Fitting easily into a backpack, the new Movie Maker motorized slider from Grip Gear is designed to be a portable tool to add a little bit of extra motion to a variety of your shots.
Featuring a motorized sliding unit and a motorized head, the unit can be programmed to automatically repeat shots in a loop. This makes it an excellent choice to set up for B camera or stunt camera coverage of a scene; you can "set it and forget it," focusing on your main A camera shot with the knowledge that the Movie Maker will bring movement and personality to an otherwise static B camera shot.
Grip Gear Movie Maker KitCredit: Grip Gear
The Movie Maker is powered either via USB or with three AAA batteries and can handle cameras up to 300 grams. If that figure sounds small, remember that it covers almost the entire universe of smartphone and action cameras, which are more than capable of delivering beautiful footage under the right conditions and operator input.
The slider can move as slowly as 6mm/minute (great for timelapse) and up to 300mm/minute, which is useful for more traditional shots, though you will need to switch the slider to manual mode for faster slides.
A surprising and useful feature is the ability to work fully vertically.
The kit comes with two slider pieces for a total length of 31cm, but additional extensions are available to create a longer assembled slider. The head can also be separated from the slider to create independent panorama shots. For mounting, there is an included smartphone holder, along with several 1/4"-20 mounting holes to mount to systems like the GoPro.
A surprising and useful feature of the Movie Maker is the ability to work fully vertically, allowing for controlled movements of the camera up and down on axis, which should be especially useful when adding movement to close-up and detail work.
Grip Gear Movie Maker in near vertical mode.Credit: Grip Gear
Combined with the high image quality from the latest generation of GoPro and Yi action cameras (or with the newest smartphone), this is a tool that can help you create some stunning imagery for a surprisingly low cost.
It's available now on Amazon for $149.
Tech specs
- 2 x 31cm tracks, extensions available
- Power Options: Plug into a power bank to extend operating times +36 hours (10400MA), or use 2 AAA batteries for 2 hours
- Remote control for both speed and direction (8 speeds)
- 6mm/minute to 300mm/minute
- Full manual slider operation available
- Standard ¼ inch threads allow you to attach The Movie Maker to a tripod, suction cup
- Can climb 90 degrees
- Weighs 900g
- 300g phone/camera payload
- Can operate upside down
- Head operators independently of track for 360 Panorama shots
- No vibration
