Dumb Steadicam Flyer bag question

[Andrew Pascoe]

l feel like a real dick asking this but when l got my steadicam Flyer the other day which came all packed up in the big square black bag/case that you get with it l pulled it all out like a kid at a christmas tree and thought, wait fot it!
"Yes it will be easy to put back in the bag" well who feels like a dickhead now because l'm stuff if l know what goes where correctly.
So l wanted to know if anyone has a Flyer with the bag/case and if so would it be possible to send me some small digital pics of how the Flyer is packed correctly.

Thanks AP

[Mikko Wilson]

I'm out of town at the moment, but I can snap a couple of shots of ours and post them on wednesday...

Basically:
the seld goes in teh bottom, with the monitor folded almost all teh way up and to teh back of the bacg, the battery mount ot the front. The gimble just folds along the post, depeding on it's position it might be hard, so you may need to move it. - be sure to pull the RCA-BNC adapter off the stage if you are using it.

the other accesories do in teh other spots in the bottom.
Then the peice of foam goes on top.
In the upper part (aove the loose foam sheet) goes the vest, inside of which you put the arm in it's bag and the C-stand.

This woudl be another thing that i hope the (eventual) manual of the Flyer woudl have...

- Mikko

[Andrew Pascoe]

Thanks Mikko, l'm looking forward to seeing the photo's as it seems l was on the right track as l figured that the vest went above the lose foam from memory when l unpack it but it just didn't seem to go back in without bend the vest quiet a bit let alone the stand as well so that's why l thought l'd ask for some help.

AP

[Mikko Wilson]

Well I have the rig here so i'll snap up some shots and post them in a few minutes...

- Mikko

[Mikko Wilson]

Well as promised, I'v posted some pictures of how *I* pack the Steadicam Flyer into it's soft case.

Files are on my server as follows:

http://mikko.n3.net/files/flyer/unpacked.jpg
- The stuff the generally stays in the case while I'm flying.

http://mikko.n3.net/files/flyer/lower.jpg
- The fully packed lower section (the cut out foam) I always make sure everything is below the top of the foam [except the T-handle wrench which sticks up a little])

http://mikko.n3.net/files/flyer/upper.jpg
- The arm and stand (with sandbag) inside the vest on top of the foam sheet.

I hope this helps.

- Mikko

[Andrew Pascoe]

Thanks very much for that Mikko l've saved the pictures and l'll have ago tonight and let you how l go.

AP

[Andrew Pascoe]

Everything fits like your's Mikko but the LCD screen does sit up about 5-10mm above the foam so l unscrewed it and put it where you said you put the video tape. So l'm happy with that cause it only takes about 1min. to screw back on. The only other way that l could think you could leave the LCD screen on would be cut away some of the foam where the centre post rests as that's what seems to be making the LCD screen sit up but l don't want to start hacking away at that.
By the way Mikko l'll be asking you soon most likely some tips on getting the Flyer dynamically balanced. It's been a bit hard as l'm still waiting on the AB batteries that l orded with the Flyer which l should have in the next 3 days or so. As l've had the Flyer for about a couple of weeks now l did actually try and gaffer a Sony battery that l was hiring for a job at the time and the static balance wasn't bad but the dynamic balance was no good. So l stuffed around abit and had a look at some posts you & Charles P. had put up on the subject and noticed that you said that the hight of the handle on the centre post doesn't effect dynamic balance. So l would guess that it comes down to the angle of your battery and LCD screen as well as where your camera is on the stage.

AP

[John DeLuca]

******By the way Mikko l'll be asking you soon most likely some tips on getting the Flyer dynamically balanced*******


From what I understand the flyer doesn't Dynamically balance!........You would need rails for the monitor, and battery in order to do it so don't waste your time(this comes straight from tiffen)...........as far as I know the only thing DB is good for is whip pans, so it's not that important for normal operation. If you have a gut, the socket block adjustment is a must, but honestly, it's all in the finger tips. Also the arm isn't true iso elastic like the ultra or pro vid. Tiffen makes great rigs, but the marketing needs some work.



John

[Charles Papert]

John, it's true that Tiffen admits that the Flyer doesn't offer much in dynamic balance. You can tilt the monitor and batteries to a certain degree but that doesn't really offer enough. I used a borrowed Flyer on a shoot last month and couldn't get it in dynamic balance--I would have had to start adding weights to one end or the other to do so (ugh).

As far as dynamic only being important for whip pans, actually it's important for all kinds of pans. If the rig has a tendency to precess (tilt slightly during a pan) because it is out of dynamic, the operator will have to continually dial this out to a certain degree. Because of the minimal inertia of a DV based system, this is actually more noticeable than with a larger rig. It's a pretty advanced type of operating issue, though.

[Mikko Wilson]

I'm glad you got the Flyer back in the case! ...now how long will it stay there? :-P

As fas as DB goes, Please read the DB Primer at: http://www.steadicam-ops.com/soamanual.shtml
That will give you a VERY good push in the right direction. I'll be happy to (do my best to) answer any other questions you may have her eon teh forum - but in another thread with appropriate title of course ;-) )

As for DB, yes it is possible with the flyer, i do it all the time - But the process is a little different then with a big rig. - Basically with a big rig you set the Monitor angle then DB with the battery. With a Flyer you don't have as good a range of monitor positions that will be in DB. - So if you can't DB with the battery, move the monitor (normally up) and try again.
As I said, I fly this one in DB all the time, infact it's a standard part of my balancing to put it in DB as well as Static.

John, sorry but i'm going to debunk a couple of your coments, at least to a degree..

First, it's definatly not all in the finger tips! - Sure bad fingers will ruin it, but if you can't float the rig with your hips you (and your back) are in BIG trouble. You *can* do this with any rig, but the socket block is needed to make the rig do it automaticly when you are standing comfterbly (properly).

And as for the arm, it is very much as iso elastic as an arm can be. (remeber, that the term "Iso-Elastic" is a descriptive (trademarked) term, not a solid defenition)
Even a 3/3A (or even moddle 1) arm is iso elastic if the springs are fully loaded.
Good iso elasticy is all about having tight springs with lifting power reduced by a 1/3rd - be it with 3 springs (Master/Ultra), a reduction pully (Provid/SK), or offset spring termination (Flyer, and the BRAND NEW [most likly reaplacing the pro-vid] G-40 and G-50 arms!).
- The only arm that will actually stay where you put it is the ProVid/SK arm, but that is only because the reduction pully has enough friction to hold it there!


Ok, enough ranting from me for now... I'm off to take the rig off the stand for a few minutes :-P

- Mikko