Tripod head that pivots around two axis at same time...

[Joel Laliberte]

Hi Fellas, I am in France for Xmas and have a really good idea for when I leave the country and see Paris’s churches and monuments before going back to Canada.

I am trying to make some kind of tripod mechanism that would pivot/spin to film ceilings in one fluid and controlled motion.

According to the diagram, which is crude, but I only have paint on this computer:

If the camera spins around the Z axis, the image will end up right side up after a 180degre turn but missing the ceiling.

But, if I want to do that and film a ceiling, for example inside a cathedral, I must also make the camera pivot around the Y axis. If the camera pivots around the Y axis only, then the image will be upside down at the end of the 180 degree turn. That is why, in the same movement, it must also spin around the Z axis so the image finishes upright. That way, you get the ceilings of some of this magnificent architecture.

I am very stuck on this. I have many ideas, but I am unsure which one is going to work. I would like to see what you guys can suggest. If it were possible, I could leave here with very nice footage of Cathedral interiors standing in the transept.

Happy new year! And many thanks for any feedback i can get!

[Wade Francom]

Tri[pod heads already pivot around 2 axises (x and z according to your diagram). Z being the pan axis, and x being the tilt axis. Y axis is like a "dutch roll". If you built a 90 degree bracket that mounted to your tripod head, and that your camera could mount to (camera would be facing straight up while the tripod head is flat), you'd easily be able to tilt up and as you get close to shooting completely vertical,  you pan 180 degrees, and tilt back down.

Would this solve your problem?

[Trevor Crump]

Mabe mounted on a gimbal.!

[Cedric Akins]

By no means should you fell embarased. Y is vertical, up and down, X is horizon lateral, left to right, and Z is horizontal back to front. It took me a while to understand that principal. But as Wade stated tripods already do that, as well as most stabilizers and cranes. Don't stop your questions or quest for knowledge.

NONE OF US KNOW EVERYTHING.