Jump to content

A Reminder to Shake Your Rig


Twojay Dhillon

Recommended Posts

  • Premium Members

I haven't run into this problem for quite some time, but thought it would be a great tidbit of advice for those with less time in the saddle:

 

A few days ago I was shooting on an Alexa setup (anamorphics, Alexa Plus, focus & iris motor, mattebox, eyebrow, Canatrans, onboard Anton Bauer HCX) and ran into what may have been a really frustrating problem had I not remembered what a veteran op had taught me a while back: "...if you're having problems balancing your rig, shake it a little..."

 

While this may sound like a different take on the "Can't find it? Grind it!" ethos of the racing world, it actually has a solid, Steadicam grounding. Giving the rig a shake will let you know if there is play in either the camera itself, camera-to-lens, camera-to-stage, intra-gimbal, gimbal-to-post, or in the lower section of your rig (batts, recorders, monitor, etc.).

 

In my case, the BPA was loose and was causing the rig to rock, thereby throwing the balance off; It was extremely pronounced as I was setup in poor-man's low-mode.

 

I'm glad I shook my rig; You should shake yours. And go to Jumbo's. And vote for Pedro. And beg Mr. Fletcher for a ride in his auto-mo-beel. B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Just don't shake it more than twice...or ask Cricket about her ride in Eric's car...or what she calls it.

 

I think we should ask Cricket what you two were doing till 5am....

 

We were discussing dynamic balance...came up with some new equations too!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Just don't shake it more than twice...or ask Cricket about her ride in Eric's car...or what she calls it.

 

I think we should ask Cricket what you two were doing till 5am....

 

We were discussing dynamic balance...came up with some new equations too!

 

Did she pan flat?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Just don't shake it more than twice...or ask Cricket about her ride in Eric's car...or what she calls it.

 

I think we should ask Cricket what you two were doing till 5am....

 

We were discussing dynamic balance...came up with some new equations too!

 

Did she pan flat?

 

That is a subjective topic due to personal interpretations of vertical and horizontal vis-a-vis framing for the environment, drop-time, however may need to be confirmed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...