This $99 device will motorize any slider

There are some pricy (and awesome) motorized slider solutions out there (we quite like the Syrp Genie), but they are all kinda expensive. Anything with decent controls (screen/app) is 500$ or upwards. What if you throw some creative thinking into it?

Videographer Nitsan Simantov constructed a variable speed slider motor from a TurnsPro – a $99 egg timer style panning device (kinda like the Genie Mini we reviewed, but $150 cheaper). The idea is to use the TurnsPro as a push/pull device. Connect a piece of string to the thread of the revolving head and tie that string into the slider cart (this is why this built rang a bell with the Syrp Genie).

Here comes the clevers. By using different sized wheels, you can control the speed in which the motor pulls the cart.

Using a very small wheel will give you pretty slow motion, suitable for time-lapse (the slowest will be 15 degrees over 10 hours)

A 5″ wheel (which oddly looks like gaffer tape) will be faster

And a 10″ wheel can be radically fast, more for live video

To follow Nitsan’s setup you would also need a small bracket like this one, to mount the TurnsPro.

If I was TurnsPro Marketing manager, my next product would be discs to replace the DIY ones Nitsan uses.

[BEST $99 motor for ANY slider! | Nitsan Simantov]