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A place to talk about (brushless) gimbals?


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I know brushless gimbals are somewhat looked down upon in the Steadicam Community.

 

I wonder if there could be a place to talk about them here?

 

On the wider internet I find gathering useful information about them (for use on professional sets) virtually impossible.

 

One thing about the community here is that the members know about professional movie making tools. Tools that are reliable on set, monitors you can see in the sun and all that boring stuff - stuff that crosses into the Steadicam world.

 

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-Personally I would be looking to find a UK dealer to offer grown up support for any system I bought into.

 

-I would be interested in a gimbal system that used my existing investment in Vlock batteries.. ideally from a belt pack.. why handhold a brick?

 

-Also Im interested in a single axis gimbal that would offer me 'perfect horizon' but be mounted on my steadicam so stabilised in XYZ and also actually using operator input to pan and tilt.

 

Im currently interested flying the affordable Black Magic Micro camera which offering 1080 pro-res in a small form holds out some interesting hopes for flying.. be that on a (brushless) gimbal, small Steadicam, or hybrid device of some nature.

 

 

 

 

 

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-Personally I would be looking to find a UK dealer to offer grown up support for any system I bought into.

 

CVP or The Lens Foundry

 

-I would be interested in a gimbal system that used my existing investment in Vlock batteries.. ideally from a belt pack.. why handhold a brick?

 

The Freefly MOVI M15....keep the v-locks for the control unit maybe, but personally for the gimblal itself I have a better solution that I have moved onto which is superior to the LIPO's or V-locks.

 

-Also Im interested in a single axis gimbal that would offer me 'perfect horizon' but be mounted on my steadicam so stabilised in XYZ and also actually using operator input to pan and tilt.

 

The Wave 1, by Betz tools available through Optical Support.

 

Im currently interested flying the affordable Black Magic Micro camera which offering 1080 pro-res in a small form holds out some interesting hopes for flying.. be that on a (brushless) gimbal, small Steadicam, or hybrid device of some nature.

 

I can't offer any advice on that front, I don't use Black Magic cameras for anything but a MOVI M15 will handle Alexa Mini, Red Epic, C300 etc with a wide variety of lenses.

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Sam;

 

Cinematography.com seems to be the place and maybe it can be developed into its own subcategory?

 

Maybe an opportunity for you to start a forum and be the hands down expert in the field of at least be the place where everyone goes.

 

Manufacturers, etc will pay for some level of a support forum if you can attract the interest in this tremendously growing field.

 

Lastly maybe paired with drones it could have a wide enough reach?

 

Nothing happens overnight but finding a niche could work in ways you never see coming?

 

Janice

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Thanks both.

 

I wonder if it could be a sub-forum on this board. The joy of being here on this board is the high standard of people who post. Most other boards are rammed with student types.

 

To me there seems to be huge technical crossover.. both technologies, gimbal and electronic gimbal, need remote focus, day-bright monitoring, wireless video transmission and the like to actually function on set.

 

I would also think that many operators are exploring the options as they know the Steadicam art crosses over.. positioning the lens in space, smooth walking, balanced setups, and the like.

 

S

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VItec and CVP don't really hit my marks for 'customer support'.

 

For example the system Im currently interested in is..

 

-BM camera which has composite out and power in via expansion port

-Ronin M gimbal with battery swapped out for Vlock via cable to beltpack (or run from steadicam power at the bottom of the sled)

-Second operator control for gimbal - Ronin provide one but is it any good? - what protocol would I need to upgrade to a more professional controller - what are the options?

-Second (wireless?) monitor for second (PT) operator

-Possible addition of .. electronic focus via expansion port of electronic lenses or traditional remote follow focus.

-Possible second one axis brushless gimbal for steadicam use and perfect horizon from terrible operator :)

-Purchase of some form of XYZ dampner for using as bonnet mount or whatever

 

Such a set up would require significant custom cabling, and building of an I/O controller of some nature and other bits that could only be supplied by a very specialised and knowledgable dealer or engineer.

 

Obviously this is 'bleeding edge' tech and I will probably end up doing a lot of work myself.. im good at mechanics but poor at electronics

 

S

Edited by Sam Morgan Moore
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If anyone is interested in what Im up to here is a build with my gopro gimbal on a boom arm on my steadicam.. currently it is limited by the poor camera quality and the lack of option for pan and tilt by a second operator. It is, however, creating some quite unusual shots on a micro budget system.

 

 

 

 

NT6A7296d_2000.jpg

Edited by Sam Morgan Moore
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  • 2 weeks later...

Well Ive started playing.. my little Ronin can hold a 50mmMFT lense stable (75mm_S35) in a way that I could not.

 

Best results so far are using it as a 'remote head' on a 'scaf pole jib'

 

Clearly XYZ axes stability has a huge impact on the shot.. running around with it is not a no brainer and I can see the arm and vest coming to the rescue!

 

To me the worst element is controlling the thing with a remote from a childs toy car!

 

To build the thing properly is obviously the usual money pit - ideally with multiple remote monitors and the like.

 

Does anyone know if there is a decent solution for second op control.. or ideally a one hand controller for mounting on end of the jib etc.

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Very interesting looking thing. Thank you.

 

I cant see why people would want to put it on handlebars.. surely with two operators one would put it on a set of sticks by a comfy chair with a nice head and remote monitor?

 

As for solo opping off an arm, well that needs thinking out. Or in a vehicle or suchlike might need a different solution.

 

It is typical of the gimbal world that we dont see any 'proper' moves demonstrated, pans to marks, whip pans etc.

 

For any other viewers of the thread here is the video..

 

Edited by Sam Morgan Moore
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I'm more interested in the hot gears or hurricane wheels solutions but for 10% of the price this might be affordable solution in line with the cost of the ronin.

 

Unfortunately I'm looking mostly at the helix pro, can be detached for horizon only, smaller setup, one handle controls tilt, slip rings for power and hd sdi, and you can easily lock pan for whip pans. But it uses a spektrum radio which wouldn't communicate with this.

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

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The Helix Pro has HD-SDI thru the slip-ring? I thought it was just SD-SDI.

 

 

This is a typical question that could be answered by board members here, and unlikely to be correctly answered on any other board.

 

So returning to the thread title "A place to talk about brushless gimbals" .. I would still ask for a section on this board :)

 

S

Edited by Sam Morgan Moore
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