Charles Papert

Off to New Orleans for a feature so no NAB this year (nor the other events). Have fun, you guys. Anyone thinking of buying any of my crap for sale, please do so in the next week or it will have to wait for the following six!

Patti Harrison makes this one: http://cameraessentials.com/steadicam_camera_rain_covers.htm

With a Techno rolling on the floor, surely a stabilized head would be in use, so that should help with the retraction judder if present. Everything I see in here makes me think Steadicam, particularly the very slight horizon wobbles when the direction changes to lateral. It's very, very good Steadicam, and maybe post-stabilized, but it "feels" like Steadicam more than crane to me.

That rig is enjoying its new life down under...

Sold. Many other goodies available...I'll be putting up a big list of cables shortly.

mmmph, old news really! http://www.steadicamforum.com/index.php?showtopic=13388&st=0&p=63757&hl=retiring&fromsearch=1entry63757 Just getting rid of the last chunk of it, it's just been sitting on the shelf.

Sale pending...that didn't take long.

Clearing out the last of my Steadicam stuff, or at least trying to. Includes: American Stand with pneumatic wheels - $300 Backstage Steadicam cart - $1000 Soft case for arm and vest - $100 PRO vehicle mount - $700 Hill brackets of many sorts of flavors TB6 Raincover - $60 AB Quad charger 2702 with expansion module $650 AB ProFormers - $100/ea Byro 3w video transmitter - $300 Monitor lemo breakout - $75 Sony Plate - $100 and much more... Visit: http://web.me.com/chupap/gearsale/splash.html

It all began when I would shudder watching my AC’s hanging the Preston up on the docking stand and having that expensive gear bang against the center post (or worse--place it on the ground. Really??!!) Plus, I yearned for a single place to put all of my immediate-need bits and pieces, the stuff that you want right at your fingertips so you can be super-efficient. I always felt that I could never get the cart quite close enough to the set. Enter: the Bobox (for “bottom box”) I started off a with a plywood base and nylon soft case design which served me for years. But I wanted more rigidity, and more storage. So I finally had this made. It ‘s designed to work exclusively with the American Steadicam stand, as pictured. I’ve had a tough time pricing this. Sure, it’s “only” wood and carpeting. But there was a ton of design and re-design and whatnot, and it’s unique. It’s one of those things that make everyday Steadicam that much easier. Like most Steadicam accessories, it’s not for everyone, but for the right person, it’s going to be perfect. asking $950 More pix and information here: http://web.me.com/chupap/gearsale/frontbox.html While you are there, plenty more goodies on sale! Click the "complete list" at the top.

Sigh--this REALLY means I'm out of Steadicam. My beloved PRO vest. Take 'er away. New: 5200. Asking: 3800

This is the lightweight setup I put together as a running rig, then it turned out to be quite the useful piece of gear as the DSLR explosion happened. For cameras up to 20 lbs or so, this rig is KILLER. Would be perfect for C300, F3, Scarlet, Epic. No compromise in performance, all the nuance of a big rig. And it’s modular, so you can upgrade bits and piece as you see fit. Sled weight as seen here (without batteries): 10 lbs. Can run a single battery for 12v and two for 12/24v. Battery plates can be removed and mounted anywhere on the rods. Monitor and rods can be extended for maximum inertia as required. PRO DBII PRO J-box, modified for HD PRO Center post (old style bayonet) Tiffen Provid gimbal, modified to 5/8” armpost Hill docking clamps (comes with GPI style dock with balance pin and gorelock front, not pictured) XCS telescoping monitor arm Nebtek Solar7 HD monitor with electronic level module MKV lower junction box, modified for HD Custom battery plates and rods Tiffen G40 arm Soft bag for arm, custom foamed Storm case for sled Asking: $18,000 More pix and information here: http://web.me.com/chupap/gearsale/nimblecam.html While you are there, plenty more goodies on sale! Click the "complete list" at the top.

Most of the Blackmagic mini-convertors have a maximum input of 12v. That's actual 12v, not 14.4, not 18. They will do exactly as Tommy noted when delivered typical 14.4 battery voltage; stop working until the voltage approaches 12v. Those of us who spent the last couple of years dealing with the Blackmagic HDMI to SDI convertor for DSLR's are more than familiar with this issue. Intil some aftermarket solutions became available, we all had to dick around with custom cable assemblies with an inline regulator--the cheap kind tended to heat up enough to scorch the fingers. Matt Petrovsky did a fantastic job for me mounting a switching regulator inside the box (and swapping out the crappy push on power connector with a 6 pin HRS) but I wouldn't chase after him to do the same...! If you want to order something off the shelf, here it is: http://www.switronix.com/products/batteries?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=91&category_id=39 Blackmagic is now making a heavy duty line of their mini convertors, and the SDI to Analog (downconverter) model is one of these. Some of them will take up to 31v, sadly the downconverter is not amongst them. I've owned a few Blackmagic boxes and while they get the job done, they are not the most rugged (again, the heavy duty versions should fare better) or well-built, and they are prone to failure. And I wouldn't expect any better service on them vs Decimator, for those that have had issues with this.

OK, this is all good information, thanks Tommy. I'll pass this on as well.

Tommy, I don't work for the company but I sell the products and I can tell you that there are plenty of people who are happy with them. That said, I've heard this complaint before (I never experienced it myself). I think there's something rig-related going on and it would be nice to get to the bottom of it. Guys, if you have experienced that issue, please chime in and indicate what rig you are using and what output you are powering from (i.e. on PRO or XCS rigs, the 4-pin power/video lemo or the 3 pin hermaphrodite power connector...on Tiffen rigs, the Hirose etc)

Hey fellas, I'm starting to feel a little awkward about this sort of self-promotion but in this day and age, it seems like everyone is out tooting their horns every five minutes so I should just get over myself, huh? Well anyway. The series I shot this past fall, "Key & Peele", premieres this Tuesday, 10:30 pm EST on Comedy Central. It's my first network series as the sole DP and it was a good one. We shot 53 sketches on location in 23 days, all with different looks--it sure wasn't easy, but we had the sense we were making good television so it was all worth it. The first episode is the pilot which I shot on the 1DMKIV. For the regular season I switched to Sony F3's with the S-log function, which worked very nicely. The "live" wraparounds we shot on five iso'd F800's. Plenty of former and present Steadicam pedigree on the show; Former Steadicam operators Chris Hood (pilot) and Denis Moran (series) operated A-camera, with Nick Franco handling B/Steadi for the series. On the "live" portions, Rob Vuona did Steadicam on the pilot and Maik Kuhne took over for the series. Unfortunately, Rob's fine work will never see the light of day as those segments in the pilot were replaced. Check it out--the critical and public reaction has so far been very positive. There are a bunch of clips on Youtube, although only a few are from the show itself, the rest done by Comedy Central's web and promo divisions. cheers all! Chas

OK guys, Ozzie's unit is on its way to being repaired. We are looking into these issues. What will be helpful is to note whether the units are blowing fuses or literally blowing up. If the cables are made properly, there should be no way that a 24v signal is getting fed into the Decimator. Ozzie tested his cable and it checked out fine. No matter how hot a single 14.4v battery is, it's not going to hit 24 volts. We need to figure out what is happening with the Steadicams that is causing this. What we are examining now is the possibility that the connector has a wider OD than the plug is expecting. If anyone who has had issues can check the provided AC adaptor against their cables to see if there is a discrepancy (2.5mm OD vs 2.1 for the AC adaptor), this will help. Hopefully the guy who went through 5 Decimators has been in touch with Perry about this. He strives to be as responsive as possible on these kind of issues. On another note: I had considered making a caddy that would screw down over one end of the Decimator that would provide a 4-pin Lemo jack with power/composite video, and a secondary fuse or breaker. Out of curiousity, how much would you guys be interested in something like this and how much (realistically) would you pay for that kind of functionality?

I think there are some interesting notions being brought up here. Certainly it is an excellent goal for all Steadicam operators to strive to achieve dolly-like (or post-stabilized-esque!) perfection as a pure technical skill, but it should be just as important to push for the more cerebral skills unique to the operating position. I think for me the most fun period of operating was when the physicality became easier in the sense that the rig sort of flew itself--I didn't have to put much thought into getting it from A to B, it just "behaved itself". At that point I could donate much more of my attention to the really cool stuff, like how to best tell the story while carving through space in the most interesting fashion. While "auto-stabilizing" technology would indeed level the playing field from a technical standpoint, which may be quite frustrating to an experienced op who has spent many years refining his fingerwork, all of the nuances of framing and timing and lens placement will remain intact. The real fact of the matter is that a surprising percentage of the people sitting behind monitors are fairly indifferent to the subtlety of excellent vs OK Steadicam operation, at least as far as the technical nuts and bolts. I visited another DP's set a few months back and watched a shot unfold that had all of the tell-tale issues: horizon consistently off in one direction, footsteps visible in the shot, overcontrolled gimbal hand resulting in choppiness to the shot. I asked, "is this a rehearsal?" hoping that the operator was saving it for the takes. The DP looked at me quizzically and said "no, it's probably the keeper take. Why, is something wrong with it?" I shook my head and smiled cheerfully. Kinda bizarre. Anyway; I would support the view that even with perfectly level frames right out of the box thanks to emerging technology, there's still plenty of room for a great operator to shine over a merely OK one (and still have fun at his job). The real question is how much of the rig will remain relevant at that point. I'm not positive but it seems like digital stabilization does better with angular issues over spatial ones, so it seems like there will be room for a rig that perches on the end of a arm for a while to come. The rig itself may start to evolve into a different form, perhaps.

Here's one thing we can all agree on: real-time processing will continue to get faster. Post-stabilization takes a while to render right now, but eventually it could approach on-the-fly speeds, and then it can be built into cameras. We'll likely see it on the consumer/prosumer cameras first, which will take out the smaller Steadicam rigs from contention (that's a group of people who it will serve well, because generally they don't like spending the money and shlepping additional gear, and in particular having to take time to learn skills). As the resolution of cameras continue to climb, it leaves room for the inevitable blowup without image loss. Hate to say it, but I think the days of Steadicam being replaced by the "little black box with a blinking light" that Garrett foresaw from the beginning is probably inevitable. Not tomorrow or next week, but at some point. I'm not generally much for making predictions, but after what the last ten years has brought in technological change (HD overcoming film) and the increased push from manufacturers to bring out new cameras one on top of the other, it feels like the environment where this sort of thing will be tackled sooner rather than later. But I'll again point out that with Steadicam rates approaching scale and now the rentals dropping inexorably each year, by the time this all happens it may cost production so little extra to have Steadicam on set that it may not be as relevant. It's an interesting convergence of lines on a graph. Another interesting one is that while Steadicam becomes more standardized as a skill, will new operators feel motivated to spend the money and take the time to learn the gear with so relatively little reward (or timely payback)?

There's a sure but steady erosion in production budgets, and everything is coming down to economics to a degree that is truly shocking (I just had a fierce and bloody argument with a line producer over a $30 rental item of mine intended for a shot that was cancelled because the actor didn't show up, and they don't want to pay for it. Thirty. Friggin' dollars. What???!) If it becomes possible (and it already is) to post-stabilize a handheld shot to the point where it replicates Steadicam for the most part, and said process can be done in-house by the editorial department for "free"--once producers get wind of it, there will be a definite push to eliminate the line item of Steadicam. Certainly there are issues right now with warping and distortion, but that may actually be less distracting than a poorly operated Steadicam shot--and there's not shortage of those around... Ironically, the fact that said line item has been ever-diminishing may just be the factor that prolongs the life of the Noble Instrument...talk about a silver lining!

Ozzie (and others who have experienced): There is a fusible link inside the Decimator. Contact Perry at TECADS (tecads.com) who is the US distributor, he will take care of getting you an RMA. While you are at it, describe your situation to him and see if he has any ideas. Chas

Ron Baldwin operated for me in cold weather once and was rocking these. I thought it odd at the time but at least they matched his leggings.

We had the Boxx (with outboard patch antenna setup) on Steadicam for a recent 5 camera shoot. The camera was roaming around the house, all over a 400 seat theater. We weren't recording off the unit, it was iso on each camera, but for viewing purposes the image was flawless. At one point I leaned over to the engineer and reminded him that camera 5 was wireless. "Holy s**t, I totally forgot" was his response. 'Nuff said.

Funny, I was thinking that Brown and Dana trivia would be a good bet. Maybe there should be a super-secret inner circle here that would require a top-level trivia question that wouldn't show up on Google, such as the name of the rhinoceros that charged Garrett during the filming of "Altered States"...?!?

Competition arriving soon; the announced Arri/Fujinon Alura 15.5-45 and 30-80. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=alura%20zoom&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDoQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.arri.com%2F%3FeID%3Dregistration%26file_uid%3D8022&ei=-o0IT4v6Mc3UiALRm-iHCQ&usg=AFQjCNE0PaNUaB0apMYvC9uww_pgdu1-cg&sig2=dDzbq_IDtz6tXj6cIOZEQQ I'm loving my studio Aluras and plan to add these as a matched set.

I'm guessing they are still on six-month back order...?