Ed Moore

Ouch! How do you handle focus on these 3D shoots? Two focus receivers set to the same channel as a single transmitter?

Someone just round the corner from me who was one of the first UK RED owners has got a very early reservation on this setup. When it finally arrives I'll do my best to give it an "Afton-Quality " review for you guys :)

Outstanding, thanks!

Hehe, and that's such a hard five to come by!

I hardly count as an old timer but during my first gig (whilst at university) a housemate of mine put a photo up on the Wikipedia page for Steadicam where it remains to this day... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steadicam (second photo down). Looking at it now I'm not too sure I was in DB... :)

Pleasure. Your name and Manchester are inextricably linked in my mind, thanks to Adwords :) E.

Investigate Audio Hijack Pro.

I always find the LitePanels to read a little magenta on screen, so always end up adding green. Agree with Erwin though; never found a way of mounting them I liked. Might invest in some Noga arms...

I second talking to a Polecam op - Polecam make a couple of types of waterproof heads for exactly this sort of thing. Believe they were used at the Olympics on some events. Obviously you then still need to get a smooth tracking shot for the rest of the shot, but I wonder whether it would be possible to build the Polecam as short as possible and then mount the whole thing on a steadicam arm? Was just thinking of whoever it was that managed to mount a timeslice rig on their rig... Alternatively, Polecams can be bodymounted with their own system and with wide enough lens, a short enough Polecam, a good enough operator and perhaps a wheelchair, you might get away with it.

... and back on topic: I had the chance to demo the IDX CamWave recently and wasn't terribly impressed by it - worked flawlessly inside when TX and RX were stationary but broke up quite a lot when I got the demo guy to wander around outside with the camera and transmitter. Even with both of us outside there were issues. Disclaimer: the equipment was very new to the dealer and we didn't have time to read the manual or flick through the available channels so take all this with a pinch of salt. The IDX unit has no external antenna and I see the Boxx one does, so possibly that will make a difference with the performance of that unit? With the handheld receivers much more likely to be on the move, it seems a shame that it isn't possible to build two antennas into these to give it a diversity boost in performance. Is it the case that the antennas need to be much further apart than would be practical to give a significant boost? There's nothing more painful than watching a director take random steps in a circle with his or her head buried in the monitor, trying to get decent reception...

Hey Jason, someone called a while back for a corporate in Liverpool city centre that I couldn't do, gave them your details; did anything ever happen? There was something to do with getting to a recce with extremely late notice which I could have done but then the dates were booked over something else. Ed

If it's any consolation, my first thought was "didn't realise Jon Favreau operated steadicam"...

Hi all, I'm trying and failing to get "The Government" to tell me what the laws regarding vehicle to vehicle filming are, so wondering if anyone here knows any useful tips. Now I'm assuming that on private land and roads you can do "whatever you want" obviously subject to your own production heath & safety requirements and sense of self-preservation, but what's the deal for filming on public roads? Is it legal even to pop the boot of a hatchback and film out the back on a properly-secured tripod? I see Top Gear doing this all the time, but no idea whether they have had to obtain some sort of license to do this legally or whether they get away with it "because it's Top Gear" More to the point, what about hard mounted steadicams? Are there circumstances under which it's acceptable to drive a vehicle with a hard mounted steadicam with operator (rigged securely and strapped with 5 point harnesses etc) on public roads with the potential of other traffic following behind the picture car? Many thanks for your sagely advice,

Hi all, Topic didn't appear to exactly fit anywhere else so apologies. Can anyone recommend a friendly, experienced cable maker based in the UK? I'm talking for all the little adaptors and bits that end up on the camera, whether video or power or both. I was going to get Black Box video to do a load but having phoned them earlier it appears they've finally bitten the bullet - the answerphone message said they've officially retired as of August 22nd. Cheers,

Actually, that reminds me - does anyone know the model number / manufacturer of those 15mm bars that bolt onto the standard Sony VCT-14 quick release plate? Often see them around and never remember to check. Very useful for focus motor on Digi/HDCAM jobs etc.

Agree with Stephen; there's no point - all those small camera batteries weigh practically nothing. I have a V-mount plate that lets me power the Canons (http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/public/view...mber=idx_a-e2h1) but I still use this mainly to increase weight on the top of the sled.

1) Soft case is pretty good on those but not very secure, you might want the hard case if you want to padlock. Ultimately hard case will also offer more shock protection, obviously. 2) Don't *believe* any of those cameras come with AB mount as standard, but it's up to you. If you are buying a load of batteries and charger yourself to run the rig exclusively then you can decide whatever. Generally the AB batteries are heavier and can therefore help balance heavier cameras. I find the V-mount batteries are far, far more prevalent, especially here in the UK. You can also double stack V-mounts with certain types which AFAIK isn't possible with AB. Many of the cameras you mention are so light that you will almost certainly want to power them from their own batteries rigged to them at the top of the sled, so your Steadicam battery will only be powering your monitor and the 12V output on the stage. 3) Number of batteries - one battery on the sled powers the monitor and all the 12V outputs on the sled, including the camera power on the top stage. If you have the correct cable to run from this into your camera (the steadicam should come with one to the usual XLR4 connector but think this will only fit into the Panasonic 500 of your list) then yes, just one battery powers everything. Then you just want as many batteries as you feel comfortable with so you never run out of charge. If you end up running the camera off its own battery as I said in 2) then you'll find with only the monitor being powered by the sled battery it will last for ages. That said I don't know many operators who would feel comfortable going out without at least 4 full batteries and a charger handy. 4) LCD power - the Flyer LE LCD will be happy with whatever you fit on the AB or V-lock mount. 5) Low mode - no, you don't "need" it if it's every now and then (you can just invert the entire sled, moving your gimbal to flop the CoG to the other side of it) but even for the moment ignoring the headaches and time this can cost in post, without an F-bracket on the end of the arm it can be difficult to move the rig around you in a useful manner. And if you're going to buy an F-bracket you might as well buy Tiffen's excellent and reasonably priced complete F-bracket plus low mode bracket. You can spend £££ on low mode brackets but for the cameras you're listing the Tiffen handle clamp will work an absolute treat. Take care, Ed

Scott, I guess the big factor is the price. With the IDX CamWave at UKP 3200 approx inc VAT, I will definitely be picking one up in the next few months unless yours is in the same ballpark. Cheers, Ed

For future reference... Tiffen UK supply the American Grip steadicam stand :)

Hehe, sounds promising! Will give you a buzz (on the landline not mobile... :) tomorrow morning. E

Due to some extraordinarily evil people towing our trailer in broad daylight past a whole load of clueless bystanders, we have had a load of our grip stolen, including all my stands. Does anyone UK based have any decent heavy duty stands suitable for steadicam balancing etc available for nothing / something? Happy to pay decent money, especially if the stand in question is fitted with wheels! Many thanks, Ed

Wow, I'm really dragging this one up from the depths of time, but does anyone UK based have a recommendation for a brand of quick pop-up tent or gazebo for production use? Ta.

I stand corrected. Shame, as it's criminal how much the AJA downconverter costs. In other news, I'm shooting with the 750, Digiprimes and MB-19 now and I've actually had to wind a few turns _off_ the arm compared to the RED with no mattebox. So not quite that light after all :) E

Hey Afton, Yeah the ideal solution is a second IDX plate under the post (everything I have is V-lock so I don't want to invest in AB). It's more the placement that is important, I can stack IDXs to my heart's content on the existing plate but the sled ends up too back heavy. I'll get a plate made when I have some spare cash - don't know how you guys with the endless lists of kit do it, you must have very patient bank managers / wives / girlfriends :) You're completely right about the clip-ons, of course. We only had a MB-19 on that shoot. The Blackmagic things are new and very awesome - only $500. http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/miniconverters/ Haven't yet actually seen one or confirmed a power lead can be made up to run off the sled power, but looks no less likely than the AJA one to work in that fashion. Take care, E

Thanks for all the research Afton. I know there are a lot of us a little further down the steadicam pecking order working with REDs on Archers, so thought I'd share a few pics of my most recent 'lightweight' RED setup. I mounted the steadicam plate directly to the base of the camera without any of the various accessories. Obviously this means no matte box, but I used a long bar on the top mounts to hold an M1. Combined with a Tiffen-made sled>RED power lead, the balance was very nice. http://img.skitch.com/20080724-2aq7qdbbq17ms21r16c3mb2b1.jpg As usual with the Archer, I needed some horrific gaffer tape action at the base of the post: http://img.skitch.com/20080724-q9rp6cb5ct5...w7i442ee97i.jpg (I made it a little neater than this once I was DB'd) Until I can afford one of the nice little Blackmagic downconverters, I also had to deal with the tiny viewing angle of: http://img.skitch.com/20080724-fyhqp1nrgf9...e858tyaqxb8.jpg It's one thing rigging that and thinking "gosh, this is crap" but old habits die hard - I blew the first take by automatically switching into DJ when the actor moved in a slightly different direction than rehearsals and I suddenly couldn't see picture. I'm looking forward to having the chutzpah to just brazen on in that situation monitorless and end up with takes nailed through pure Zen, but I'm a way off yet :) Onto three days with a 750 and digiprimes now, not really looking forward to the extra weight and length!