Matt Mouraud Posted July 19, 2005 Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 Hi everyone ! Just found out about this site, cool way to share ! Name's Matt, been in the EFP/ENG biz for a while and always been a hardcore steadicam fan. I just bought a Laigle (www.laigleparis.com) rig. Works great for what I do, I'm practicing like a son of a gun, been using the rig for virtually every occasion, including washing the car. :lol: I fell once with it and that taught me the need for rehearsal. If I did I would've seen that surface change on the road. No damage, though. Here's a photo of me and my rig while shooting a feature for Harley Davidson in Port Grimaud during a HOG Rallye. Using a steadicam for that kind of shooting brings a really nice touch to the feature, I will try to encode some stuff for you guys to enjoy/comment. My problem however is that I can't seem to shoot straight... The camera is pretty much tilted a few degrees right or left. My horizontal tracking is fine, however. What do you guys think could be the problem ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Marc Abernathy Posted July 20, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 for starters you might want to ease up the grip on the post. i can understand when you are running you just white knuckle it and go but the first photo you seemed to be in a walking mode... you shuold only have a light finger touch on the post. the RIG should be floating on its own with no intervention from the user.. the fingers are only used to tilt/rotate the post where you want it to "look". no need to grip it. if your cam is looking left or right and not straight, then your rig is not balanced properly. what procedures do you use to balance your rig? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members jay kilroy Posted July 20, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Matt, I can't tell if it's the angle of the photo or not but it looks as though your monitor is way off as well. This would lead to balance problems as well. jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Mouraud Posted July 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Thank guys ! Well I think that the monitor is too close to the column and that's why I have to tilt it sideways to get a good view. I'm going to make an extension to the plate to change that... I'm meeting with the builder today so he can take a look and give me some advice. Steadicam classes are a rare occurence over here so in the meantime I get as much advice and practice as I can... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members benedictspence Posted July 21, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Hey dudes! I had a Glidecam for many years and because of the cheaper production it had a couple of balance issues. I don't think the gimbal was made perfectly- I would balance the rig often with the gimbal on the left hand side of the camera/rig. However when I suited up; the gimbal would be on the right hand side of the rig and the camera wouldn't hang vertically. A little tweak would always sort it out but it took me ages to figure out; I think the gimbal was ever-so slightly off axis... Changing the position of the gimbal round the post (basically panning) would alter the balance of the rig. Learned to live with it though! Still got fond memories of my old glidecam! Dunno if that helps?? Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Mouraud Posted July 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 Well it's not a Glidecam, and the gimbal feels really nice and solid. And it is right on the axis. I had a nice chat today with the rig designer, and he balanced the rig real nice for me. Turns out that I need to change my position, and it works. I know need to work hard on that to improve, but the rig is dead solid, I mean it's not like CNC milled like a steadicam but frankly for what I do (ENG/EFP) it works wonders. A good friend of mine, hard-core steadicamer, was really impressed with my rig after he tested it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members jay kilroy Posted July 22, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 Get in touch with Frank Rush at Tiffen, they are having a workshop in Paris soon. frush@tiffen.com. jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Mouraud Posted July 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2005 Fantastic, thanks, Jay ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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