Douglas John Kropla

OR, you could completely modify the lower part of the sled. Its easy, like gettin hit in the head with a hammer. Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents. Seriously though, after the modification I did it is a lot easier to get DB on my Flyer.

Hey Brian, sorry to just now hear about this. I would like to offer my services as personal watch dog. What I do is if anyone goes near your vehicle I whisper a warning, to cover any legal necessities, and then I drop a 16 ton weight on them. Usually there is enough left for ID purposes, but mostly just goo. Hope I made you laugh:)

Whoa whoa whoa, my thread has been hijacked:) Lets see where to start.... Thanks for the comments Brian, but the time for these mods was literally a few hours spread over weeks, mostly waiting for parts to arrive. The rest of that time has been spent either working or practicing. I want to spend the least amount of time balancing on set, as the good book says. I used the FLYER in its original setup for 5 months and really decided that the design was one of cost over efficiency. It was simple to build but was not an ideal design. And yes those are Cinevate rails and blocks. The monitor, it sits in a relatively good spot. If I invert the battery the post comes right up to its shortest length and the monitor and battery are well situated. As for low mode, I built a special bracket which enables the conversion in less than 3 minutes I would say, if not seconds. The new monitor bracket speeds up the conversion process. Oh I should clarify that the sled isn't any shorter back to front. Its actually maybe a little longer with those rails. Drop time, yes you are right my count was fast. I have re-balanced the sled it is now 2 seconds, maybe 2.5 giver take. My goal really is to be able to adapt to the situation. If need be I want to be comfortable with any drop time I choose, all the way to neutral as Eric has mentioned. I am very new to this and realize that drop time will change as I get more proficient at operating. To sum up, as I am 47 this year I don't think I will be jetting down to LA to shoot the next IRONMAN or Pirates movie. I know where my place is in the big scheme of things and I know that I am not going to be taking any jobs from Fred Chamberland or Francois Daignault here in Montreal. For me this is just another tool in the tool box for my mostly corporate clients. To wax nostalgically for a second, I have been wanting to do steadicam for a longtime, 20 years about. But the reality was back then I could never afford the kind of money needed to get up and running, no pun intended. Now in the last couple of years with the smaller units being more affordable and being able to carry a variety of camera' it really is a dream come true. Thanks for the feed back Brian, Eric, Erwin.

Thanks Charles. You know I tried inverting the rear battery over the weekend and sure enough I was able to shorten the post and maintain a 2 second drop time. That Jerry Holway guy sure is a smarten'. The rear batt assembly is so simple I don't know why I didn't do this in the first place. Sometimes ya just gotta sleep on it :lol:

Still at the top Jess. I am attaching pics of the way the sled looks now. As you can see, the batteries are seperated and can be moved independently for better DB. Those are carbon fiber rods. It really cuts down on balance time with this setup. Also, Jerry mentioned I should try and invert the battery at the back, and now with this setup I can.

Still at the top Jess. I am attaching pics of the way the sled looks now. As you can see, the batteries are seperated and can be moved independently for better DB. Those are carbon fiber rods. It really cuts down on balance time with this setup.

Shall we dance? Got it Chris, thanks. As for the steadicam stance with the upper body tweeked to left or right, that is the same as you would use in what is called promenade in the dance world. And as far as the rig not letting me lead, I like to think of it as gentle persuasion ;)

I am practicing this very thing. Can I assume that the more mass a rig has the easier this kind of move is? Edit addition: Chris can you explain that last tip. Are you talking about moving with your weight evenly distributed between both feet as in a foxtrot, waltz or tango move? As a former ballroom instructor if I can relate this learning with that it will really speed things up for me.

I am practicing this very thing. Can I assume that the more mass a rig has the easier this kind of move is?

Hey Andrew, you are correct about the Cinevate rails and blocks, they work really well for this kind of modification. The battery plate is one off the original FLYER, as there are two I just separated them. My reason for separating them was it made it difficult IMO to get true DB with both of them at the back The mounting for the batt at the back is the original FLYER piece. You have to remove all of that very carefully. As to how I mounted the post, it is a split collar 1" ID, but the FLYER is not quite an inch so I shimmed it. The bottom piece is 1/4" aluminium U channel with a plate added to make it a box. It would be easier to just find a box for the bottom but this was what I had lying around the house. In the end with the carbon fiber rails I have lowered the overall weight but still have strength and by using two batts I can shorten the post for a more compact system. Achieving DB is even easier now with this new modification. Almost forgot, I made the monitor bracket myself out of aluminium.

This is probably the right place for this topic. These are the latest mods I have done to my FLYER LE. What do you think?

Not a problem Mitch. It really covers the basics but you really pickup nuances in Jerry's and Ted's stance and op skills. Things unspoken but are there to be seen. Just a little of topic but is that the main STEADICAM compound somewhere in Massachusetts? More on topic now, something that the guys out there should really consider, and your wives will love you forever for, is go and take some ballroom dance lessons. I use to be an instructor many years ago and I can tell you those old moves have given me a step above an op who hasn't. I am new to STEADICAM, but when it comes to moving smoothly with a mass, sorry ladies, in front of you, I've got twenty years doing that. Right now I am worried about letting my wife try my rig, as she has as many years in dance and would probably be really good at this. Plus she has a really good eye when it comes to camera comp. Now I am worried!!!

I watch that DVD over and over again. Also my handbook is pretty dog eared now. A great read and reference. Something the books is really good for is all the reference shots from films. I have watched After Hours now a few times and many many other films they reference for shots.

Here ya go... How's that?

Hey another Pegger, we're everywhere. Anything you want to know about the mod just ask. I know that DB could be achieved with the stock FLYER but this mod really cuts down on setup time. Right now my client base is Indie stuff and of course corporate shoots. If someone asks me to fly anything like a RED or bigger, I guess i'll have to do what I can to strip it down. I think I am covered for most of the smaller HD cams like the HDX900, SONY PDW series and the like, or am I wrong about that? I've done a lot of research on weights but I could be wrong. Thanks again for the welcome. Hey Andrew, I've got two brothers that are living on Vancouver Island near Victoria. That is beautiful country out there.

Thanks Amando.

Thanks Charles. I hope I never ask the obvious. I always do a search before hand and I also love looking through the old posts, it's like time traveling. Also Charles I posted the same clip over at HBS, is that cool with you? Just to add about lurking :ph34r: , I have gotten a lot of info from here and I hope that one day I have the answer to a question.

Well the title says it all. I have been lurking here for awhile and I thought I should post something. As with any forum on the net these days I have extracted a wealth of information from here. It is truly amazing that we new guys can come here and chat with seasoned pros, or in some cases get a new one ripped, if ya know what I mean. A little bit aboot me, Yes I am Canadian eh! And from Quebec although originally I am from Winnipeg. I have been doing STEADICAM now for about a year. Started off with a homebuilt unit and when the time came I bought a FLYER LE. I bought it because I was hired to DP an indie FF and I knew my homebuilt would not cut it. So far the work has been great, a beautiful blend of art and technology. I love doing this job. The day I retire is the day I can't walk or do a DJ anymore. It seems that a lot of people have problems getting good DB with the FLYER so I thought as part of my post I would put a link to the modifications I have done to mine. Here is a short clip showing the DB now... http://www.douglasjohnkropla.com/STEADICAMDB.mov you can also see how the lower part of the sled has changed. I am going to be changing that again as soon as the carbon fiber rails arrive. As for my work I invite you to view the clip on my site that I shot for the feature film I did last year. http://www.douglasjohnkropla.com/reel1.html I want to thank Charles Papert for his encouraging words on the HBS forum and also Charles King the owner/op of HBS. Hope I am not breaking any rules with this post as I have learned so much here. Also, no workshop yet, but as soon as we get another one here in Montreal I am there.