Killer Camera Rigs That You Can Build: How to Build Your Own Camera Cranes, Car Mounts, Stabilizers, Dollies, and More!

First a confession - I obtained a downloaded pdf file of the book from a friend. And I built the dolly. I was so impressed with the ease in following the instructions and with the final product that I thought it only fair to buy the book and thus make a small contribution to the author for his creativity and effort in getting his ideas across.In fact the book turns out to be way better than the pdf file and, leaving aside the question of 'conscience money' I would definitely recommend having the book at hand. I live in Brazil and was initially worried about getting hold of the materials listed, and also about the fact that the measurements are all imperial whereas here we are all metric (by the way, why do you supposedly enlightened Americans still insist on inches, pounds, and gallons when the rest of the world - even my homecountry 'Great' Britain - has gone metric?!).I enjoy do-it-yourself provided I have clear instructions about what I am supposed to be doing and 'Killer Cameras' is certainly clear enough in its explanations for the very average do-it-yourselfer. No special skills required !The only criticism is the quality of the photographs - they are adequate but could be a lot clearer and of higher definition. No doubt the quality reflects the fact that this book appears to be a low cost publishing job. Nothing against that if it gets such a useful manual into print but maybe as its popularity grows then the quality can be improved in future editions.

I'm not planning to make a living in production but I do shoot some footage occasionally and I'm going to build a handful of these mounts. Professionals and amateurs alike will find much to be excited about in this book.Home video hacks - perhaps you can improve the look of your work enough that you might actually watch it well before it becomes amusing historic footage.Independent pros - You can't afford to pass this up! A slick camera move or position made possible by the right rigging can't make you talented but your talent can now shine without the rental costs of using other people's rigging.Students of cinema production - OMG U gota C ths bkAstonishingly, the author has conceived construction methods using tools you likely already have and materials you can find in any moderate sized city with a big home improvement store. Dan Selakovich has a genius for design. I can't emphasize that enough. The book embodies ideas and methods that any DIY sort of person will appreciate and find useful even if they aren't building camera mounts. I'm sure Mr. Selakovich has paid a price for his discoveries. He surely went down more dead-ends than can be imagined. After seeing the book I'm glad I'll be able to benefit from his hard earned education. Thanks.

If you really want some seriously killer camera rigs you need this book. Step by step instructions with very clear pictures for each step. Just completed the boom crane. Home movies, youtube videos, etc. will all benefit from these rigs. These are homemade but the quality and looks are the same as the gear used in million dollar movies. Get this book.

Highly recommend this for anyone who wants to take their hobby to the next level. Now you might need to borrow some tools and get some help if your not very 'handsy'. I'm not very good at construction but between me getting some help from my dad these shouldn't be any trouble. If you are scared to buy this, don't be! The instructions are super clear and detailed. Even if you only put together the more simplistic of the designs it will more than make up for the cost of the book. Good luck and happy filming!

I've made about half the rigs in this book. It's more than paid for itself in time and money spent as well as the other gear I made from his rough plans. I also make a ton of sandbags. This book is the original DIY-ers handbook. Some projects are basic and don't take a lot of time, but others will take a week so read thru it all before you start to make his gear. I also like this because the author uses or has used all of these rigs, professionally.

I bought this book as a gift for my husband, the diy indy filmmaker. The first copy I received was missing about a dozen pages, but Amazon quickly sent me another perfect copy with all its pages, now my review is 5 stars, because flipping through this book, I can just tell my husband is really going to love it and use it quite a lot. Very happy with the book, and very happy with the prompt helpful service from Amazon.

I have the second edition on CD, and just got the third edition paperback. This book is worth way more than what it costs! I had a problem with building a rig two years ago, I emailed Dan and two days later I had a solution. Dan will even give you tips on filming and editing. Great book, great guy. Get out there and film!Tyler

Though I haven't built anything yet, the camera dolly using roller blade wheels looks like a no-brainer. Simple and inexpensive, it easily solves acquiring such equipment. There are many projects like the cranes, that would be seriously out of any amatuer's film budget. Pretty cool stuff for those not afraid of using tools.

Loved this book, helped me alot to build my stabilizer.