Steadicam
- Thread starter lemontree
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icychilled
New Member
wah nice buy man... i remember there was a steadicam meetup session somewhere around here? I think not moving already...
alrite my advice to you is move your steadycam b4 u move your body in another word gently push ur steadycam forward b4 taking your 1st step , and use ur fingers on the gimball in the process of panning and not the whole palm coz once u do it it's as good as using handheld , i've seen inexperience ops grasping the gimball like holding on to your dear life:nono: that's basic if you wanna know more than private lesson wif me is very2 expensive lol
Hi lemontree, wanna be a steadicam op for my films? www.fps.com.sg / www.fps.carbonmade.com
contact me!
contact me!
engr
Senior Member
Hi bro. Welcome to the world of steadicam! Check if your sled is statically n dynamically balanced first. Mount the cam on the sled, give the post a spin. If the spin goes off axis then u have to do some adjustments.
After that u got to make sure the arms are adjusted properly, n the vest is shug to yr body. Its a lot to do. I suggest u do it with the sled handheld first. Once that is resolved den u progress to mount it on the arms.
I suggest u draw a line on the floor with a focused subject n do a missionary first before trying the Don Juan. After u r good with that u practise the switching from missionary to Don Juan in cycles.
BTW, how much did u get the rig for? $4.3k?
After that u got to make sure the arms are adjusted properly, n the vest is shug to yr body. Its a lot to do. I suggest u do it with the sled handheld first. Once that is resolved den u progress to mount it on the arms.
I suggest u draw a line on the floor with a focused subject n do a missionary first before trying the Don Juan. After u r good with that u practise the switching from missionary to Don Juan in cycles.
BTW, how much did u get the rig for? $4.3k?
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hey thanks for the many advices man! I'm still as excited as on the first day I got my rig back to office! hehe...it is just too awesome!
Sean, thanks man! I got the rig at almost 4k excluding sled. Hmm....what's a Don Juan and what's a missionary? I've heard of both but seriously have no idea what they are. And as for the focused subject thing, I'm also not clear abt ur instructions. hee... :sweat:
I tried adjusting the height of my vest and managed to loosen a few nuts using the allen key provided. It was so scary la! I used a lot of force and it gave out a loud "tiag" sound before it is loosen and not only that, I smelt a faint smell of "gunpowdery" scent. hmm...is everything ok? Cuz everything seems okay.
However, I'm still not able to loosen 2 other nuts to shorten the height of my vest ley. Sean, any idea on how to remove the nuts without going through such a banging experience? I'm afraid the allen key will break lor cuz I've really used all of "gu lat" (cow energy) to turn liao. haha!
Hobbes, I'm really keen to be on your set man! I'm very busy with a lot of event videos to edit and I mean lots because I've been shooting parties too! :sweatsm: I'll contact you when I'm more freed up k? If you're gonna hv a shoot and I'm on your mind, pls let just drop me an email at stan@idealproductions.sg to inform me. I'll reply you if I can make it. How abt that? :think:
Faiz, I've got someone to teach me for free and he's an experienced steadicam operator for film productions. Lessons hv not started though. Hee..thanks anyway man!
Sean, thanks man! I got the rig at almost 4k excluding sled. Hmm....what's a Don Juan and what's a missionary? I've heard of both but seriously have no idea what they are. And as for the focused subject thing, I'm also not clear abt ur instructions. hee... :sweat:
I tried adjusting the height of my vest and managed to loosen a few nuts using the allen key provided. It was so scary la! I used a lot of force and it gave out a loud "tiag" sound before it is loosen and not only that, I smelt a faint smell of "gunpowdery" scent. hmm...is everything ok? Cuz everything seems okay.
However, I'm still not able to loosen 2 other nuts to shorten the height of my vest ley. Sean, any idea on how to remove the nuts without going through such a banging experience? I'm afraid the allen key will break lor cuz I've really used all of "gu lat" (cow energy) to turn liao. haha!
Hobbes, I'm really keen to be on your set man! I'm very busy with a lot of event videos to edit and I mean lots because I've been shooting parties too! :sweatsm: I'll contact you when I'm more freed up k? If you're gonna hv a shoot and I'm on your mind, pls let just drop me an email at stan@idealproductions.sg to inform me. I'll reply you if I can make it. How abt that? :think:
Faiz, I've got someone to teach me for free and he's an experienced steadicam operator for film productions. Lessons hv not started though. Hee..thanks anyway man!
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hey thanks for the many advices man! I'm still as excited as on the first day I got my rig back to office! hehe...it is just too awesome!
Sean, thanks man! I got the rig at almost 4k excluding sled. Hmm....what's a Don Juan and what's a missionary? I've heard of both but seriously have no idea what they are. And as for the focused subject thing, I'm also not clear abt ur instructions. hee... :sweat:
I tried adjusting the height of my vest and managed to loosen a few nuts using the allen key provided. It was so scary la! I used a lot of force and it gave out a loud "tiag" sound before it is loosen and not only that, I smelt a faint smell of "gunpowdery" scent. hmm...is everything ok? Cuz everything seems okay.
However, I'm still not able to loosen 2 other nuts to shorten the height of my vest ley. Sean, any idea on how to remove the nuts without going through such a banging experience? I'm afraid the allen key will break lor cuz I've really used all of "gu lat" (cow energy) to turn liao. haha!
Hobbes, I'm really keen to be on your set man! I'm very busy with a lot of event videos to edit and I mean lots because I've been shooting parties too! :sweatsm: I'll contact you when I'm more freed up k? If you're gonna hv a shoot and I'm on your mind, pls let just drop me an email at stan@idealproductions.sg to inform me. I'll reply you if I can make it. How abt that? :think:
Faiz, I've got someone to teach me for free and he's an experienced steadicam operator for film productions. Lessons hv not started though. Hee..thanks anyway man!
Hi Lemmontree
Any chance to join this "teaching session"? I've just gotten my Smooth Shooter last week (and will consider whether to upgrade it to X10 after familiarized with it). Got everything presumably balanced, but am not too sure whether my shooting technique with it is correct. Any chance to pick up some good tips from the expert friend you have too? Thanks.
Hi Faiz
Thanks for the tips, yup, I felt like gripping the sleg for my life. Guess I got to learn to let go. Will practice more.
Rgds
engr
Senior Member
Check out the steadicam Pilot video on youtube. That will give u reasonable understanding on how to balance the rig.
Bro Lemontree, I will get my hands on with the X10 in a few weeks and I'll let u know what I think of it in comparison with the rest of the rigs I had. I presume u r using the X10 with the Glidecam 4000 sled? BTW, what is your cam again?
Bro Lemontree, I will get my hands on with the X10 in a few weeks and I'll let u know what I think of it in comparison with the rest of the rigs I had. I presume u r using the X10 with the Glidecam 4000 sled? BTW, what is your cam again?
Thanks bro Engr, the video is useful.
Had tried shooting with it for a few hours yesterday, the shots are gorgeous compares to those with my shaky hands. However, I still felt not exactly balance, especially vertical balancing. The sleg shake when I move. Guess got to run more tuning to get it right.
Really looking forward for some good hands-on advise on its handling if such help is available. I would like to learn how to shoot low and high angle with it, and make sure that my posture is right to avoid injury. Thanks.
Rgds
engr
Senior Member
BMphoto, does the smoothshooter have tilt control? I mean, the part that connects the arms to the waist. I cant remb the name of that part but the pilot has 2 screws that can adjust the angle such that u will stand straight to have the cam balanced. It is very useful for correct posture. After that u just have to learn to walk straight and focus on yr hand work next.
Maybe when I am going to do the X10 review next 2 weeks we can come out together as a small group for practise.
Maybe when I am going to do the X10 review next 2 weeks we can come out together as a small group for practise.
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Nop, SS does not have tilt control, maybe that's where the diff between SS and X10. I'm aware the X10 has dual spring arms (can't recall the exact name) where SS only has One which is connected to the Sleg. I'm considering the upgrade option from SS to X10 once I'm alright with SS, its another 1+K pain (as my budget is tight and not exactly certain I'm ok with such rig, I've decided to start with SS first before jumping to X10, the price diff is quite narrow).
Great! If there is such a practice session, that would be appreciated. There is just too little (or too expensive) resources (HW and Knowledge workshop) here in Singapore to get such sharing and discussion, or even to buy a simple stuff (took me an effort to buy this rig and having such hard time getting my Sony Memory Recording Unit in, still waiting hai...). Maybe Videography is still too specialized here.
Well The entire SS setup is quite heavy and I really want to be careful in handling it. I don't want incur any unnecessary injury because of miss-handling. I also want to make sure that its value for money by using it properly, else its a waste. Would appreciate fellow videographers like you who has experience and skill over it to help share some important tips on handling and shooting, and I would definitely glad to share mine if I do have some good knowledge. That's how we could bring up Singapore's videography standard when we all help each other.
On the side note, i'm hoping that there is such videography club in Singapore similar to many of those dedicated to Photography, where like-minded passionate videographers could come together to share skill, ideas, resources and passion. Hope that those senior and resourceful videographers in Singapore would consider forming this club. Thanks.
Perhaps we could rent a room at SAFRA or Community Club.
If cost is not an issue, we could breakup the rental cost and shared among all who participate, it should be quite low. Of course, sponsorship is welcomed from some of the key Cam Stabilizer dealers as this meeting will potentially bring in more biz for them, perhaps. Anyone has contact with these folks????
if all are ok, especially Engr, Faiz, Lemontree or even DXNMedia (and all the expert stabilizing bradder as Faiz has put it), could we have an indicative date to work on? Jan or Feb? Weekday evenings or Weekend (say Sat or Sun afternoon)? Thanks.
If cost is not an issue, we could breakup the rental cost and shared among all who participate, it should be quite low. Of course, sponsorship is welcomed from some of the key Cam Stabilizer dealers as this meeting will potentially bring in more biz for them, perhaps. Anyone has contact with these folks????
if all are ok, especially Engr, Faiz, Lemontree or even DXNMedia (and all the expert stabilizing bradder as Faiz has put it), could we have an indicative date to work on? Jan or Feb? Weekday evenings or Weekend (say Sat or Sun afternoon)? Thanks.
engr
Senior Member
:bsmilie::bsmilie: u know us salesman too well
samvision, the price bet the two is SGD1500k odd, that is the difference lor..
ok, jokes aside, I can't comment until I get my hands on the X10 and the new HD sled. I will let u guys know when it happens within the next one mth. But u can see the new sled has micro adjustments liek the pilot so this one is obviously aiming to slice the Pilot cake. I will be GLAD to offer my best opinions.
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Engr, any pricing for the new Sled? thanks.
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