John Stout

Greetings, Terry ROCKS!! We just bought a Zephyr as well. We wanted to standardize our power for the Pilot we own and the Zephyr. Terry has worked out a JBOX that we will be able to use on both the Pilot and Zephyr. It allows us to use V-Mount batteries across the board. The breakout box will be able to power 3 items, plus our Paralinx Arrow. We liked it so much we bought one for our Red Rock DSLR rig just to keep things standardized. We looked at other power options and even off the shelf items were more expensive than Terry's well made custom solution. Can't say enough good about him.

I just want to show my agreement with what is being said here. Attending a workshop for just $600.00 while trying to decide on a 5K plus purchase is just a good idea. You may find that the system you thought you wanted might be different after the workshop. The technical information as well as the practice that you receive can help you realize what all is involved in operating a Steadicam Rig. The book is a great tool to read before the workshop and then again after it. This should not be an impulse purchase, this is an investment in you, your career, equipment, etc and shoudl be thought about before you plunk down your hard earned money.

Greetings, That is it. Thank you! John

Greetings, In this Canon video on the C500 they have it mounted to a red metal plate in a lot of the set ups. http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/professional/products/professional_cameras/cinema_eos_cameras/eos_c500#Video Anyone know who makes the plate? Thank you in advance. John

Greetings, I see a lot of posts on here from experienced operators that tell the new folks, new rig owners and want to be operator/owners that they should take a workshop. We bought a rig prior to going to a workshop and that was a mistake. I should have attended the workshop first. We chose to buy a particular rig and I would have purchased differently after going to the workshop. We were fortunate that our class was filled with experienced and seasoned production people that already make their living in the industry. We were able to glean a lot from each others success and learning experiences. We were also fortunate enough to have a well credited Steadicam operator that joined us for part of the two days. He provided additional real world experience and suggestions as we progressed through the two days. I recommend going to one of these workshops. If you are going to invest in a rig, it is a must to go to one of these workshops before purchasing. You wouldn't make any other purchase this size without research. Best 600.00 you will ever invest in yourself. Even if you are an experienced operator and haven't been to a workshop, it will show you things you didn't know you didn't know, especially if you go in with the mind set that you have never operated before. Happy Workshopping!

We have just received two of the Paralinx Arrows. We will be using one with our Steadicam Pilot rig. Anyone know of a 2.1mm (power output on the stage) to 5v adapter to power the transmitter. The IDX plate on our pilot doesn't have a P-Tap on it. I could replace the plate, but then the P-Tap cable will need to be wrangled through the sled to the stage. I am trying to use the existing wiring. Any thoughts are appreciated.

An ATA Carnet is the equivalent of a passport for your equipment. It is not insurance, you need to have that too to protect yourself in the event of a loss of equipment. When you have one created, they will charge you for a bond for the amount of equipment that you are traveling with. You will need to manifest each case when you fill out the paper work. ATA will then send you a folder with all of the paperwork. Stop at customs, show them your carnet and equipment on the way out of a country and on the way in. They will stamp your forms and allow the equipment to pass. Without a carnet you are risking your gear being held at customs until a local customs broker can give you a bond and get it signed and approved. This could take an hour or days. We had a shooting crew on an event in Bahamas that thought they would just tip their way through customs and baggage claim. If it weren't for the hotel we were at, their gear would have not made it into the country at all. It cost about 3,000 US to get it bonded and out of customs since they didn't have the carnet. Carnets are pretty cheap to obtain with a bond. If you have something lost or stolen make sure you get a police report. Customs will want that as proof you didn't sell the gear. Even if you do end up selling something to a local, prepare a bill of sale and be prepared to pay the duty on leaving the country. This is who we use http://www.atacarnet.com/what-carnet?gclid=COfBipCqobICFQKCnQodAjEA_A Great people, fast and always ready to answer a question.