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chris fawcett

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Posts posted by chris fawcett

  1. Any new impressions on EXOVEST?

    in Vests

    Posted

    Hi Rich,

     

    Thanks for your consideration of the vest, and I'm sorry it didn't work out for you.

     

    That strain in your upper back is felt by all Exovest users on their first few times in the vest. What's happening is that in traditional vests, the torque of holding the weight out in front of you is resisted by either chest straps or a back-mount spar that engages part way up your thoracic spine. The Exovest resists the torque right up at the level of the shoulder blades, the same place your body resists the torque of holding something in your hands out in front of you. This longer lever arm reduces the force inserted, and engages the entire erector spinae muscle group, not just the lumbar region in resisting the force. The length of the rods, front and rear, is adjusted so that force goes horizontally into your trapezius, without loading your shoulders. You'd find that those muscles in the upper back tune up pretty quickly.

     

    To your other issues. I was also worried about the velcro fastening for that front left waist pad, and it's something we considered redesigning; however, I'm nearly 3 years in the Exovest, and it just never became an issue for me, so I guess we forgot about it. I'd be interested to hear what other Exovest users think.

     

    As for the latching problem, I'm wondering if perhaps the waistband had been set for large-sized waists. I enclose a picture of the one-time adjustment for that. If so, the waist slider would draw right forward into the waist over-centre lever, causing it to jam just like you describe. I'm curious to know if that was the case or if you encountered some other problem.

     

    In the first year since release, we made several changes to the vest, such as new waist-band materials, with a different curvature to allow for easier latching, redesigned dovetail latches top and bottom, also for easier latching, new waist over-centre lever for easier unlatching, and other bits and pieces. All Exovest users will be upgraded with all updates free of charge. They have the choice of returning their Exovest to the factory for a rebuild, or of fitting the new parts themselves. This has taken longer than I'd hoped, but it is in progress, and it's a process I'm continuously monitoring with Tiffen. The demand for the vest took us by surprise, and it's taken time to ramp up production to match.

     

    I understand if you're not tempted to give it another try, but if you do, we can do a Skype fitting (my user name is steadivision). This offer is of course open to anyone.

     

    All the best,

     

    Chris

    post-1134-0-10638100-1404117633_thumb.jpg

    • Upvote 2

  3. Tiffen G50

    in Steadicam Marketplace - Wanted

    Posted

    Agreed, and apologies for the digression.

     

    Christian,

     

    Keep looking for a G50x to see if it suits you. I have nothing against the PRO arm, I quite like the big one, but I do prefer the Gxs for all sorts of reasons that you can read about endlessly on the forum.

     

    Chris 'Tiffen Licensor' Fawcett

    • Upvote 1

  4. Tiffen G50

    in Steadicam Marketplace - Wanted

    Posted

    Christian,



    A US friend visiting Belfast once asked what a giant billboard with all the letters of the alphabet printed on it could possibly mean. I pointed out that the letters ‘f’ and ’t’ were missing, so it could only be an advert for the Financial Times. He told me that in the US, it would have to say ‘Get the Financial Times’ for it to have any hope of success. I’ve always admired that directness in our American cousins, but being an effete European, I prefer some seduction, so by all means ‘Get a PRO Atlas’ but be sure to shop around. Your milage may vary.



    All the best,



    Chris


    • Upvote 1

  5. Pro Atlas/Titan vs. G-50X/G70x

    in Arms

    Posted

    "I realy like the opportunity to tweak arm settings discrete while going back to one,..."

     

    The PRO arm gives you the same feature.

     

    BTW, I just finished an 8 week project (Alexa/Leica primes) and once the arm was adjusted properly on day 1, I never touched it again. It is very forgiving.

    Our equipment offers us different ways of working. Do we like to work these ways because we have that gear, or do we have that gear because we like to work these ways?

     

    For me, the latter. If I have a lock-off anywhere in a shot. I'll trim the arm lift for the appropriate boom height, and trim the motorised stage for the tilt. This typically takes me about 10 seconds total. During the rest of the shot, the arm is so iso anyway (I don't trim the iso so much, just for running and vehicle shots, when I like it somewhat less iso-there's probably another discussion lurking between these parentheses) that I don't notice the boom setting, but as I approach the lock-off, I hit the stage-motor preset button on the yoke so when I'm there the rig just slides into position and stays there without any correcting effort required from my gimbal hand.

     

    I've grown to appreciate these features, and would miss them.

     

    Anyway, happy holidays all!

     

    Chris

    • Upvote 3

  6. Pro Atlas/Titan vs. G-50X/G70x

    in Arms

    Posted

    i think the better boomrange is a big advantage of the G50x. While you can work around seeing footsteps via good operating you cant ad the few inches in boomrange if you realy need to.

     

    actualy i have footstep problems with slow movements. I had it with my old Sachtler Artemis arm and with my Tiffen G50 (performance upgraded) arm. I never tried a Pro arm (besides a quick hands-on before i started my operating career, so i couldn't estimate pros and cons) but to be honest i hope that i will get rid of that problem by continously improving my skill rather than buying a Pro. I realy like the opportunity to tweak arm settings discrete while going back to one, the additional boom range and the lightweight and compact form factor. The clearance above your upper leg is great when doing awkward operating positions (which just happens...) while having your socketblock at the lowest position.

     

    The weightrange is perfect for me and the industry/movies i am working in. Arri Alexa, Red Epic everything is fitting perfectly in the range. I even had the oldfashioned Arri D-21 on the sled, i have no idea what it's weight was, but it certainly was way over my feel-good weight while the G50 wasn't bothering.

     

    The bottom line is, i love the great flexibility of the G50(x) while (obviously) having the problem of a higher friction/footprints.

    Anyway. Back to the topic.

    Does anybody know if the weightrange of the Atlas arm is realy ending at 45lbs? I am worried about the missing 5lbs to the G50x (as i think i sometimes need exactly these 5lbs). If it would match (inofficial) the G50 range i definitely would give the Atlas arm a try.

    Hi Karsten,

     

    My G50 lifts 55 lbs +. The 50 rating is a conservative estimate. You'll probably find that the PRO canisters lift more than their specified range.

     

    On your handling points, I also prefer the G arms over the PRO for the reasons you state.

     

    All the best,

     

    Chris

  9. Tapatalk

    in Forum Support

    Posted

    Iain,

     

    First, I like to zoom text so I don't have to reach for my reading glasses. Tapatalk allows you to select font size, but that is inconsistenly applied. Second, I like to have my favourite reading tabbed in a browser. Having to open another app for the one forum I frequent does not appeal. Third, I prefer the web interface aesthetically. Tapatalk looks flat to my eye.

     

    Tim,

     

    Shall I turn that setting off on my iPad? I don't want to spoil the Tapatalk experience for anyone else.

     

    All the best,

     

    Chris

  11. Tapatalk

    in Forum Support

    Posted

    Hi,

     

    I like the web interface for the forum very much. I've tried Tapatalk, and dislike it. Is there any way to avoid getting that Tapatalk banner every time I visit? I've deleted the Tapatalk app, but the banner keeps nagging away.

     

    Thanks!

     

    Chris

  13. Choosing that "one' sled

    in Sled

    Posted

    'Modular' has two distinct meanings here. One is that if you have a problem with any part of your rig, you can swap it out for a replacement. I'm all for that kind of modular, and I wish I had it. However, three rigs on now, I haven't had any problems where having modularity would have helped.

     

    For the other kind, where you can progressively upgrade your rig, I have zero interest. Thinking back to my first rig, which was all I could afford at the time, what would I have upgraded first? The gimbal? Then I'd have needed to change the post, that would have meant changing the stage, and then the base. I'd have needed a bigger arm to carry that, and a sturdier vest as well. Then I could have put it all back together and sold it as a system. Well, skipping all that, I just sold it off as a system, loosing about 2% of what it had earned me in the short time I owned it, and bought another system.

     

    I'm on my 3rd Tiffen rig now, with no complaints. All the rigs retained 100% functionality, their resale value was great, and they were snapped up within days of putting them on the market. No messing around.

     

    All the best,

     

    Chris

  15. Footwork Practices?

    in Operating

    Posted

    I'm with Eric and Kris here.

     

    When you walk normally and unaffectedly, you pretty much only use your quads to lift your knees, and an automatic spinal reflex takes care of lifting your foot, so your toes don't drag. When you think too much about any automatic process like walking, you tend to fuck it up. Concentrate instead in moving your frame beautifully though space, and your body will probably work out how to follow.

     

    Of entirely anecdotal interest (or not), I spent my first 6 months operating goofy, which suited me fine, except that my walking felt clumsy. When I changed to regular-side, my footwork was instantly better. Retraining my handedness to match operating side was trivial, and took me at most a couple of days.

     

    Fly gracefully,

     

    Chris

    • Upvote 3
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