Tery Thompson

What arms are you refering to seeing that you are using the Glidecam 4000? Do you have the Smooth Shooter? Tery

"I've trawled the internet, and e-mailed several operators and so far have come up with nothing really conclusive... I need to know how the gimbal works, how it is mounted and how it functions, ie. What the heck is the darn thing?!" A gimbal is a system of bearings (usually) that allow the camera to be isolated from the person carrying it. It is intended to isolate the persons' movements from the cameras' so the camera shot will be smooth. To have a real good gimbal, you need to isolate movement that is from side to side, tilt, and rotation. Basically any way you can turn the handle has to be isolated. Some of the simpler stabilizers available do a fairly good job smoothing out the tilt and side to side movement but don't help with the rotation at all. The have no real gimbal as the operator holds the post near the center of gravity. It works somewhat but isn't intended for the dolly like shots. Does this help at all or is it just confusing? It's hard to describe a gimbal and steadycam principles in only a few words but if Charles P. were giving this description it would be much better. Tery

The Merlin is a very nice stabilizer for it's size but still needs a good operator to make it work well (as in all stabilizers). It is small and light but does sell for over $800 so it's out of your $500 price range. The Glidecam 4000 pro is in your price range but is harder on the arm depending on how long each shot is. You can find those for around $400 so it's in the running. Don't get the body pod as it is intended for static shots. The forearm brace helps on the wrist but puts the strain on the shoulder. Many of us here I believe have done a lot of research on stabilization systems and know the good from the bad from the ugly. How do you want your video to look...smoother than handheld - flying - or like it is on a dolly? Different systems will give different results. As amgrant has said, you're limited by the $500 price tag. Hope this has helped. Tery www.indicam.com

Ari (great name), Thanks for the info on the Pro class. Where was it held and how much did it cost when you took it? Tery

"The Director of the film I'm shooting now is rather new to the biz. He just HAD to have this running shot, down a hallway. Shoot it once or twice, and well, seems I just can't run fast enough. <rolls eyes> "Well, can you zoom in, maybe 3\4 of the way?" Great. Managed to pull it off, but just barely... After cheating the lens back to half-telephoto. <grin>" <{POST_SNAPBACK}> ===================== nchopp, I was wondering if the director was looking for a rapid appearing shot or just trying to cover a set distance? I expect that by what you said he was trying to cover the distance as the telephoto shot isn't condusive to showing as much movement. Glad you could pull it off. It couldn't have been easy...(understatement) Second thought...Maybe I've got this wrong. Did you run down the hall and 3/4 of the way down move to a telephoto shot? Tery

Another sort of "cheat" is using a wide angle lens (noticable on vertical lines at the edges appearing curved). A good wide angle lens can make shots from a crummy stabilizer (or operator) look much better. If you really want to show off your abilities, shoot some of your scenes in partial telephoto. There's the proof! Of course it's much harder to do and I wouldn't do this normally as there usually isn't enough room in the shots I do (close quarters). Anyway, I enjoyed all the posts. Good information. Tery

Lemar, It looks like a nice rig. You would benefit greatly from the video Charles P. is preparing to do and which will be applicable to most full sized stabilizers I believe. (I hope he will be able to get it done this year!) Once you know how to operate one rig well, you should be able to do others also. Kind of like a car, there might be many different bells and whistles but the operation should be similar. I have the Advanced Steadicam Techniques tape and it explains many "advanced" techniques. Unfortunately I haven't seen a similar tape for "Beginning Steadicam Techniques". This is where Charles' video will really help out. He is excellent in his writing and I expect he'll be excellent in his video instruction. The web page showing some of his Steadicam shots is found here: http://www.demoreelnetwork.com/view/index....ze=large&reel=2] Tery