Hyperdolly’s Motorized, Remote-Controlled, Track-Free, Robotic Dolly Coming Soon to Kickstarter

A new electronic, trackless dolly is coming. The Hyperdolly has a fairly straightforward design, similar to many motorless dollies, but don’t let the simple appearance fool you – the Hyperdolly is packed with useful features as it’s designed by a filmmaker, for filmmakers. The track-free robotic dolly includes a remote controller and various motion presets such as hyper-lapse, loop-mode, and multi-pass that will recreate the exact same camera movement again and again.

Camera movement is a well-established, expressive tool. Done manually or electronically, it’s hard to overstate its importance to the motion-based artistic medium. A dolly is one way to achieve those motion effects. Dolly-based motion, unlike handheld or shoulder-mounted techniques, bears a distinct look. It’s smoother, cleaner, more precise in a sense. Motorized gimbals may provide such a look to some extent, but is limited in terms of gear weight, and can’t be replicated time and time again. Even with its relatively compact design, the new Hyperdolly combines the signature smooth and repeatable movement of a dolly.

Tracked, track-free, or robotic?

Dollies can be divided into three main types. Track-free dollies are quite straightforward: With three wheels attached to the bottom of almost any tripod, they require a flat surface to operate smoothly in most cases. Once set on this kind of surface, they’ll provide smooth motion, but can’t precisely repeat it. Perfect repetition will require tracked dollies. These are more complex contraptions, consisting of a tracked path on which a whilled surface is set. Since the moving surface is set on tracks, it doesn’t need a flat surface. While very smooth and precise, such a system is far more complex and will take more time to set up and move. Robotic dollies combine (some of) the best of both worlds. Simple and quick to set up or pack, the motorized operation, along with dedicated apps, enables repetition, consistent speed, and other tracked-dolly traits.

Enter the Hyperdolly

The Hyperdolly takes the robotic, track-free route. Not much larger than your average mechanical dolly, this one packs quite a punch. Aimed mostly at hybrid gear, it can load up to 12 kg/ 26.4 lbs (tripod and camera). A silent, high-torque, stepper motor will move the entire unit at speeds ranging from 0.7 cm/minute to 27 cm/minute, as it is geared towards precision rather than speed.

The motorized wheel is connected via a geared axis. Controlled manually, it enables extremely subtle and precise rotation angles to be set. The motor is controlled by a 2.4 GHz remote, and can also trigger the camera’s shutter release button to start or stop video or time-lapse. Alongside the dedicated slots for the tripod legs, a tripod head may be mounted at the center for low angles. No final information about the total weight of the kit has been given yet, but it won’t be extremely heavy since it’s designed for single operators and small crews.

Alternatives

There are some alternative systems across the market, ranging from large sliders to after-market add-ons. The closest competitor is probably the Edelkrone DollyPLUS, launched in 2018. The Edelkrone uses a different design, based on two independent motorized wheels, but should serve a similar purpose. The new Hyperdolly boasts a significantly larger wheel diameter, which should make it more tolerant to floor imperfections. It has a simpler design so won’t fold as neatly as the Edelkrone, but may be simpler to repair and maintain. On the other hand, Edelkrone produces various other products that can be synced with the DollyPLUS and significantly expand its capabilities.

Price and availability

The Hyperdolly launch is due in late November on Kickstarter. The Earlybird price will be $1190, 30% off the full retail price of $1700. The package will include the dolly, remote control, hard case, and tripod mounting straps. As with all crowdfunding campaigns, one should take adequate precaution regarding their pledge. Supporting a crowdfunding campaign is very different from purchasing a product, and we strongly recommend that all our readers read the linked text before pledging to any campaign.

Do you see yourself using such a dolly in your future productions? Are there any key features missing in your opinion? Let us know in the comments.