GF-Kit Dolly
The platform dolly you can put a column into later.
The GF-Kit Dolly is the chassis on its own. Four combi wheel units carry a cross frame with a turning base plate on top, and the operator steers it front, rear or crab from any of four positions.
With seats and a riser it carries an operator; bare, it is a jib base that rolls onto 62 cm track. The wheel units swing in for a narrow set and back out again. And when the job outgrows all of that, the electric column drops into the same plate and the dolly becomes a GF-Column Dolly.
GF-Kit Dolly · Datasheet
| Chassis | ||
|---|---|---|
| Height | 41.3 cm | 16.3" |
| Steering modes | front, rear, crab | |
| Steering positions | 4 | |
| Footprint | ||
|---|---|---|
| Standard · gauge | 62 cm | 24.5" |
| Standard · overall | 89.9 × 79.4 cm | 35" × 31" |
| Narrow · gauge | 36 cm | 14" |
| Narrow · overall | 101 × 53.5 cm | 40" × 21" |
| Wheels | ||
| Studio wheels | 8, soft | |
| Track wheels | 8, soft Vulkollan® | |
| Wheel sets available | pneumatic, hard studio, Big Wheels | |
Front, rear and crab
Front and rear steering hold a line that has to arrive somewhere exact. Crab takes the dolly sideways past an obstacle without turning the camera with it. The operator changes between the three on the dolly, and picks one of four steering positions along the frame, which is the same as deciding where the grip stands. A 40 cm steer-out extension moves that station clear of the rig.
Standard and narrow
The four wheel units swing in against the frame and the dolly closes from 62 cm track gauge to 36 cm, narrow enough for a corridor or a doorway, then back out when the set opens up. Nothing comes off the chassis for it; the same units carry the dolly either way.
One brake for both wheels
Each corner carries two soft studio wheels and two soft Vulkollan® track wheels in one housing, and a single brake lever holds whichever pair is on the ground. Eight of each come with the dolly, so it goes from studio floor to rail by rolling onto the rail. Nothing is unbolted, nothing swapped.
Pneumatic wheels, hard studio wheels and Big Wheels come as sets and mount on the same units.
The base plate turns
The plate in the middle of the frame runs on a pan bearing, so a jib arm or a riser standing on it swings through the shot while the chassis stays where it is. That is a different move from repositioning the whole dolly, and on a tight set it is often the only one left.
Inserts drop into it
The plate is a receiver, and inserts drop into it, so the top of the dolly follows the rig that goes on it. With one fitted it is a flat deck for a riser or a pair of seats; without one, the bearing sits open.
Dimensions
On standard gauge the dolly measures 89.9 cm long and 79.4 cm wide over the wheels, running on 62 cm track. Swung in it narrows to 53.5 cm and stretches to 101 cm. The frame is 41.3 cm high, which is where the riser and the camera start.
