Riggin Design Inc - telescopic camera cranes
Scott Buckler owner/operator
(973) 809-0590
Scopic20
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20' maximum reach, camera to pedestal
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8' minimum reach, camera to pedestal
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12' telescopic action
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base width - 54"
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36' linear track
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electric powered base
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leveling jacks
The Scopic20 is a well-balanced telescopic camera crane designed for precise, controlled moves. It is well suited for interior locations, stages, and camera car applications.
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Operated by a single person, the Scopic20 integrates both arm movement and telescopic action, making it an effective choice when a small footprint and minimal crew support are required.
product demonstration
PowerScopic
The PowerScopic is a technocrane-style telescopic camera crane designed for exterior production and large studio applications. Its open truss arm allows wind to pass through the structure, improving stability in outdoor environments.
Despite its size and reach, the PowerScopic is engineered for efficient handling, offering greater ease of operation than many cranes significantly smaller in scale.
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44' maximum camera reach (from pedestal)
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14' minimum reach (from pedestal)
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30' telescopic action
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hydraulic leveling
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hydraulic power drive to move and position crane
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all weather design
product demonstration
Movi XL
The MoVI XL is a large-format stabilized remote head compatible with both the PowerScopic and Scopic20 telescopic camera cranes. Its comparatively low mass is well suited to telescopic crane applications while maintaining the capacity to support large-format cameras and lenses.
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Targeted modifications have been made to the system to improve performance and reliability in crane-based operation.
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The operator interface is configurable using either standard Nodo wheels or a pan-bar control arrangement.
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In practical use, the MoVI XL provides image stability and operational capability comparable to other large-format stabilized heads, while requiring less manpower and lower overall cost.
Versa-Table
Camera/prop rotation
The Versatable is a computer-controlled motion platform capable of synchronized rotational and linear movement. Independent axes including table rotation, a mechanized slider, and an overhead lighting rotator can be coordinated and pre-programmed for precise, repeatable motion control.
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The system is built around an all-steel turntable assembly with heavy-duty bearings and a high-torque servo motor, providing the rigidity and durability required for high-load, production-grade applications.
product demonstration
-about me-
My name is Scott Buckler, and my company is Riggin Design Inc.
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Riggin Design was named after my grandfather, Riggin Buckler, an architect based in Baltimore in the early twentieth century. Working with his business partner, George Corner Fenhagen, Buckler designed institutional and commercial buildings in the Baltimore area. Among their work were hospital designs that reflected a growing shift in medical architecture at the time. Rather than long corridors with distant nurses’ stations, these designs emphasized centralized nursing stations with patient rooms arranged at more equal distances, improving visibility, response time, and efficiency. This approach became an important foundation for modern hospital planning.
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That emphasis on efficiency through design left a lasting impression on me.
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I began my career in the motion picture industry as a gaffer in the 1980s. At that time, grip hardware for specialized rigging was limited, and I often found myself constrained by the available tools. Instead of accepting those limitations, I began designing and building my own rigging components to achieve the results I needed. That work led to building trusses, and by late 1989, my first camera jibs. Those early designs became the foundation for what would eventually become a full-time focus on camera cranes and jib systems for the motion picture industry.
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By the early 1990s, as music videos were expanding creatively and technically, I became known as the person people called when something difficult or unconventional needed to be done. From that point forward, I dedicated myself to designing camera cranes and non-stabilized remote heads. I taught myself computer programming to write my own control software. I did my own welding, machining, and hydraulic design. For many years, nothing was outsourced. Only later, with the introduction of stabilized systems such as the Movi XL, did I integrate components that exceeded what made sense to build in-house.
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In 1993, hired as the rigger for Schindler’s List, I transported thirty-five milk crates of custom-built rigging equipment to Krakow, Poland as airline excess baggage. Each crate weighed sixty-eight pounds, deliberately engineered to sit just below the seventy-pound airline limit. There was no margin for error.
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Every piece in those crates was mission-critical and irreplaceable. This was not rental equipment that could be sourced locally, and there was no freight department handling logistics. I personally managed the packing, weight calculations, transport, and customs process for all thirty-five crates. Moving that volume of specialized equipment through international airports and customs in the early 1990s required absolute preparation, physical endurance, and the ability to stand behind every item being carried.
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​That experience captures how I have always approached production problems. When something must work and failure is not an option, you design the solution, control the details, and take full responsibility for execution.
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The presentation you see here represents the culmination of that work. In some ways, I never moved past the excitement of those early years, when every job presented a new challenge and every custom solution felt like an opportunity. The Versa-Table demonstration with Drew Barrymore, for example, required six weeks of preparation to produce a simple thirty-second commercial. That level of care and engineering focus remains central to how I work.
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The industry itself has changed dramatically since COVID. Budgets that once seemed limitless are now tightly constrained. Independent projects and commercials that once supported large crews and extended schedules are now produced with far fewer resources. The recent streaming boom has slowed significantly, and production companies are being forced to adapt or disappear.
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Clients still need high-quality content, but they now demand efficiency at every level. The vendors who survive are not the ones scrambling to adapt, but the ones who were always disciplined about cost, crew size, logistics, and design. The question today is not who can do the most with unlimited resources, but who can deliver the same production value under real constraints.
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That is where Riggin Design fits.
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From the very beginning, my work has focused on achieving high production output with lean crews, thoughtful engineering, and careful preparation. Every aspect of a project, from the first phone call to delivery, setup, and what ultimately appears on screen, reflects decades of design experience. What is now a survival strategy for much of the industry has been my business model for more than thirty-five years.