Andrew Stone

The lack of pendulum movement and the graceful lockoff was wild, regardless of rig weight.

I missed the post on Job's 360 shot that Charles referenced. Someone have a link?

Thanks Jens. Helpful info.

Just found an older thread that answered my question to a degree...

Hopefully one of the vendors at NAB will have one of these new motors on hand to demo.

Volunteerism is a big part of our family and our small Community of a few thousand. I threw my hat in the ring last year and became an elected official here. So now I am involved with most of the volunteer organizations on our island trying to move things forward in community development. Big focus being affordable housing, seniors care and having the planning in place so we can become more self-sufficient. Transportation, housing and living costs continue to go up here but incomes are not. It is going to require us to provide more for ourselves rather than rely on amenities on the Mainland.

Question about the noise level of the 2 existing digital Heden's. Do they both have about the same amount of noise when in turning lenses that aren't stiff? I know they are significantly quieter than the M-1.

Mark your solution is relatively unobtrusive. Did you use a Manfrotto bit to attach the level sensor to the PIAA bracket/collar?

Man that was amazing. Just finished watching the entire episode. TV doesn't get much better than this.

Production values on this show are remarkable. The long steadi shot is excellent with some inventive moves. You can see his fatigue showing up a bit towards the end. Just started watching the whole episode. If anyone is interested you can find it here. Kudos to Daniel and the show. Very impressed.

I forgot to mention that I used an iPad compatible car outlet to USB adapter for the mod that you had suggested to me... I couldn't figure out how to cheaply and easily get the 2 amps that I needed out of a USB port.

Thanks for explaining Alan. The power through USB mod is a good one that we can use for a number of applications.

This thread has become one of the more useful ones of late.

Simiilarly, I've been looking for the ideal handheld setup for sometime and always come back to the fixed bridgeplate idea as opposed to a baseplate where you can adjust the height to accommodate a rod mounted mattebox. Shoulder pad options available are not plentiful but there are a couple of options. I'll place links to systems that use strictly a rods based setup and ones that incorporate an ARRI dovetail plate. Unfortunately, if production isn't picking up the tab -- once you add up the bits including grips, bridgeplate, shoulderpads, rods and other adapter bits, battery hanger and maybe a riser -- you are generally into it for 2 grand and possibly/probably more unless you own a bunch of the bits already.

Most here would know about the Element Technica stuff, so here are a couple of other solutions to consider.

Simple Baseplate:

http://www.innocinema.com/product_info.php?products_id=109

Baseplates and shoulder rig system bits & pieces that relies largely on an ARRI dovetail as the basis of the system. (site is not well organized you have to dig a lot):

http://allstar-cine.myweb.hinet.net/html/red_accessories/A_Mr.htm

Shoulder pad that is close to the rods but it is a 15mm block (not studio spacing):

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/770008-REG/Genus_GL_GCSM_HDPADK_GCSM_HDPADK_Heavy_Duty_Shoulder.html

Some stuff at the Baer-Bel & Cam-Tec sites may be of use as well:

http://www.baer-bel.de/Product%20Highlights.html

http://shop.strato.de/epages/61417979.sf/en_US/?ObjectPath=/Shops/61417979/Categories/Dovetails

Excellent Job by the Digital Cinema Society on that interview...

 

Osvaldo Silvera

Yes excellent job and thanks to DCS.

For those that haven't clicked through the posted links, Chris did a fabulous run through the vest explaining the physiology. Quite impressed. Here's a link to the page that contains the interview... scroll down a bit. Fourth vendor down on the page:

http://www.digitalcinemasociety.org/content.php?page=NAB%202012

The Marshall one works well on a sensitivity of "10". One big problem... the USB connector is on the side of the monitor: the worst possible place for operating.

That is a really odd judder but there is a obvious consistency to it that leads me to believe it is not anything loose on the rig.

I would check your video app's sequence settings and try encoding to another video service like vimeo to see if you get the same result. I've seen this kind of thing before with 24 frame footage going to online video.

hey im gonna try this workshop and want to know how long the courses takes for $2600.00 (US)

is it 6 day or long ?

Starts on the Sunday afternoon when you arrive and ends early afternoon on Friday from what I recall. Training is top notch and you are well fed. Well worth it if you are serious about Steadicam. It will pay dividends regardless of whether or not you pursue it as a career in the film biz or not.

Steadicam is not something you should enter into casually due to it's complex nature and the expense involved with gear to be a proper Operator.

Further to what Janice has laid out, pick up a copy of the "Steadicam Operators Handbook" by Holway and Hayball, also if your Pilot did not come with the TIFFEN EFP video DVD, then you should phone up or go to the TIFFEN website and order yourself up a copy of the DVD. They do also offer a two day course designed for Pilot users that is offered up in various parts of the world.

This unit looks promising William. I just checked the power consumption. They rate the "Peerless HDS100 HD" at 2 amps on 12 volts. People looking for 12 volt regulators will have to watch out. Many of the ones available are rated to 1 amp with cautionary notes about over driving them.

Thanks for posting this.

The F3, as Mark states, gets well within the Zephyr range. With a typical lens -- prime or zoom in the 17-50mm range with rods w accessories, baseplate, mattebox will get you into the 14 to 17 pound range. Adding a single motor with increase your payload 1 to 2 pounds depending on your wireless FF system. A full system with motors and wireless transmission with be north of 17 pounds.

William have you opted to not go with your homebrew solution?

Rusty,

The Marshall 651STX ticks most of your checkboxes but it doesn't do image flip and there is no yoke for it. The electronic level is an add-on and you have to fabricate a device to protect the USB connection as one knock into a doorframe would probably damage it. The framelines are preset but there are quite a few to choose from.

There is a used Nebtek Solar on the site right now that you should definitely look at. Check the weight though. Should be OK. The Marshall once you kit it out will be well into the $2,000s. Someone mentioned that Marshall did a software mod to the 651STX where if you turned the monitor 180 degrees the image would flip. I haven't seen or heard this verified.

-Andrew

Keep us posted Jess!

Attending a workshop is not an option for me...

If there was a website that could provide all this beginner information it would be great. Does it exist?

Tomas, your profile says you live in Sweden. There are courses taught across Europe each year. Some in England as well. You have been given access to the Steadicam world on the cheap through a Pilot rig. To think that because you spent a couple of thousand Euros on a rig that you will have cheap and easy access to that which makes up the Steadicam world is a false logic. That goes for both training and gear.

This is the best website for both beginners and seasoned Steadicam Operators. Like any forum you have to look around.

You should expect it to take around six months of studying and absorbing the material in the archives here before your practice and learning begins to show appreciable progress. For starts, get the EFP video from TIFFEN and the Steadicam handbook. Take at least the 2 day course that TIFFEN offers; the week long course is better.

Apologize for the confusion... I see the link in the post before yours Mark and it works.

Mark your link is broken.

Happy Birthday Amando! Have a good one.

Hi Ed,

Best to give Marshall Monitors a call directly. I would suggest to try and get through to a technical person rather than sales.

Let us know what you find out. I have been looking to see if there is a firmware upgrade for the 651STX. Last time I called I went to a marketing person which went nowhere. I have looked high and low on both their websites and found nadda as far as firmware goes.

Good luck.

-Andrew

But Filmtools sells it for around $2500. It's a lot for a monitor that isn't daylight viewable in my opinion.

Someone mentioned a few months ago that recently Marshall did a quiet upgrade to the 651STX and it automatically images flips when you turn it upside down. That monitor retails for $1800 with a battery mount and is, of course, daylight viewable. Having said that, I haven't had the image flip feature confirmed by anyone other than an observation from one poster here.