Elliot Gabor

Alan, I do extend the post, re-read my previous post. I'll take any tilt inertia I can get. Victor, unfrotunatly yes, when shooting DSLR I'm looking at a tiny screen on the stage. Its not the ideal way of working but this is my setup for DSLR because when I shoot DSLR I'm typically shooting events which forces me to do my own focusing (and without a hack like magic lantern you can't outpout to both the camera LCD and an extenal monitor at the same time.) Especially with the post extended, Its too hard focus to do critical focusing on the sled monitor (framing is even hard when the post is extended). It's one of the drawbacks of a lightweight steadicam like the pilot. I am however, working on a way to nano clamp the monitor halfway up the post so that I can extend the post and still have proper steadicam form when focusing. This will of course will add to setup time since I'll have to set up the monitor and dynamic balance. Not so fun at events but doable for narrative work.

Good Point, I'll explain. The Inertia that I would get from spreading the weight on the stage would be my panning inertia. The purpose of adding weight on the stage and extending the post all the way is to give me tilt inertia. I find that it's the tilt inertia thats harder to achieve on a lightweight rig like the pilot. Yes I could add more pan inertia while I'm at it, however, I like my pan and tilt inertia to be similiar to eachother rather than having a lot of pan and very little tilt. All that being said, when I shoot DSLR, I take off the monitor/battery on the bottom of the rig, center the bottom hanger and add 4 pilot weights on each side of the hanger. This not only gives me the perfect amount of pan inertia, it also means that my camera is perfectly dynamically balanced (much like the steadicam solo). Unfortunatly I don't have a picture of that setup but I'll try to take one the next chance I get.

I've been using a manfrotto counterweight for my pilot/dlsr setup. Its cheap, adds about 4.5lbs, and raises the CG nicely. It also provides enough clearence to allow for the battery door to open on the DSLR without having to take it off and rebalance. I mount the counterweight it to an additonal manfrotto quick release system (one for the DSLR and one for the counterweight). This further adds slightly more weight and raises the CG a little more as well. The main reason for the additional quick release system is to give me a lot of flexibility for front/back camera placement. This allows me to keep the pilots cheeseplate mounted in the same positioning for almost any camera/lens combination i'm flying. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E96618/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The vest need to be very tight and I've noticed that it helps to strap yourself in and then loosen and readjust the height of the hip pads to fit properly while pushing down on teh shoulders so that they sit flush. Hope that helps.

Part of the issue is that the pilot is a relativley lightweight rig with little inertia. The air resistance of moving quickly can push the rig off balance regardles of a slow drop time. To compensate for this I recommend getting as close to the 10lbs weight capacity as possible and extending the post.

I started on a merlin and wouldn't change a thing. The merlin taught me the basics of balancing a steadicam and it gave me real precise control. Upgrading to a full size rig is bit of a learning as far as balancing but from an operational standpoint the merlin has made me a much better operator. Now that the solo is coming out (very close to the price of the merlin) It could also be a very afforadable rig to start out on.

a 50mm lens on a Merlin is really pushing it especially for someone starting out.

The biggest tip is add as much weight as the merlin can handle. More weight = more inertia. Any preset configuartion or cookbook recipe won't replace understanding the physics of how the steadicam works.

Oh, in regards to the friction you mentioned, I believe its normal when the handle is at the 90 degree angle you showed. The merlin is not meant to be operated at such an extreme angle and could snap the handle off of the gimbal. The fact the merlin isn't toppling over at a specific angle...I can only imagine there is something getting caught at the angle. I think if you Merlin was working properly, it would topple over even at that angle since your rig is currently too top heavy.

Daniel, despite the lengthy video and verbal explanation, its hard for me to really see what exactly is going on. If you would use another camera (even your cell phone) to record a video of you holding the "balanced" merlin and showing how it falls over it would be a lot more helpfull. Even without any narration a video like that would go a much longer way in determining what could be wrong. All this being said, to me it looks like your merlin is too top heavy. Don't listen to the cookbook balancing recipes, I find them to be extremely bad habit forming and don't teach people how to properly balance the rig. Your rig should be slightly bottom heavy so that the camera wants to revert back to the upright position. Try adding more weights to the bottom in half weight increments (half weight, mid weight, half + mid weight, two middleweights, etc.) until the camera doesn't want to topple over at the angle you mentioned. If you add too many bottom weights your rig will be too bottom heavy and while it won't topple over, it will pendulum and you will have a very quick drop time.

You have good points but I it comes down to who the reel is intended for. You can't have it both ways. Either the reel is meant for someone that is looking to hire a steadicam operator in which case exposure, WB or even the composition of the shot is irrelevant, and as you say the viewer should be looking past it (good or bad.), or the reel is intended for a producer/ client that doesn't know what to look for when it comes to steadicam in which case you should be trying to wow them since you will be competing with others not on not just your steadicam skills but on your skills as a whole (editing, steadicam, camera op, etc.). If the reel is to get hired by the producer/client type then you should have steadicam shots of course but you should make those shots look as good as possible by impressive editing, stabilization and general production value. If the reel is about steadicam operation then you should use your best steadicam work wether it was shot on an Alexa or whether you were flying a brick. I'm just saying to take a marketing approach to your reel and decide what your viewers are really looking for. Know your audience and you can't go wrong.

Alan, I don't think we can Judge the OP on his general camera operating, technique and composition experience by his responses and footage. He reel isn't perfect as far as lighting, WB, etc. but its probably more due to the fact that he is just starting out with steadicam and doesn't have that much footage to work with. As far as the liar comment, I agree that you shouldn't misrepresent yourself but if all you are showing a DP is a reel of great shots then you are misrepresenting yourself. An impressive reel has more to do with your editing abilities and really good small snippets of work than actual skill as an operator. Most operators can pull off simple enough shots but the question is how many times did it take to get it right. Reels are to get your foot in the door since you need to give people something short to watch at first, however, showing full bodies of work is the most truthful way I know of to showcase your abilities. In my opinion, I would make my reel look as good as I can even if that means using post stabilization and then show the client/DP some actual examples of your work if you get that far.

Rob, your avatar makes you look like a pro so you halfway there already =) I would agreed with both of Janice's sentiments. Headroom seemed lacking at first (got better as the video went on) and slow motion is very forgiving which makes it hard to judge.

OK, I think I figured it out. The pilot does in fact get docked under the stage. The two pins on the docking bracket are there to avoid the sled from sliding off the bracket. You do have to be careful though because if you don't dock the sled far back enough on the bracket the two pins do scratch the underside of the stage as I've experienced.

Ok, I've been hearing mixed things and I just want to confirm what i've been doing. I know that most streadicam's get docked below the stage and not under the gimbal as to not damage it. When I look at the pilot and the docking bracket, the fit seems to make more sense under the gimbal (there are little pins that would scratch the area below the stage.) Please confirm I'm not damaging my gimbal by docking it below it. Thanks.

Hi Victor, I would agree with you that this forum is more about big rigs, however, I would be careful not to turn away newbie operators and people wanting to find out more information about the merlin and rigs like it. I think there is a lot they can learn about proper balance from this forum rather than getting frustrated when their merlin cookbook isn't giving them proper results. A lot of 1st time operators that start with the merlin get it balanced properly and they don't even know it's properly balanced because they don't know what it's supposed to feel like. As i'm sure you know, the first time balancing a rig can be one of the most frustrating times for an operator and could mean a short-lived steadicam career. From my experiences, the best steadicam operators start off on rigs with very little inertia...it teaches very precise and gentle operation.

As Mark mentioned most operator's here use bigger and much more expensive rigs. That being said, your flycam looks bottom heavy. You can easily see that your drop top is too fast. Add more weight to the camera or stage or take weight away from the counterweight/bottom.

I'm not in love with cookbooks because it doesnt let you understand the concepts behind balancing a steadicam. That being said, it sounds like the rig is too top heavy. You already have a lot of weights on the bottom but the xh-a1 seems like a heavy camera to be using on the merlin. If its in the cookbook though it must be possible. I wouldndo the following: Try finding the center of gravity of the camera with the battery inside (balance it on a ruler both front to back and side to side. Take the center of gravity and line it up best as possible so that it sits directly over the gimbal when the locking pins are threaded on. Its a heavy cemera so extemd the post completeley, full arc. Try 1starter and 1 full weight on the front. Add bottom weights until the camera doesnt topple over. Once you do this check your drop time. If its too short the. Start removing weights in half increments until you have a 2-3 secod drop time. Finally practice.

Does the idea of a putting a ball head on a stage make sense? I can see it being useful to achieve dynamic balance while being tilted much like a tilt head on the higher end rigs. I can also see it being useful for tilting the camera all the way back and shooting upwards. Of course every time the ball head was adjusted the tilt and possibly roll would have to be significantly rebalanced.

Have any Merlin Owners noticed a play in the post of the Merlin, specifically the area where the post folds up? When I tighten the knobs it get better but I can never full tighten it enough that it doesn't have any play. It's a problem when I have tilting shots I see a jerk in the motion. When i sent it to Tiffen they told me that it's inherent in the design. I'm wondering if this is something that is truly inherent in all Merlins or if it happened to mine over time from use.

To me, it sounds like your rig is very bottom heavy which is causing the camera to move (pendulum) when you move it quickly side to side. You can definitely get a good balance with your camera even though its light...don't give up. If you want to add additional weight so that you have more inertia, then there are plenty of options including adding a heavy baseplate, adding a microphone to the camera or adding custom weights to make the stage heavier (I velcro copper plates to my merlin stage when I'm using it with a DSLR). I wouldn't even worry about adding weights to your sled at this point though. The Merlin is meant to work with light cameras, in fact one of Garret Browns mottos is that just because you use lightweight gear doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to shoot like a professional. I think he would be very upset if you decided to buy a new camera because you couldn't get yours balances on a Merlin ;)

My best suggestion would be to watch the DVD that came with your Merlin to try to figure out how to balance it properly. Balancing light cameras can be difficult to get a good balance with a slow drop time, however, it should be pretty easy to get at least a one second drop time. If the camera is falling over and feels top heavy then increase the counterbalance weight. If your camera drop time is too shot or pendulums when you accelerate or decelerate than you need to decrease the counterbalance weight. If the camera is falling over with a bottom heavy distribution than you are close to achieving a slow drop time, however, you need to adjust the placement of your camera on the dovetail and then make micro adjustments so that when left alone the camera sits upright.

Just got my new Pilot sled and am excited to get it balanced. Coming from the Merlin, I'm especially interested in getting the most inertia possible out of the rig. Since the Merlin has a fixed gimbal I was pretty limited in how I accomplished this (essentially adding more weight was my only option.) I would also like to outfit the pilot to right under its maximum weight capacity for this reason. Here are a few related questions I have: From what I understand extending the post (tilt and roll) and spacing out the battery and monitor (pan) are two ways of achieving more inertia. Is this true? Aside from lens height and having a smaller rig, is there any benefit to not extending the post and keeping the rig smaller? Is there an ideal location for gimbal placement. I've heard people saying that having it close to the camera is better. What would be preferred, adding more counterbalance weight and having it closer to the camera or having the gimbal closer to the middle of the sled and have less counterbalance weight? Am I inertia obsessed because of how sensitive the Merlin was? Does it ever get to a point that operators don't want so much inertia or that inertia isn't even something operators need to worry about since their rigs are so heavy and the difference is barely noticeable?

Yes, that's true. I have a feeling thats what the manual is reffering too. I doubt the C300 records non standard NTSC frame rates.