Category Archive

Displayed and demonstrated the moco rig at the Riviera Film Festival in Torquay. Much interest from the public and other filmmakers, and from a college that is keen to construct their own. The rig performed faultlessly all day, taking a hyper lapse of the room. Two adjustments still to make: adding a small weight to pull the Pan arm to … Read More

The whole rig is finally functioning as it should, having been upgraded with a very noisy NEMA 23 for the track function. The rotation works a treat, and all except for the focus are behaving well. Focus seems to go walkabout rather alarmingly every so often, by which I mean it just chugs off in one direction without having been … Read More

I wish I could say I have made a lot of progress recently, but sometimes thinking about what to do is the most important thing. I knew I had to come up with a better rotation bearing – a lazy susan – but couldn’t seem to get it right. Now I have a solution, so some visible progress should soon … Read More

Having successfully upgraded the crane function to a ballscrew, my attention has turned to the rotation. I was always a bit unhappy about this, as the gears are quite small and the arm is long, with lots of inertia. It worked for my tests, but seems a little jerky in action – stiction taking control! I have decided to upgrade. … Read More

I finished the modification to the crane axis over the weekend, and it is looking good. The motor is now mounted on a swivelling carriage that also has the bottom bearing for the ballscrew. On the arm is another swivelling carriage with the ballnut attached – that’s the bit that travels up and down.             … Read More

I have been very slow in adding posts to this, as it has taken so long for me to get round to creating something that actually functions at all. But the resolution for 2017 is to do a post at least once a month! The rig as built has been functioning, but there are definitely improvements to be made. Firstly, … Read More

Hard to believe it has been a whole year… but I have constructed a new shed/studio to put the rig in, and so took a break from development. Now it is up and working, with alloy wheels, that move very smoothly along the track. The ballscrew causes the dolly to move quite slowly, but is really slop-free. It’s not a … Read More

The modified dolly runs very smoothly on the alloy ladder section. Fitness weights have been used to balance the jib arm. A problem arises with the PU skateboard wheels, which create flat spots when left in one position for any length of time. These will be changed for metal scooter wheels without the PU tyres. The jib rotation is via … Read More

Delays caused by other work have held up construction. The control box and stepper motors have been tested and work well. The overhead bars (the original plan) do not. There is too much bounce, and the plan to use threaded rod was not a good idea. 10mm threaded rod moves 1.5mm per turn, which would make for a very slow … Read More