Pads under a tripod to prevent "kick drum" vibrations

[Robin13]

Would these pads work if you put them under a tripod to prevent motion blur from the kick drum? Right now I use a sound blanket but it's big and sometimes there isn't enough room for the blanket so I was looking for something smaller

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-PACK-Anti-Vibration-Pads-Dampener-2x2x7-8-Diversitech-MP-2E-...A6R&rmvSB=true

[johnmeyer]

You could try them, but I wouldn't expect that they'll help too much. Low-frequency vibrations are really tough to dampen mechanically.

I would expect than any solution that worked would involve several independent layers of sound deadening material.

[awgie]

The link you show isn't a bad idea. But since they're only 7/8" thick, you may still get some transmission of the vibrations, especially if the feet of the tripod sink down into the pads at all. You could get some 2" or 3" medium- to high-density foam from a craft shop and cut it into small pieces. I wouldn't go any smaller than 6" square to cut down on any chance of the feet accidentally slipping off the pads (plus the larger pads will absorb more vibration than the 2" squares in your link). And if you have trouble with the feet sinking into the foam (or if the feet have metal pins that could damage the foam), you can get some carpeted caster cups and use them between the feet and the foam, with the carpeted side facing up.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/The-Hillman-Group-2-5-in-Gray-Carpet-Based-Caster-Cup/50318203

[awgie]

And if you want to go with something that's professionally designed and constructed, you can get subwoofer pads. They're considerably more expensive, but they're designed specifically for isolating low frequency vibrations.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--AURSUBDUDEII

[Robin13]

Thank you for teh help and links. Prolly will order those pads. Do you think memory foam or like gel pads would work or best to just get the subwoofer pads?

[awgie]

Memory foam would not be dense enough. It's designed to compress. Unless the tripod and camera are extremely lightweight, the foam could compress enough to cause the camera to no longer stay level. And even if it were ultralight, you would still need to use something solid on top of the foam to prevent even slight compression or wobble when you're panning and tilting the camera.

And gel would be susceptible to damage unless it was sandwiched between two layers of something more durable. Even so, gel tends to deteriorate over time, so not only would they likely be more expensive than other material, you'd have to replace them more often.

The idea is to have something that is dense enough to prevent compression, while being soft enough to suppress any transmission of vibration. And you need a solid surface for the camera to sit on.

The advantage of the subwoofer pads - besides actually being designed to suppress vibration - is that they are big enough to be sure the camera isn't going to accidentally slip off, while being small enough to be portable.

And if you want to make them really portable, you could attach a strap handle to each of them to make them easy to pick up and carry.