Why buy it when you can build it? Well… most of the time you don’t have a choice. Other times it’s just way too much fun! In our first DIY (”Do It Yourself”) featured list we will focus on the production side of filmmaking. Stay tuned for other DIY featured lists on screenwriting, financing, editing and more. So, for all of you that don’t yet have Jerry Bruckheimer signing your checks, here is collection of great DIY tutorials for low budget filmmaking from around the net.
****Update: We have two new entries in our 202 Series “202 Sony Vegas Tutorials,” “202 Final Cut Pro Tutorials” and coming soon “DIY Horror: From Script to Scream!”

XL-1 Table Dolly
Ironing Board Dolly
Dolly and Track System
Build Plan Dolly
Skate Wheel Dollies
Radio Controlled Camera Pod
Build a Tracked Camera Dolly for Cheap
Simple Dolly
Snodart’s Dolly
PVC dolly
Eazy Dolly
D8 Ladder Dolly
Filming Dolly With 10′ Track
Sodart’s Dolly
Jsal27’s Dolly system

$14 Steadycam
Light-Duty “Steady Cam” Stabilization
Improved Steadicam for under 40 dollars! Also boom mic attachment!
Detailed Stabilizer with photos.
Snodart’s excellent Stabilizer
Very Simple Stabilizer
Another Simple Design
DIY “Fig Rig”
“Plywood” Skater
Bicycle Steady Cam Mount
Steadicam DIY
PVC FIG RIG
Make your own Tripod
Heavy duty tripod
Hand held stabilizer
Make-Shift Steady Cam
The Plank Cam
$15 Camera Mount
DIY Smooth Panning
Pocket Tripod
Joren Clark Camera Steadying Device
DIY SnorriCam
2 Different Stabilizer designs

Poor Man’s process method for shooting an in-car scene
Back-seat-view car mount
Exterior car mount
Low-budget (not DIY) car mount
Car Rigs
Cinesaddle Car Mount

Jib Arm
Snodart’s Jib
Heavy Duty Jib
Jib Arm rig
Speed-Rail Jib Arm
Camera Jib Arm Design
Crane for the Panasonic GS400
Cody Deegan’s Jib Plans
Dave’s Crane
MiniCrane You Already Own
Using Your Tripod for Crane-Like Shots
The Poor Man’s $60 Jib
$40 Heavy Duty Jib Tripod
Fluid feel Jib Crane Head
DIY Cable Cam
DPCFilms CableCam

DVX-100 Zoom Control and Record Start-Stop
HV20 Focusing Tool
Depth of field Machine
Pixelcam Modification for Baseband Video Output
CVS One-time Camcorder Hack
Panoramic lens thingy
DIY Rain Coat for your DV
Diy Hvx Raincover
Underwater Housing for miniDV
A backpack cam
A Snorri Cam
Focus/Iris controller
DIY Vibrating 35mm Adapter
DIY Light Kit
$25 Lightkit
Joren Clark Lighting Kit
Video lighting on the cheap
Beginner’s DIY Lighting Kit
Cheap Lighting & Barn Doors
DIY Movie Lightning Lamp
Light Source: Build Your Own Lighting Kit
Lighting for DV
Barndoor Template
DIY Light Diffusion in Video Production
Low Budget Lighting Article
$30 DIY C-Stand
Scrim or Butterfly Light Diffuser
Even Cheaper and Cooler DIY Lighting

Easy Boom Pole for Under $30.00
Home Recording Studio
Microphone Pop Filter
Microphone Windscreen
Sound Studio Acoustic Treatments
Microphone Desk Stand
Zero Budget Dubbing Studio
Voice Over “Porta-Booth”
$3 Shotgun Microphone Mount
$20 Condenser Microphone

Green-Screen & Stop-Motion Special Effects
DIY Clapboard
Portable Greenscreen with PVC and Cloth
Large greenscreen (non-portable) for under $30.
DIY Blue (or Green) Screen
Greenscreens and Backdrop Stands
DIY special effects from “The Last Broadcast”
DIY Projector Screen
DIY Rear Projection Screen
Ghetto Matrix Bullet Time
Snow Machine
How to Make a Rain Machine
Thick and realistic movie fog
DIY Teleprompter

Create a Hollywood Style Gunshot Wound
Proptastic - Prop Guns
Fake Blood Squibs
Squib Videos
Squibs
Creating Bullet Hits with Paintball Shots
How to make a bullet hit
Blow your actor in Half
Realistic Knife Throw Effect
Break-Away Furniture
How to make Sugar Glass
Blood & Bullets for No-Budget movies
Breakaway Glass Windows, Bottles, Props, etc.
Fake Shards of Glass for Special Effects
Backyard FX: Stunt Dummy
How to make a Blood Shooter
Blood, the chemical way!
How To: Make Fake Blood ( 5 Blood Recipes)
Got Blood?
No-Cook Edible Fake Blood for Mouth Wounds
Fake Blood
Eejit’s Guide to Blood

Evil Dead Chainsaw Arm
How to Make Fake Gunshot Wounds
Get A Movie Make-Up Kit
A Make-Up Guide
Fake Bruising
Makeup for Beginners: A Video Guide
Using Silicone Rubber to Make Masks andGel-Filled Appliances
Burn Face Make Up
How To make Yourself into a Pinhead
Build a Dead Guy for Horror Films
Making A Dead Guy 101?
Making A Corpse
Charred Corpse
Lacerations
Realistic Wound FX
Realistic Vampire Bite
How To Make Zombie Makeup
Scars with Bubblegum
How to Make a Fake Hand
BFX Build Plans Fake Hand 2
The Living Severed Hand!
Decapitation Effect
Fake a Cut off Finger
How to Make Someone Look Beat-up
How To: Rip a Heart Out of Someones Chest
How to Make a Fake Brain
Realistic Eye Tear Effect
Realistic Wounds and Stitches
Extreme Nose Bleed
Blood-covered pumping human heart!
Limb Tear
Projectile Vomit & Head Spinning
Tom Savini shoots Dave Letterman in the head

Iron Man: Build his mask and arc reactor
Costume.org How To’s
Studio Creations.com tips and tricks
DIY Life.com Costumes
Costume Resource Links
Costumepage.org The Costume Page
Star Wars Costume and Prop Forum
The Dyeing Guide
The Arming Coat
Dress Making Guide
Zombies Revisited
Realistic Werewolf Costume
How to make a superhero costume
How to Make a Cyborg
How to Make a Mummy Costume
Mortal Kombat Cyborg Face
Realistic Demon Makeup
Aging Makeup
Swamp Monster
Samurai Armor
Realistic Two Face Make up
Dan Perez Resin Casting Workshop

DIY Flux Capacitor
Star Wars Lightsabres
How to make the Jigsaw’s puppet, Billy.
Flamethrower Prop
Build a Miniature Set for $10
Spaceships
Retro Ray Guns
Zero Budget SciFi props
Giant Laser Weapon
How to build a Jet Pack
Good Samaritan Hellboy Gun
Sweeney Todd’s Barber’s Chair
Featured Photo by Asiatic League
19 Comments
GJ
22. Jul, 2008
I wish I had time to do a couple of these.
Problem with DIY is they’re incredibly time consuming in that you’re always modifying it to make it better…
But the satisfaction of building your own gear is really something else though!
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mehrda amini
08. Jan, 2010
thank u!!!!
i am in iran and very need to your tutorial!
i am director and visual effect master !
i use it!
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