Live Television Sled

[Andrew Ansnick]

I have had the pleasure of visiting Kris on set at JKL and seeing him do some amazing work with his Ultra 2. Does it work for Live TV? Absolutely. Are there other options out there? Yes.

 

Greg Bubb makes only top quality products and you could configure it to work as an ideal live sled. I don't have any experience flying one of his rigs in a broadcast setting though so can't really weigh in on the pros and cons. I can, however, offer alternate opinions on this matter.

 

Overall, the Steadicam Phantom-V/Shadow is a very good live rig. I have been using John Perry's Phantom-V (paired with my PRO Atlas arm and PRO vest) for various live shows over the last three or four months. As others have mentioned, it has everything you need (2 HD lines down the post, return monitor, tally, etc) for live work. It's lightweight, compact, and the 8" Transvideo monitor is very nice, but perhaps a little too large for my tastes. I have encountered issues with glare from stage lights hitting the monitor at certain angles which sometimes makes it difficult to see an image on the screen. The gimbal is not as nice as the one on my own PRO sled- also, I prefer the larger diameter of my VZ gimbal grip. The carbon fiber center post on the Phantom-V is not captured and doesn't feel as rigid as my PRO center post. The Phantom/Shadow sled overall isn't as solid in it's construction as my PRO sled. I also don't care for the tilt stage on this rig since all it's done in my experience is prevent me from getting the gimbal 1-1.5 inches closer to the camera stage. Would my opinion about that change if I were to be shooting in front of a raised stage? Perhaps, although I'd just as easily trim up for the height difference, all the while keeping my gimbal right where I want it. All that being said, it's still a great sled for live work.

 

I recently had the pleasure of flying the prototype "PRO Live" sled that Jack has been working on for the last few months and it is every bit as good as the Phantom-V. In my opinion, it's better. I really like how well thought out this sled is. Simple things like camera power and BNC's on the rear of the Upper J-Box make for easy, clean cabling. All connectors on the sled for that matter are easily accessible and placed right where you need them. Minimum sled height, from top of camera plate to bottom of Anton Bauer plate is only 24". Weight of the sled was 8.4lbs without monitor or batteries. This sled was SOLID, no vibrations what-so-ever. Also, I felt more comfortable operating with a familiar-sized gimbal grip and a better performing PRO gimbal. I won't speculate on pricing but it's safe to assume it will be very competitive with similar rigs from other manufacturers.

 

The best advice I can offer is see what fits your budget and then try out as many different rigs as possible. Make up your own mind which you like best and which you will be happiest to pickup everytime you bow-in.

[mark morgan]

i have to chime in here,i have been using my sachtler artemis efp pro hd,sdi rig for the last 6 years on live events and other various jobs,the upper junction box comes with 3x bnc lines all work with hd sdi signals and sd signals thru the post,2x camera power ports,2x follow focus power ports which can double as tally light power and signal thru post,1x aux power can also double as upper tally light output,lower junction box has 3x bnc's,1x monitor power and 1x aux power also doubles as tally light out,the sled will do 12volt and 24volt switchable and will also do in the 12volt mode switch from one battery to the other for monitor and camera as the main one is dying,i've been able to fly anything from dslr's to arri 535's and all those in the middle except never done 3d "YET"with no problems,but i did change to the XCS gimbal with ergo handle because i really love that handle but both gimbal bearings feel nearly identical just the sachtler handle was to short for my big hands and the monitor view is much better with the ergo handle

[Afton Grant]

Hey Mark! You seem to be running short so I thought you might want to borrow these:

 

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[mark morgan]

Hey Mark! You seem to be running short so I thought you might want to borrow these:

 

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THX AFTON,

LOL SO TRUE AND DO YOU ALSO HAVE A FEW MARBLES I CAN BORROW ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I SEEM TO HAVE LOST A FEW

[Alfeo Dixon SOC]

Multi HDSDI lines... 4... Check!

Some one hit me offline and felt I may be misleading by this... so let me clarify my statement.

 

The U2 only has 1 (one) HDSDI BNC pipeline, however, it has an 6pin RGB HD Component connector that was VERRRYY usefull in the F900 days before the F900R came out with the Composite HD output.

 

So, with the 8Pin RGB breakout cable on both ends of the sled (yes 2 are needed), you now have 2 (two) more HD pipelines available to you for use... pin 3 and 5. I'm pretty sure that pin 1 is also HD capable, but I could be wrong about that one. It goes thru the Video DA, but can 75Ω terminated.

 

(scratches head)

 

So at least 3 and a possible HDSDI pipes via 6pin Hirose RGB Breakout cable which looks like this one.

I hope that helps.

 

-Alfeo

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

 

Multi HDSDI lines... 4... Check!

Some one hit me offline and felt I may be misleading by this... so let me clarify my statement.

 

The U2 only has 1 (one) HDSDI BNC pipeline, however, it has an 6pin RGB HD Component connector that was VERRRYY usefull in the F900 days before the F900R came out with the Composite HD output.

 

So, with the 8Pin RGB breakout cable on both ends of the sled (yes 2 are needed), you now have 2 (two) more HD pipelines available to you for use... pin 3 and 5. I'm pretty sure that pin 1 is also HD capable, but I could be wrong about that one. It goes thru the Video DA, but can 75Ω terminated.

 

(scratches head)

 

So at least 3 and a possible HDSDI pipes via 6pin Hirose RGB Breakout cable which looks like this one.

 

 

Ummm component HD is ANALOG not digital, so it would be the same as running HD of the SD video in. anything that runs thru a video DA in the land of steadicam is analog only

[Evrim KAYA]

Hi guys!

After Alfeo’s first post I did some testing with my rig (also an Ultra2) to see if the HD component wiring is up to SDI standards; the green line is unable to carry anything other than analog video as it goes through sleds analog video wiring;

“If you are not using the HDSDI and/or the HD component lines, you may use them for other purposes, such as a microphone line down the post or speaker wires up the post. However, only use the red or blue component BNC inputs; the green line shares wiring with the standard composite BNC input and is connected to the video distribution amplifier” - Tiffen Ultra2 manual page 22 - http://www.tiffen.com/filmUltraManuals.html

But the other two lines in the RGB breakout –red and blue- carried HD-SDI signal without any problems even though HD component is indeed analog as stated by Eric.

Perhaps someone from Tiffen could chime in and tell us about blue and red line’s wiring and if they are up to HDSDI standards. Or the fact that I could transfer HDSDI down the post using Red and Blue was just a beefy signal going through substandard wiring for that
purpose.

[Alfeo Dixon SOC]

Ummm component HD is ANALOG not digital, so it would be the same as running HD of the SD video in. anything that runs thru a video DA in the land of steadicam is analog only

Thanks Eric, thats what I was thinking... I remember using it, but it was most likely to take the analog return during on a TV job, but the other two will carry the HDSDI fine.

But the other two lines in the RGB breakout –red and blue- carried HD-SDI signal without any problems even though HD component is indeed analog as stated by Eric.

Thanks Evrim, thats what I thought... its been a few years since I had to do that trick. I got my rig before the F900R came out, so there was a huge learning curve with the HD transition. Funny, I was just talking to someone about my film to digital transition with still photography yesterday in regards to my old Nikon D1x.

 

So it is possible to run three HDSDI lines (via two 6pin Hirose Breakout cables) plus a possible two analog by messing with the Video Matrix (pg25)... I'm no Neo, so I always get lost in the matrix

 

Try and test

[Tomas Antonsson]

Hi Justin,

 

The best sled for live television is still the unbeatable Steadicam EFP. Buy a used one in good condition, service the gimbal and upgrade it with some HD-SDI cables and maybe a new Betz Tools topstage. Then you have the lightest, smallest, fastest and smoothest sled available.

 

 

Cheers,

TOMAS

[Jens Piotrowski SOC]

And you will have spent almost as much as a brand new Artemis Efp hd rig...

[Jens Piotrowski SOC]

http://shop.artemis-hd.com/en/artemis-EFP-HD/