Jerry Holway

A larger idler gear won't change the speed; the motor needs a bigger gear if it is to move more teeth per rotation.

Oliver- Welcome to the forum. 1. Perhaps the 1st challenge question should be changed to "What is the old standard projection rate in fps for 35mm film in the USA?" 2. A little instruction on the username might be helpful, as so many newcomers must be reminded to use their real names. 3. This is pretty much an all volunteer forum, so who designed what under what circumstances is irrelevant; positive suggestions and comments are always welcome.

Back to the original questions: Is that just something that you get used to? Yes, of course. We all use our own arms well. Does hitting the bottom every hurt/ruin your shot? Ever? Again, of course, but rarely. Most likely in unrehearsed situations, hard-mounted vehicle shots, where the unexpected bites you. Do any other operators share my preference resistance at the end of the boom range? Yes. Of course. Count me and Garrett in. To respond to another statement: "A feathered stop just reduces the useable boom range of the arm while in motion. It is not a feature, it's a bug!" Not so. It is designed into the G-arms as a feature. It does not restrict the boom range at all, and provides a wonderful bit of feedback that you are getting to the end of the range. You get used to this feature just like you would working with any other arm. On the G-arms specifically, the boom range is a tad bigger than some other arms (last I measured), so you get both more boom range and the cushioned end warning. Regardless: my 2 cents: I like Audi (but I don't own one and never have; so my rationale for the preference is a bit odd).

Yes. Works with any arm with a standard male socket connector.

Jens- The "clip-on" part is designed for .625 diameter rods. They should also work with 15mm (.590), but might need a layer of gaffer tape. .500 diameter rods would need a little plate (.125 thick) or more tape or hard rubber. There are two widths - one for the battery rods, and one for the monitor rods - get the latter. The weights also work alone with a 1/4-20 thread and are stackable. Jerry

There is very little that goes wrong with rigs; the Zephyr is fairly simple and straightforward, and with reasonable care, it will last for many years. There are rigs from the early eighties that are still going strong after years of hard work... Jerry

Try shaking tiltometer... and the resolution isn't good enough for us. All of the apps i've tried are either damped to average readings and/or are subject to acceleration issues. Some have .1 degree resolution, which is great for static applications, but not so god for Steadicam. But they are getting better and better. The original electronic level on the Model III (1984??) also had amazing resolution, but had nothing to dampen or eliminate acceleration, so it was kinda tough to watch. It was actually a really good indicator of going off course when trying to go straight ahead - I leaned this little fact from Larry McConkey. Jerry

What's so annoying about all this, Eric, is that you often to respond so aggressively to someone else's opinion: "You really want to stick with that answer Alfeo?" Can't you just explain what you believe and let it go without all the personal stuff? Regardless, and back to the question at hand: I suggest that anyone simply go ahead and try to control a 100ft rig (or, okay, a 5 or a 6 ft one) with a 3 send drop time and see how it feels to you, as that is all that matters. We do this exercise at every workshop when we work with superposts, and it's never a surprise that drop times must be increased to get the same feel. So many of us have tried to explain this in so many ways, but it all gets down to the feel and response of the rig, and that's a snap to test. If you don't have a superpost rig or a Merlin, then this may all be of little interest to you. But if you are particular about drop times, and want to know how others set up their rigs, then you should be comparing apples to apples and not just seconds. Be sure to compare the length of your rig to length of their rig. And get out the old stopwatch and a video and count frames - your seconds may not be his or her seconds (this amusing variable is in the archives somewhere). I don't even do the old drop test anymore; one can feel how bottom heavy the rig is when supporting it horizontally and adjusting the gimbal. Of course, I vary the length of the rig a lot, and the inertial qualities - monitor in or out - and play a lot with my bottom-heaviness (drop time) depending on the shot (lots of tilts, hard accelerations on vehicles, slow moves, etc.), so any particular number of seconds or even a standard feel is not my cup of tea. Jerry

Eric, no one is arguing that 90 degrees is not 90 degrees, or three seconds is not three seconds. Or that if you divide one by the other you get some other result. What we are all saying is that if a 3 second drop time for a normal rig is what you like (the feel, the compromise between being able to balance the rig and the pendular issues when moving about), then you will need to have a different drop time if the length of the rig changes a lot. All "droptime" is is a rough measure of that feel, which was conveniently similar, and therefore a useful way of describing that feel, when all rigs were the basically the same length. Change the length of the rig a bunch, and your "normal" droptime is no longer useful at predicting the rig's behavior.

What I meant was what I said. That a 3 second drop time with a Meriin length rig is absurdly long (it's very neutral and tough to balance), and a 3 second drop time with a very long rig is absurdly bottom-heavy (hard to tilt, and very pendular when accelerating or decelerating). To put it another way, get the same "feel" of bottom-heaviness from one radically different length rig to another, one has to change one's "normal" drop time. Anyone can prove this fact to themselves. Just Physics.

Droptime for an "average" compromise between balancing feedback (seeking vertical) and pendulum effects (when accelerating and decelerating) also depends on the length of the rig. For a short, handheld rig like a Merlin, a 1 second drop time might be in the normal range, and for a superpost rig, 4-6 seconds might be in the normal range. When all the rigs were one length (so long ago), it was easier to compare what each operator's drop time actually meant in practice, now it's a bit harder to gauge. Jerry

Alan, do mean walk AROUND the rig, or walk around WITH the rig. I wasn't sure. One more question... When practicing, I will sometimes let go of the rig at the end of a move just to see of everything is still in balance. Quite often at this point the rig will either move towards or away from me. This tells me I've lost balance at some point during the move. Are you guys still in perfect balance at the end of the move? Always in balance! otherwise it wont't fly as well or be as steady or you will have fewer choices for tweaking the frame. I suggest that you never walk around a non-moving camera; we would not do it in a shot, so it may teach you a habit that is less than useful. Conversely, always do things (practice shots or exercises) that you might do on set, and do it with the posture you would also use for normal operating. Hanging your arms by you side and moving the sled around with your hips is not how one operates.

Just remove the "stopper" - it's a bit trickier to insert and remove the arm - watch you fingers! - but it achieves much the same effect. Good tip for any arm with a "front-mount" vest. Jerry

Steve- Every mass has an effect on static and dynamic balance; how much depends on how large the mass is and its position. In practice, we only move the monitor, batteries, and camera (with all accessories, film, tape, cards, whatever attached). And we lenghten or shorten the sled. So those are the things we adjust to achieve both static and dynamic balance. When sled are designed, we use the formulas to be sure we can manipulate the masses to achieve static and dynamic balance over a wide range of choices. In the field, just fix the length and monitor position, put the camera close to the final position, and move the battery and camera for dynamic balance. Whatever else is in the sled (including the mass of the sled itself) will just take care of itself.

Same drop time for a standard length of rig. Really short rigs (like a Merlin) have very short drop times, superpost rigs have much longer drop times for the same basic effect. Drop time is a compromise between the pendulum effect and having the rig seek some balance/attitude to help you frame or keep the rig vertical. Different operators like it more neutral (less pendulum, less help from balancing); other like it more bottom heavy (more pendulum effect to correct but more vertical/framing feedback). Some of the choice seems to be what's in fashion, but there are plenty of great operators working almost neutral, and others with 2 second or less drop times at a standard length. 3 seconds is just a good place to start, but experimenting with slower and faster drop times will teach you how to operate faster. Regardless, one of the basic skills of operating is keeping the stick upright, preventing the pendular effect as one moves about. That takes some understanding and some skill (practice). No quick way around it. Jerry

Use a mirror (or a camera and a monitor) (or both!) to be sure you are standing with you back straight (vertical, with you shoulders over you hips). Set you threads so the rig floats next to you. Adjust the spar length and the should straps so that you are comfortable - very little weight on the shoulders, and with almost no torque, with the rig close to your body. The torque and weight will increase as the rig is pushed away from you. Jerry

The quick video I uploaded (in response to assertions of uselessness) had the device on my desk that was not perfectly level in all directions like a granite table, and pressing down, lifting slightly, or rotating the device all could have introduced a light (1/10th of a degree or so) error. I'll try to upload another video when I find a less deviant surface. Regardless, the key thing here is the acceleration/deceleration compensation. These are extreme in the video and the unit responds beautifully.

Ron- since the colors are software driven, I'm going to suggest a display option where only the central 4 are green, then one or two bars on each side are yellow, then the others are red. (This may aggravate DP's and director's thinking you are WAY off level when they see RED, so maybe there are more yellow pixels on each side...) Something to ponder. Jerry

Ron- to your questions and concerns: the connector is being changed, I believe to a Lemo. Knight rider is just one of the display modes, see the video I posted earlier today. I'd also love to see an alternate form factor to get the display closer to the image, and of course, eventually get it overlaid on the picture like all the old SD ones. Yes, reset is not often unless the temperature changes a lot. The sensor in the post is irrelevant with this degree of acceleration compensation. A sensor in the post is not really valuable for any spatial move, as that acceleration/deceleration will show up in the display. There are some pans where we don't move the sled much (staying in place), and a sensor in the post will work better, but the real ticket is all axis acceleration compensation, which this unit has in spades. Is it perfect? Could it be better? Your concerns and suggestions are welcome. Jerry

Geez Eric, can't you see the display is always 4.5 wide? So each full jump is .075 degrees at max resolution (i.e., 2 degrees full scale). And it is acceleration compensated amazingly well, which is the key to its usefulness. Not at all smoke and mirrors, but just plain good at an astonishing price.

Some clarity here: (This info comes from the genius behind the device). The +/- 0.25 degree specification is for absolute repeatability, over temperature, which, of course, is different from accuracy or sensor resolution and short term drift. The viewable short term resolution is limited by the bargraph. Therefore, on the +/- 2 degree setting, over 53 segments you get about .07 degrees per LED 'pixel' segment. With the pixel smoothing it's visually about half that, or .035 degrees! Of course, the sensor itself has a much higher resolution, in the order of micro degrees. Regardless, once the unit is zeroed with the zero button and at a constant temperature, the display doesn't move more than about 1 segment or +/- .035 degrees due to sensor noise induced drift. Of course, the real joy of the device is in its acceleration compensation, i.e., how it works while you are moving around. For this – for how good this unit is, I think a little video is in order. This is a prototype of the "low-grade" version. Production ones work a tad better! level quick.mov

One should take a workshop and learn how to operate first and foremost. Learn what operating a moving camera is all about, what's possible, what's been done. It should not be about the gear, especially when you are first learning how to operate. Take a workshop with lots of experienced operators teaching you, so you get the biggest possible variety of opinions and operator experiences. Then, practice. Then figure out what you need or want to buy. Visit trade shows, friends, manufacturers, etc. when you have some experience under your belt. Jerry

Wonderful bit of work and insight on the "Seduced and Abandoned" documentary project, by Ruben Sluijter. http://www.flysteadicam.com/the-little-rig-that-could/?fb_source=pubv1 Jerry

Read the dynamic balance primer, but skip the math and go directly to page 12. Your monitor is raised up somewhat with the Ultra2 so the "side drop test" is useless. Start with the camera c.g. about at the back of the gimbal sized post (about 19mm or 3/4ths of an inch) and you will be close to dynamic balance when you are in static balance. A small adjustment - moving the battery forwards or back, a few mm at a time, and re-balancing with the camera for static balance, will get you in dynamic balance quickly. http://www.steadicam-ops.com/docs/dynamicPrimer.pdf Jerry

Take a workshop first and try everything, but especially experiment with how any vest fits you. In terms of "feel," vests will be the most different. If you closed your eyes and were given a hard-mounted arm and rig to fly, I doubt if you could tell one brand or mix of brands from another. Arms and sleds all work well and are easily intermixed. BTW, at the last SOA workshop, (finished Friday), we had 7 or 8 different vests, both old and new; including modified vests, vests with custom padding, and a variety of brands and types of vests as well.