DIY Tutorial: A Cheap Way to Motorize Your Slider and Add Motion to Your Time-Lapses

If you’re looking for a comparatively cheap DIY option for adding a variable speed motor to a standard slider (most often used to shoot those cool motion time-lapses), this tutorial is perfect for you.

Created by Angus Stewart Kennedy, the video gives you a rundown of how to add motion to an existing slider for $55 AUD (~$50 USD). For around $85 AUD (~$77.50 USD), you can create a more deluxe setup that offers two motors: one for time-lapse photography and one for standard speed movement, as well as a 12 volt battery and charger.

You’ll have to have a good amount of parts and electronics to get this running, but the video takes you through it all and there’s also a full parts list with links over on askdesignit.

As you might imagine, a tutorial of this complexity isn’t a short watch or a super-quick build. But with the potential to save you a couple of hundred — if not thousand — dollars, it’s worth a watch. So take a look and get out your tools, because motion time-lapse just went DIY.

(via Imaging Resource via ISO1200)