Matt Burton Posted September 14, 2005 Report Share Posted September 14, 2005 I'm looking into low mode solutions for the steadicam 'flyer' if anybody has some good suggestions that would be cool. Mikko ;) anybody..... -matt Ps i'm also interested in getting some kind of transmitter reciever for my flyer/XL2 setup. Come to mention it follow focus would be cool also. Is their some kinda lanc device i could modify perhaps ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Tom Wills Posted September 15, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 Well, if you're talking about a low-mode bracket, you can quite simply make one out of large (6" or bigger) angle brackets, found at your local home improvement store. A 1/4 x 20 bolt through the bottom to go onto the camera, and a 1/4"x20 nut to go onto the bolt from the rig. Make sure you use good name brand angle brackets at 1/4" or thicker. Otherwise, they might fail. In terms of being able to flip the monitor and all, no clue on how to do that, as I'm not a flyer op. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted September 15, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 Mikko: The easiest thing is to flip the rig over and shoot upside down, then re-invert in post. Just a few seconds to re-balance the gimbal position and you're good to go, very impressive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Mikko Wilson Posted September 15, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 Mikko: The easiest thing is to flip the rig over and shoot upside down, then re-invert in post. Just a few seconds to re-balance the gimbal position and you're good to go, very impressive! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks for the info CP.. I'll pass that onto Matt.... ...Matt, did you get that? :lol: Yeah, trick works just fine. - or you can get the low-mode kit! (about $100 I think) If you do flip the camera, the monitor is also easy to flip.. just undo the screw and put it on upside down.. or i'm (prety) sure that you can just flip the image on the flyer monitor electronicly. Any of the afformentioned methods will work! - Mikko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted September 15, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 Sorry, I wrote "Mikko" instead of "Matt". If you invert the entire rig, you actually don't want to re-invert the monitor, or you will be looking at an upside down image. The beauty of this concept is that when you turn it all upside down, you see a correctly oriented image. The drawback is that everyone else looking at a remote monitor has to invert those as well; not dificult with a little handheld LCD, a bit more comical with a yoke-mounted 8" monitor (and really a pickle with 20" client monitors...) One advantage with this setup, other than the unmatcheable speed, is that you are assured a nice solid tiedown with the camera whereas a handle mount or other clamping bracket may slip or introduce vibration into the shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Mouraud Posted September 15, 2005 Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 Just one thing though, I shot low mode for that rap video clip I did the other day and since you are reversed it takes a little getting use to since you're upside down... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Afton Grant Posted September 15, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 15, 2005 Hey now, I've done this inversion trick a couple times. In my experience, you definitely want to make sure you're shooting in Progressive mode (few aren't nowadays). When flipping an interlaced clip in post, I've noticed a slight, annoying jitter in the image. Could this be a confusion of the scan lines? I imagine it could also be a factor of the camera and/or editing software too. Progressive images have always been good to me. Good luck! Afton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Burton Posted September 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 Hey now, Progressive images have always been good to me. Good luck! Afton <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes i'l second the progressive mode of shooting, tiz way better for After effects to manage for sfx also. Interesting about flipping an interlaced image never had to do it before but yes you would get a flicker due to way the field's are scanned. I first tried low-mode by turning the camera upside down with quite a good result, and yes the monitor caught me out by auto flipping itself to correct orientation. The problem i had was getting close enough to the ground with the camera, not having anything to add on for weight didn't help make the post longer below the gimbol. I was wondering if a low mode bracket would help get that bit closer to the ground and if anybody has tried this method with the flyer ? cheers -maty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members benedictspence Posted September 16, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 Hi Matt! I don't think a low mode cage would make that much difference- the extra weight at the camera end would mean the gimbal would have to be even closer to the camera. So even if the low mode cage gave you a few more inches... the increased weight would probably rob you of that. Like you say- adding weights to the monitor end would help- but there isn't much space on the flyer.... What about attaching a couple of arri superclamps (or similar) down the monitor end of the sled? They might be the right kind of weight and they should be fairly easy to fit, just don't tighten them too much! I used to do the old upside down trick on my old Glidecam- works a treat; remember that your gimbal is gonna be upside down so you're not going to be able to grip your post properly- a bit of rough tape (cloth gaffer etc.) wrapped round the post used to work for me in a pinch... Good luck! Ben Spence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Peter Abraham Posted September 19, 2005 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 Hi guys. Indeed, flipping your Flyer upside down will yield an upright image as Charles said. It also allows for reasonable low-angle peripheral vision. There are three combinations you can do with a Flyer. ( Or, most rigs ). 1. Flip the sled/camera upside down sans lowmode kit. Leave monitor where it is. Tilt monitor till you can see your image. Image is oriented properly. 2. Flip the sled/camera upside down, and unscrew monitor. Re-mount it so that the monitor is "facing upwards". This will yield an upside down image. The Steadicam Flyer monitor fortunately has left/right and up/down reorientation choices in the menu. In 20 seconds you can invert the image so that in this mode, you can operate properly without trying to re-wire your brain. 3. Using a lowmode kit. Now the lens is oriented properly to the ground. You can either leave your monitor in what will now be an upside-down orientation and use the menu mentioned above to re-orient, or you can unscrew the monitor and re-screw it back onto the mount so that both camera and monitor are facing upwards. I actually prefer using a lowmode kit and using the menu to invert left/right and up/down. This is because I feel the need to have my eyes cast downwards as I operate is strong enough that it's worth it to leave the monitor on the arm unflipped and alter the image electronically. However, there may well be times such as vehicle mounting when taking off the Flyer monitor and physically "uprighting" it may be very advantageous. A word to the wise- never ever leave the house without your Monitor manual. If one is unsure as to how to flip the image electronically and tries pushing buttons willy-nilly, one can put the monitor into Safety Mode. Then you've got a blue screen, unless you unlock it from Safety Mode. Very simple, just takes a few pushes of a few buttons- but in the right order. Always good to have the manual around. Make sense? :D Peter Abraham New York Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Burton Posted September 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 Much apreciated Peter Cheers -Matt :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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