Camcorder Accessories

Did you know you can use your regular tripod as a dolly or a low angle crane? This video shows you a simple trick to get some pretty impressive camera moves from your traditional tripod. To accomplish the moves all you need is some practice, and to shorten the front leg of your tripod. Check out the video here.

Tired of carrying your tripod from place to place? Instructables has an article up on how to create a shoulder strap for your tripod to make it easier to take with you on the go. While this may not be the best idea for a full sized professional tripod, it can be a great solution for carrying around a smaller consumer tripod. Check out the full instructions and photos here.

Instructables has an article up on how to create a tripod for your bicycle. The instructions are specifically for a digital still camera, but they should also work just fine for a smaller digital camcorder. Shooting video from your bike could be an interesting effect for some summer movie making. Check out the instructions here.

Have any of you created your own tripods before? Where have you put them?

A dolly can be a neat thing to have around when you’re shooting a video and can add a lot to your video. Dollys in general are pretty expensive. Forget Film School has some instructions up on how to create your own dolly for under $30. The instructions are pretty simple and should have you shooting Hollywood style in no time. Check out the instructions here.

If you’re setting up lighting for your video then you want to make sure you do it right. An important part of setting up a really good lighting set up is using a light meter. Not sure exactly how to use your light meter? FreshDV has put together a collection of articles on how to effectively use a light meter as a cinematographer. All of them are well worth a read you can check them out here. They also have an excellent article up on how to set up and calibrate a light meter here.

DVInfo has a great article up on how to assemble your own low-budget light kit. Some of the tips include using work lights rather than actual film lights and using a shower curtain as diffusion. There are some pretty good tips in the article, and its well worth a read even for seasoned video pros. Check it out here.

Just because you don’t have a huge budget for your video doesn’t mean you can’t light it well. Good lighting can greatly increase the quality of your video and make it stand out against others. Exposure has an article up entitled “Film and Video Lighting for Low-Budgets” in the article they talk about how to light your video effectively without spending a lot of cash. The article goes pretty in depth and is well worth a read even for seasoned filmmakers. Check it out here.

A steadicam can help you capture smooth looking video while your camera man is in motion recording video. Unfortunatly steadicams are usually pretty expensive, and online video budgets are usually relatively small.  Johnny Chung Lee has written up some instructions for creating “The Poor Man’s Stedicam” that should theoretically help you create a working stedicam for around $14. Check out the instructions here.

Camcorder accessories can get expensive, especially if you're buying a lot of them. Softweigh Multimedia has a list up of DIY Stuff to Build Yourself that can help cut your costs. The list includes links for instructions to Build a Matte Box for your camcorder, build a car mount for your camcorder, and how to build a body mount for your camcorder stabilizer. Check out the full list here.

When I was in film school I had a professor spend an entire class one day on how to properly coil and store cables. We spent probably two hours tossing out cable and then coiling it up to be stored with him standing behind us critiquing our technique. Having worked in professional broadcast for a while now it’s become pretty obvious that not everyone was taught the proper way to put cable away and more often than not we have to spend hours untangling the mess by someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.

If you’re not using the over-under method of storing your cables, then you’re storing them incorrectly. Over-under not only saves you time when you pull your cables out to use again but it also saves your cables and makes them last much longer. Anthony Burokas has compiled a pretty good amount of information on storing cables with links to some video demoing the proper way to store cable as well as a few articles on the subject. You can check it out here.

The website Creativity To Spare has done a series of podcasts on Do It Yourself options for video production. The first in the series is a podcast on creating your own tripod. CTS suggest using a bag of rice or beans from the store, a water bottle, and a string with an eye bolt. You can check out their podcast below, or check out the whole series on their blog “Creativity To Spare”.

Panasonics 32GB P2 cards are expected out by the end of the year. The cards are expected to be released sometime in November with an expected MSRP around $1,650. A 32GB card will allow shooter to get 32 minutes of record time of 80 minutes of footage at 24pN.

Light meters are an important part of any video or film set. A light meter can help you set your lights quickly and accurately which contributes to the overall quality of your production. We all more than likely learned about calibrating a light meter for different film speeds, but what about digital video? FreshDV has a tutorial up on “Calibrating a Light meter for Digital Video” where they help you use your light meter better when you’re shooting digital.

[via FreshDV]