Camera movement and dolly zoom with Chronos high-speed camera

High speed video with Chronos 1.4 camera movement and dolly zoom effect. 5:44 for the key high-speed shot.
Big servo motor: www.teknic.com/products/clear...
Small servo motor: www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
Ball-joint mount: www.amazon.com/VideoSecu-Univ...
Chronos high-speed camera: www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
Slow mo music: "Dewdrop Fantasy" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

[@PracticalEngineeringChannel]

Really creative stuff. I liked seeing the gait of the ant. I never thought about it, but I would have assumed there were more than two steps.

[@SergeantShrimp1]

Practical Engineering hey man, I love your videos! You and applied science should collaborate.

[@evilplaguedoctor5158]

I had that same thought, I've seen robots move like that, but I always assumed that was for simplicity's sake.

[@ExaltedDuck]

Biological systems are often excellent at finding at implementing efficient solutions.

[@aserta]

EvilPlagueDoctor, most robots that have more than a pair of legs are based on nature. Why bother designing your own gait when there's something much better built already in working condition for you to copy. Wish i could remember the fellow who made insect robots that mimicked them almost perfectly. Simple things, that was almost two decades ago, so nothing smart, but they worked really, really well.

[@tzimmermann]

+aserta You can also let the robot learn its own gait, we had people doing that in the lab I used to work in. Possibilities are endless, there was a team whose goal was to evolve a robot geometry in parallel with gait generation in simulation, then they would 3d print the robot parts, assemble it and transfer the controller trained in simulation to make it work IRL.

[@cyrex686]

A jerk limit is what I had to make for myself when working from home.

[@Aistlander]

Sometimes you can try loosening the limit screw and see what happens. If things get too out of control then tighten it up again.

[@Asdayasman]

Gross. But relateable.

[@MakeSomething]

I'm only a few seconds in and already complete wow'd! Awesome!

[@reps]

A good source for long linear actuators are old (cutting-) plotters. Have made a video about that once ...

[@Android480]

I can't believe I've spent 5 years roaming the youtube educational space, and I've never once been recommended this channel before 2020.

[@andreasobermaier1041]

Out classing the slow mo guys at their own game, well done.

[@aserta]

It's not like Gavin invented slo-mo on KZbin, some of us were watching bacon and popcorn sizzling here long before he even heard of YT.

[@QuietDuplicity]

He didn't say the Slo Mo guys invented slo-mo on youtube, he does have a point though. When most people think of popular slow motion video on youtube you can be pretty safe to assume that they're thinking of The Slo Mo Guys, maybe Destin too but not as common I've found. What he was referring to is that Ben is bringing something new to slow motion on youtube with his engineering knowledge and this high speed dolly. I mean the Slo Mo Guys could have done something like this a long time ago but to my knowledge they haven't.

[@BlackEpyon]

Heck, I'd live to see a few collaboration projects between them :-)

[@JKFurrer1]

As soon as I saw the camera mounted on the rail, I immediately thought of dolly zoom and how amazing that would look. Glad you did it!

[@dangoldbach6570]

Visual effects done practically, and relatively easily built.... This just made me super happy!

[@MaxMakerChannel]

I just finished my motorised camera slider project and that pivoting technique is pretty cool! Thanks for that!

[@electronicsNmore]

That garage is packed with tools and equipment. :-)

[@TheLIKERization]

I think your ideas are great, i am a filmmaker and someone appreciating framing movment ect. makes me happy!!!

[@Alexander_Sannikov]

I used to watch one Ben's video every morning during breakfast. Now I have watched them all and I have to wait a month for a new video to show up, really looking forward to it every time though. This is my favorite youtube channel.

[@locouk]

The Chronos is an amazing bit of kit, it's size and mass appears to open up so many opportunities that aren't open the Phantom range of cameras. The internet has given access to so many different possibilities from people who think outside the box.

[@Serachja]

I love this channel with all of your videos! Thank you very much for posting your cool inventions!

[@fredyrmz1]

Sir, have you been told before you're a genius? I bet you have, but here it goes again: YOU SIR ARE A GENIUS! Thanks for sharing your creativity and knowledge with everyone. Greetings from Mexico :)

[@CarlinComm]

Wow, that is really cool! So many things all happening at the same time!

[@0fend0]

30 seconds in and my mind is already blown. Great work.

[@sharedknowledge6640]

Awesome video, rigging, and explanations!

[@Andrew_Fernie]

For long enough I have wondered what that effect was and now I know; dolly zoom. Thanks 👍

[@ChronosCooper]

I liked the video after 10 seconds when I saw how the camera moved. Wished there is another Like button when I saw what it does. Well done! This is amazing!

[@kl1nk0r]

This is a really cool idea Ben!

[@a__duck]

excellent as always. I hope to have a shop like yours some day.

[@VancataTube]

Great and very interesting work. Please share more vids as you progress!

[@AmRadPodcast]

Pretty amazing camera rig. Slick software too. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

[@Tonicwine999]

You are always on a different level

[@chris_1337]

Excellent video! The servo motor and the clamp coupler in that configuration would be so useful for a lot of cool things

[@klaudialustig3259]

These videos make me happy

[@ernestw827]

supercool ! Thanks, Ben.

[@alexozzie6014]

you have inspired me to do so many cool things, I love it. thanks!

[@Newsparklabs]

Excellent work!

[@robgandy4550]

I love the poor man's panning of the camera. even though you went with a decent linear actuator. beautiful build sir (again) cheers! and happy new year !

[@FadiHamoud1980]

ALWAYS informative videos. Thank you so much, sir.

[@215alessio]

I really learned new stuff todayn thanks !! learned abt servomotors, and special techniques

[@TheKutia]

Dropping a egg setting off a firecracker blowing up a lighter pooring out water. breaking glass just some of the ideas that came to mind

[@stevenutter3614]

It's crazy to see a channel that has literally zero self endorsement, you never ask for subscribers or anything, no patreon page.

[@Ogaitnas900]

the footage you get out of this is beautiful, btw the slow motion + dolly zoom is dramatic as all hell

[@AliHSyed]

So digging this channel. Thanks mate

[@MadCodex]

Amazing. Thank you.

[@DavidFowlerEngineer]

Always awesome!

[@vevenaneathna]

great video, thanks

[@alfredpianoman2543]

This is a seriously cool video

[@2handsomeforlaw]

This is awesome!

[@zushiba]

This is awesome, I think for the changing of the whole dolly zoom sequence you could lay down precisely fitted strips of reflector tape and use something like a mouse sensor to (Similar to how most middle mouse wheels work) to calculate the position and drive the motors. This has the benefit of not having to rely on a mechanical relationship between the rail and the rig and relying instead on light.

[@stennisrl]

Super cool setup! I think a confetti popper aiming upwards would yield a cool shot, granted you would need an additional mechanism to actually set the popper off, but that should be reasonably trivial. Keep up the awesome videos!

[@DanieleGiorgino]

Something involving a power, like flour, would be cool. Your trick for keeping the camera focused on the subject is so smart btw.

[@desmeitit]

I think that a shot of one of your flash tubes going off would be cool!

[@tiitsaul9036]

mind blow as always.

[@mikewilliams6025]

Reversed footage would look very impressive with this set up.

[@aliengoboom]

amazing 😍

[@buer94]

That's amazing!

[@leochen4891]

Nice job!!

[@WeAreGRID]

Yeah im calling it, youre definitely the next slomo guy, youve got the engineering skills to set this thing up to do all sorts of cool things. I suggest you do a venus flytrap, that would be cool to see in slow motion, and maybe a frog or a chameleon.

[@0xF33D]

You got the idea of this channel completely wrong. The guy is doing whatever he wants, not stopping at one particular solved topic. A difficulty of the problem is what he likes, and not the application of the solution.

[@ShubhamBhushanCC]

This guy is awesome. I wish I knew so much

[@RoboCNCnl]

very interesting stuff !

[@jakenkid]

Just me, or is the wobble at 16:16 pretty damn unsettling? I found that to be an incredibly fortuitous event! Hopefully something used by others in the future! Really loved it!

[@BlackEpyon]

I'd love to see you do a collaboration or two with The Slow-Mo guys. The kind of stuff you're experimenting with has great potential if you can scale your rig up to take a larger camera!

[@alex-dn9to]

his highly developed ideas change the world

[@RawSauce338]

that was so funking cool

[@phaZed9]

Great work! When using the linear actuator long-ways, for par focus, the left/right motion is very apparent.

[@mattgiroux558]

Very cool.

[@ryangeorge346]

Cody's Lab should totally get in cahoots with you and do some potassium exploding in water shots, or maybe something with mercury. That dolly zoom effect would be really cool with some of the stuff he does!

[@AirCommandRockets]

Great video! You could put the potentiometer on the arm's pivot point that's away from the track and that way you would always know the exact position along the track.

[@PappaMoe]

That's what I need in my life - a jerk limit.

[@luisantoniomarrega3713]

Perfeito fantástico! Rio Brasil

[@constantinosschinas4503]

you can also find a ratio of focus/travel and use same motor with extra belt. a conical cvt like arrangement can provide infinite ratio adjustment.

[@rnoor01]

amazing

[@miamimovies]

A panto-graph movement for the positioning stick and head would allow for other angles and pan rates, would also let you get the assembly behind the camera.

[@Landrew0]

For a 300K subscriber channel, I'm surprised you're not a bit more engaged with making videos in a more timely fashion.

[@softdorothy]

Your fiberglas rod/arm is brilliant. I like the idea of moving the axis though such that it is not necessarily directly underneath the subject. Moving the axis closer or farther from the track will give the camera either a little over or under panning. You could get some cool "tracking" shots this way. Filming something like a projectile through a glass - you might want the camera to somewhat track the projectile as it approaches and somewhat follow it (and the debris) after the collision.

[@TheBertjeT]

Happy new year Ben!

[@henningdietze3872]

I think the BBC documentary team can still learn from your techniques ! I'd love to see some high class nature events with your setup

[@phxtonash]

thank you KZbin because without you I would never get to see stuff like this. suggestions: firecrackers , and any animal small big, bug, mammal ,whatever

[@guyh3403]

Science has been applied! Wow!

[@KnolltopFarms]

as already suggested, I think a firecracker going off would be cool, and to add to that theme and the motion aspect, tie a pack-o-crackers above the plane to be captured and then get the shot of them 1st breaking away from the bunch when their fuses burn loose, and then the following explosion. I think the moments between their separation and detonation would be interesting to explore. Thanks so much and All the Best for 2017!

[@jameslamb4573]

Cool. Best wishes for 2017

[@bjornssondj]

Excellent project! The Dolly zoom effect is especially interesting I think. I noticed that the camera starts shaking as it starts moving and then that effect is of course then amplified as the camera zooms in. The shot might be more stable if you move the camera towards the subject since since you'll be mitigating the shaking by zooming out as the camera starts to move.

[@IgnacioHeredia]

great video, loved it :) suggestion: in your last shot you made a *dolly in* for an action that took the same amount of space from start to end. it feels odd to not see the whole thing, which can be on purpose, but you can also try to shot a *dolly out* for a (re)action that starts small and ends up taking a considerable amount of space

[@mikeselectricstuff]

I thought Chronos had an adjustable lens mount to adjust lens to sensor distance, avoiding the need for shims

[@whitcwa]

Yes, there's a setscrew on the bottom to loosen and then the C mount turns in/out.

[@AppliedScience]

You're right! I should have read the manual!

[@johnnyj540]

Read a manual?

[@PAhmad99]

so geniuses' make mistakes too... didn't know that...

[@The1wsx10]

nice video, hope you can get it tuned in just right so the zoom works perfectly

[@charliegallie2026]

I subbed, part of the reason I did was because your mustache is amazing

[@GabrielDemarchiMaia]

I thought you where going to film something falling (vertically oriented), a drop of water or something like that, but still great video, keep up the awesome work you do :)

[@CollectiveSoftware]

Footage ideas: - make some contact explosive, coat a flat surface, and set it off at one corner, capturing how the combustion progresses. - particulate flocking - dye mixing into a transparent fluid? (maybe too slow to be of interest) - progression of a compression wave down a spring/slinky - different modes of a guitar string vibrating

[@MyRepublicstudios]

Planet Earth II DIY Garage slomo style. I like it.

[@BlameItOnGreg]

An idea for the panning truck shot setup: if it's fast enough it could be interesting to see a shot arrow go through a watermelon or something similar, where the camera sees the front as the arrow enters, and then the camera makes it around back for the arrows exit.

[@HerosAndZeros]

Ben, have a look at the "Orbis" absolute rotary sensor from RLS for accurate position feedback. It's a contact less magnetic encoder with 14 bit resolution. There is a version that communicates over SPI so interfacing with Arduino is very straight forward. The data stream contains both the absolution angular position and the angular velocity if needed. It is quite affordable (compared to other rotary encoders). I think you can mount it directly on the outgoing shaft of the linear actuator. I have used a beta sample and am extremely satisfied with the performance! Keep them brilliant videos comin'!

[@matthewprestine1974]

you could drive both motors with the same step signal from a function generator which is basically an electronic gearing.

[@jasondalton6111]

Great setup and footage. A couple ideas for you: first, you could use a USB presentation 'clicker' to reset and run your actuator without needing to use the mouse. Second, how about a mechanical connection between the focusing ring and the linear track? That way there's no delay in the stepper focus out of sync with the rail stepper? A rack and pinion?

[@NickDrudge]

Was playing with dolly zooms the other day, and never even thought of the potential with high speed! Probably could cheap out and have the lens change focal length at a nearly constant velocity, and just try to get the velocity of the rail to line up close to right, seems simpler, but maybe there's a large flaw in that logic I don't see. Would hopefully get rid of the steeping that seems to happen with the feedback system.

[@projectmalus]

Great stuff! How about a long narrow trough filled with jello or agar and make some waves, embed some iron filings in it and use magnets to move the wave, could have a magnet on an arm moving under the tray.

[@bluesquare23]

Everything you do is so dam impressive. What type of engineer are you?

[@Vikingwerk]

suggestion for the 360 setup: an electric arc would probably look incredible, and has the benefit of somewhat being self-lighting.

[@frogz]

whoa....this is old.... i love it, way better than TKoR did

[@forestlampcraft472]

cool

[@coopermosshart]

You are crazy clever

[@fatguyzplaytuff]

non newtonian fluid on a speaker would look really cool in slow-mo with a circular rail set up around it.

[@TychoBrahe21]

A really neat shot might be a thin line of gun powder burning as the camera goes past on your rig. Very neat set up.

[@SuperAWaC]

another notable use of dolly zoom is in lord of the rings 1, when frodo encounters a wraith for the first time

[@cdfgh1111]

what about encoding the rail to be optically read for .....

[@seshmarls]

id love to see some high speed footage of a mill or lathe cutting in a dolly shot

[@whatistheirface]

Could you build a rig so that the camera rotates to follow the tilt of the cup (or other object in motion)? The subject would stay vertical in frame, with all the action rotating around it. Just an idea! Love your channel!!!