Ben Fisher

I am disappointed Mr. Kawana has choosen to take this approach; this forum (again) is being used to 'bash manufacturers'. Small (& large) companies developing new products for a niche market often hit snags in design & manufacturing - ask any company who uses this forum on a regular basis; dates slip (by years in some cases), snags hit (often when the equipment has been delivered) & prices/specs change. As for Mr. Kawana and his BENZ DIGITAL, we have said we are happy to supply him with his order (upgraded to a 3ch. handset, receiver and motors) when it is released and loan him a BENZ 5000 system in the meantime. We don't think it is appropriate to comment further about this matter on steadicamforum.com

AFAIK the FBX hasn't been directly compared with the Marell device - although we do have customers who have tried the Marell and then bought the FBX. Anyone wishing to compare devices is most welcome, email me. The FBX uses an in-house developed FPGA to generate the graphics and as a result provides smooth, high resolution movement of graphics with sub-pixel posistioning (>1700 lines horizontal resolution). The immediate competion appear to use a VCR text chip (5730?) and cobble the image together from blocks (one customer refered to the images as "a bit 70's bat & ball"). In response to other customers who wanted something a little more cost-effective than the FBX (& without framelines) we built the EBX (bubble, crosshair & battery level). The EBX is available in 'PRO' (Lemo's) and 'FLYER' (MiniDin's) forms. See website www.unitcine.com for details/quotes. The EBX is currently $680 for the 'PRO' version (not incl. cable), the 'FLYER' version is $539... All in production and shipping on <7 days (next batch of EBX's available next week). I am currently sorting out teething problems with the new BENZ DIGITAL lens control system (including in-house developed digital lens motor), full details will be released later this month. As a company we have strengthed our production capability (a previous weak spot) and now have a dedicated cable technician and production engineer. kind regards,

Happy New Year everyone, not awol just a wonderful combination of clients, flu, short-staffed, production & shipping, sub-contractors, sorting exhibitions, new firewall & of course family. regards, Ben Fisherben@unitcine.com UNITCINE +44 1206 398001

Hi All, We have completed the revisions to the FBX code to allow the bubble to be set at either the top or bottom of the screen - as requested by several customers and other interested operators. The first of these revised FBX's leave our factory this Wednesday. Exisiting FBX customers wishing to have this modifcation please contact me ben@unitcine.com and we will re-FLASH their FBX free of charge; a revised manual will be up on our website before the end of this week. Kind regards, Ben Fisher UNITCINE

Hi Will, Interestingly several potential clients have requested the ability to put the bubble above crosshair (i.e. at the top of the screen) - so we will be adding this extra functionality very shortly. One down, one to go. Border shading - when we designed the FBX and wrote the orginal code we had variable shading, however it was more complex for the user to control and most of the guinea pigs ended up using it at either 90-100% or 40-60%, so we settled on 50% & 100% and a simple and fast interface. I may have misread your last point about the strip; but the FBX bubble is very easy to see as it is a combination of black and white lines. We are shipping some FBX's next week to Abel in New York & LA so if you want to play with one I'm sure Jeff at Abel will oblige. Kind Regards, Ben Fisher UNITCINE NB: Dutch/Belgian operators: I'm in Amsterdam/Hilversum later today (17/Nov/04) all are welcome, call Job Scholtze (cell: +31 653530754) for directions/details.

Hi All, The FBX not only does bubble & crosshair (including 4 different cross hair sizes & variable bubble sensitivity, damping, direction AND axis) it is ALSO a frameline generator with a variable mask/border. The FBX is also physically smaller than the competition, uses connectors/cables instead of captive cables and is around half the price of the competition. Feel free to visit our website: www.unitcine.com, read up on the FBX, download the manual (DOWNLOAD) and request a quote (QUOTE). FBX's are presently instock and orders being turned around in <1 week. Kind regards, Ben Fisher ben@unitcine.com

Hi Gustavo, Please check your email or with Mariana. Sorry for the extended delay. For future reference we are appointing a distributor to deal with South & Latin America shortly. We also have more production staff starting here very shortly which will reduce leadtimes. Kind regards,

Having said all that; I suspect there is a small time window (say 2 yrs) where an electronics manufacturer could make a compact solid state HD recorder, the cost would however be a little hard to swallow. It is also interesting that the hard disk size of these small recorders (such as the Lyra & Archos) is now at the 'irrelevant' stage and these devices will start to be sold on (IMHO in order of importance): 1. name/style 2. physical size 3. screen size vs. box size 4. screen quality 5. recording resolution 6. battery life And you can guarantee that with every generation the ability to 'simply' start/stop these units will get more difficult. Probably just going to end up leaving the device recording. There is some light at the end of the tunnel though - the shear cost of developing the ASIC's that drive these units is getting very very high so manufacturers will make large incremental leaps inside the box - the new iPOD probably can do realtime video, just that marketing are slowing down the release of the technology to maximise revenue; if they find people are not buying the iPOD because 'it is only pix' then you bet they will release the video version...

I have to agree with Alec; it would be folly for a manufacturer to fully-intergrate a non-linear recorder into a sled - the cost for such 'low run' electronics would be astronomical. The speed of improvement/change in the Hard Disk/Flash type recorders is astonishing, when the GPI/PRO monitor was launched harddrives were around 1$/MB and now they are around 1,000 times cheaper (or larger). Just remember the pictures of the 'Directors Friend' back-pack on the assistant following the Steadicam on 'Russian Ark'...

At the rate at which these HardDisk & Flash recorders are coming onto the market and the speed at which they become obsolete I (imho) would steer clear of the expensive 'professional' units. Devices like the ARCHOS are relatively low-cost and fairly robust. www.ARCHOS.com On a side-note we have been asked to design a remote stop/start interface & PSU for the ARCHOS AV420 for a customer. Ben Fisher www.unitcine.com

We will also be showing a pre-production BENZ DIGITAL system (works with ANY digital or analog motors). :) Ben Fisher www.unitcine.com

Looking at this item I thought (for a few seconds) that this T-shirt had a third arm sleeve lower down - some sort of very witty Steadi-Tshirt; and well within Mr. Paperts sense of humour.

You missed off the price on your wish list Dave :blink: Ben UNITCINE

In answer to some off-forum questions we have received recently - Both the Hummingbird and Blackbird monitors are compatible with our FBX frameline/bubble/mask/xhair generator. The Hummingbird is a grey cased unit with SDI and without framelines - inputs via BNC & XLR. The Blackbird is a black cased unit without SDI and with framelines - inputs also via Hirose and PRO style Lemo 1B/8. Both monitors use the same LCD/AR/electronics and will perform the same job. FBX cables are available for both monitors. The FBX manual is now available on our website: www.unitcine.com regards, Ben Fisher UNITCINE

There was something on TV (UK) the other evening where a journalist talked of a roadtrip he & his wife took with Stirling Moss (retired UK F1 racing car driver) - he described how he turned off a highway at xxxMPH in a four wheel drift while reaching into a glovebox and changing tape..... It would be fascinating to see some real Steadicam masters try out several of the better homebuilt's - perhaps somesort of PRO/AM day. Schumacher in a VW..... Ben Fisher UNITCINE

Hi Igor, Chuffed that you got it sorted, I love the retro terminology: Condensers (capacitors) Welding (soldering) Bring back those days I say.... Ben Fisher www.UNITCINE.com

Hi Andrea, This definatley sounds like the focus valve/bulb/tube and it's circuitry - in all probability the trippler is OK. The III/A heater voltage regulation is quite poor and very dependent on battery voltage, if you are putting more than the correct 12.0V (possibly 12.6V) the tube will heat up gradually and the mu/gain will change and affect the focus voltage. This is what shortens the focus tube's life and changes it's charateristics over time. You can probably remedy this by feeding the heater with a solid-state voltage regulator (LDO) - we (VFX in '94-'97) used to make a new tube regulator PCB with all this on and a better focus pot. Good luck, Ben Fisher UNITCINE ben@unitcine.com

Hi Stephen, I can highly recommend CP cases, however you may find it quite expensive for them to make custom foam inserts as it is all CNC and there will be a 'programming' charge per different design. If pick-n-pluck is not your scene then look for a 'foam-converter' - that is the general name for foam guys. They usually hang out in a cold industrial unit in the back-of-beyond with HUGE pile of foam, a big bandsaw and a 'hot-wire'... The type of 'foam' used is often called LD18-45 or Plastazote. Good luck Ben Fisher ben@unitcine.com UNITCINE

Hi Andrea, It could be a faulty HT focus output on the trippler but that is unlikely to have occured on two units together. Does the focus alter at all (from maybe bad to worse) when the pot is tweaked? If there is no change at all it could be the trippler or the pot; if it does change then it might be the focus valve (tube). Caution your local technician however - the focus voltage is about 2.8Kv; and the trippler is unlike anything he will have seen before; when we used to fix MK3/A Steadicams last century ;) we had to build a 'vacumn chamber' just for drawing out air bubbles in the clear 'silicon' potting compound used in the trippler.... Thanks also for the order for a 2nd BENZ 5000 system - it will be with you next week. Kind regards, Ben UNITCINE

Hello All, Not strictly Steadicam but... We have released the RiB remote iris controller for video cameras (incl. HD) - details on our website www.unitcine.com. The RiB system comprises of a HANDSET connected by upto 300M (1,000ft.) of ordinary coax video cable to a CAMERA UNIT - the CAMERA UNIT connects in between the lens and the camera and gives control over the lenses' iris (& VTR stop/start). The iris can be controlled AUTOmatically, via the control knob on the handset or manually. 'Quickstops' can be used to set temporary iris stops, the iris can also be 'frozen' (see website) and the digital display shows current iris setting. NB: Please email if you would like to see the FBX or BENZ 5000/4000/RiB - we are planning trips shortly to LA, NY, Germany & Amsterdam. Thank you. Ben Fisher UNITCINE ben@unitcine.com

Hi Toby, If your shot is indoors then perhaps a fine nylon thread (clear) with a high breaking-strain (such as sea-fishing line) with one end fixed to the top of the camera/steadicam and the other to a fixing in the ceiling (nail!). The aim is not support the camera/steadicam weight but to provide a hard reference to the rig that controls the distance to subject & the circle - the distance to subject would be a function of stabiliser height, but you will be instinctivly controlling this as part of your framing. It would certainly be easy/cheap to test the shot in your home-surroundings. Of course the visibility of the nylon line depends on how wide the lens is, distance to subject, ceiling height etc.... Good luck.

Hello Thomas, Did Marell ever supply you with a frameline/bubble? regards, Ben Fisher UNITCINE www.unitcine.com T: 01206 398001

Thanks Jeff, Optical devices this small (and with the required resolution) are quite expensive -also they draw quite alot of current (for a battery powered unit) and unless the 'absolute' variety (rare) are used they would require some sort of 'centering' procedure. Either a sealed encoder or a sealed NEWZOOM CONTROL would be necessary to gain any major advantage over a conductive plastic potentiometer..... Having said all that we are trawling through ALL posisbilities at the moment. All operators: What is the supply of those natty little AAAA cells like? Are they readily available where you are? Any more thoughts on rocker grip patterns and materials?

Firstly, I would like to thank all those operators who have contributed suggestions, comments and critique to this project - thank you also to all those who have also made contributions via email. We have reviewed the input to date: Getting an initial handle (no pun intended) on a project like this is normally the tough part. However two specific requirements have come to the top: 1. Zoom unit should be wireless if at all possible. 2. Zoom should use left-right rocker with positive centering. Next on the list: 3. Zoom ?rate? control on handle 4. VTR start/stop control 5. RETURN video control 6. Direction reverse facility Wireless NEWZOOM should be wireless, it should operate in ?harmony? (no interference either way) with all follow focus systems. The short distance the NEWZOOM needs to operate over and the limited amount of data it needs to send means that battery life can be quite considerable. The probability is that the NEWZOOM CONTROL will not have an ON/OFF switch but will ?hibernate? when the RECEIVER is powered down. LED's on the CONTROL & RECEIVER will light when communication is established. We expect to use conventional batteries in the NEWZOOM CONTROL ? rechargeable cells or packs don?t offer any cost or performance advantages in such a low-drain unit. The RECEIVER will be powered either from the Steadicam/Cine camera (when using an external motor) or the video lens (when using the intergrated zoom). It is possible that we will have a ?DATA? socket on the CONTROL for ?hardwiring? the two parts of the system (yes, via a very thin cable!) ? as this is not expected to be used much this feature will only be on the ?wishlist?. As very little space is likely to be available for a ?frequency selector? on the NEWZOOM we will probably opt for a more advanced version of our ?autoseek? system used on our BENZ 4000 & 5000 products. Interfacing The NEWZOOM should operate with all common video lenses (including the latest Digital units) ? also it should operate with external lens motors: Motors Lens motors with tacho-generators are very usable for zoom: Heden M26T, M28VT, M32T, SPF?s out-of-production ZMG-6. The degree of speed control is phenomenal (smooth control is possible down to 0.01% of maximum speed), of course the Achilles Heel of the tacho-generator motor is the lack of end-stops. Digital lens motors can be made to approach the tacho-generator for smoothness and can have end-stops, autocalibrate, etc? It is not lost on us that there is an installed base of Preston & Scorpio motors. Heden also make a digital motor (M26VE). The NEWZOOM will interface to all digital motors, and probably ?T (zoom) motors. [several operators requested that NEWZOOM can interface to the Preston MDR; this will not be necessary as the NEWZOOM will work with Preston motors.] Mechanical We will make the CONTROL physically small ? probably out of billet aluminium. The thumb control is probably going to have a ?grippy? patterned surface, comments welcome on experience with different patterns and/or materials. The general style is more likely to be J7 than ZOE, attention will be paid to reducing the height that the ?thumb? is at during operation (to reduce fatigue). It will mount on the standard 38mm gimbal diameter ? however we are aware that there are several different makes of gimbals available, let me know if yours is different? Other Several operators have also commented on the importance of feathering - we can address smooth starts and stops using a mixture of mechanical design and software based response curves and ?launch? control. Anyone using our 5200-44 iris/zoom handset & 5800 receiver will know the advantage of curved zoom responses. We have looked into adding an on-screen indication of zoom position for the operator; whilst very possible we have decided against it as it would add further complexity to the wiring loom of a typical sled. We have also looked into adding a ?focus? control on the NEWZOOM ? this we are in two minds about as the extra complexity is considerable and it is not featured highly in the responses we have received to date (thoughts???). It goes without saying that a robustness and ease of use are also important. We hope to publish some drawings of at least one proposal for anyone to comment on; this we hope to do shortly. This is certainly proving to be an interesting way of developing product - please keep the comments, suggestions and criticism coming. Regards,

"It was never like this at CP Jim..." Dr.Yes@unitcine.com UNITCINE