Peter Abraham

Goof Off did the trick. Thank you for the suggestions. Best, Peter

You'll likely find the world's most simple fix. The chassis-mounted BNC is likely slightly loose. When you push in and turn, the wires within may be crossing against each other and may be grounding out. You'll know it when you open the stage ( which is not complicated ). Tighten down the nut, apply a dash of nail polish so the nut cannot turn out again, and you're set !!

The racking used in Model I, II, III, IIIA and EFP plates. Typically removed if someone bought an early PRO sled, whose stage did not make use of the rack. I've got a plate or two with no gear rack. Anyone have a rack or two WITH the screws? Let me know here or at: peter@steadicamproductionservices.com Thanks ! Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

Good thoughts all, many thanks. Yeah, Orlando, that is THE tried and true method for cleaning up shipping cases. However, I use Pelican not Anvil type cases and when that day comes to strip, I'm thinking heat gun and hard plastic edged scraper, not a razor-based scraper to avoid slicing into the body of the case. Hi MEJ !! Will pick up Goo Off or Laquer Thinner today. I've got a plate or two with oogey tapey mess on them. I'm working on a template for very thin rubber or latex "clampdown" pad for the plates and they must be absolutely clean before I try affixing the rubber pads into place. Best to all, Peter

Simple enough. Need to clean up some gear, mounting plates, cases, etc. What's the favorite solvent these days for completely dissolving gaff tape adhesive? Acetone doesn't cut it. Best to all, Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

Thanks to Keith Francis for taking this terrific shot of his rig on set !!

On set rockin' the Zalex Handle with a Digital Cinema Camera rented from Daufenbach Camera !

Absolutely inspired- and inspiring !! Welcome to the community, Thomas. The footage shows real promise.

Exactamundo. Some experimenting NOT in an on-set situation will make your eyes and brain wrap around this. You add a motor, you take away a motor. You use a short end instead of a full 400', etc. The variables shouldn't freak you out- it isn't that there are not literally thousands ( millions? ) of combinations of masses to be added and taken away. It's just that with a bit of exploration you will see how ALL masses affect a rig that can be rapidly put into dynamic balance. Once that makes sense, you can set your rig up in the morning and during the workflow of the day, make the subtle adjustments needed to keep it spinning flat.

A combination of Twitter and Pictograms. " Twictogram". !!!

I'm suddenly thinking of the old BNC Terminator. Aside from its intended use, quite useful as a method of covering open BNC connectors. Thinking it is worth it to buy chassis mounted connectors for all of the connectors on my sled, somehow making the back end look clean and neat and basically plugging all unused holes. Because salt, dust, dirt, sand and whatnot not to mention water can do the most damage when they seep into live holes. They have to look quite professional, but have to be the real connectors. Hmmm...... And, if I do fashion high-tech "plugs", and I lightly spray the top stage and bottom stage with all cables and plugs in place, I've created a sealed film. As soon as I unplug one jack, I've broken that seal. Since we plug and unplug incessantly, I'm at a loss to see how the seal is maintained.

There's ample proof around of how inhaling materials as a part of your job in film production can be quite hazardous. http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/ozebsen.asp

My first inclination was the use it on my G-50 arm. Coating my Exovest pads seemed a good idea at first but then I considered the layered wicking fabric. If I try to seal all of those holes, the sweat won't have anywhere to go. ( Aside from down the small of my back !! ) I've got questions regarding heat venting/shedding for these guys. Coat my monitor? Why not? But then..... most LCD panels run warm, some hot, and if this is a very fine 100% sealing coating, how is heat venting managed? Interesting.

Ahhhhhh, but Brian. On the evening before that last-minute Flyer gig that comes sailing over the transom, you'll be sitting on your Pelican case, elbows on knees, chin resting dolefully in your palms, rueing the choice to wait. Rueing I tell yas !!!!! Your head will be filled with :wacko: and you'll wish you'd gotten a little bit of :wub: from me in time to make the following days' work go like :ph34r: !!! :D

Hey now, no need to drag The New York Jets into this !!!

The company that invented the stuff has a White Paper I just downloaded, shows a piece of steel that was exposed to 1,000 hours of salt fog coated in polyurethane and another coated in NeverWet, and the NeverWet stuff has minimal corrosion. They seem to be advertising it for industrial solutions. I would bet you could introduce it to the normal cleaning cycle (you guys do clean your gear regularly, RIGHT?) and just reapply anytime you wipe it down. I'll hose down a wash cloth in the stuff tomorrow and see how it does. Also curious to know how quickly casual contact degrades it (like coating the top of the arm, etc). Define regularly... :D I'm interested in trying it out.

They used to be available from New Hampshire Ball Bearings. Try them ! nhbb.com Best, Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

You may want to have the gimbal looked at by Tiffen to insure that the precision adjust bolts you are turning using the Blue Whale are not slowly turning back out of true after you are centering it up. In theory the Whale can be used and the gimbal will be just fine. But if you keep doing very subtle adjustments to center the gimbal and then it goes out, it needs to be looked at. To be very specific here: When you center the gimbal using the Blue Whale and get it to hold center long enough to spin balance- and it does spin balance flat and true, at what point does it go out of center again? Right away? After use? After rugged vehicle mount type use? Just wondering. Best, Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

This is going to sound really goofy. Many years ago I took a parking cone. Yep, the day glo orange kind used to block off parking spots. Took a matte knife. Got serious with looking and measuring. Carved a chunk out, and used it for a HH shoulder pad for a MovieCam Compact. Worked amazingly well. Put a bit of foam under it, but the flexible nature of the cone reduced the sharp contact points. I'm just sayin'........

Fair to say that at this point I have been flying an Exovest longer than anyone else in the field except Chris. I can attest to the success of the concept as well as to the precision of the manufacture. I routinely do a show that has a segment that is 9-14 minutes long that never cuts away from my shot. Using the Exovest has meant that I can comfortably operate a shot with a camera of any mass for as long as I need to. What a remarkable thing that is.

Hi Alex, Apologies for not following up here to your statements. While it is true that using a tilt stage is enormously useful for this kind of work, it is not nearly prohibitively difficult to NOT use one. Until it was invented and now for anyone not flying one, we train our post hand to compensate for the horizon roll inherent in side to side work, especially rapid shots typically offered during a live concert when you are in the "pit" in front and below the talent/band. It's very useful ( as always ) to practice this work. You don't need a stage or a band to do it. Shooting 90º off of the axis you are walking is a great thing to practice. Some folks are very comfortable side-walking. I'm a big fan of walking forward and aiming the camera 90º off to the side. Do what works for you, but when you find a relationship to the post and sled that seems most comfortable, practice moves with it. The details of rigging the fiber cabling and having good wranglers are best left for another thread ! How did it all go? Best, Peter

The new Zalex Handle for Gen I Flyer sleds is now available. It allows users of the Flyer with the black metal handle to use a greatly expanded handle. The Zalex is 6" long and 1.5" in diameter. Finally, the larger hand grip that many people have wished for. Please regard this thread in "Sleds" for all details, or email me directly for more information. http://www.steadicamforum.com/index.php?showtopic=18240 Best to all, Peter Abraham, S.O.C. peter@steadicamproductionservices.com

A thing or two or three. Great response so far to the Zalex Handle. I'm working on providing the Install Manual in a good hand ful of languages. So far, my Steadicam colleagues are stepping up to provide manuals in Mandarin, Arabic, German, French, Hebrew and Spanish. I'm working on Russian and a few others. Most of the info will be gleaned from the photos. The text is in some cases rather crucial, hence my desire to provide multilingual manuals. Best to all, Peter

I do indeed Mark.

Thanks Kyle. Just delivered another one at the SOA Workshop in Philly. The PDF for installing it will soon be available in English, Spanish, French, Mandarin, Korean and Arabic. PM me here or email directly for answers to any questions ! Best, Peter peter@steadicamproductionservices.com