Charles Papert

John, As for me, I prefer the single riser as it weighs less, and usually use it with the riser fully extended (lowering it for low mode). However I am somewhat "undertall" so I assume that those nearer the 6' mark prefer the two riser. It is perfectly stable with the riser extended, no problem spin balancing (of course you need to make sure you have the dock aligned over a leg).

Hi Jens: Here is the page from their online catalog:. The contact tab should give you all that you need to find them, and make sure to check the prices with them as they have offered 40% off when you buy direct in the past. They do sell wheel kits also. Backstage was showing a great wheel conversion for the American stand that uses large pneumatic tires.

I've used the American stand for years and like it. The black powdercoating does rust off after a while, but the stand is cheap enough that it's more cost effective to just buy another (and if you can make it to LA, American will sell it to you for 40% off direct). I couldn't imagine using a stand without wheels (such as a C-stand) at this point. Having to lift the whole kit and kaboodle just to shift the thing a few feet is a nightmare, let alone having to finagle a sandbag as part of the deal. Erwin has been busily designing a succession of beautiful carts with Backstage that allow for mounting of the rig. Worth checking them out also.

Thanks Job, very nice of you to say. I'd LIKE to think the reason the shirts are/were popular were the logo--spent a lot of time trying to come up with a fun, brand-agnostic logo & it was fun handing the shirts out for a few years. Down to my last box at this point and I don't think I'll make more, so I guess this makes them collector's items! p.s. speaking of old school rigs, coupla shots on my reel date back far enough to have been done on a Model 3--can't say as I miss that rig too much!

I'm seeing bits from Model 1/2/3's in there plus some custom parts...someone had fun with a hacksaw at some point in the distant past.

Ex-pat Rusty Geller has a really interesting article in the current "Operating Cameraman" magazine detailing his pre-Steadicam days as an effects cameraman, jockeying the massive dual 65mm camera on "Captain Eo" and the like. Rusty, if you are checking in, great read!

Oh yeah that's right! 48 pitch focus gear. Just plain weird...! I will have to say that when the camera came out in the mid-80's, Panavision had a great graphic design going to promote it--a very cool semi-abstract poster. I bought one, and it arrived personally signed to me by Elaine herself (whose signature also appears inside the door). Still have it, it's a nice relic. There were also these great Hawaiian shirts that consisted of the same Elaine graphic printed over and over, if you looked closely. Didn't get one of those though...

I would suggest that however you build it, also include a variable clamping setup that allows you to "dial in" the amount of free movement available at a given time. Not everyone likes the frictionless feel at this pivot point, so it's good to be able to adjust it to taste. Also when doing vehicle work or other situations where the arm may not be hanging level (probably more often the case with homebuilds!), this pivot might cause more trouble than it's worth. Note that it's not a necessity for the stability of the photography (unlike the other bearings in use around the gimbal and arm) but is useful for adjusting the position of the gimbal while operating to get a better view of the monitor, etc. It may provide a little bit of improvement in isolation but it would be hard to see the difference in the final photography.

Indeed. I would probably want to copy tapes to a drive as soon as I got them. Maybe soon someone will start offering DVCPROHD files as a transfer medium--that would be perfect.

Mikko: Certainly HDV as a format is a sticky one but I still think that to go through the bother and expense of a good telecine process for possibly the last time with those film masters and not utilize the higher resolution of HD right now seems like a waste. My thought would be that within a couple of years, the whole HD thing will have settled down to some degree but it's unlikely that a, say, Sony standard HDV tape will not be easily transferable to whatever form of storage we will be using then--but an SD DV tape will always be half the resolution. As for the compression, I would be curious if HDV would have a hard time with the grain, although these folks seem to have a pretty serious grain reduction process. I wasn't a fan of what I read about HDV until I shot it, and didn't see any compression issues in my footage. I'm not denying that they can occur, however.

No Joshua, that's a great point and certainly is worth discussing--the reason I was looking at that company is that unlike many, they don't just offer DVD which has the potential longevity issues you described plus is compressed more than would be desirable for a master. Apparently many folks prefer DVD as a medium because they don't have access to anything better so all transfer houses offer this; these guys in particular also offer MiniDV, Digital 8 etc. which is less compressed, and at their Platinum level, HDV tapes which do offer a more future-proof solution with the technology available today (which is what I'm looking at). I've' got an HDV-originated project coming up so one way or another I'll be ready for that pipeline into my edit system.

Jim, coincidentally I've been looking into this also, for my parents home movies. My intention was to get them xferred to HDV to make them sort of future-proof (at least for the time being), and this was the only place I could find that is accomodating that at the present: http://www.videoconversionexperts.com/Film...DVD/default.htm

Pictures of a physical unit up, now a promised Q4 shipping date (we're pretty far into Q4 already!): http://www.chasecam.com/recorders/pdr.htm

Brad--no problem, I appreciated the effort! We didn't shoot until 3:30 p.m. hence my not being up at the "crack of--". Job, yes, this prompter doesn't involve the half-mirror concept, as those units tend to use smaller LCD's like 5.6" ones, fine for close proximity work. When 15 feet away as I generally was on this shoot, a larger screen (=larger text) becomes critical, and conveniently the shifted eyeline becomes less critical. It seems that having the eyes focused just slightly above the lens is preferable to slightly below, but at that distance it's unnoticeable anyway. As a follow-up, the prompter worked very well. It mounted off the 15mm rods from the Steadicam dovetail (I borrowed one of the Bubb plates from Erwin, which was a good choice because of the additional rigidity provided at the rods). Converting the spacing of the non-standard rods to the Arri mini-rod spec took all of the "Lego" in my kit (a record number of dogbones and little bits of rod triangulating out and back again) but once in place, the frame mounted easily and solidly and we could slide the monitor up and down to find the perfect spot above the lens. Steve Graham, the designer of this system came to the prep and was instrumental in making sure everything came together properly. He's spec'd some amazing backlighting into the display so that it is brighter and punchier than anything I'd ever seen (optomized for the black and white nature of text/background, not suitable for presenting video). The 12" monitor and bracketry weighed under 5 lbs, which is impressive considering the size. Obviously one must be prepared for the additional weight on the lens end, but I justified it by thinking of it like a beastly anamorphic--and I was aided in balance by the otherwise unfortunate and accidental circumstance of the LWII being provided with standard, non-lightweight mags.

I ended up going this route: http://www.pcprompting.com/steadi.html I'll let you guys know how it worked out.

Hey there kids, I have to find a 9" or so LCD that can mount above the lens for a 35mm shoot for tomorrow to interface with an existing prompter situation, so it needs to have video in and 12v XLR for powering through the rig. Best case scenario is some sort of clean way to mount to the top plate and/or 15mm rods with some sort of vertical adjustment possibilities. And hopefully it won't be 10 lbs...anyone got the setup or know where I can find it for rent, please call me: 323-350-8822

and Dave, in case you were thinking about sending your batt's over to my garage for a little R&R (aka the first-aid program on my Frezzi): would love to help out but alas, I've sold that charger and moved over to Anton Bauers, so I'm chocolate-bar-battery-friendly no more.

Huh huh...you said "lick".

If you end up flying it with the Panavised 16mm zoom (a Canon conversion, if I remember correctly) which was often the case when I used it, it's a bit front heavy but a long dovetail plate should take care of things. There are primes for it but I can't remember using them. It's sort of cute, like a shrunken-head version of a Platinum. God forbid you should have to conventionally operate it though, the viewing optics deliver a small, dark image compared to an SR3 or Aaton (or any modern 35mm system).

Somehow Janice was even instructing at the workshop I took back in '85...doesn't seem possible, does it Janice? As I recall, you were nervous about starting high school in the fall, getting your braces off etc...?!!

Funny stuff (especially the seat belt bit--love it). I've used "chupap" for my email address for 10 years; at this point there are folks out there who call me that rather than my name (GB himself has taken to addressing me as "Chu" in emails...) Strange how these things take on a life of their own.

Not cheating at all--you are selling your Steadicam ability and that's it. If anyone asks (and why would they?) if the shots all come from different projects, you can tell them then--but really, it shouldn't make any difference.

The sad fact is that many people who look at reels don't know how to judge the operating. Headroom and horizon are probably the two technical aspects to Steadicam that the viewer MAY be aware of (usually DP's) but beyond that, the reason that the flashy stuff (i.e. famous faces) sells is because that's an obvious indicator of someone's level of success. However, there any many great operators out in the hinterlands who rarely get the opportunity to work with well-known actors, yet they may have better chops than a pedestrian operator in LA who got the job because of their relationship with the DP. Jeff, it's interesting to hear that your reel is a single long shot, and that it continues to work for you. I had been warned against that early on so I never considered it, although thanks to the magic of DVD I can offer the the viewer the choice of watching 3 long "one'rs" as well as the standard 7 minutes of bits 'n pieces. I think more than anything it just goes to show what has been the rumbling for years; when you have enough credits on the resume, the reel is essentially secondary or even unnecessary--there's a certain hip factor in saying "I don't have a reel". In fact, the only reason I have one now is because I got Final Cut Pro when it first came out to cut my DP reel, and it seemed logical to do a Steadicam one since I had the resources. Jason, I would possibly suggest designing a series of shots that appear to be all from different projects (locations, actors, styles) as this will suggest that you have worked more extensively. Shouldn't be all that hard to come up with, especially if you are able to dial in some different looks in color correction, maybe shoot some letterbox and others full-frame etc. Also remember that the hardest shots to operate may not appear that way on-screen; whatever crazy footwork or climbing over obstacles or humping a heavy camera around that makes for great tales here on the Steadicam Forum often appear business-as-usual in a reel. By the same token, simply following characters around who are trucking around a house aimlessly may not be zippy enough either. I like to offer a variety of moves, from running to extremely slow, dolly-type shots (the examples of which on my reel have received specific feedback from DP's who have hired me, so I know they were worthwhile to include); low-mode, whip pans, stairs are all good staples to include.

Interesting screen name you have there, Stephen...

The latest version of the Mini35, the 400 (or "Oszie"), uses an oscillating ground glass rather than rotating. Thanks for the pix of the Movietube, interesting to see how it looks in real life after the CAD drawings that were up on their site for the past few years.