I'm searching for step by step motorized time lapse system, with D200 Nikon, on cables, between trees for exemple.
Few ideas?

ST.

You will run into stability issues when shooting T/L, but you could possibly use a Mumford type of drive system, http://www.bmumford.com/rotary/index.html winding a wire cable to 'pull' your cable-cam rig between two fixed points.


You may be aware of this DIY forum for some fabrication ideas: http://www.cablecam.org/

It wouldn't be easy but some sort of high tension three wire capture system with a fourth for driving seems like it would be plausible.

I have a feeling... It's going to take some resources and ingenuity (or complete lack of air movement!) to pull this sort of thing off.

yes, it's not easy but we want try.
Thanks for the link.

You might want to take a look at this link:
http://www.spider-cine.com/
This is a gyro stabilized camera platform. Not sure if this would work but I think this might be something to experiment with.
Here is a link showing the rig in use:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/video/player#/?titleID=nichols-redwoods-gatefold&catID=1
I've been considering building my own for video and still purposes.

Ill throw this out there - you could use a tiny dc motor to wind fishing line up on a large or small pulley wheel. You would need ultra slow for timelapse and I do not have the details on that. This is a simple idea and I keep getting more simple ideas everytime I look at a site like Mumford and see overcomplicated expensive equipment.

Thank you. Your comment on a three wire system sparked my creativity into life. I want to build a gravity fed cable cam and was perplexed on the issue of side to side motion. A 100' cable will always cause some sway.

After reading your comment I realized I could wrap the end of the cable around the far tree and come back to the first tree. Then I can add a third wheel on the camera sled to ride on this cable, thereby stabilizing the front of the 2 wheel camera sled.

You might want to take a look at this forum for cable related systems.
http://www.cablecam.org/