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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

RED DSMC Motion Mount has arrived!

Well, just when I thought I had nothing else to really report something interesting happened today.


In the process of testing gear you're sort of feeling things out rather than getting a feel for natural use.


Check this out.

I'm shooting some textural macro work today. Now macro is always an interesting game of desired depth of field and framing. So I'm using the rocker on my DSMC Side Handle to adjust the Motion Mount's ND in .10 stop increments while adjusting the iris on the lens to sort get the right feel for my subject with the out of focus area in mind while keeping my exposure in balance. That was sort of freaky cool.

Another interesting thing that spawned from this was I hadn't actually filled up my histogram bucket just yet, so I could actually tweak my final exposure via the Motion Mount to get a more favorable exposure towards how I'm going to work with this material later. (I know I'm yanking the shadows down pretty hard)


This was really the first day where my analytic brain shut off and the Motion Mount naturally effected the way I was working. This really isn't something you can do with normal ND filters. Certainly not this precise and not this fast. I was literally looking at the monitor and making those decisions without jumping away for a filter change. I'm not one for "hype speak", but this sort of made me stand up and go "hmm. That's new". Fun stuff. I imagine more happy incidents will occur like this out in the wild.
 
That's what I love about variable nd's, but there are many things to hate, this sounds MUCH better!
 
Can you turn on the Global Shutter or Soft Shutter AND add ND on this mount? Can you adjust both while recording?
 
John Choi said:
Can you turn on the Global Shutter or Soft Shutter AND add ND on this mount? Can you adjust both while recording?
Click to expand...

You get up to 4 stops of ND in the shuttering modes. Mode and ND values cannot be changed during recording.
 
Phil Holland said:
Well, just when I thought I had nothing else to really report something interesting happened today.


In the process of testing gear you're sort of feeling things out rather than getting a feel for natural use.


Check this out.

I'm shooting some textural macro work today. Now macro is always an interesting game of desired depth of field and framing. So I'm using the rocker on my DSMC Side Handle to adjust the Motion Mount's ND in .10 stop increments while adjusting the iris on the lens to sort get the right feel for my subject with the out of focus area in mind while keeping my exposure in balance. That was sort of freaky cool.

Another interesting thing that spawned from this was I hadn't actually filled up my histogram bucket just yet, so I could actually tweak my final exposure via the Motion Mount to get a more favorable exposure towards how I'm going to work with this material later. (I know I'm yanking the shadows down pretty hard)


This was really the first day where my analytic brain shut off and the Motion Mount naturally effected the way I was working. This really isn't something you can do with normal ND filters. Certainly not this precise and not this fast. I was literally looking at the monitor and making those decisions without jumping away for a filter change. I'm not one for "hype speak", but this sort of made me stand up and go "hmm. That's new". Fun stuff. I imagine more happy incidents will occur like this out in the wild.
Click to expand...


Besides the fact that I absolutely enjoy the way you went about reporting all technical aspects of the Motion Mount in your test, which I will never do, partly because of absence of time, but mostly because my Brain simply does not work this way, it will never allow me to patiently test anything, my Brain only cares to take the gear and go shoot something, what comes out is pure shooting and learning the new tools.

So your contributions here are hugely appreciated Phil!!


However, what you just posted above, is exactly what I am talking about, that is how my Brain works, I take the gear and go shoot, I never think about testing, I juts shoot as I always do, and then... BAM... Surprise surprise, you start noticing differences in how the gear works, what it delivers and how it delivers it, and I absolute love that, and this is why some call me a Gear Head... ;)

Fact is that I truly believe and support Technology in any field, and more so in that of our industry, were with it, we are allowed things impossible before, and we go about creating Art in a very different way.

What can I say... I love progress... ;)
 
Christopher Probst said:
I don't have images handy, and I'm currently on location on a shoot in New Zealand, but I can tell you all some additional detail to what Phil has posted here.


First, in my testing, I DID see IR contamination at high levels of ND-ONLY mode on the Motion Mount. Using additional IRND with high levels of Motion Mount ND was also not the cleanest solution either, as both introduce some skewed color response. Now, there IS a component of a Hot Mirror built within the Motion Mount itself, so when using it, Hot Mirrors are not required. This however does not eliminate the need for IRND to be a potential component to filtering when using the Motion Mount. For me, the best case scenario was to use half and half. A light level of Motion Mount ND (up to .9) and then a likewise level of IRND.


The Motion Mount DOES affect the back focus collimation. If switching between mounts, Put a confirmed lens on the camera, set it to an exact focus mark, (say 5') and zoom in on the full 5K and adjust your sensor back focus. If not, you could see issues on wide angel lenses where back focus is most critical.


Both Square and Soft Shutter modes are most effective at lower framerates... When shooting high speed, expect to see some small level of split frames with the use of strobes, flashes, gunfire, ect... At slower frame rates, Soft Shutter is nearly as effective as Square Shutter for strobe control, but allows more intensity of the flash to be captured. Square Shutter cuts down the intensity somewhat.


I will be shooting multiple Lightning Strikes units in a moody forest scene and will be putting the Shuttering modes to their test! I'll see if I can sneak in an iPhone grab off a monitor to illustrate the results.


I also will be possibly switching between normal PL mounts and Motion Mounts between sequences.


Stay Tuned.
Click to expand...


Here's a shot from my shoot in New Zealand with the motion mount and how it performed at 50fps in Square Shutter Mode with 3 Lightning Strikes units (and 1 explosion) going off at irregular intervals...


This was shot with my iPhone aimed at the 5" Touch Screen playing back at 50fps... The video mode on the iPhone clipped out the highlights excessively, the Epic footage is not clipped as you can see on the histogram on the monitor... that would really bug me!

As I mentioned above, the Motion Mount starts to become less effective at higher and higher frame rates, but here we can see it's protecting from split frames VERY effectively at 50fps. I ended up also using the Soft Shutter Mode on an insert of a wheel driving... I like the way the Motion Mount renders circular motion in frame with the soft shutter best, as you can also see in Phil's tests.
 
Christopher Probst said:
Here's a shot from my shoot in New Zealand with the motion mount and how it performed at 50fps in Square Shutter Mode with 3 Lightning Strikes units (and 1 explosion) going off at irregular intervals...


This was shot with my iPhone aimed at the 5" Touch Screen playing back at 50fps... The video mode on the iPhone clipped out the highlights excessively, the Epic footage is not clipped as you can see on the histogram on the monitor... that would really bug me!

As I mentioned above, the Motion Mount starts to become less effective at higher and higher frame rates, but here we can see it's protecting from split frames VERY effectively at 50fps. I ended up also using the Soft Shutter Mode on an insert of a wheel driving... I like the way the Motion Mount renders circular motion in frame with the soft shutter best, as you can also see in Phil's tests.
Click to expand...

I second this, love this shot! I would hate to get the math wrong on the falling of that tree.
 
Our first Motion Mount just arrived. Hardcore testing today - available in our rental inventory in NYC tomorrow :)

I'll try to post any test results I think are interesting tonight.
 
Mark, not sure about TOTALLY, but maybe partially... :001_cool:
 
Christopher Probst said:
Here's a shot from my shoot in New Zealand with the motion mount and how it performed at 50fps in Square Shutter Mode with 3 Lightning Strikes units (and 1 explosion) going off at irregular intervals...


This was shot with my iPhone aimed at the 5" Touch Screen playing back at 50fps... The video mode on the iPhone clipped out the highlights excessively, the Epic footage is not clipped as you can see on the histogram on the monitor... that would really bug me!

As I mentioned above, the Motion Mount starts to become less effective at higher and higher frame rates, but here we can see it's protecting from split frames VERY effectively at 50fps. I ended up also using the Soft Shutter Mode on an insert of a wheel driving... I like the way the Motion Mount renders circular motion in frame with the soft shutter best, as you can also see in Phil's tests.
Click to expand...

Christopher Probst gets to shoot all the cool stuff. My hero.
 
Last edited:
Thanks Tom... It's funny, each level of one's career always seems less than one wants. I look to where I want to be and am rarely content with what I have. Tortured artist I suppose...

But on topic, I am happy that the motion mount performed exactly as I envisioned and justified the hustle and bustle to get it before I left and the hoops I put production through to use it and beta firmware on local cameras.
 
Will Keir said:
What lenses can't be used?
Click to expand...

Phil Holland said:
... As mentioned certain Optimos protrude further and would indeed damage the Motion Mount. However, I'd say most PL glass will work just fine.
Click to expand...

Those and also the RPP 18mm will NOT be compatible with the Motion Mount.

And also you can not longer use the RED FOCUS for calibration, and that is why I am selling my RF, as the sonly other times that I might use a Standard PL Ti mount would be if I absolutely need to shoot HDRX.
 
Does the motion mount footage need to be processed differently in any way in post?
I remember RED releasing a REDCINE that had smth like Motion Mt support in its features (i may be off).
The reason i'm asking is, i usually use DaVinci and curious whether using redcine is a must for Motion Mt footage?
 
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