Back Mounted Glidecam V8

[Taylor Moore]

After much thought i have decided to make my V8 unit backmounted. It has made a heck of a differnece on my back length of operating and only cost about $250 cdn to get the vest modifications and the aluminum supporting arm made.

I will post some pix here if people are interested.

www.moorefilms.com/backmount.htm

[Rick Bravo]

I noticed that you also have a "warranty breaker".

That was the first thing we did to the rig when we received it. I'm surprised that the GlideCam folk hadn't thought of streamlining the rig by putting the cable inside the post.

RB

[Taylor Moore]

Well I kind of made the warranty breaker thing up...there pretty cool. I'm sure if the gimbal screwed up they would help out.
Yeah i think they could of really done alot more detail work to the rig to improve it...starting with the manual.

Are you running a V8...if so how is it going for you...did you do any mods to the rig?

T

[Rick Bravo]

Hey Taylor,

Manual? You call that a manual? I feel your pain. I was fortunate enough to have had quite a bit of expereince with SteadiCams, both as a First Camera Assistant as well as operating, that I was pretty much able to fill in all of the many blanks left by the pamphlet that came with the unit.

To answer your question, yes, we have a V-8. There are a few quirky things that we are ironing out.

The first thing to go is the monitor that came with the unit from the factory. It is absolutely useless in any kind of bright light, especially outdoors.

Another thing I don't like about the way the monitor is configured is that everytime the battery is changed, it is a pain in the neck to do, which is often, without moving the monitor out of position. I see you have already addressed that problem as we are about to do. I am installing a Canon battery adapter, on the bottom of the sled, so that I can use the hi-cap batteries with the new, low glare monitor.

The factory monitor is being replaced with a Delvcam Color TFT LCD monitor as we speak. According to the manufacturer, it should run approximately 6 hours off the hi-cap battery. If I get three hours out of it, I'll be more than happy.

I have also added a Studio 1 ProZoom Digital Zoom Controller to the post, right under where I place my "control" hand. It has made it easier to set up the shot, zoom in and out, and roll the camera without having to do everything on the camera itself. I find that I can come back to my set shot easier than when I have to travel all the way up and back down.

Other than those minor points, we have had allot of success with the unit. Some very cool shots!

RB

[Taylor Moore]

Yeah the monitor, I don't even turn it on I use my LCD for now...once I start getting more solid on the rig I will upgrade to a good one. Right now it is just ballast...

What did the new monitor and batteries cost you? Please send some pix.

The zoom and rec controller is a good idea. Did you drill another hole below the gimbal? Speaking of gimbal, the little screw/bolt on the gimbal..do you tighten this down when operating or let is be loose?

I really would love to have a video showing all the move tricks some thing that shows both the stabalizer/camera POV but also a split screen showing the operators walking and movements...
someone could make some good money off of a product like that.

Also what camera setup are you using?
Do you have any V8 video on the web?


TM

[Rick Bravo]

Taylor,

I'm in the middle of a shoot with our Special Response Team. We are following a new SWAT school from day one for three weeks, today was the begining of the second week. Very cool and sometimes, very funny stuff!

I don't have any footage on the web, but I'd be glad to send you something, on tape or on CD as mpeg if you like.

I have used the Panasonic AG-EZ30, the SONY TRV-950 and VX-2000 as well as our Canon XL1s cameras on the rig.

As soon as I catch a break and get back to the office, I'll get a couple of pics together and contact you.

RB

[Taylor Moore]

That would be great...good luck on the shoot. Let me know when things chill out.

T

[Patrick Coker]

lol, I really like the look of that Back - mounted vest. I am just satarting to run around with a Magiqcam series II. do you think I could get a vest like that for my rig? I am more than willing to pay for less back pain!

[Taylor Moore]

E. Patric Coker
If you are interested let me know and I will put a price together for fabricating one, if thats what your after.

taylor@moorefilms.com

[Andrew Petrie]

I'm also interested in hearing more about these modifications. I have a V-16.

According to GlideCam, drilling a hole in the centerpost for cables will not void any warranty. I think it's something that should come from factory... The LCD supplied is indeed kinda crappy.

[Taylor Moore]

Hey that's funny, London was my home town...I grew up in Arva.
So how long have you had your V16? How's it working for you, what camera are you using with it?

Is your support arm a single or double spring? Great to see some pix.

Who are you shooting for out of there???

Taylor

www.moorefilms.com

[Rick Bravo]

Hey Taylor,

Here are some of the GlideCam pics I promised. It works like a charm, now that we have ironed out some of the bugs that are inherent in the original design and delivery model.

http://home.mindspring.com/~ricks-pi...pedglidecamv8/

Supposedly, the Canon battery will power this particular monitor for six hours...I don't quite buy into this theory, but, as I said before, if I get any more than 2-3 hours, I am a happy camper.

This, coupled with the hi-cap battery on the camera, the only thing keeping me from shooting forever is lack of tape in a "forever length" and a very human back!

Hope all is well.

RB

[Charles Papert]

Rick:

Could you conceivably use the battery at the bottom to also power the camera, which would allow you to shed some weight from both ends. resulting in longer practical shooting time (fatigue factor etc.)?

[Rick Bravo]

Hey Charles,

I thought of that, but there was one major reason for not going that route.

First, the lesser reason...it is getting pretty damned crowded down there!

More importantly, we use a variety of cameras on the rig, so, I didn't want to have to commit to a particular battery type. Actually, the unit, as pictured with the 950 is a piece of cake. It starts getting squirrelly with the XL-1 and all of its accoutrements.

RB

[Charles Papert]

Gotcha.

My thought has been for a while with these rigs is that any 12v nominal battery would be able to power both the monitor and ANY camcorder; you would just have to use the cigarette-lighter adaptor for the given camera (and adapt the plug as needed). The potential voltage drop from a cable that length would be covered by the fact that most camcorders these days work on 7.2v or less. Certainly you would see a shortened battery life due to the monitor, but considering that one can only hold the rig for so long anyway, even an hour of run time is more than adequate (that's all we manage at best with the big rigs, some of which run up to 3 batteries simultaneously).