Peter Hoare

Hi, There are some obvious benefits of having a wireless monitor system, but since I am new to the game I would rather not have spent a fortune on buying one, so I put my electronic skills to good use and I made my own system. For simplicity, I used 2.4ghz, which is a bit of a shame as its such a common frequency the connection can be quite unreliable at times. It always works, but if theres any electronic gizmos near by, especially microwave ovens, you often get stripes on the monitor, but oh well it works well enough. The system is built into two project boxes, the transmitter is 95x120x30mm and weighs about 300g. It can be powered by a 4pin XLR plug, the other end of the cable plugs into the Lemo connector on the steadicam sled and is powered off the Vlock batteries. If I am not using it on the steadicam, I can also power it using the 2.5mm barrel connector in the top of the transmitter. I can power it with any voltage up to 35v as it has an internal voltage regulator system. Video input is via a BNC or phono plug. Whichever input plug is not being used can be used as an output for the steadicams monitor. This built in splitter system works weather the transmitter is powered or not. At the moment the receiver is mounted to a cheap £100 LCD tv that I got from maplin. It will do for the moment, its good enough for the director to read off, since im just doing low profile stuff for experience only at the moment. Heres a nice photo of the transmitter unit... Transmitter Transmitter on camera The receiver is basically the same thing. Any input from the pro's would be great, Im still unsure how to mount it down, I tend to tape or clamp it to the rails at the moment... Thanks, Pete.

Mm unlikely I think but would be great if someone could :lol:

Hi, Thanks for your input. I know full well that I will need a focus device at some point, but I am very much a novice compared to you lot. The DOP and producer know full well my situation and they hae decided against a focus device. The DOP did say this to me about focusing though: I have suggested we try the Steadicam without the SG Pro as I have found the HVX 200 to have a reasonably shallow dof when wide open but then I also believe we need a reasonable dof otherwise there is a danger that the out of focus blur and motion blur will combine to create an image that is difficult to understand. Let me know how you get on with your tests tomorrow. The only problem I have with that is the adapter will not only affect the DOF, it affects the field of view, grain and the general feel of the video so im not sure how it will mix with the other footage. Il see what happens... Thanks.

Hi, Im new to steadicam work, i have a Flyer and I am doing the workshop in may. I have just got an experience only job on the set of a microbudget film. I have told them simple shots only but they fully understand Im a complete novice and so there is no pressure. They are shooting with an SGpro 35mm adapter and when I mentioned to the producer that they would need some kind of remote follow focus there was an akward silence. They are not renting one and I dont have one (yet) so I was trying to think of a way of getting simple straight line shots without a remote follow focus. I have come up with several solutions, and Id like to know if you reckon any of them would work.... Idea 1 is to completely flood the set with light and stop the lens down as much as we can, therefore increasing the depth of field. The idea being if we keep the distance between the lens and the talent fairly consistent they wont stray out of the focal area. Idea 2 is to use the widest lens we have, which is a 28mm and keep the actors a fair distance from the lens, 6-8ft ish. at this distance I am hoping the DOF is wide enough to keep them in focus most of the time. Idea 3 is the last resort and its a bit of a bodge and would only work for head and shoulder shots. We tie a bit of string to the actor then tie the other end to my steadicam vest (probably put an elastic band in there to give it some bounce) and use that as a guide to keep the distance between the lens and the talent consistent. Any input?

They arn't both for me... One is for me and one is a friend of mine who has wanted to do a steadicam course for a long time... the eventual plan is for him to learn to use my rig and then he can dry hire it off me...

Hi, The plugs on the end of the cable looks like the standard LOMO power plugs... You can get them from RS components and its a simple job to put your own bit of wire in between....

Can I book two spaces on that course please Robin?

Hi James, I was also looking at this course but after phoning them up and asking them some questions about it it all seems like a bad idea... First off the guy didn't know who was teaching it, he said they usually hired someone at the last minuet as its hard to book people in as they are all out on jobs. I then asked him if I could get a cheaper fee as I have my own rig, but he said the price includes the hire of one of their rigs, so the total cost is about £900 + VAT. Robin at Tiffen mentioned to me that they plan to run a workshop in May which is £700+VAT and is taught by steadicam teachers, rather than just steadicam operators, so I have decided to do the tiffen course...

After trying to lug my Flyer and my camera to and from various places I decided it was worth getting some kind of wheels for them, and I found this trolley in the screwfix catalogue: http://www.screwfix.com/prods/76279/Access...-Platform-Truck Its brilliant, at £30 it dosnt cost much, but it can handle 70kg and folds down small enough to fit in the boot, and conveniently when folded is the same size as the top of the Flyer case, so it fits in really nicely with the rest of the stuff in the boot. Really useful for just about anything, let alone carting steadicam stuff about.

I also find walking slowly harder than anything else and so far I have managed to solve the problem by sliding the lower hip pad part of the vest up so that my legs moving dosn't bang into them. Its not ideal but it works, but I will defiantly try the other suggested techniques.

Just for the record, I have flown a JVC 110 on the flyer (at broadcast live :-) ) and it has auto focus. From what I could tell, it handled quite well, but the only problem with auto focus is that it assumes that what is in the centre of the screen is what you want in focus so the focus can constantly jump around all over the place. You can always close the iris down as much as you can to deepen your depth of field and hope that your subject doesn't stray out of focus...

Im working on a low budget film shot on 16mm film which is about a failed wedding videographer. He ruins a wedding by shouting STOP and trying to find a tape for his ancient VHS video camera :-D

It is 35mins long. It isnt really a video on how to use the steadicam, half of it is how to assemble the now discontinued SK, and then the rest of it is with this cowboy man with the SK walking along a line and practicing pan and tilts with a cross on the wall... Its done me fine to show me how to hold my Flyer but its not detailed enough for much else... I have already sent Robin an email so hopefuly will get the EFP dvd sorted out fairly soon. Thanks, Pete.

I had a few people wanting me to do jib shots of the outside of the church as the bride and groom came out of the church etc etc. That would have been quite disruptive...

I havn't done many weddings, but I have done a few long and crowded corporate events that would have benefitted from steadicam in some places, and not in some other places. The main problem I have is the cameras are quite bulky. I usually take three Z1s with pag-like camera op lights, which have a belt worn battery pack, and we are forever bumping into people. It might be that the kind of events we do are more crowded than a wedding, but I think a steadicam would just get in the way. it woudl be great to have the steadicam shots in the final video but moving around with it without bumping into people or tripping would be a challenge. If its a quiet wedding in a big church or big hotel then it may work out... I also have the flyer, (got it on Friday) and I will probably be using it on events like this... Depending on the size of the camera and the batteries and extra weight etc, standing for half an hour shouldn't be a problem. My camera with the lens adapter is about 5.5kg and I stood for 40mins solid with it yesterday and it felt fine. Im also told as you get more experience your muscles 'get used' to supporting the rig and you will be able to do it longer without any back aching. I am far from experienced so I will let someone else confirm that though.

I got the SK with my Flyer. Funny video, but it does help. Half of it goes through how to assemble and balance the SK, which didn't apply to me, but the rest of it was practice exercises which was quite useful....

Im using an FX1 with a 35mm adapter, total weight about 6kg, and ive had no slipping... The sled is brand new though, so I dont know if this makes a difference but il keep an eye out... Does it slip much or just a few mm?

Hi, I just picked my Flyer up from Tiffen yesterday, and I have a fairly long wait until the training course in May. I have no real experience yet, only a few hours on the Merlin+arm and vest so I was wondering if there were any good training DVDs I could buy? James Elias told me to get the EFP DVD but I cant find it for sale anywhere... Any ideas? Thanks.

Mmm this is my chosen method (so far) Mmm, classy. Im not sure I would trust those divers bags, its probably steel shot inside, which would shift about inside and screw up the balance.... Maybe a big steel shim, about half an inch thick to go between the camera and the flyers plate would work as an additional weight...

I will be getting my flyer this week hopefully, and I will be using an FX1 for practice. I was planning on adding extra weight to help simulate the larger cameras. Is this a good idea? I was going to mount the camera onto a 15mm rod support system and then attach weights to the rods with strong spring clamps or similar....

Im not experienced with the Pilot, but as far as I can tell, the Pilot is a cross between the Merlin and the Flyer. Best of both worlds, affordability of the Merlin, but the traditional sled design of the Flyer. The Pilot includes an LCD monitor, so this may be the best bet, but dont take my word for it. Im about to buy a Flyer but I only have experience with the Merlin + arm and vest so far....