I had my recent DIY (do-it-yourself) project as I built what could possibly be the cheapest sound booth ever. It was a fun experience, however I did feel somewhat compromised at the end. Anyways, Self Reliant Filmmaking blog has some thoughts about DIY projects. Here is a sample: "2) Sometimes building DIY projects is not more cost effective than spending the money on a professional tool. Example: A new C-stand costs less than $200. The amount of time and money it would take for me to build some inferior imitation out of pipe I bought at Home Depot simply isn’t worth it in the final cost-benefit analysis."

And also this: "6) Often, the biggest advantage to making homemade tools is not the savings in money – it’s that you can tailor the tools to your project’s specific needs. And as long as making your own tools doesn’t distract from the real work — making films — the peripheral benefit of DIY is that the geeky fun had in making something is often, as Mastercard would say, priceless." Check out the article, lot of excellent points.