Video:How to Build a Video Camera Dolly

Transcript:How to Build a Video Camera Dolly

Hi I’m Matt Underwood with About.com and I am about to show you how to build your very own camera track dolly.

To Build a Camera Dolly, You'll Need:

• CDX Board
• two 2 x 4’s
• two aluminum angles
• 8 roller blade wheels
• 8 nylon spacers
• 4 wood screws
• a tape measure
• drill bits
• a drill
• two wrenches
• two C-clamps

Build the Camera Dolly's Track

The first step is to figure out how far apart you want your wheels to be. The wheel chassis will be mounted to the 2 x 4s so we need to figure out the spacing between the center of the 2 x4s. For this project we want our wheels to be 18 inches apart.

Now we will measure the 2x4’s to find the midpoint so we can line it up with the marks on the CDX board. The next step is to line up the marks we made on the board to the marks we made on the 2 x 4’s. That’s the basis for your wheels.

Now we will attach the 2 x 4s by drilling through the CDX board with wood screws. We have attached our 2 x 4s to give our board a little more stability and some more wood for our screws to dig into to attach our chassis. To place our wheels we will measure about 5 inches in and make our mark. We also need to make a mark regarding the depth so we will make that ¾ in for 1 ½ aluminum.

Attach Wheels to the Camera Dolly Chassis

Now clamp the aluminum to the table. Even though aluminum is a very soft metal, drilling holes through metal can be tricky, so we are going to start with a smaller drill bit, then work our way up to the size that we need. These are the holes we will use to attaches our wheels to the aluminum so we will need four on each chassis.

Now we are going to drill the holes that we will use to attach our aluminum to the 2 x 4s. We measured 5 inches in for the wheel holes so we will measure 7 inches in for these holes.

We are ready to install the wheels now. Take a bolt, put on a washer, then our wheel, another washer, then a nylon spacer, another washer, then you can insert it though the hole. Add a final watcher and attach it using a nut.Take your wrenches and tighten until you feel resistance.

Repeat the process for each wheel and you have completed the chassis. Line up the chassis so they are placed in the middle of the 2 x 4. To make sure our chassis don't move, clamp it down tightly on the end. Drill away!

Check the Camera Dolly's Stability

For added camera stability you can add a small eye hook right in the center so that way you can tie a bungee cord to your tripod so it won’t move while filming. Lay down your PVC pipe and you are ready to film. Now let’s see the dolly in action. There it is, follow those simple steps and you will be on your way to creating great films in no time. Thanks for watching and to learn more visit us on the web at About.com.