Camera Stabilizer
Personal Project
Ideation | Budget Management | Fun
Stabilizing Car Videos
Teams Just Me
Tools Household Items
As a Sophomore in college with the highlight of my year fast approaching, I needed a cheap gimbal alternative to get the low sweeping shots that help beautiful arrays of cars at Monterey Car Week shine even brighter. Money was tight and time was short, but it was an extremely fun challenge and a great lesson in documenting progress as you work.
Problem
Car Week was fast approaching
and I had an Undergrad's budget, a problem to solve, and a few weeks to solve it. Getting low & smooth sweeping shots of cars is what I'm after, but at 6'3" with a poor knee, I needed a simple, cheap, and packable solution for getting to the angles I desired.
Design
The first prototype had to be the final product.
I needed to utilize simple bearings, counterweights, and cheap materials to keep the cost below $20. After plenty of sketches and using the camera itself as the counterweight, self-lubricating rod ends, aluminum bent on a railing, and a wood handle fashioned from an old broom, I had a Car Week ready prototype.
Solution
An $11 camera stabilizer built in an apartment for getting ground level camera angles with a slight bend of the knees which can fold flat for packing in the car with space for a mic and additional screens if needed.
