About drop time

[Tomas Burian]

Will do. Thanks for all the useful tips.

[Alec Jarnagin SOC]

Damn, I'm seriously thinking the words "dynamic balance" should be barred from the Newbie forum, workshops, and all beginner lessons. It hurts people. For years, Steadicams couldn't be dynamically balanced (and the concept didn't exist yet) and many, many great shots were achieved. Seriously, you almost NEVER pan more than 45 degrees in a shot (with the sled versus your body). Don't bloody worry about these things until you're doing moves that you can only imagine now.

[Robert Starling SOC]

The book won't teach you to operate either but it's a good read.

 

Take one of Peter Abraham's workshops as soon as you can.

 

Dynamic Balance is somewhat overrated, important but not for every shot.

 

Enjoy the process, read all the archives here and the current threads. It's rare that someone asks a question that has not been asked a few times before.

 

Enjoy!

 

Robert

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Damn, I'm seriously thinking the words "dynamic balance" should be barred from the Newbie forum, workshops, and all beginner lessons. It hurts people. For years, Steadicams couldn't be dynamically balanced (and the concept didn't exist yet) and many, many great shots were achieved. Seriously, you almost NEVER pan more than 45 degrees in a shot (with the sled versus your body). Don't bloody worry about these things until you're doing moves that you can only imagine now.

 

 

I totally agree Alec. Too many people read things in the forums and then focus on them as the answer for lack of basic operating skill

[William Demeritt]

Enjoy the process, read all the archives here and the current threads. It's rare that someone asks a question that has not been asked a few times before.

 

And quick, order some Lisigav as soon as possible.

[Wolfgang Troescher]

Do you know the commercial video from steadicam? At about 6:40 it´s explained how to get dynamic balance.

 

Wolfgang

[Janice Arthur]

Damn, I'm seriously thinking the words "dynamic balance" should be barred from the Newbie forum, workshops, and all beginner lessons. It hurts people. For years, Steadicams couldn't be dynamically balanced (and the concept didn't exist yet) and many, many great shots were achieved. Seriously, you almost NEVER pan more than 45 degrees in a shot (with the sled versus your body). Don't bloody worry about these things until you're doing moves that you can only imagine now.

 

Alec

 

I've been frustrated by this whole DB thing for years w newbies and even those w some experience

 

At a workshop a few years ago a group of students could not be stopped from endlessly tweeking the rig even when I told them not to and explained that their time would be better spent just practicing. It was nuts.

 

What it also does is give people an excuse to blame the rig for their bad operating/lack of knowledge

This thing just takes bloody hard work and endless self analysis to correct the issues.

 

Ja

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Do you know the commercial video from steadicam? At about 6:40 it´s explained how to get dynamic balance.

 

Wolfgang

 

 

Except, the primer has some incorrect info in it.....

[James Davis]

Maybe any post asking about Dynamic balance should have a Pros/Cons list attached to the response:

 

Being able to dynamically balance your sled...

 

Pro's

 

Whip pans less likely to throw themselves off axis

 

Slow gentle pans less likely to go off axis..

 

You can amaze everyone on set with your ability to spin your sled round 360 degrees on the stand and look really cool....(until the 1st AD gives you a dirty look for wasting time)

 

Con's

 

Will not fix poor horizon control

 

Will not counteract bad operating

 

Will not prevent swaying/pendulum effect

 

Will not magically turn you into a great operator

 

Will not fix bad posture

 

Will not fix crappy technique

 

Will not fix a camera build that is crappy to fly (e.g. an SLR without weight plates and other gizmos to spread the load so it better mimics the size, weight and inertial mass of a larger camera)

 

etc..

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Maybe any post asking about Dynamic balance should have a Pros/Cons list attached to the response:

 

Or like Janice and Alec say and a point I wholeheartedly agree with, it just shouldn't be discussed in the newbies section period.

 

Learn to operate first and after a year or two then worry about dynamic balance

[Jerry Holway]

Damn, I'm seriously thinking the words "dynamic balance" should be barred from the Newbie forum, workshops, and all beginner lessons. It hurts people. For years, Steadicams couldn't be dynamically balanced (and the concept didn't exist yet) and many, many great shots were achieved. Seriously, you almost NEVER pan more than 45 degrees in a shot (with the sled versus your body). Don't bloody worry about these things until you're doing moves that you can only imagine now.

Alec –

 

I agree with you in so many ways, and with Janice, that there is an over-emphasis on dynamic balance, especially with some of the newbies.

 

Any aspect of operating, from two-handed technique, proper posture, etc., can be conceptually inflated to be the magic solution to good operating. Each technique or concept has its place and its relative importance to each operator, and the need to know or the ability to use the concepts and techniques changes as one gets better and better at Steadicam operating.

 

Although Garrett did wonderful shots in the first three films (Bound for Glory, Marathon Man, and Rocky), they all would have been easier to achieve or operated better if the things we know now – like the two-handed technique and dynamic balance – had been available to him. What each of us choose to use now – based on how much we all have learned – should be up to the individual operator.

 

Ignorance should never be the option.

 

Jerry

[Alec Jarnagin SOC]

Guys, in no way am I actually suggesting a ban on any subject anywhere on this forum. I was using a little good old fashion sarcasm to make a point. When I started, I was more concerned if the rig would still be level when panned 180 degrees because the gimbal was not shimmed correctly than I was about dynamic balance. It is indeed a useful concept, but as Janice points out, students are making the mistake of over thinking it. Seriously, students should be made aware of the concept, but there are other elements to Steadicam that are far more urgent to learn out of the gate.

[Ian Thomson]

As a COMPLETE newbie (and interested observer); this thread, and all the advice contained within, has been very useful.

 

too often when learning new skills - I personally have a habit of over-focussing on the smaler pieces at the expense of the bigger.

 

with a passion for new-information, and trying to be "perfect"; it's hard to remember to slow-down, and build-up the required experience.

 

So thanks to all those who come here to bring their hard-fought and weighty experience. it's great to have such a helpful community of people.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian (slowly making his way through reading the archives) Thomson

[Tomas Burian]

Attending a workshop is not an option for me so where else am I supposed to find out things you guys said other than in this forum?

If there was a website that could provide all this beginner information it would be great. Does it exist? I haven't found any.

I could easily create one but I lack the knowledge of the subject.

Still, should such site exist this forum could have a link to it somewhere so that newbies could easily find it.

Maybe that would should stop people from posting questions that annoy you guys.

[Wolfgang Troescher]

I don´t know a website which tells everything you should know as an operator. But like Stephen wrote already: Buy the Stedicam Operators Handbook and learn from it. But no book or website can replace practicing. Don´t make the mistake I made and look the whole thing too academic. Hands off the keyboard, put your vest on and practice!

 

Happy new year!

Wolfgang