RonBaldwin

It’s two pieces bolted together (as you no doubt already know). The base is Mitchell mount for hi-hats/dollies/risers/basically anything on most sets. The piece with the socket block on it can also be mounted on speed rail with the u-bolts in the kit (or from a hardware store). It’s not a complicated thing to do but I’d advise against doing it by oneself unless you have done it a few times and/or someone  has walked you through properly rigging the mount etc. — lots of things can go wrong without a solid base and disaster can ensue and gear can be lost as well as people injured. Definitely don’t go out in your truck (or any vehicle) without a safe solid mount, a good safety harness for you, and a driver who knows how to handle a vehicle with your life (and your life savings) hanging off the back.
 

it’s usually not used as often as one would think (especially nowadays with all the stab heads and gimbals) but it’s a godsend when ya need it. 

The new M series sleds look nice and seem to have all the goodies one needs in these silly amd trying times on set. That is an observation with no 1st hand knowledge (except a new M2 gimbal/volt) — though I see certain features I like and hear positive impressions from operators. 
 

That being said I have been a Pro owner since 1997 and extremely happy with both the quality of the product as well as the customer service (which is most often more important if ya know what I mean). I started with a Pro1...flew it for 13 years then “upgraded” to a Pro2 in 2010 because of hd. Same gimbal, cables, accessories etc since the beginning. As mentioned above I have a new M2 gimbal/volt on my sled (about 2.5 months now) and that seems to be ok. Getting used to the volt, that’s going well, I am liking that more and more. The gimbal I am not so excited about about. The Pro gimbal is better so that I miss a lot. Not sold on the built in volt brain (M2 topstage) because the brain seems to be the primary culprit when there happens to be issues and one would need a spare topstage to keep working (perhaps I am wrong but that is my impression from ops). Possibly not a huge problem in the grand scheme of things but perhaps something to keep in mind?

Pro seems to still be churning out good solid and simple rigs and maintaining a good customer service record as far as I know. The M series has more bells and whistles available as options. I prefer to keep things simple (less to leave you high and dry) but it’s all a matter of taste and what you can afford. They are both nice sleds and no doubt either will serve you well. Talk to owners of both before writing any checks.

hopefully others will chime in and talk about their experiences.

I know you are switching systems but it is an easy fix — just move the switch or put the stock one back in. Sadly that is many times bigger than the switch that was originally there 

We have all been in that situation. It’s hard to speak up but if it’s hurting you say something. Another solution to shooting off the stand is using a vehicle mount on a dolly or bazooka. They you have the arm to make corrections/boom etc. 

That’s a really cool mod for sure. How is the safety mechanism on that topstage? I have never used a Betz, only have the wave which is unfortunately missing any kind of safety — dont tug cables while in low mode!

Don’t be silly. We all have three of everything riiiight?

I applied a different one on each of my monitors  (2 503’s and a 703) so I can swap them out as try in different situations. I think the MXT looks like the one I’ll settle on, though I still wanna try in a real world situation. 

David is awesome — this is a great mod (and what was originally intended when Greg first started playing around with roll correction). 
 

this would be so perfect for an XCS sled since it already has the x/y at the bottom. It could definitely work using only the side to side of Greg’s plate as a course adjustment but I would miss the fine corrections. That being said I want

11 hours ago, henry Landgrebe said:

Hi Ron,

This a great post. Which one in your expert opinion is the best to anti glare to get. I have a transvideo 8 inch. I would be very interested .

 

many thanks

Henry

Thanks Henry — I am certainly no expert...just a guy with too much time on his hands and who misses being able to actually see an image in the daylight.

I think the best overall for me would be the MXT — cuts unwanted reflections of bright overcast sky, overhead frames, silks and lights that can really be a pain with a shiny screen. However from what I can tell any matte screen turns to doo-doo with direct hits from the sun. The sun’s reflection even getting close to the edge of the screen with start to whiteout the whole frame!

 That being said, doesn’t the transvideo have some pretty sweet coatings? Perhaps not since you are asking.

here is another video showing the MXT (medium matte on the left) and the MXH (lighter matte on the right). I left the center open to really see what happens with a shiny vs matte with a direct hit

Assuming pro2? I also have pro 1 of you need but all the connectors are the same 

How can I not post this?! The framerate is often weird with tubes so can sometimes be tough to photograph for iPhones but you can see what’s happening. The 503 is at 100%...the TB6 is at most around 70% — completely blown out on the video but to the eye there was no comparison and it could be viewed at the same intensity at any angle. 

As much as I steered away from matte screens over the years, I was impressed with how they get rid of distracting reflections. Clearly the 503 is brighter but the less powerful Boland is much easier to see.

Never was a fan of matte screens because they tend to fall apart with direct sun hits — well, most (all?) LCD’s kinda turn to poop with or without the matte but the loss of image is longer and more of the frame with the matte.

Here is an example of that with the same screen protectors as shown above

Here are some older pics comparing the crap matte screen protector from Small HD (I think they may have a better one now?) to the same monitor with the Nushield Day View (also from Small HD). 

Been playing around with some monitor and screen matte comparisons over the last year or so — mainly the Small HD 503,  703, and the Boland. 

I’ll post some pics and a video or two which might show advantages of one over the other. Funny to note that just when I thought I found a clear winner the environment would change and suddenly I found myself preferring the other! Moral of the story? Have 15 monitors. 

4 hours ago, Osvaldo Silvera SOC said:

there was a dock mounted timer from CP.. dos anyone have a pic of this thing?

From Ted’s manual of style...always a great idea to charge per minute, or even per foot moved. More for stairs. They can’t afford low mode.

3 hours ago, Katerina Kallergis said:Also, it does manage to put the rig in the usual position but not much beyond it. So when starting a move toward that direction it is limited. 

Yeah...reducing or even losing that buffer zone to “cushion” stops and starts would be tough

I think Garret has a story of visiting somewhere and finding an op who had been putting the vest on backwards the whole time and just thought that’s how it was supposed to be. Did I dream that?! Will have to ask him. seems of you have the arm this way it won’t reach around (yeah, I said that) far enough to put the rig in the usual position? 
 

I don’t have an Exo but I do have a Klassen and a pro vest and switch between the two. As you mentioned, the back mount seems to work the legs more and the front mount seems to work the back. I like to change it up so I damage my whole body and not just half. I think I prefer the back mount slightly mainly because of the arm position and I think it’s better for lock offs (at least in my case). 
 

would love to see a picture of you in that set up. I am trying to picture getting the arm into the socket block and adjustments being made and I would think if you are good at that you might also be good at getting out of a straight jacket like Houdini.

**edit: I just took a closer look and see you did post a picture. I originally thought this was with the X-bone, now I see what’s going on.

Sweet pics! I remember the “Teddy rig” pics, very cool! I think I had that same monitor (external b/w video camera viewfinder — like anything else existed back then!) as a backup for a while. The prototype looking model 2 pics reminds me of my 2 when I got it. It had a funny homemade looking monitor bracket that moved the monitor way in like the one pictured. The battery bracket looks like a DeRose?

For anyone reading this who may not know, Alec’s XCS sled with the wave is the same length (shorter maybe?) than my Pro2 without it. The weight distribution on that sled is like no other 

I keep asking myself what I would  prefer...a volt or more steadicam friendly wave type device. A bit easier to call now but if changes/improvements were made...hmmm

Job, as usual Greg was ahead of the game with his version by at least 4 or 5 years. Alec has spoken to him about this as well as me. Probably will never go any further than the pictured prototype. This went right on the post replacing the topstage/jbox which as Brett mentioned David Hable was playing with by adding some connectors into the wave itself and a bayonet on the bottom. Sweet idea...though losing the topstage on the  rig means course adjustments only unless one flies one of Greg’s sleds with the lower x/y. Never was a fan of the lower x/y but I understood why he did it — though deleting the jbox and x/y platform (saving 2“ and 2 lbs) definitely makes me see the light and consider a sled change

Wish to gawd that he would make a more Steadicam friendly version. I see how he made it for multiple applications but I would have to guess that the vast majority of the uses (or all?) is on a Steadicam.

It would be amazing to have a wave an inch shorter, a pound lighter, and an 8 to 10 degree correction vs the current 20+ to reduce the width (basically what Greg Bubb came up with 8 or 9 years ago). Love how well it works but the balancing hoops to jump through are tiring.

Terry that is really/cool! When I used to travel with my model2 I would disconnect the monitor (seitz made disconnects, idea from Larry) and slide out that same big ass circuitboard and carry them onto the plane with me in a little pelican. I was so paranoid of the monitor or focus tube being broken while the baggage guys threw it around. Can you imagine trying to carry something looking like that onboard these days?!

Looks like this has been sitting here  a while. The inverters are smallish and fairly light (less than a pound) so one can really put them anywhere.
 

I used to fly two gyros a lot on a particular show with frequest windy walk and talks. For that particular job, for fast set-up/minimal rebalance I would put one gyro on the camera and the other under the post. The inverter was mounted on an ab plate which was merely clipped to my vest. This minimized power drain and saved a bit of weight (which isn’t usually a concern of mine when flying only one gyro). The tiny power cable is really a non issue with the gyros going.

I see several people who have made up plates that combine a smaller gyro (k4) and the inverter in one and merely snap it on a battery plate. The first time I probably saw this set up may have been Scott Sakamoto on Revenant. 
 

I haven’t  used the gyros all that much in the past few years (a combo of the type of shows and the addition of a wave to my kit) but still will throw one up when doing a vehicle mount. Combined with the wave it looks like a stabilized head. For those shots I usually clamp the gyro to the post (for the pan) and put the inverter in an empty battery slot (via velcro/blank ab plate) or attach it to the camjam rods via dogbone.
 

I was always a bit nervous to snap a gyro onto one of the sled’s ab battery mounts, thought the excess torque and constant pulling might not be the best for that little thin plastic mount that I depend on to not vibrate. Maybe I am just being overly cautious