Elliot Gabor Posted March 13, 2014 Report Share Posted March 13, 2014 I know people will disagree, just stating what has been working for me. Back on the topic of static balance and my gimbal...I'm afraid I will have to send it in to be repaired. I wonder how this happened and would like to avoid it happening again in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jerry Holway Posted March 14, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 Elliot- To be clear, what is shown in the video is not dynamic balance, but part of static balance. Nicely and quickly done as far as it goes, but the rig needs a camera to finish static balance - yet another test. Then we can begin to test for dynamic balance. see this link for a quick method to get everything balanced at once. http://youtu.be/H9W8bOZLM9g 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Eric Fletcher S.O.C. Posted March 15, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 Sorry but I beg to differ None of my sleds have been Dynamically balanced by the method that you advocate Jerry/Chris. They all have been Micky/90 degree drop balanced. No cameras or even top stages mounted when the Under gimbal masses were balanced. XCS Ultimate spinning "Flat" while rolled 90 degrees https://www.dropbox.com/s/zz6radtqhuu6fz0/XCS%20Ultimate%20Neutral%20DB.MOV PRO Cinelive first build, DB'd the day before in my shop with no camera mass https://www.dropbox.com/s/w09yjjiuqzixa0i/Cine%20Live%20Dynamic%20Balance.MOV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Ian Vatcher Posted March 15, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 15, 2014 Hey Surinder, I had a similar problem with my ultra sled a couple of years ago, and it turned out I had the same issue as Mark, on of my gimbal screws had backed out and the gimbal wasn't centred. Tiffen serviced the issue and I haven't had a problem with it since. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot Gabor Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 I don't get it...unless my configuration is dramatically unevenly distributed below the gimbal, I can always static balance by just adjusting where the camera sits on the stage, why would I bother with the extra step of a mickey if all I cared about was static balance. All I know is that at one point my rig fails a spin test and then after I "mickey it", the rig spins evenly. To me that has always meant dynamically balanced. The title of the video is even "dynamic level". The video you shared (while informative) takes a hot/cold approach to getting the rig balanced which feels imprecise and definitely not a quick way of achieving dynamic balance. When Chris talks about the monitor height throwing off the dynamic balance, he doesn't actually demonstrate/prove it just illustrates it. Once I get my gimbal centered I'll move my monitor very high and keep my batteries low and do another test to see if it’s really changing things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot Gabor Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 It looks like my gimbal screws also become loose and I'm assuming (hoping) that my issue is also due to the gimbal not being centered. Is there a way I can center the gimbal myself by tightening the gimbal screws or should I send it in to have it professionally done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members brett.mayfield Posted March 17, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 So this may be way off, but I was having a really hard time on a shoot recently getting my rig into static balance, much less dynamic balance. it continued to fail the 180 degree test over and over. well, after some supreme frustration i inspected every detail and noticed that i had somehow managed to slide one anton bauer battery into place, but the middle pin was not in its respective hole, somehow pressed against the plate. just the dumbest error, but it leads me to suggest just checking the stuff that you wouldnt expect (which im sure you have done). that all said and done, and now my embarrassing moment in the air, its likely what many of the previous posters have mentioned regarding your gimbal. brett. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot Gabor Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 Brett, that's a good point. It would suck to have sent it in if it was just something loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Victor Lazaro Posted March 18, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 Do the shake test to see if something rumbles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Ian Vatcher Posted March 30, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Hey Elliot, I'm not sure exactly how the pilot gimbal is laid out, but on the Ultra, you take the protective caps off of the gimbal sides and you can adjust the screws inside, the caps are bloody hard to get out. When I brought my rig to Tiffen, they took the caps out with an exacto knife and replaced them with fresh ones when the gimbal was centred. I opted to bring the rig to Tiffen to center the gimbal as it seems to be quite a tedious job, and I felt It necessary to leave it up to an experienced tech, as I wanted it to be as precise as possible and didn't trust myself. Again I'm not sure if there's an easier way with the Pilot, as I'm not familiar with that rig, but I know with the newer Ultra there is a Blue Whale tool that Tiffen sells that allows you to centre the gimbal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Ian Vatcher Posted March 30, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Here's the link to the ultra 2 manual that references gimbal cantering, hopefully it might help you somewhat. http://www.steadicam.com/images/content/U2_GimbalCentering.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliot Gabor Posted April 3, 2014 Report Share Posted April 3, 2014 Thank you. I actually reached out to Tiffen and they provided me with the below Archer 2 gimbal centering insturction manual. As previously mentioned you need #6 spanner for the pilot. www.eliecreative.com/transfer_2/Archer%202%20Gimbal%20balance.pdf I haven't had a chance to do the repair yet but it doesn't seem too complicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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