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How to Do a Rotating Dolly Shot Around a 1,815 Foot Tall Building with Your DSLR

Justin Minich

12.26.12 @ 11:34PM Tags : dolly, dslr, hdslr, howto, photoshop, postproduction, tutorial

There are a good deal of relatively inexpensive rigs out there that can help you achieve a nice dolly shot. For small-scale dollying you might use Cineskates, or for shots that require a greater amount of movement with larger subjects, you might go with Rigwheels. But there might be times when the size of your subject might make these tools — and even a full dolly track setup — inadequate for the job. But with a DSLR, some planning, and a little post work, you can put together a beautiful dolly shot of a tall building:

While the technique itself is a clever use of the still image capture capabilities of DSLR’s, I can’t help but think of potential adaptations. For instance, if you increase the number of shots along the circle (or arc), and use the Time Warp effect in Adobe After Effects or Twixtor in Final Cut Studio, and maybe add a dash of Trapcode Particular, you have the makings of a dynamic shot for an action or sci-fi film, all without having to touch a 3D program. Or with some creative use of mattes, motion blur, and buildings or landscapes that momentarily block your subject, you could have a dolly that seamlessly transitions to multiple different locations.

What do you think of this technique and how could you adapt it?

Link: How to Spin a Camera Around the CN Tower

[via: The Verge]

Disclosure: Cinetics and RigWheels are NoFilmSchool Advertisers

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