Glidecam V8 SALE ends 5/21/04 and Cody Deegan?

[Casey Visco]

Andrew, yes we do seem to have gotten into the habit of just always running various specials. They change from time to time obviously, but chances are that you can usually always get a good deal on a rig.

[Matt Gettemeier]

Well Casey... since you're clearly on the inside laughing at me through the window why don't you fish something out of the demo bin and hook me up with a used one? I want a rig that makes it look like I've shot a thousand hours of footage with it.

If you can't do that then I'll just get a new one and treat it carelessly until it looks like I'm a seasoned professional... then at the precise moment that my prized possession is "stone-washed" to perfection... THEN I'll baby it and keep it in a chamois.

[Casey Visco]

Matt,

I wish I could dig out a demo for you, but I'm not the guy to talk to! You'd want to contact Tom or Dave at the office. Best place to find used V-8 rigs is on Ebay!

Now, "stone-washed stabilizers" sounds like a hell of an idea! I'll have to make a note of that one.

[Jean-Philippe Archibald]

Hey Matt,

Have you made a choice between the V8 and the Cody's stabilizer?

Personally, I chose the Cody's one. I began construction of the sled yesterday. The gimbal assembly is not completed but so far, things goes well. The plans are so clear and detailed, it is not so difficult to achieve if you have the right tools.

I have taken some pics of my not finished yet sled. I am pretty happy with the result.


sunens.uqac.ca/~jparchib/sled1.jpg

sunens.uqac.ca/~jparchib/sled2.jpg

sunens.uqac.ca/~jparchib/sled3.jpg

sunens.uqac.ca/~jparchib/sled4.jpg

[Charles Papert]

Jean-Phillipe:

I've never examined Cody's plans, but this is just an observation based on the pictures:

It looks great overall. I'm just wondering about the bolts that secure the side-to-side and fore-and-aft adjustments on the camera platform. It looks like you will need a wrench to make these adjustments.

Considering that these axes need to be tweaked continuously throughout a shoot, even while the rig is being worn, it seems a bit cumbersome. The quickest fix I can see is to reverse the bolt and put a wing nut on the outside; that way you can adjust it by hand. A sleeker solution is a worm gear or rack and pinion that allows for more precise adjustment.

[Jean-Philippe Archibald]

Charles,

Good observation!

The plan recommends to use Allen screws, which in my opinion are easier to adjust than hex bolts, but wing nuts could be even better. I just put some hex bolts temporarily since I did not buy the Allen screws yet. In fact, according to pics I have seen from the actual Cody's rig, he is using wing nuts on his camera stage. I don't know why his plan is different in this area.

But I consider to put a manfrotto quick release plate mechanism in top of that so the fore and aft adjustment will be provided by this device, and the allen screws will be used only for the side to side adjustments.

[Charles Papert]

Sounds good!

The great thing with the quick release plate is that it helps switch the camera from stabilizer to tripod mode more quickly.

Even the side-to-side adjustments need minute tweaking all day long. Visit any Steadicam operator on set and you'll see a little flurry of fingerwork just as the camera rolls. Fortunately the designs on the high end rigs have developed to where a lock is no longer needed, the fore/aft and side/side controls are simply freely rotating knobs, which helps! And then there's the Ultra, which allows you to adjust these parameters remotely from pushbuttons on the gimbal DURING the shot (something I've never quite gotten my mind around)!

[Jean-Philippe Archibald]

Hi Charles,

Thank you for these invaluable comments.

I totally understand that a very precise adjustment of the camera base is preferable in order to always keep an adequate balance. But the Cody's design (which is basicly the same as the Glidecam V8, V16 series) will be my first steps in the stabilizer realm. I hope that this design will meet my presents requirements and when I will become a more skilled operator, I may consider to build a better camera stage, or buy a better comercially available system.

Visit any Steadicam operator on set and you'll see a little flurry of fingerwork just as the camera rolls.

Beleive me, it is not an easy task to find a movie set in the area where I live , even less a Steadicam operator!!! :-)

[Charles Papert]

Ah, je comprends! (that's about as far as my grade school French will take me).

Absolutely, Jean-Phillipe, build whatever you can right now. I just wanted to throw in a thought or two that might inspire moving beyond the plans even at this juncture!

Well, if it wasn't for the Canadian tax incentives in place for American productions, I'd be coming up to Montreal shortly to work on a movie, and you'd be invited to come by! A DP I work with a lot is doing a show there, and he can't bring any crew. Merde!

[Jean-Philippe Archibald]

Charles,

You cannot imagine how I would appreciate to meet you on a set! I am regularly in the surroundings of Montreal. If ever another opportunity arises and that you must go to Montreal, I hope that the invitation will be still valid!

[Aaron Koolen]

Charles P, what are those side to side adjustments you were talking about? Are they usually adjustable to stop the rig from swinging more/less from left to right? i.e. sometimes do you need a quicker movement left/right and sometimes yo want it stiffer?

Cheers
Aaron

[Charles Papert]

Hee hee, you said "stiffer".

The side-to-side trim at the camera platform is merely to dial in the proper balance in the roll axis, or horizon. You would think that once you set this for the day, it would remain, but the nature of the beast is that since the system is in such delicate balance, it doesn't take much for it to get nudged minutely out of whack, requiring re-trimming. Even putting the rig up on the shoulder in rest position can necessitate a touch-up in balance. Fore-and-aft gets adjusted a lot more, depending on the shot requirements, but in order to keep as level an image as possible you want to make sure before you roll that the rig isn't listing to one side or another.

[Terry Thompson]

Hi guys,

I thought I was going crazy having to adjust my balance during the day. I was thinking my sled was taking a trip to the "Twilight Zone" without me and some gremlin was giving it a little kick just to put it out of balance. I'm glad to hear it's a common thing, even with the professional rigs.

One thing I also noticed was, the longer the drop time, the easier the rig can go out of balance. I know this is old hat with Charles but there are others out there who might read these posts so I just thought I would say that.

Terry

[Charles Papert]

That is a good point, Terry. There is not magic number for the drop-time; it varies from operator to operator and often one will adjust it for the type of shot and external circumstances. The longer the drop time i.e. the less bottom-heavy i.e the more neutrally balanced the rig, the more it will require fine-tuning for balance. However, a short drop time/bottom heavy rig will behave poorly during periods of acceleration, tending to pendulum more. It's a constant tradeoff.