If anyone is interested, there are loads of pictures, and a video of the smooth shooter in action at Ping Pong Cameras (http://www.pingpongcams.com/glidecam/smoothshooter/). Ok the video is a bit long and random, but you get to see it flying. More than the Glidecam website has.

Hmm, interesting video.
I agree, a bit long.. but that's what you get when you don't plan your shoots...

I like the operating style of leaning full over to get the sled lower. Definatly using the arm of the SS to it's full potential there ;-)

I'm curious as to what rig that video was shot with...?


- Mikko

Yeah i was thinking maybe SS aswell - i only dowloaded the smaller video so i can't see the reflection clearingly enough to make out a vest or arm.


- Mikko

I'm doing a video for a museum with the Smooth SHooter- I can post some shots later- Just need someone who cam host them. Unfortunatelly, I had little practice so it has some major stability problems, but, still, a lot better than handheld and , with some editing, it might look good!

I watched some of that video, and it is a bit of a strange choice--it takes quite a bit of experience to be able to shoot unpredictable subjects such as a dog (or a man filming a dog!) with a stabilizer and make it look good. I wouldn't say that it wasn't steady per se, but it wasn't expertly operated, perhaps.

I had to do a shot with a borrowed Flyer last week on the David Lynch DV film. DL wanted me to start as low as possible, walk very slowly up to a bed and then end up looking down on the two actors in the bed. The ending made low-mode out of the question, so I opted to do the bent-over walk at the beginning and have an apple box flown in so that I could step onto the end of the bed to boom up and over the actors. I wouldn't have made it with a full-size rig--when you bend over, you throw the balance of the system off enough that you have to muscle your way through the scene, and it's just doable with a DV camera, not so much a Panaflex...either way, having to do it at super-slow speeds is a real challenge.

I am not ashamed to say that it took a few takes, but it worked out in the end! Maybe it will make the movie, who knows.

LOL! I can't relate to the full size rigs, although when I used to use my XM1 on the GC2000 and I was asked to do low down shots often the actors couldn't get through the scene as they ended up laughing at my stupid walk as I attempted to get the damn thing as close to the ground as possible!

Hey, and I learned a new shot for low mode, flip it and fix it in post... ;) It was interesting footage, but just watching him walk showed lots of room for improvement.

In the process of the Smooth Shooter's development, it was apparent very early on that, in the case of a very lightweight system, you have to be extremely delicate in how you handle the sled, due to it's decreased inertia. This is the case with ALL lightweight systems.

Heavier rigs, due to their substantially increased mass, and thus greater inertia, are harder to "influence", or change their current state of motion. Very lightweight setups require a good deal more care and delicacy in how the operator handles and interacts with the sled since the light load inherently has much less inertia and becomes very easy to influence. Since we humans can't break the laws of physics, this is something we all have to learn to work around.

Those who are already used to operating a Glidecam 2000 Pro or 4000 Pro by itself may find the transition to the Smooth Shooter a bit strange, since you're accustomed to having a firm grip on the handle and controlling the sled. This is why when first operating with the Smooth Shooter it's very easy to "over-handle" the sled and essentially interfere with the job the Smooth Shooter arm is trying to do, causing rolling or unsteadiness in the shot. Once you learn to essentially "let go" and allow the Smooth Shooter's Support Arm to do the work, you can achieve some truly remarkable results.

LOL! I can't relate to the full size rigs, although when I used to use my XM1 on the GC2000 and I was asked to do low down shots often the actors couldn't get through the scene as they ended up laughing at my stupid walk as I attempted to get the damn thing as close to the ground as possible!

Charles and Simon,

Do you find shooting actors who are on the short side harder than average height actors? In order to make them look normal height would you need to have the rig just a little higher than waist height or be on the shorter side as a Steadicam operator as well? I wonder how Garrett shot these shorter actors/actress' seeing that he is quite tall?

Just a wierd question.

Tery

I hate to ask a stupid question. But, what part is the sled?

Thanks

I hate to ask a stupid question. But, what part is the sled?

Thanks

Hi Ray,

The guy's left hand hold post called sled.

Regards
Leigh

Well, sort of but not specifically.

The post is part of the sled as it is usually referred to, meaning the entire assembly that the camera mounts to including counterweights, monitor, post, etc. The three components of a complete body-mounted rig are the sled, the vest and the arm.

The term came from the early Steadicam Model 1, which was long and had the monitor mounted in a bump in the end, making it look a bit like a sleigh or sled.

i know this is a bit off topic, but does anyone know what they are flying in, in that one video. Is it like a motorized paraglider or something? I kinda want one now. lol

nevermind i answered my own question, I think I can fit a paraglider into our budget though lol...maybe not...