Kipkay's Video Tips & Tricks

Here are 5 easy and cheap tricks for anyone who uses a camcorder. Total cost for all 5 is under $10!

Step 1: Tip #1

Pick up a cheap rubber doorstop at your local hardware store or grocery store (about $2) This little handy guy works great under your camera for low floor shots. You can adjust the height of the angle just by moving the camera forward or back on the doorstop!

Comments

[judelizowski]

That doorstop is amazing! It works great! And the eye bolt, BRILLIANT! thank you Kipkay, kudos to you....

[Kipkay]

Thanks. It's amazing what can be done with junk around the house...

[techboy411]

Yea! You can do COOL stuff w/junk

[judelizowski]

True... :)

[aar0nc0le]

What kind of camera do you use most often?

[adriandilena]

I would caution that despite it being a good idea for an impromtu steady shot, one must be careful as it doubles as a sling shot that would send your camera hurtling towards your feet if ever dropped. yikes!

[Puzzledd]

Definitely put the camera strap around your neck first - and maybe tie a loop in the other end of the bungee cord to slip your foot into so it doesn't dislodge when you move your foot and fly up to hit you in the face;P

This is a great idea tho (don't have a bolt handy so I may try putting a loop at the top to put my hand in, to steady it - or a couple of loops at different lengths to use for shots at dferent heights) :)

[xproplayer]

so for tip 5 wouldn't it be a little embarrassing to be taking a shot and have the camera slip and fly towards the floor with a bungee cord aided fall

[Arbitror]

Tip #3: Red and Green would not be proud!

[xproplayer]

agreed!

[CybergothiChe]

???

[dbarak]

Most camera tripod sockets are "1/4 20", meaning 1/4 inch in diameter, with 20 threads per inch. That last number is important so you don't strip the threads on your camera. Fortunately, that's a pretty common size for nuts and bolts in hardware stores, so you can make all sorts of rigs. Some bigger cameras use a larger size, but I don't remember what it is. Something like 5/16 inch, but more than likely you won't have to worry about that.

[Ryan Damm]

3/8"-16

[theoffice101]

i think kipkay is awsom

[james.mcglashan]

same he rules

[IW5 Industries]

i saw you kipkay on the tv show, Brink , on the science channel for your air blaster horn

[wethecom]

very good stuff thanks before i die i want to make a film and a album this info was awsome

[AT]

Nice tips!

Do you happen to know what the thread of a tripod mount happens to be?

Here is my easy tip: If you don't have a fluid pan head for your tripod and you want a nice smooth pan, there are two simple things you can do to get a nice pan shot.

• I find that many cameras don't like to pan smoothly when you have image stabilization turned on. So turn that off.
• Your neck is a great fluid pan head on your body tripod. Hold your camera along the side of your head or on top of your head and make your shot. You should be able to do the pan with your head and it will turn out nice and smooth. And it is quite a bit cheaper than a good fluid pan head for your tripod.

[cool!]

Just wondering, but how do you get those bullets?

[AT]

That is a good question. I wish I remembered what I did. I have tried a few things and am unable to repeat that. I think I might have cut and pasted from Word but when I tried that again, it didn't work. Maybe someone smart could figure it out.

[The Real Elliot]

Camera-mount screws are 1/4"

[coolz]

I hope you dont mind that I added this to my group

[emac]

The Norm of video camera and camera tripod mounts is 1/4 diameter

[Joanassie]

and how long is a diameter? 10m? try using units next time please.

[cavtrooper]

Better than the bungie cord, I built an inexpensive steadicam camera mount using pvc pipe and fittings from the local home improvement store. The whole thing didn't cost more than ten bucks and it works like a charm! It looks like I paid lots of $$$ for it too. I stuck it all together using pvc cement... and if you've ever worked with pvc, you know that the pvc cement welds the parts together permanently. I used half-inch pvc pipe, a half to one inch coupler, a piece of one inch pvc pipe about four to six inches long with a pvc cap on the end (this is to hold the lead weights at the bottom). I used lead fishing sinkers inside the 1 inch pipe and left a whole big enough where I can dump or add weight depending on the camera I'm using. After I got the whole thing cemented together, I used Krylon Fusion (for plastic) black satin finish spraypaint to make it look like I paid big $$$ for it!

[cubester808]

nice tips, but y on earth do you have a pantyhose ? ?

[technodude92]

kinda off topic but is does anyone know of good free video editing software? Or if anyone is good with virtDubMod?

[StonerKitty]

Well a good operating system would be Ubuntu Studio...it has good video and audio editing software

[bumpus]

haha the cat

[Kipkay]

Yea, we had to do a few takes to get her to pull the scene off right but the payoff was treats. So she was happy in the end.

[xproplayer]

my would just hurdle towards the treat and mess it all up ps also you should make a pet lie detector like you tried lol jk pss keep the Instructables coming!!

[richelton]

Okay, now the eye-bolt bungee monopod is a clever idea.

[ltx]

1/4" for most cameras.

[ltx]

Great video, I love all your Instructables and your stuff on Metacafe. Question though, how do you get such great sound? I see that boom mic on your camera with something else, is that what you use? Where can I get those and for how much? Thanks, Josh

[mrdspecs]

Awesome. I'd be worried about that bungie cord snapping back up at me though.

[Phoghat]

Liked you tips, but the portable tripod-cord thingie is more useful IMO if not bungied. I use either rope or thin strong chain. That way I can step on it at the level I want and then "Dynamic Tension tm" keeps it steady at that height. Otherwise liked all your tips. Keep 'em commin'.

[comodore]

Cool tricks. When is the volume 2 coming out? :)

[Brennn10]

Nice ideas KipKay, nice video!

[alvincredible]

alvincredible <3's you. great instructable and video! hahah i like your instructables, they're all well done and useful! keep it up!

[dchall8]

Your video tips are long awaited, thank you! We are also interested in your editing to make your videos interesting, informative, and compact.