Jonathan Parris

I really don't know why they picture RED on the LE. Unless you actually have the LE version that was specifically built for RED, it is a pain to do. I took my LE to a rental house to see what it would take to fly that camera. With the camera fully stripped down like Tiffen pictures, it is inoperable, but it does work on the LE, at least as far a weight is concerned. I did not have an HD monitor (a must with that camera), and I did not have the RED Steadicam power cable, so I could not turn the camera on. Unless you really stopped the lens down, you would also want a follow focus and a matte box, which might tip the weight scale for the LE. Even if I were to get the power and video cables to be able to fly it, I would have to run them outside the post, because they won't fit trough the hole in the top stage. Other than that, I love the LE. It has flown everything else I have thrown at it with no problem. It is well designed and very quick to balance. The extendable post has been a lifesaver when making adjustments between takes without having to put it on the stand and pull out the wrench. I have not flown the original Flyer to really make a comparison for you, but like the other guys say, it really will just depend on what kind of weight you will be flying. Many prosumer cameras are on the low end for what the LE is designed to hold, but having the option of adding weight to them will make them that much easier to fly. The more weight you can carry, the more naturally stable the rig will be.

There's all kinds of transmitters and receivers in the $100-200 price range, none of which would be considered professional. If you're just wanting something cheap that will get the job done for now, these work okay in a pinch: Terk A/V Sender and Receiver They run off of 9v (regulated) DC power. The signal is not perfect, but it's good enough to pull focus from. Again, it's not a professional solution by any means, but it does work. Anything under $500 will pretty much get you same quality. As far as I have found though, to get a set in your price range, you'll probably have to buy used. The better SD transmitters and receivers start at around $3000. Transvideo wireless video

Thanks for all the words of encouragement! It is nice to hear that this situation wasn't the norm. Hopefully that means that operating experiences can predominantly go up from here. I do have the EFP DVD and the handbook, both of which I study extensively. They have been what got me to this point, but there's just no way for them to describe every situation and how to deal with it. That is why having this forum is such a great addition to both of those sources! Thanks again!

Definitely add weight to your camera. I also have the Flyer LE and primarily shoot with a DSLR. It always had to fly at the lowest tension on the springs in the arm, and it was difficult to keep the camera level, since it is so light. I had a local machine shop fabricate a 5lb steel plate for me that I could mount under the camera, and it has made all the difference in the world. At a cost of about $40, it is so much easier to operate now and naturally more stable.

I very well could be wrong on that. The only reason I thought that was because I was using my T2i for the last shoot I was on, and when we switched it out for a 5D for one shot, I didn't have to change my cables. That's the only 5D I've ever seen or worked with though and know nothing else about them. The camera was considerably bigger than the T2i, and everyone else on set was calling it a 5D, but who knows, it could have been a 7D and I wouldn't have known a difference, since I've not seen one of those in person either.

I used Maya. I was so frustrated when I got home, it helped me to rebuild the situation in 3D so I could figure out what I could have done to make it better. To Douglas, thanks for the DVD referral. Also, I did voice my concerns to the director and his response was, "We don't have time to change anything, so just figure out a way to make it work." Five minutes later, we were rolling.

That won't work with the 5D. It uses the same cable my T2i has, which has the same plug as a mini USB. If you can figure out which two pins are for video, you should in theory be able to cut apart a cheap mini USB cable and put a BNC connector (or RCA) on the other end of it. It would cost less than cutting up one of those A/V cables and look more professional too. I've not tried this yet, but am now seriously considering it, just to make the spaghetti on top of my rig a little easier to deal with.

I have only been operating a Steadicam for a few months now, and a couple of days ago, I experienced my first day of shooting on a professional music video ($40k budget). The director had wanted me for just one shot in the whole video. They were shooting the performance section of the video that day, predominantly on RED, though they had three DSLRs to get some specific footage. I was originally told that all he wanted me to do was a rotation around the artist as he performed at a mic on a stage. Even though I'm very new to operating, I was confident in being able to make that move without a hitch. As I read on this forum consistently, things rarely go as planned, and this was no different. Mid-day, the director pulled me off to the side and said my shot was up next. He led me to the "green room" offstage, which was nothing more than a stairwell that doubled as a storage closet. The shot would start with the artist looking out the stairwell door, and lead him up to just offstage, where I would stop and the camera would pan as he passes by and goes to the mic. Seemingly straightforward, right? Well, add to that the fact that the "green room" has stacks of junk (since this is an on location shoot), there are power cables draped across the stairs to the stage, there has been no lighting done to the offstage room, so I have to run the lens wide open just to get any exposure (which of course shallows the depth of field more), my focus puller has never run wireless focus before and we have no time to set marks, there is a 4ft kino box on the opposite side of the stage that I must frame out (while on a 28mm lens), and I must also avoid getting much of the audience in the shot, since I don't need to let on that we only have 20 extras. On top of that, the director wants to continue to roll his other three cameras wandering about in the audience, and I must stay out of their shots as well. There was no time to clear a good path in to offstage room, or to light it, or to move power cables and the kino. I had to run it all as is. For the seasoned pros, I'm sure this is an easy shot. I'm not quite there yet though. The first take started off great and I made it smoothly to my stop and pan position. As soon as the artist passed by me though, he bumped my monitor and threw off the shot. The second take faired better, but I was running it Don Juan up the steps to my stopping position, and the artist moved a little to my right. Trying to hold my framing, I caught my left shoulder in the bottom corner of the shot (28mm lens, remember). That was it. The only takes production had time to get. At this point, I'm not even sure either of the shots will be used in the edit. That leaves me wondering; are seemingly unplanned, unprepared-for shots like this everyday occurrences in this career? Is there anything I can do to prepare so that shots like this can be more effective for the story and yet not slow down production with trying to make needed changes? Also, how do you prepare yourself to better understand a director's vision for a shot from start to stop when he is rushing through the walk-through and has no time to explain how the shot is supposed to feel according to this point in the story line? Below is a rendering to give a better sense of scale to the setup I was working with. The red line is the artist's path, and the operator characters represent my start and stop points.

I fly the T2i a lot on my Flyer, and assuming the lcd display is set up the same as the 7D, all of your on-screen settings will show up on the monitor as well. As far as I have found, there is no way to have both the camera lcd and the monitor showing the image at the same time. But that would seem like a welcome issue, because conserving that camera battery in any way possible is a help. The weight is an issue with me to, and I'm down to just machining a steel cage like this

It will probably be cheaper on you (and MUCH less complicated) to just power the camera off of it's own batteries. Less cables and adaptors to mess with too. I primarily use a DSLR on my rig, and have to add weight to it just to get it to reach the minimum weight requirements (I bought the rig with RED use in mind). This also means I have to run the post as short as possible, and can only use one Dionic 90 battery at a time. The one battery will last me all day running just the monitor though. My setup and low weight is less than ideal for the LE, but it still does a fantastic job. It is very quick to balance and trim, and though it is not very forgiving on the low weight end, your setup will prove to be just right for it. You are going to have a wireless follow focus, right? You're going to need it with that dof adaptor. As Brian said, a workshop is your best bet for now. You will experience how to set up a rig, and learn about what you will need to make it ideal for your needs.

I recently purchased a Flyer LE and am trying to work out the voltage step down myself. Check my post in this forum for responses on that. For the batteries, you must choose between V-Mount or Anton Bauer mount (though you get an adaptor plate to use one on the other). When you order your rig, you will pick which battery mount you want it to have on it. I run the Anton Bauer Dionic 90s on my rig. There are countless other forum posts about which battery mount people prefer. I personally like the meter built into the Dionic 90s that tells you how much time you have left on that battery. For your third question, I wonder that too. The members of this forum are more than helpful to beginners!

Thanks for the replies. Afton, I believe the RadioShack regulator would work for most of my applications. My main concern was with my inexpensive wireless video transmitter. It does not pull more than 300mA, so the 1A limit of the RS regulator would do fine for it. In the long run, a more robust regulator would be nice though. I have a portable 12v light I use for wedding receptions that pulls closer to 3A. I normally just have to carry around an extra 12v SLA battery to power it, but it would be nice to tap it off my rig as well. The only thing I have running off my rig's battery currently is the monitor, so it seems pointless to carry around all these extra batteries when there is so much Amp/hrs to spare on the rig. Vickii, the V-mount battery plate looks great, but all my batteries are Anton Bauer.

I have a few small accessories I run on my Steadicam that rely on a consistent 12v power source. When I tap power from my rig, the voltage seems to max out around 16v on a full charge, and then level off just over 14v after running around for a while. The problem is, even at 14v, I blow fuses in my accessories (thankfully they have fuses). Is there a commercially available voltage regulator that would work for making the current stay at a consistent 12v? Or is there an easy way to make one? I am proficient with electronics, but prefer not to re-invent the wheel if someone has already worked out all the bugs in their own schematic.

I am a big supporter of home built stabilizers and other video/film equipment, but there are certain things you just can't skimp on. Let me explain. Years ago, I built my first camera stabilizer, based off of a Glidecam 2000 design. Made of PVC pipe, bearings, and all kinds of metal brackets, it had a three axis gimbal, extendable post, and adjustable stage. It worked fantastic, as long as the camera was under two pounds. Since then, I have built a 300lb capacity steerable dolly, which can ride on smooth ground or standard dolly track, and included a mini jib arm. And then I built a 20ft jib with remote operated head, which could wield a 20lb camera, and yet was portable enough to travel in a tiny two seater sports car. So based on the success of the other devices, I thought it would be no problem to build a full sized camera stabilizer for a fraction of the cost of a Steadicam. I got a copy of The Steadicam Operator's Handbook, in hopes that there would be enough detail shown about the real thing that I could fabricate one for myself. Believe me, there is. In fact, I HIGHLY recommend that you get that book too. There is so much detail about how every part of the Steadicam system works, and about the varying sizes of Steadicams, the differences in design features, everything you would want to know about operation, specifics about the gimbal, the stage, the arm, the vest, and excellent photographs of everything. There is so much detail, in fact, that I began to understand WHY Steadicams cost what they do, The more I thought about it, the more I realized a number of things: 1. With me doing all the machining from scratch, it would cost me $3000 in materials alone for the quality of parts used in a Steadicam (and that doesn't include the monitor). 2. In two months from when I was going to start working on it, I had several jobs already lined up to use it on, so it had to be machined and all work properly within that time period. 3. Garrett Brown has spent decades perfecting the design of the Steadicam, working out all it's flaws, so building one myself from scratch would be like re-inventing the wheel. 4. Safety and health concerns have been addressed in real Steadicams that you won't find in knock-offs. The ability to adjust the way the arm connects to the vest so the rig is in proper balance with the operator (thus reducing undue back and leg strain) is missing from all those rigs you find on eBay. Forget operating near water without the quick release of a real Steadicam vest. You would sink like a stone if you fell in. 5. Most producers will not hire you again if bring home-made equipment on set and expect to be paid what the real Ops do. Their clients may not know the difference, but would not be happy if they did. 6. On that same note, not using industry standard equipment also makes you look like you are not serious about the job. Another reason not to be re-hired. 7. After investing $3000+ in building a rig, it still has little to no resale value if you decide to give up operating. A real Steadicam, on the other hand, tends to keep its value for many many years. 8. It is difficult to get liability insurance as an operator if the insurer finds out that you are working with something you made yourself. So, after questioning how serious I thought I was about becoming an operator, I ended up just investing in the real thing instead. I haven't regretted it yet. To answer your question bluntly though, just get that book and figure out for yourself if you really want to go the homebuilt route.