New PRO Arm Weight Range Charts

[RonBaldwin]

Jack and I have discussed the Zuess' butthole, Neptune's trident and Apollo's creed. He is sticking with the big gassy planet

[CharlesEdmond]

Hi John,

You got a nice shout out on air tonight by the host! Nice work, that was a very long shot. Can't wait to see it in person next week with the Atlas in action! I'm bringing my checkbook. Thanks again for the invite.

 

CE

[Rich Cottrell]

so Alec had said:

Everyone keeps talking about the "increased boom range." If there is one, it is very minimal. I own both arms and can't say I see a difference.

 

 

I did not hear anyone say Alec was wrong, so i was wondering what the advantage of having both Pro arms would be, when you could always just put two of the new gray cans in the original Pro arm and have a lighter arm.

[Rich Cottrell]

So i contacted Pro...

it turns out the new PRO arm does offer a little more boom range.

 

from GPI-PRO

"The boom range on the Atlas is an additional 2“ over the Titan"

[Martin Stacey]

So it turns out Pro won't sell the Titan with grey canisters. They are meant to be specifically for the Atlas. Does this mean that if you use the grey canisters on your Titan on a heavy payload and it breaks they won't cover it under warranty as it is over the 72lb chasis rating?

[Alec Jarnagin SOC]

Martin,

 

They won't sell it with any or they won't sell it with four? Also, are you sure it's not just a temporary thing because they need their current inventory for Atlas sales?????

[Martin Stacey]

The message I recieved from Michelle when I tried to order a Titan with 8 canisters including 2 grey was...

 

"We do not sell gray canisters with the Titan arm. The gray canisters are for the Atlas arm only"

 

So the question remains, does GPI not feel that the Titan is capable/warrantable under the extra load?

[Orlando Duguay]

Here is Jack's response to this issue on Facebook, I'm assuming in response to an inquiry from Alec Jarnagin:

 

Hello Alec,

 

 

Thank you very much my friend for the heads up!

 

We will get the info for the carts sorted out for you. Thanks for sending the link on the forum. We have had many meetings here at Pro about operators using the gray canisters in the Titan arm. I have decided against selling them for use in the Titan for several reasons, which I have listed below.

 

All steadicam equipment was designed from the beginning to be flown on the human body and add a totally new dynamic to film making, this was Garrets vision. Since the invention by Garret Brown, operators have pushed the edges of the technology to its limits, as they should. In today’s world, film makers strap our inventions onto anything that moves, i.e. automobile’s, ATV’s, camels, horses etc., etc. When something breaks it seems it is always the manufacturer who is held accountable; no matter what the scenario.

 

Yes, we came out at Cinegear and let operators fly 92 lbs. because it could. That doesn’t mean you should. Remember at Cinegear we said this was a onetime thing, never to be repeated. The human spine is not built to take that kind of weight over the long term, extended away from your body. We do not wish any harm to come to our customers and friends, that might very well end their career forever, just because we gave them the ability.

 

I hope that all of the operators around the world understand our decision and go out there and make GREAT films as they always have, with a 72 lb. weight limit. Yes, operators will go and borrow gray canisters from Atlas owners to use in the Titan, they do this at great risk to themselves and their equipment.

 

Our equipment has always been capable of monumental tasks, the gray canisters combined with the Titan ask too much from the operator to fly safely.

 

Please feel free to share with anyone you would like via e-mail, phone or steadicam forum.

 

Jack Bridges

President

GPI PRO SYSTEMS

 

[Jens Piotrowski SOC]

as always, fly at your own risk and fly safe...

[Alec Jarnagin SOC]

I emailed Jack after seeing this thread. In addition to answering my email, he posted his response to me on Facebook. As you can see, Orlando, has posted it here as well. Here is my response to Jack:

 

Jack,

 

Thank you for this thoughtful reply. I will confess that I was uneasy when I first heard of higher lift capacities for the Titan arm for all of the reasons you say. In fact, I have only used four black springs in my arm twice. Once was a Vistavision test for my wife. Eric Fletcher and Erwin Landau were also present (come to think of it, it was actually Erwin's arm we used) and all three of us flew this ridiculously heavy setup (the arm was maxed out and hanging a bit lower than it should). The weight was simply too much, in my opinion, to do any sustained work.

 

The other occasion I used four black springs was for the camera tests for Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby" (they shot the film in Australia but the 3D tests were done in NYC). For these tests, we tried two different 3D rigs. One of the systems maxed the arm out and the other still had a couple of turns left on it. Early builds at the prep were heavier and caused the arm to hang too low. As I showed this to the techs, they redid things and rethought stuff to shed a little bit of weight. Had I had the Gray canisters, would I have used them instead of forcing them back to the drawing board? Hard to say, but having that 72 pound limit was good for me; I'd rather blame limits on the gear than myself!

 

I will share this information on the forum.

 

Take good care my friend,

 

Alec

 

 

 

Alec Jarnagin, SOC

Steadicam/Camera Operator

917.804.6606

alec@floatingcamera.com

www.floatingcamera.com

Represented by RTA

Agent: Russell Todd

818.985.1130

 

 

On Dec 1, 2012, at 10:31 PM, Jack Bridges wrote:

 

 

Hello Alec,

 

Thank you very much my friend for the heads up!

 

We will get the info for the carts sorted out for you. Thanks for sending the link on the forum. We have had many meetings here at Pro about operators using the gray canisters in the Titan arm. I have decided against selling them for use in the Titan for several reasons, which I have listed below.

 

All steadicam equipment was designed from the beginning to be flown on the human body and add a totally new dynamic to film making, this was Garrets vision. Since the invention by Garret Brown, operators have pushed the edges of the technology to its limits, as they should. In today’s world, film makers strap our inventions onto anything that moves, i.e. automobile’s, ATV’s, camels, horses etc., etc. When something breaks it seems it is always the manufacturer who is held accountable; no matter what the scenario.

Yes, we came out at Cinegear and let operators fly 92 lbs. because it could. That doesn’t mean you should. Remember at Cinegear we said this was a onetime thing, never to be repeated. The human spine is not built to take that kind of weight over the long term, extended away from your body. We do not wish any harm to come to our customers and friends, that might very well end their career forever, just because we gave them the ability.

 

I hope that all of the operators around the world understand our decision and go out there and make GREAT films as they always have, with a 72 lb. weight limit. Yes, operators will go and borrow gray canisters from Atlas owners to use in the Titan, they do this at great risk to themselves and their equipment.

 

Our equipment has always been capable of monumental tasks, the gray canisters combined with the Titan ask too much from the operator to fly safely.

 

Please feel free to share with anyone you would like via e-mail, phone or the steadicam forum.

 

 

Jack Bridges

President

GPI PRO SYSTEMS

[Martin Stacey]

Hi Alec,

Thanks very much for all of the information. It is times like these that I really appreciate this forum as you have just saved me an expensive international phone call at 3am to get this sorted.

Please pass on my thanks to Jack also.

 

Cheers

 

Martin