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3D Steadicam


Pedro Guimaraes SOC

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posted on another thread....wanted to add to this post.....

 

very cool single camera 3D solution....using a Phantom 65.

 

article and cool behind the scenes video...

 

http://blog.abelcine.com/tag/video/

 

more info on how it works here

 

http://www.stereokino.ru/3dsingle_en.htm

 

Phantom_65_3D_color.jpg

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New Atom/ Epic pics from another project shot this last week.....

 

during prep at HD camera rentals I tested primes on my steadicam......on my segway.....then rode over to show off a few blocks away at the ET offices

(see link click here )

 

With short primes

 

IMG_3988.jpg

 

and low mode with longer angeniuex rouge zooms....

 

IMG_3995.jpg

 

IMG_3992.jpg

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Let's say you're using a P+S Freestyle rig with 2 Epics. The total sled weight comes out to around 85 pounds. About 5 pounds beyond the highest capacity Arm. I understand there are heavier 3D rigs out there. How do people manage these beyond the weight capacity of the Pro or the G70 arms??? Not that I would ever want to try this, but just wondering.

 

Also, back to the inevitable discussion about rates. I and other steadicam colleaugues of mine are charging much higher rates for flying 3D and rightfully so. I believe the same should apply for handheld 3D operating. If any precedents are to be set, this should be one of the most important.

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Yea Nick I agree on the Rates having to be raised. Come on guys these rigs are stupid to destroy your body. They are heavy heavy rigs. We need to charge more for productions wanting us to fly these beasts! I've done a bit of 3D work and it is way more strenuous on your body and your gear.

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I recently did a music concert in 3d. The P+S rig and 2 Sony HD-C P1's. Also a backpack with 2 D-Cam wireless transmitters. The concert took 3 hourst strait, and we did it for 2 night. I cant say i liked it, its a beast, and fir 3 hours strait its really to heavy imo.

 

I hated that rig, Everytime side by side went, it trew my horizon off. It was balance'd ok, but like you already mentioned, lower cam has a different weight as the top cam.

 

Anyway, this tread helped a lot. I just hope i dont have to do it much more ;-)

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Yea Nick I agree on the Rates having to be raised. Come on guys these rigs are stupid to destroy your body. They are heavy heavy rigs. We need to charge more for productions wanting us to fly these beasts! I've done a bit of 3D work and it is way more strenuous on your body and your gear.

 

Absolutely, hold onto your higher rates. I do.

 

Recently got a call and turned it down, producer said he had a local op. (canada) that would do it for less (way less) I told him good luck.

 

No thanks.

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Element Technica has just released a new optional part for the Atom rig.

 

href="http://www.technica3d.com

 

Also posted on my blog.... steadi3d.com

 

IMG_3676-597x800.jpg

 

It allows you on a crane or jib to slide the rig further back and this reduces the amount of counterweight needed since it moves the CG closer to the mounting point.

 

Here is a side by side comparison of the "standard" sharkfin and the new"steadi/jib" sharkfin.

 

IMG_3676-597x800.jpg

 

As you might see below what they did was remove a significant amount of material to allow this movement. Now admittedly there might be a slight reduction in stiffness but this is only intended for use on a steadicam or jib/crane. So this is less of a concern. The benefits here outweigh the cons.

 

You see them here bolted on the Atom rig. On one side I mounted the standard and on the other the new one. You can clearly see the difference in this picture.

 

IMG_3678-597x800.jpg

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on top of each other

 

IMG_3679-597x800.jpg

 

I now wanted to test the improvement on my steadicam.

 

First I wanted to show how we used to have to mount the rig on the sled. We had to add height to enable us to move the rig back. So we used to mount a dovetail to the steadicam dovetail, then mount a hybrid to the rig and slid the rig onto the dovetail. The hybrid also provided a place to mount the rods for either the balance compensator or a counterweight battery.

 

As you can see in the picture below, the total "stack height" necessary made it so that the distance from your gimbal to the CG of the rig increased. This makes the steadicam more "top heavy" thus making you have to extend your post and making for a long rig. This of course can present many problems to the operator. The batteries being so much closer to the ground can inhibit you moving over objects, going over stairs and makes operating on a segway much harder as the batteries are now banging into your tire.

 

You can see the stack height illustrated by the yellow line.......also note the position of the rig over the post illustrated by the red line.

 

IMG_3680-597x800.jpg

 

Now with the NEW sharkfin, you can drastically reduce your stack height while maintain the same forward position over the post. Notice the dovetail is gone and the hybrid (I now run the rods of my steadicam dovetail.)

 

Notice we lost close to 2" in height and distance from the gimbal! This means a shorter post.

 

IMG_3682-597x800.jpg

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So here is a closeup of the final configuration.

 

You can see you have the rig pushed up all the way against the stage and the stack height is minimal. In addition you are as far back with the rig as you were before but now you lost around 2" of height.

 

IMG_3683-700x522.jpg

 

So does this equate to a massive improvement? NO.

 

But with steadicam....small improvements add up quick. As an operator I welcome the improvement.

 

More testing and set pictures to come.....

 

quick video of the finished setup.

 

on youtube

 

or vimeo

 

http://vimeo.com/25526804

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In my opinion conventional operating with the 3D rigs is fine. I see it more and more now that when it comes to Steadicam people are shooting 2D to convert it and everything else with the 3D conventional rigs. Unless it is the paradise small rig then it's ok. I know there is a huge debate on converting 2D to 3D but the conversion companies are getting way better. I vote for this style. I don't mind the 3D rig on dollies or techno crane. It's easier to just Steadi 2D though. Make the shot look good and not fight these "lite" rigs with cables yadda yadda.

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Damn I really needed this for the feature I did in Russia. I couldn't get the rig balanced well at all. Whip pans, forget about it!!

I have to work with the P=S freestyle rig again for 2 days, feature, with epics. Like you mentioned, whip pans. There is no way to dynamic balance the rig is there? So little gimbal clearance, how could you check it?

 

Then there is still that side by side balance thing. ........

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