DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

 
@diyphotography

Telegram Me

Instagram

Submit A Story

A TimeLapse Rail From BBQ Rotisserie Motor

Share
Tweet
December 10, 2010 by Udi Tirosh Leave a Comment

A TimeLapse Rail from BBQ rotisserie motorThe holy grail of timelapse movies is motion. Photographers like Tom Lowe (whom you should definitely check out) uses state of the art rails and mechanisms to allow the camera to move slowly and smoothly while capturing frame by frame of the time lapse movie.

While we were playing silly egg timer over here, Photographer Derek Mellott came up with an ingenious way to convert a BBQ rotisserie motor into a moving rail system.

To add insult to injury, Derek uses a TI Graphing Calculator as an Intervalometer. The longtimers here know that I have a soft spot for anything TI ;). Video and a second hack after the jump.This is how Derek describes it:

I decided to to throw together a “motion control” unit for time lapse photography, this is the result of my first attempt.

It is powered by a BBQ rotisserie motor.

It isn’t pretty and it doesn’t work great but I’m going to keep working on it until I can afford to buy a real one from
dynamicperception.com They inspired my to build this because I just couldn’t wait to use this technique.

If you thought that was smart see Derek’s solution for creating rotation:

All I did to make the camera rotate is attach a stick to the head, when
the stick made contact with the tree the camera rotated following the
tree. See photo below.

Share
Tweet

Related posts:

No related posts.

Filed Under: Tutorials

About Udi Tirosh

Udi Tirosh is the Founder and Editor in Chief of DIYPhotography, he is also a photographer, a relentless entrepreneur, a prolific inventor and a dad, not necessarily in that order

« eBook: Your Complete Guide To Building A Photography Studio At Home
Shoot 3D Products Using A Suspended 360 Degree Shooting Rig »

Popular on DIYP

  • This 250mm f/4.9 lens is the “world’s sharpest” and has interchangeable camera mounts
  • These are the 10 best cameras for video under $300
  • This guy bought a new Sony A6400 in an A6300 body
  • This epic 81-megapixel moon photo was stacked from 50,000 images
  • This viral video is the result of an angry Broadacres woman for shooting on public property
  • Bowens really is back – and they’re made by Godox
  • 2019 World Press Photo contest nominees will give you chills [NSFW]
  • Adobe confused as to what a Nikon looks like – uses Fuji X-T20 to promote faster Nikon tethering
  • These 10 life hacks will turn your studio into a photographer’s Batcave
  • This unexpected Lightroom slider helps making perfect black and white conversions

Recent Comments


Previous Polls

Dunja Djudjic is a writer and photographer from Novi Sad, Serbia. You can see her work on Flickr, Behance and her Facebook page.

John Aldred is based in Scotland and photographs animals in the studio and people in the wild.

You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.

JP Danko is a commercial photographer based in Toronto, Canada. JP
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.

To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.

JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.

Clinton Lofthouse is a Photographer, Retoucher and Digital Artist based in the United Kingdom, who specialises in creative retouching and composites. Proud 80's baby, reader of graphic novels and movie geek!
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page

Recent Posts

  • Light is teaming up with Sony for the next generation of multi-camera smartphone
  • Gaffer tape inventor and founder of Lowel-Light, Ross Lowell, dies at 92
  • Maya is “the only darkroom timer you’ll ever need”
  • This 250mm f/4.9 lens is the “world’s sharpest” and has interchangeable camera mounts
  • NASA’s free interactive e-book is full of spectacular aerial photos of Earth

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2019 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy