ARRI

[Jens Piotrowski SOC]

http://www.arri.de/news.html?article=1046&cHash=e7a09535af66837ce4bfb464af9e72d6

 

new hand unit and motor

[Jens Piotrowski SOC]

[Lawrence Karman]

Impressive.

[JimBartell]

Hi Jens,

 

Did they happen to mention if the 5950 Euro price was for the handset only or the handset and receiver? With some of their past units they priced/sold them separately.

 

Jim

[Kareem La Vaullee]

Did they happen to mention if the 5950 Euro price was for the handset only or the handset and receiver? With some of their past units they priced/sold them separately.

 

Jim

 

Hi Jim,

 

It's for the handset only, from what I have been told by an ARRI rep, the WCU-4 is mostly a FI+Z (and camera functions) remote designed for the ALEXA Plus and the ALEXA Studio, both cameras being equiped with the radio receiving and motors controling option.

 

There is no standalone receiver to be paired with that handset planned for now.

 

K.

[Charles Papert]

Kinda cool that they refer to the "Hill Bracket rosette" in the product literature--Jerry, you made an industry standard!!

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

There is no standalone receiver to be paired with that handset planned for now.

 

 

Not correct. There is a stand alone MDR that works with it now and an even smaller one coming with the new handset

 

I had the Arri guys on set today discussing what is planned and what should be added to wat they have planned. This is going to be a VERY cool unit

[Kareem La Vaullee]

Not correct. There is a stand alone MDR that works with it now and an even smaller one coming with the new handset

 

Well, when I asked about a MDR that would work with the WCU-4 on ARRI's booth at IBC the ARRI guy said there were none and that none were planned for now, but if You know the reference of such existing MDR and about a smaller upcoming MDR that works with it let us know, I don't work for ARRI and can only relay the replies I got to my questions from people actually working for that company.

 

The WCU-4's build quality is great and I was with two operators and friends who are in the market for a FI+Z system so we asked about the use on other cameras than the ones from ARRI with integrated radio capabilities.

We were disappointed and I didn't see why it wouldn't work with an existing or a new dedicated ARRI MDR but that is the reply I got. They were emphasizing the fact that with the WCU-4 You will be able to change settings on the ALEXA Plus/Studio like sensitivity, color balance, frame rate, etc.

 

K.

[Ben Rowsell]

Something that wasn't clear from the video is if the unit has lens mapping the same as the Preston system. Although it did have a software readout of the FIZ scales on screen, soft marks, etc, mapping as such wasn't mentioned so I suspect that that functionality is coming from the LDS lens rather than the unit itself. This means that the on screen display and the pre marked discs would only work with LDS lenses. Anyone able to confirm this?

 

It would make sense that the unit can talk to existing stand alone MDR units if it can talk to the Alexa camera bodies, as long as they are on the same wireless 'colour'.

 

The motors appear do be based on the Heden, with a few additions for mounting.

 

Ben R

1st AC

NZ

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Not correct. There is a stand alone MDR that works with it now and an even smaller one coming with the new handset

 

Well, when I asked about a MDR that would work with the WCU-4 on ARRI's booth at IBC the ARRI guy said there were none and that none were planned for now, but if You know the reference of such existing MDR and about a smaller upcoming MDR that works with it let us know, I don't work for ARRI and can only relay the replies I got to my questions from people actually working for that company.

 

The WCU-4's build quality is great and I was with two operators and friends who are in the market for a FI+Z system so we asked about the use on other cameras than the ones from ARRI with integrated radio capabilities.

We were disappointed and I didn't see why it wouldn't work with an existing or a new dedicated ARRI MDR but that is the reply I got. They were emphasizing the fact that with the WCU-4 You will be able to change settings on the ALEXA Plus/Studio like sensitivity, color balance, frame rate, etc.

 

K.

 

I don't know who you talked to but any of the white radios are compatible. including the existing UMC-3A and the forthcoming UMC-4.

 

click here to download the WCU-4's product guide You might want to read the last paragraph which clearly states "The unit is powered by an affordable camcorder battery and is compatible to existing ARRI motor controllers equipped with the white coded radio modem."

 

More info on the UMC-3A here

 

Like I said I have Product managers visiting my set during the season, we are testing gear for them all the time, I'm promised the first WCU-4 kit to test and help refine. Here's an article on the Arri Pro Cages a cage set that they literally built for me and shipped two days before we started our season

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Something that wasn't clear from the video is if the unit has lens mapping the same as the Preston system. Although it did have a software readout of the FIZ scales on screen, soft marks, etc, mapping as such wasn't mentioned so I suspect that that functionality is coming from the LDS lens rather than the unit itself. This means that the on screen display and the pre marked discs would only work with LDS lenses. Anyone able to confirm this?

 

It would make sense that the unit can talk to existing stand alone MDR units if it can talk to the Alexa camera bodies, as long as they are on the same wireless 'colour'.

 

The motors appear do be based on the Heden, with a few additions for mounting.

 

 

the lens mapping is similar to the preston system. It does differ in that you can map EVERY SINGLE FOCUS MARK ON THE LENS. It does not require smart lenses except with LDS lenses you don't have to set anything up it sweeps the lens once and bang everything is done for you.

 

As long as you are using white radios you can talk to any white radio accessory.

 

Not certain if the motors are Heden's but t I love the fact that they are backdrive compatible (meaning that even with a motor attached to lens you can roll the focus knob when your AC is in the head)

 

Overall from what I've seen it's a pretty damn cool system

[Mariano Costa]

Hey Eric,

 

I have a little question regarding the cage - is it universal or are there components which limit the range of cameras you can put in? I am asking because I pre-ordered a Sony Alpha 99 DSLR and this cam obviously is not (yet) listed on the Arri kits page.

 

Thanks!

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Hey Eric,

 

I have a little question regarding the cage - is it universal or are there components which limit the range of cameras you can put in? I am asking because I pre-ordered a Sony Alpha 99 DSLR and this cam obviously is not (yet) listed on the Arri kits page.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Not sure of the sonys dimensions but the majority if the system is universal. What you will need is a camera specific "baseplate/riser" that mounts the camera to the cage system

[Thomas English]

Are there white seperate zoom controllers and iris controllers available? Do you can give one to the DoP?

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Are there white seperate zoom controllers and iris controllers available? Do you can give one to the DoP?

 

Yup!