Has anyone tried Kessler's K-Flex track?

[Stephen Pruitt]

Hi all. . .

I'm really interested in doing some curved dolly moves, and, in particular, I'm curious how well those flexible tracks work in doing curved moves.

We have a Premier Studio Systems PD-1 dolly and would like to run it on curved track.

How well does the flexible track work compared to rigid "one-curve-fits-all" metal track like Matthews? I'm particularly interested in smaller circles like 10' in diameter rather than those huge circles which can't really be used indoors.

Thanks so much!

Stephen

[PatrickFaith]

I have the kflex ... I use it as a mix jib/track system and it's great for organic movements around tables and thru doors (i'm doing a inside/outside door transition using it in a jib/track shot for scene 1 of "puddles of light"). The more or less organic movement of kflex is different then a matthews track move (has a different "feel"), so it's hard to duplicate a matthew track take with a k-flex. For example though I do have a seat for the tripod, it's a bit icky sitting on the tripod. Since I use kflex in conjunction with a kessler jib almost every time, I have a more free flowing track/jib shots with remote focus going under motion control(it's has a organic feel which is inbetween a dolly and a steadicam. The rubber also gives a bit of cushion, so you don't have to mess with shims as much, but does add to that organic feel.

I kind of view the matthew track as a cadalic of sorts, and the kflex as real good for quick indie setups which integrates very nicely with the other kessler products. I am moving to the new kessler kwik release system for this setup, and hope to see improvements in my jib/track scene grip setup/takedown times(i.e. with a matthews, seems like the setup time is longer, but I'm a one man show and a crappy grip ... uber grips do miracles with the matthews track which i could only dream about[i.e. like in Woody Allen movies]).

[Stephen Pruitt]

Thanks for the input Patrick. Can you point me to a link with some shots of what you got using it?

Thanks.

Stephen

[John Brennick]

Hey Patrick, I too would be curious to see a link to your k-pod and jib setup. I bought the crane and the k-pod and youre spot on with what you said. Very organic and natural feel. I love the K-pod. How high can you get with the jib? What size load can you get on the jib?

[PatrickFaith]

I wouldn't send these to my mother ... but here's some pre-production setup shots ... shows basically how to connect stuff. I noticed I didn't have any decent video showing the movement of k-flex. I do have the actual shot for dailies i will dig up.







here's how to hook up the motion control to the steppers:





When I do a motion control of duel jib and kflex ... i'll remember to get a second camera showing the entire setup moving (technically i need to do that shot sunday).

Notice i use a shuttle pod rolling behind as part of my jib motion control. On my kflex motion control it only works "pulling"(not shown) ... for the jib i can go up and down randomly in the scene.

[Stephen Pruitt]

I am most intrigued by the motion control aspects of this set-up. I'd love to see more.

Thanks!

Stephen

[John Brennick]

Is this the jib or the crane? I have the crane and it looks just like this. The Jib seemed to be a little more compact.

[PatrickFaith]

Is this the jib or the crane? I have the crane and it looks just like this. The Jib seemed to be a little more compact.

This is the crane with the extension pieces, but is modified to be shorter to handle the extra weight of having the pan/tilt head on the end(not shown here ... but i use that a lot). I also have the smaller jib that your talking about for tighter locations but when i do use the smaller jib, i set it on the shortest extension and use it only as a fixed arm(i.e. no motion control). The smaller jib really can't handle anything over 20 pounds without it getting "flexy" when it's fully extended.


[edit ... noticed in the first picture you can see the smaller jib laying down in the background]

[Jarek Zabczynski]

Isn't it just PEX tubing?

[Stephen Pruitt]

No, Jarek, it isn't. It's a solid core "hose" of some kind. There is no hole in the middle.

Stephen