginning, or is this even a valid concern at all?
Can I use the DPDT relay I selected on Amazon instead of the big ugly one he shows?
Are the Limit switches I found suitable or the wrong thing?
Am I approaching the power supply properly or should I consider going up?
I saw a lot of videos adding a diode into the circuitry to prevent undervoltage spiking from the motor from the PWM modulator, is this a concern with the one I have selected?
Finally, Is there a more elegant approach to what I am trying to do here that I haven't come across yet?