joe mcnally

Thanks Chris what can I say Im speechless. I was thinking I would need to trawl through all the websites and back street machine shops for the next few months sourcing these. Did you get them with the arm or did you have yours break up too and need spares ? Well no mad rush but you know how it is the phone rings and I would like to be ready. I dont know about everyone else but I find all jobs seem to be booked at the last minute nowadays even when production have been planning the shoot for maybe a year suddenly the night before the shoot "oh we might need a Steadicam tomorrow". The ones that have failed are the link closest to ones body at the bottom. The hole in the arm that the bearing goes into is 12.68mm dia as the bearing outside diameter. It has a shouldre at 13.87mm to stop it falling through the arm hole. It is 5.51mm in length. The shaft they sit on is 6.33mm dia and 65.5mm long. There might possibly have been a washer or spacer in the system too but it is so craunched that I cannot tell. Really like to take you up on your offer can I contact you off forum and I will try to arrange courier or postage. Thanks Chris I will be sleeping a little more soundly tonight Cheers for now Dank u wel Joe McNally for all knockers of this forum keep a note of this for the next time people are putting it down. Sorry Chris I am in London UK Joe

Hello all just wondered if anybody knows where I might be able to get two or three bearings for the Flyer arm. Thanks for any leads Joe McNally

At the risk of repeating myself I have tried The Rig. Christian very kindly let me have a demo for a time when I was looking for a new kit selling my Masters. I am sure if you are serious you could contact him for a demonstration. My opinion at the time was very favourable. Beautifully made and engineered. Just happened to meet somebody selling an Ultra the same week and went for that instead otherwise I may well have bought The Rig. Joe

Hi Thomas if the pot is anything like the one on the Litepanels then maybe just use a thick rubber band. We could stick some nylon/plastic washers to the outside of the pot and the m26 gear to hole help the rubber band stay in place. Failing that maybe there is a simpler electronic solution ? Break out the wires from the pot then solder in a thin extension at the other end re soder the pot on or an other pot of same ohms. Yes it would mean a light wire to your rig but sounds a lot simpler to me. Hope this helps Joe

Well done cracking video Joe

.....down on a beach.......down to the water and into the sea Hi Ben yes the night sweats have lessened now but the therapy will have to continue for some time :D What lens were you using, long, short ? Mikkos idea sounds excellent. Who was the artist, apart from you of course ? One of my favourite beach promos is Yellow by Coldplay. Looks like a very wet and windy day but it all just works beautifully. Cheers Joe

Jump on the Eurostar to London and I can show the Baer Bel rig in action. Like all things the bottom line price is not the only story. Completely agree with Sebastians comments Try to try it out anyway even if for the future. Contact me anytime Joe

Hi Thomas Arun and Daniel and I are making good progress on the Rickshaw. Will update you tomorrow maybe it will spur us on a bit. We have the basic frame made just looking for wheels and seat now. The red one looks the best option how much is it ? What s the terrain ? How about the Magliner with pneumatics Ive used this on reasonably smooth surface not too fast but saves the legs. cheers Joe

Sorry Kevin didnt realise it was such an urgent request, anyway all the info seems to with you now hope it all went well. Got to admit the Hirose connectors are a pain in the neck to solder and very fiddly and not very robust. Best Joe

The Master rig was one of the simplest and elegant rigs I have come across. Pull it out of the box clip on the camera plug in the bnc and away you go, fantastic. Never had any problems with my green screen apart from when another operator dropped it on a marble floor, clang. It seems odd to me that that you wish to rip this thing apart when you dont seem to know the basic industry standard for hirose pinouts. What do you intend to do having torn it apart ? Intrigued Joe

Dont worry about taking a little break. It gives everyone else a chance to catch up with you. Not many shots are 15 minutes long anyway so if you can keep going that long you are OK. However to answer you question yes if everytning is not in perfect balance and fit then your body will be compensating and using extra energy to keep things in balance. You should be able to stand up reasonably straight with the rig on and it should not pull to one side or back or forward. Be sure yo are not over straining any muscles as you can do bad long term damage. try to find an operator with good gear adn see how they fit it all together for leat stress. Good luck with your project and look forward to seeing some movies. Prost joe

Oh and excuse me, whats wrong with the Tiffen Ultra style ? Absolutely brilliant. Joe

Bar Bels gimbal is pretty good too. I know I use it two or three times a week Joe

Yes I think the guidelines are great and cannot understand the ...wow. Anything that helps producer/directors understand what we are doing surely is good. Over the decades the chances of having an accident in this business is very high and little people trying to help this not happen is good by me. However as Paul says the BBC happen in my opinion to be one of the the least caring and un knowledgeable in practice about safety matters on site despite all the paperwork. Not only that but it is the law of the land in the UK to abide by safety guidelines. are there no Health guidelines in the USA or are you all indestructable super heroes ? Regards Joe McNally

Hi Ben hope youve recovered a bit. Can you persuade them to shoot on a lighter format say DSR570/450 ? If so you could use the Flyer, if it did not fall apart on you too often ! Hello Tiffen failing that get rid of the big battery on the camera. Can you power the ringlight from the 12v output of the rig ? Use a light Lion Pag on the camera or power it from a second 12/24v output on the sled Baer Bel ???? Or a second output from an Ultra rig Use an LCD monitor. take viewfinder and any bits and pieces off the Digi. Handle. Lose the camera quick release plate and screw the dovetail straight onto the camera or use the Baer Bel lightweight dovetail. Sorry for the BB plugs but they are real solutions. Use a light arm, new G40 or something. Do the new Tiffen G40 arms fall apart like the Flyer arms ? Lighting forget about it. As Lighting cameramen we tend to get a bit obsessed with correct colour temperature but believe me people watching MTV uk et al do not give a stuff and this is a good thing. Its hard to gage clients expectations. Let them grade it. Have you tried using auto tracking WB ? Mate if they arent paying for vision eng etc make a virtue of it. WK wont help you through those narrow UK doorways I am afraid. OK bottom line is, move to USA or anywhere MTV has shows with big houses. Sorry only having fun but I can see you right where the money is very soon Ben, dont sweat the small stuff, think big it does not cost any extra. Keep smiling Joe

Chaps I dont think you are quite right on some of the details. Sony 730 and 750 usually come with fitted SD output and SD SDI output so generally no external down converter required. Sony Z1 composite SD is available via a 3 pole minijack that breaks out to 3 x RCA phono leads composite video and laest and right audio. Joe McNally

Yes there is probably some European legislation that outlaws any acts that are not 100 bpm europop. I find it all a little tragic that all of the technology and European satellite link up skills go on this rubbish, yes I know its not to be taken too seriously, but there must musicians from all over Europe crying into there songbooks when they see this. Joe

yes great operating Very good Directing and Vision Mix too. I didnt watch it all, honestly, but did not see anyone in shot at all. Yes great crane work too I thought at first it was a Flycam or something. Must of been two or three cranes. I got the feeling there were two Steadicams one on front of stage that definitely and occassionally went upstage and around the back. I also thought though there maybe a second rig posssbily on a dolly in the pits ? I would be happy to learn that the on stage Steadicam was operated by two or more people over the evening if not I need to find out what drugs the single op was taking as it was very energetic and I need to buy some ! Not wanting to take anything away but having said the above the coverage was a bit repetetive but I suppose why change a winning formula ? Excellent work Joe McNally

Hi Ben yes as Robin says Tilt stage helps big time. Also with the Ultra and of course lots of other sleds, extend the post a lot that would give more inertia in the tilt axis keep it fairly neutral. We should all get used to neutral rig with the AR as surely it would need to neutral for whizzing upside down and back again ? How about gyros would they have helped ? Next time maybe get a doorway dolly to ride. Was the shot too fast to walk backward on the reverse ? Have yo decided on your arm yet ? Hoe this is a bit of help Joe

Hello just wondered if anybody had experienced a similar problem and had a fix ? My 5" Ultra green CRT works fine most of the time but occassionally loses focus. A sharp tap on the case normally cures it but I would like a longer term fix. I have opened up the case and had a careful prod around to see if anything is loose but visually all looks good. Would there be anywhere I could get a circuit diagram for this monitor ? Many thanks for any helpor advise Joe McNally

Hi Thomas you are right. I was thinking of using the Mickey combined with the Baer Bel sled we have with the titanium post that has the slot to keep most things aligned, base with batteries and topstage. Then when you add a monitor and support arm you can use the Mickey to bring the masses of the monitor into alignment as you add items you repeat the procedure. I am not an expert on dynamic balance but for most practical purposes ie flat spin and stop the Mickey gets one into a good working situation very quickly. I also have the Ultra that does not have a slot in the post just small inaccurate marks. However and again for all practical purposes I have a quick glance top to bottom and if all the components are in reasonable alignment then the sled will spin flat all day. One thing to remember is that i started many years ago with a Mod 111 sled so now most modern sleds dynamics look like witchcraft to me. Cheers Joe

Hi Thomas the 'Mickey' from Baer Bel is great for aligning the sled compoments http://www.baer-bel.de/deutsch/deutsch.html We are suppliers for this item in the UK or email Markus at Baer Bel direct Cheers Joe

Thanks Chris glad you are busy. Are there any UK TV programmes or films where I can see the AR in use ? Would be great to meet you and see the kit if you get a chance to get to London this month. I would probably be able to get 4 or 5 other operators to come along to see it too, if that is of interest. Regards Joe

Hi Chris the Alien sounds fantastic and I hope it opens up new ground in Steadicam and is a great success. However after years of cloak and dagger publicity I find it strange that you expect people to jump in and appraise the kit. Still no photos or real information anywhere I can see ? If your question is aimed at the group who had the meeting with the AR on the 30th then maybe talk to them direct, although I would like to hear their views. Seriously why is there still no pictures or information ? Will you have it in the London area anytime in the near future ? I would love to check it out. A few simple questions can you put a Sony 790/750/570 on it ? any thoughts on triax/biax type use ? Do you see any uses for the kit outside of mainstream Hollywood production. Why are you covered in paint bye the way ? Sorry for all the questions Hope you are well and keeping busy Regards Joe McNally

Just for interest Marcus at http://www.baer-bel.de/ has some exquisite camera screws 3/8s and 1/4" and any length you like. Also they are anodised to your own colour red,blue, black, gold so they dont get mixed up with other peoples kit. Doesnt matter if you lose a few though as they are very cheap contact Marcus direct or me for UK sales. Cheers joe McNally