Come meet up with us at NAB in Vegas April, 7-10, booth C12145. We will be showing some great new products like our PortaRail Collapsable Rail System and would love to shake your hand.
To get free exhibit passes enter guest pass code LV6857 here.
For NAB 2014 we’re excited to launch two new products that are truly universal in application and can be used with many different systems.
-First, our PortaRail Collapsable Dolly/Slider Rail.
When you’re working with a dolly or slider system having a solid platform is one of the most import factors in getting great results. PortaRail delivers solid and accurate performance that you can scale to any length you need, and still be able to fit into your car.
Sections are 40″ (1 meter) long and are screwed together seamlessly via threaded connectors. These rails are machined from high grade 6061 aluminum which is much stronger than architectural aluminum that is sometimes used for similar applications. This stronger material provides much more rigidity which means a more solid system with very little flex. At 80″ the rails have less than 1/8″ of flex with a 40 pound load placed at the center.
Each section of PortaRail goes through a 6 step machining and finishing process to make them straight enough and round enough for precision camera movement. 4 sections total give you 80” of track per side which is typical for most setups but you can add as many sections as you need for longer shots.
PortaRail of course works great with our dolly and silider systems but it can also be used with systems from many other manufacturers. The outside diameter or PortaRail is 1.65″ (41.9mm) This is about the same size as “grip-pipe” or “speed-rail” which many suspended and ground rail systems are designed to work on. Some ground-rail systems use delicate tube and connectors that are easily damaged. The PortaRail system is strong and ridged and won’t be ruined by a false step. If you love your rail based system but wish it were stronger or easier to transport, PortRail is the solution.
When using PortaRail with our Universal End Brackets you get even more flexibility by being able to change the width of the pipe to match the camera carriage that you’re using and if you’re making long runs you can use our support brackets to add more stability.
At RigWheels we love creating common-sense practical solutions for everyday production needs. Transporting long pipe and tube has always been difficult when you don’t have a grip department at your disposal and we’re happy to share this great solution with you. (see video)
-Second, are our new Universal End Brackets.
2 years of kicking around design ideas and prototypes have gone into the design of these Rail Brackets. A simple concept on the surface however, one of the rules we live by is that our parts have to be multipurpose and multifunctional. Every bracket we have seen in the marketplace is proprietary in function (a few allow for different sizes of pipe). We wanted to produce a bracket that is truly “universal” and believe we have threaded the needle between function, design and price.
These brackets are universal in BOTH width and pipe size so they can be used with virtually any suspended rail type slider/dolly on the market. You can use pipe with an outside diameter between 1″ (24mm) and 2″ (50mm). You can also use square/rectangular rails up to 1-3/4″
The useable distance between the rails (center to center) is adjustable from 5″ to 21.5″ with the 3 different lengths of cross-bars we stock. You can also use full or half-strut widely available at hardware stores to make custom lengths.
We also wanted the brackets to be versatile in how you can attach them to stands & tripods. Most options on the market require that you mount your system to baby or junior light stands and in our experience this is not ideal. You can of course do that with our system but we give you some other great options for mounting that are MORE stable than just using a single light stand on each end. (see video below)
In addition to these new universal products we also have some great new kits and bundles offering complete solutions like our RailDolly bundle. RigWheels is at NAB booth #C12145