A camera dolly is a wheeled platform or vehicle designed to carry a camera and, in most cases, a camera operator and focus puller, allowing the camera to move smoothly along a controlled path during a shot. The dolly is one of the foundational pieces of camera support equipment in professional filmmaking, enabling the smooth lateral, forward, and backward movements that define the visual language of cinema.

Professional camera dollies are typically heavy steel or aluminum platforms riding on rubber wheels or on track systems, controlled by a grip or dolly operator who pushes or pulls the platform in response to action and direction. Track-mounted dollies ride on curved or straight sections of rail laid on the floor, providing a perfectly smooth and repeatable path. Doorway dollies and smaller models allow cameras to move through confined spaces. The dolly serves as the platform for the dolly shot, the push in, the pull back, the tracking shot, and combinations of these moves. The operator who controls the dolly, called the dolly grip, is a specialized crew role whose skill significantly affects the smoothness and expressiveness of camera movement. Smaller, simplified dollies and sliders are used on lower-budget productions and documentary shoots, and wheeled systems designed for smartphones and mirrorless cameras have made dollies accessible to independent creators.

In AI video generation, prompts describing dolly moves use the camera movement terminology rather than the equipment: "dolly in," "push forward," or "smooth tracking forward" communicate the intended motion without requiring equipment specifications. Understanding what a camera dolly does in physical production helps creators describe the smooth, parallel-to-ground movement characteristics that distinguish dolly movement from handheld, aerial, or crane-based motion.