Smartphones are literally all you need to make solid web video these days, it's just so valuable to have a HD camera with you at all times. And you can take it up a level with the Muwi, a cheap, pocket-sized, modular phone/camera slider capable of shooting powered motion timelapse shots.
If the best camera is the one you've got with you, well, that's gotta be your smartphone. And that would make Muwi the best motion slider, because this thing is tiny and super portable.
The Basic Muwi unit is a palm-sized fold-out unit with a smartphone holding clip and four tiny, smooth-rolling wheels. You clip your phone in, then slowly move it across any smooth surface to get a nice motion slide. You can bend it at the middle to get yourself a curved slide action that lets you move around your subject as if it's on a swivel platform for some very cool effects. At US$39, it's cheap as chips and an easy way to upgrade your video production.
From there, things get modular. You can add a small swivel clip that lets you attach a DSLR or action camera instead of a phone. It'll hold up to 5 kg (11 lb) of gear.
Things get really interesting when you add the Muwi Flow. This is a small attachment that clips onto the Muwi and moves it with an electric motor. There's very little in the way of controls, just a scroll wheel to set your speed. But it enables things like motion timelapses, and means your sliding footage is always perfectly smooth. Muwi plus the Flow motor is going for US$99 – that's cheap for a motorized slider.
If you want to go remote controlled, you can upgrade to the Flow X, which comes with a hand remote and also responds to a smartphone app if you've got a DSLR on board instead of your phone. In fact, it comes with its own camera control cable so you can operate the camera remotely as well for totally hands-free shooting. The Muwi slider plus Flow X motor goes for US$169.
And if you want to step it up again, and have a portable smooth surface to roll the thing on wherever you go, Muwi also makes a very portable, foldable slider track you can stick on any tripod head to give you complete control.
The regular track is fairly short at just 37 cm (14.5 inches), but more than enough to add that nice bit of movement to a close shot. You can order a Muwi slider, Flow X motor, swivel clip and small track for US$209.
There are longer track options as well, a 67 cm (26 in) track and a larger 97 cm (38 inch) track that's so big it needs two tripods to stabilize it. But these get more expensive, and take away from the extraordinary portability of the kit above, which is small enough that you wouldn't think twice about throwing it in your backpack to enhance your footage on a hike or city walk.
Still, the whole thing amounts to one of the cheapest and most portable slider setups we've seen, and, as the footage in the video below shows, it can add some really nice effects to your smartphone and video shooting ability without taking up nearly as much room in your pocket as a gimbal.
The Muwi Kickstarter is over, it's already raised over US$600,000, but early bird pricing is still available for the moment and deliveries are underway now. Check out the video below!
Source: Muwi Kickstarter
Hijack your kids remote control vehicle toy (the ones with big rubber wheels are good). A bit of blue tack to hold phone in place and you have your own remotely controlled slider. All for the price of an ice cream (to keep the kid happy!).