[valensiaromaroprotonme]

Hey, sounds like a cool project! I’ve built something pretty similar for a tabletop motion rig, and I went down the same rabbit hole with actuator specs. The key factors you should focus on are stroke length (obviously), speed, and force. Since your camera slider is only 14 inches long, a 50mm or 100mm stroke might be enough depending on how far you want it to travel. Noise is definitely a factor too—I used a PA-07 micro actuator, which was quiet enough to not interfere with audio when shooting in close quarters. The force rating is also important. Even if your camera is light, if the actuator is underpowered, it can stall or get jerky, especially if the rig isn’t perfectly balanced. Here’s where I ended up doing most of my research and got mine from: electric actuators linear https://www.progressiveautomations.ca/pages/micro-linear-actuators. Lots of specs there that are actually understandable, which helps. Let me know if you want pics or video of my rig in action.

[eneria12protonme]

Following this thread too — I’ve never used micro actuators for camera sliders but did for a mini lift drawer and totally underestimated the force needed the first time. That thing barely moved. Good call on checking stroke and speed specs carefully. Also, consider how you’re planning to control it — I used Arduino and that added its own layer of decision-making.