Feel like busting out a sick and slick arced move in your next timelapse sequence? Well the Lil-Mule motion controlled time lapse dolly could be for you. From the guys that brought us the Omni-Tracker comes what they call an intuitive, affordable, heavy duty camera platform for creating arced or linear camera moves when shooting time lapse and video, the Lil-Mule.
Most time lapse dolly systems are based on the “slider” concept which is a rail with a moving platform attached that slides the camera back and forth on the rail. The main limitations of sliders are having a finite length (usually 3-4 feet) and only making linear camera movements. The Lil-Mule addresses both of these challenges by giving you a self contained motorized cart that makes straight or curved moves and can motor as far as the surface you set the shot up on will allow. Take a walk through a city center or park and you can rattle off many different shots in a small amount of time by rolling on sidewalks, tables, ledges, benches, anything that is relatively flat.
Lil-Mule tests:
As an amateur time lapse enthusiast myself I find that it’s challenging enough to set up your camera, compose the shot, set the intervalometer, etc. when doing time lapse. I wanted the motion control piece to be as simple as possible. The controller for the Lil-Mule is a single knob which allows you to variably control the speed you are moving in the forward and backward direction. No math equations, no menu settings, just set up your shot and twist a knob to start moving… Even the professional time lapse guys that I put Lil-Mule in the hands of for testing said the first thing they did on a shoot was drop the dolly and set it in motion and then went about setting up their other rigs…
For more information about the motion controlled time lapse dolly called the Lil-Mule please see Omni-Tracker or visit their Kickstarter page.