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Alexa "surround view" bug


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Hi!

 

I posted this also to an ARRI digital forum.

I think it is very important for steadicam operating too.

 

 

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Hi!

 

So after 2 months on A cam / steadicam operating a feature film, I have few things to say:

 

1) It is a marvellous camera to work with! And the image quality (I'm not a pixelhunter) is truly astonishing. Especially the lattitude. It is finally like working with film stock.

The power system is genius! For changing the battery you don't even need to shot down, even though if you do, it only takes about 20 seconds to reboot.

But you can't make on omlet without braking any eggs so..

 

2) There's is one bug I found. Don't know, if it is unique to this particular camera or a general bug, but it concerns the "surround view" mode.

As most of you understand, it works in (at least) two actions: first it makes the image smaller on the monitor or viewfinder to bring more surround areas in to the view area, and then it changes the standard framelines to a "Surround" framelines, thus making them smaller too so they would be correct according to the image.

But now sometimes one or the other hasn't changed which means, that it has changed the frame lines but hasn't changed the image size, which means that now I would be framing incorrectly, as 10% of the footage I'm ignoring and letting the mic's and lights hang in, will be actually in the frame!

Then after cycling off/on the "surround view" in the option menu, it goes back to normal.

And I've noticed that it happens sometimes few times a week, and sometimes even few times a day.

 

We first discovered it, when I was framing by a viewfinder for a mid-close up and, then the DP from the other side of the camera was watching the onboard monitor, kept changing the framing, and after we were tilting up and down few times, I walked around the camera and noticed, that the framelines on the onboard monitor (MON OUT) are different from the ones in the viewfinder.

I don't remember anymore which one was wrong, but after taking off the "surround view" and putting it back on from the menu, made both framelines match again.

So the affect may be different for the monitor out and the viewfinder.

 

So.. as talk is small, I luckily managed to record this phenomen too, soo please watch this:

 

 

I recorded this with the IPhone, trying to pend between the viewfinder and the onboard monitor. At first as you can see, the bucket on the right side of the image, is in the "frame" on the onboard monitor, but on the viewfinder it shows that it is outside the "frame area" and within the "surround view".

And then when I change the "surround view" off from the viewfinder, it only changes the framelines, without affecting the image size, so the framing actually changes back to correct, and as I put back on the "surround view", now you can see, that the image is being resized too with the framelines for the correct framing.

 

Hope I was being clear enough.

All the best!

Ants Martin Vahur

Camera / Steadicam operator from Estonia

 

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For trivia I can add, that:

 

Steadicam Master with a 5 inch green screen monitor

Steadicam 12V to 24V converter

Master arm

Master vest

Arri bridge plate

Alexa body

Ultra prime 24mm lens

Clip on matte box

Cinetape

Bartech receiver, Heden motor

Decimator HD downconverter

Modulus 3000 transmitter

Audio wireless receiver

A small plastic toy car (about 30g) form a Kinder Surprise egg taped to the camera body by a boom operator.

Some cables and other stuff I probably forgot to add here

 

weighed about 34 kilos / 75 pounds

:)

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