Jump to content

Wave Drift and other questions


Kevin Jacobsen

Recommended Posts

  • Premium Members

I'm new to the wave, but have used it before and was shown how to balance for it (noga arm and tiffen weights). I noticed that the wave will drift from the level i have set it at over time.  Has anyone dealt with this before?  Is there something I'm missing?

When it comes to docking, do you lock the wave first then dock or keep it running while on the stand?

While the wave is engaged, how much of an issue is it to have an AC or DP influence pressure on it? ie. flipping the evf screen or accessing menus.

Are there any other things about the wave that the seasoned ops here have come across that may not be obvious? I know Tom Wills made riser plates for a better weight distro without adding weight, which will be my next purchase. 

 

Edited by Kevin Jacobsen
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Hey Kevin, I texted this to you, but I figured it may be good information for others, so I would share it here as well.

As for the Wave drifting off of level, there are a couple of things that could be at play here. The first thing I would ask is how quickly it drifts off level, and whether it’s a gradual, slow drift, like it is just slowly “settling in”, or if it seems to more quickly go off level. If it is a slow “settling in” feeling, I have found that over time my Wave developed a similar issue, but that there is an easy workaround. The first few minutes after boot-up, the Wave’s sensors seem to be warming up, and while it’s a small difference, I have found the Wave to be most stable if I let it warm up, powered up, for at least 10 minutes before I check the level and tweak it in finally. Usually, if I trim it in perfectly right as it powers up, it’ll drift subtly as it warms up, and then I have to trim it back in.  Over the course of the day I don’t notice it drifting much, but it’s worth checking and periodically re-trimming in, just because there will be some drift in almost any stabilization system when we’re working down at the sub-degree levels that we are working at.

To be frank with you, after all the learning I’ve done about sensors and stabilization, it’s much more of an art than a science getting drift-free, precise stabilization on the scale we’re talking. Getting a sensor package to come up with zero drift is incredibly difficult, until you get into things that are much heavier and bigger than we would be willing to fly on a Steadicam, like a Laser Ring Gyroscope. Almost evert sensor package has some drift in it, because of electronic noise, or the rotation of the earth, or tolerances in manufacturing, etc..., and the secret is all in the algorithms of how that drift is noticed and calibrated out by the sensor, and from all I’ve seen, not even the best remote heads, the best gimbals, or the best Steadicam augmentation has it exactly perfect, though it’s getting closer with ever iteration, and many people will have different tolerances for what they consider “perfect”.

If the drift appears to be a quicker drift, or seems inconsistent, or is drifting far enough that you are running out of “trim” on the adjustment knob, I would be more concerned, and it might warrant a trip back to Germany, which I will say has been surprisingly fast and simple to do the few times I’ve had to send something back.

As for docking, I leave the wave unlocked, unless there is going to be a lens change, a flip to low mode, or my rig will be powered off. I see no reason to be sending an off-level picture, and when the Wave is locked a lot (like by an overzealous assistant), I’ve occasionally found myself flying, trying to Dutch the rig to avoid an obstacle, and suddenly watching the horizon go horribly off, only to have to apologize to those at video village. Not fun!

As for outside influences, no issues. The worst you can do is strain the motor, but when using it in studio mode, on a dolly, I’ve often flown it severely out of balance, and seen no ill side effects. I do find that lens changes are worth locking the Wave for, mostly because if your assistant is particularly brutish, or the lens mount is particularly sticky, the Wave may “give up” when rotated very hard, and it can be quite unsettling for an assistant to suddenly have the camera wiggle around in their hands. 

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...