Kevin Stiller

Through proper connections, I had landed the opportunity to briefly operate on a film being made in Pittsburgh, PA. What's so unique about the film, is that it is being documented for a new TV series. The series is about two new age directors making a film with an identical script. As a first big gig for me, it was quite an experience to have the pressure of not only getting the shots just right, but also trying my best to not think about being filmed as well! Overall, the experience was unparalleled. There are shots I am very proud of, and shots I wish I could've had more takes of. As a student, I could not have asked for a neater first time "big gig" experience. The pressure of getting the shot right, and also presenting myself on television was surely a way to desensitize me to the stress associated with a role of intense responsibility. I did catch myself quite a few times with bad posture - gah! :rolleyes: - Kevin

Klaus, Thanks for your input. As I'm still fairly new to steadicam, could you elaborate more about the voltage?

Hello all, I am looking to finally purchase the decimator, as an upcoming project is going to necessitate one. (Shooting on the epic, and I only have an SD monitor for now). I am not 100% sure how the decimator works exactly, so I wanted to make sure I asked the right questions before jumping in. 1. How does the unit receive power? 2. Should I purchase the decimator 2, or try to find a used model 1? 3. What is the standard way of mounting the decimator to the rig - just velcro? 4. Is it simply BNC to BNC? 5. Are there other devices I may want to consider that perform the same functions? (I have heard the black magic updowncross is an alternative) Thank you all! - Kevin

Woohoo Emily! I worked for Ikan over the summer and used the AB charger a lot. The portability is nice. Sturdy too Good luck with your new rig. I still love my Flyer LE I got from Adam :D

I meant the wiring, haha. I should have been more specific.

Hi James, Would you mind posting pictures of the way you have rigged your new monitor to the Flyer? I am considering doing the same and would like to see an example of one that has been done successfully. Thank you!

It's the mini. Which doesn't weigh much, but it requires d-tap, so we had to throw an anton on the rig for it, which added somewhere between 2-4 lbs to the build. My rough estimate was that the rig at the top weighed somewhere between 14-17 pounds, which didn't include my counterweight on the sled and the rig itself - the source of my concern.

Thanks Brett. Will be flying tomorrow and the day after. While I'm still a student and may not be able to afford the cable off the bat, having Terry's contact info sounds like it will surely be of great use when need be. I will be putting the kipro on the sled and running a BNC, so that will save me a few precious pounds. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure if the set-up was indeed over 20 lbs, but my intuition told me if it wasn't, it was very very close - so I was just taking precaution. I'm so glad I came to the forums for advice. Really, thank you all that have contributed.

I wasn't aware it was that simple to tell. That is helpful knowledge. I'm a rather small guy, so weight on my steadicam is the only thing I have to worry about for now :P

Wow. I will definitely be contacting Terry about the multitap. Sounds like it will be of much help down the road.

Hey Victor, I have a Flyer-LE In terms of how the arm handles the weight, I was actually wondering how I would be able to recognize if the arm is under too much strain. I have heard that people say "you can feel it". I am just trying to be pre-cautious. I have never flown this much weight on my rig before. My stage has a 3 pin lemo connector. I haven't had the chance to use it yet, actually. Those dtap extensions are fantastic! I feel silly for not searching for these earlier! Looks like I have a solution now. :D

Tilman, Different gear would certainly help, but I'm afraid it's not interchangeable in this scenario. :(

Brian, Thanks for the reply. I was actually searching for a d-tap to lemo online, but couldn't find any that were long enough to reach from sled to camera for the Bartech (all I could find was 2 feet). Do you know how I could go about obtaining one? If I can find one, I could then ideally mount the kipro to the sled and run the SDIs and D tap up to camera! I hadn't thought of that! I haven't been able to weigh the build unfortunately, but it did 'feel' heavier than 20 pounds. I should add a scale to my kit.

Also - forgot to mention that I do not have the proper wire to power the F3 via my steadicam's 3 pin lemo.

Hi all. I will be on a gig this weekend that requires a bit of a heavy build. My current rig can only support 20 pounds, so Im trying to arrive at a solution. Haven't had much luck so far. The rig is a Sony F3, bartech, Sony 35 T2.0, kipro (here's where it gets tricky), and the AB that powers the kipro. Production wants the kipro for uncompressed video, but the kipro and battery pushes my weight envelope and makes me nervous. Production has said if they need to sacrifice uncompressed, they will, however, then I am left without a way to D-tap the bartech receiver. Any ideas? Thanks! Kevin