Are you looking to get into motion control timelapsing, but you have a tight budget? Do you want to add a simple and precise dolly move to your next short film?
I have found the perfect solution! The Kessler Pocket Dolly Traveler, Basic Controller 2.0, 500 series ElektraDRIVE motor, motor mount kit, Manfrotto 701HDV fluid head, flat mount adapter for 701HDV, power cable and battery.
In the video blog above, I shot a tutorial in my living room explaining the simplicity of the Basic Controller. I call it “the not-so-basic-controller” because the device is much more powerful than it seems. In fact, if you cannot afford the full feature packed Oracle Controller, the Basic Controller is a great inexpensive alternative.
I tested out the Basic Controller in New Hampshire. When combined with the Pocket Dolly Traveler, the system is a small and portable motorized dolly solution.
I was very impressed by how smooth the ElektraDRIVE 500 series motor responded to the Basic Controller. I used it both as a real-time dolly and as a pulsing motion control timelapse single axis slider.
The Basic Controller does not have an LCD readout for time and distance traveled. It also does not have the Oracle’s SmartLapse software so getting exactly what you want using the Basic device does take some experimentation.
I highly recommend this kit. You get a lot for your money and the build quality is what you would expect from Kessler.
Here is a list of all the pieces you need:
ELEKTRADRIVE 500 MOTOR $199.95
MANFROTTO 701HDV FLUID HEAD $159.99
Add the tripod and camera of your choice and you are ready to capture some amazing stuff. Of course, I recommend the Vinten Vision Blue and Manfrotto 535 sticks when shooting with light weight cameras. The best DSLR on the market today is the Canon 5dmk2. I use a Red Rock Micro matte box and Tiffen 4×5.65 glass filters. Good luck out there!
For those of you who have asked me how I hike all the gear into the wild alone, well here is my secret. I use the Kata HB-207 GDC Hiker Backpack. If you look at the photo above, you can see how I strap the tripods and slider to the sides of the bag. I have the inside compartments stuffed with gear so I had to just tie the matte box to the back and let it flap in the breeze!
For more info on the Kessler Turntable click here. For more info on the Kessler Revolution Head click here. And finally, if you are looking for the “crossover” cable so that the Basic Controller works with the turntable or tilting portion of the Revolution head, click here.
32 Comments
Is that really a Red One you pull out to show us your table?!? Wow!
yea, recording on a CF card.
Tom,
Thanks for a great explanation and demonstration of this system. Do you know if the motors will work with other dolly systems – or are the kessler specific?
BTW, if you’re ever in Miami let me know – I’d love to meet IRL.
Pascal
these motors are designed to work on kessler gear only. i suppose it is possible to hack them to get them to work on anything, but i do not recommend it.
Nice work Tom. Definitely looks like a simple easy to use setup. Cheers.
it sure is, and there is a ton of functionally packed into the little controller.
uhm, yeah… using the RED One for BTS stuff. What’s next? Using the Phantom as observation camera? That’s Tom Guilmette
i use the phantom to hold down the napkins on my dining room table.
Dude, your a riot. I love the fake Red, When the video starts I can see you already smiling knowing that you are going to Subtlety slap that in there…lol
that red can do it all matt!
Awesome post.
Just ordered my PB pocket dolly so im really excited to get my cameras moving.
It’s funny, i asked Philip Bloom himself on Vimeo yesterday if there was a cheaper way then the oracle to control the electradrive motors.
He said NO! Ha!
And it looks like the basic controller has been out for a while now too.
Thanks for this awesome informative post.
kevin
you can also use the philip bloom dolly. be sure to get the specific motor mount. the traveler and PB slider require slightly different mounting hardware for the elektraDRIVE motors.
i just found out about a week ago that the little basic controller could do pulse mode! so i am not surprised.
Heads up, you should try to tag your post a little better.
This one isn’t even showing up when i type in ‘Kessler’ into your blog search field.
i typed “kessler” into the search box and the basic controller blog was the first result. try it again.
i will soon be adding an entire “kessler” section to my website so that all this stuff will be easier to find. thanks.
Yeah worked now.
weird.
ALSO!
Ha,
For real though. Do you have to have a battery? Or can you power the electradrive and the basic controller from a outlet?
the basic controller comes with:
Included in the Package:
1 – elektraDRIVE Basic Controller
1 – 120v AC Power Supply w/Wall Plug
1 – 5ft CAT5 Cable
so yes, you can.
Yeah I saw that on the site.
but just wanted to confirm with a owner.
every video or blog i found about it, everyone always used a battery.
For the oracle too.
So thanks for confirming!
Tom, very informative video. What legs did you have the Vision Blue mated to and did it support all the Kessler gear adequately?
Do you think it would do a good job supporting the 38″ pockdolly without end supports?
The Manfrotto 535 tripod legs can support my weight. I have set them up and hung off them!
As for the Vinten Blue head, it should be able to support the 3 foot cineslider at the mid point. I would only mount a DSLR however. This is pushing the limts. I do not recommend center supporting a 5 foot cineslider though.
You can defiantly use the Manfrotto 100mm 536 CF sticks w/ the Kessler ball adapter to mount the 3ft cineslider at the center point. This would be rock solid.
Amazing to see how this is all done. Where exactly are those falls though?
Hi! I don’t know where you had readers from ukraine by this time but now you have
I am following your blog for about a half of year. You are very talented and creative guy with lots of charisma. Keep going in the same manner! I have been always interested in making videos, but never had an opportunity and equipment. It’s very inspiring that you often do such “bombie-candy-cinema-looking” movies with tight budget stuff (or almost tight budget). I suppose that make lots of your readers try it by their own. And this tutorial is a good proof to my words. That Basic Controller is really a powerful piece of technology with great creative potential. Not without your inspiration I have also decided to try my self in this sphere. Because of extreme tight budget and as for experiment I bought my self a GoPro with LCD Viewer making it (lol) almost fully functional cam. And if I feel enough confidence I’ll definitely get some Kessler “motorized dolly” pack and where basic controller would be a good starting point. I also would appreciate you watching my first camera test as well as filmed there Ukrainian landscapes 
http://vimeo.com/24861516
Sorry for my pour English
Another great tutorial Tom. I really like how you mix post narration with the narration in the field, I need to do that with my tutorials.
Can I ask where you get your background music from?
Dave
Tom, thanks for breaking that down. Just to see everything you need in one simple post is really helpful. cheers.
Thank you Tom, I have been on the fence about moving up to the Kessler rig from a slider as i was having trouble understanding all the configurations.
Not anymore thanks to this vid.
Looking forward to the video where you interface the controller rig to actually light up individual GVG1600 buttons as you drift over them. (I used to switch on a 1600 much like that one. Great to see it ‘preserved.’)
Before Philip, before Vincent, before any one out there, it was Tom’s video’s and blogs which introduced me to film making. It was his EX1, Letus adapter movies that made me project them on my room wall and asked my parents to watch it. Thank you Tom for inspiring me and a lot of us out there. I don’t want you to fade behind the scene.
Excellent demonstration Tom.
I was worried the BASIC only had back and forth movement + speed regulation, so i was about to order the ORACLE.
The BASIC will however cover all my needs while keeping my rucksack weight to a minimum, so your vid post saved me quite a few extra grammes on hiking
Thanks for the guiding me to my first Time laps ever, was looking for explanation how it work or be done.
Haha.. I wish I could get my Red One to film without any power as well:)
I’m curious about the reason you choose to use the elctraDRIVE 500, it seams to have quite a limiting fast speed (published 8.7 sec/ft) – although in your video it seems to go much faster than that. wouldn’t the 200 be more versatile for both fast and slow speed?
Hi.
Nice tutorial but I have a doubt. I’ve the same setup but in KesslerU they told me that the shot move shot only can be done using the Oracle Controller. How do you do to make the slider do not move when the camera is shooting?
Thank you