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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 :)

Introducing RED ZEPHYR CAM

Paul Kalbach

Paul Kalbach

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Apr 21, 2007
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Location
Oakland, CA
Website
www.artichokepro.com
Red Zephyr Cam is what I call my RED when it's flown by my Steadicam, which in turn is flown by my Hands Free Transporter (a modified Segway which is steered by foot pedals, freeing my hands up to operate Steadicam). I built a hard-mount so the weight of the Steadicam is supported by the vehicle rather than my back, freeing me up to concentrate on the shot. I've launched a website with some demo footage for this new service I'm offering:

www.RedZephyrCam.com
 
Paul,

Great idea. I'd love to see live demo. I'm in San Francisco so give me a shout!

M
 
lewis said:
They have made a lot of shots with that system in Hot Fuzz, watch the DVD bonus, pretty cool!...
Click to expand...

Damn was just about to post that Lewis - lol. Pretty damn cool system.

Andrew.
 
I'm not a steadicam operator by any means, but was wondering what some of the stand-out advantages would be to using this kind of set up over a conventional steadicam rig? I would think stamina, for sure...speed, as well. I didn't see much in the demo that seemed to set it apart, although everything was incredibly smooth.

Any chance you can post some more (for lack of a better word) "extreme" examples of it's capabilities? Also, the Segway has those beefy tires...how does the rig handle going from, say, a sidewalk over to grass and back again?

Incredible innovation. Very nice work...
 
Disclaimer

Disclaimer

Wow, I need to post a disclaimer here. Some people seem to be giving me more credit than I deserve. I did not invent the Hands Free Transporter, nor did I come up with the idea of using it with a Steadicam. On my website, www.RedZephyrCam.com, I give full credit to the German company Hands Free Transporter, Segway, Steadicam, Red Digital Cinema, and provide links to their respective websites. What I did do: I found a Hands Free Transporter module on eBay and married it to a used Segway. Although there are other people, including Hands Free, that make Steadicam hard-mounts for it, I opted to engineer and build my own.
art.the.third; you're right in your post about the advantages of stamina and speed over a conventional Steadicam rig. Another advantage is that it's possible to do extremely slow subtle crawls with it, which is difficult to do smoothly otherwise. Also, it can turn on a dime and go 0 to 12 mph in....I haven't timed it. Disadvantages: no stairs, curbs, etc. For more "extreme" examples, check out the "At the Game and in the Park" demo reel at www.handsfreetransporter.com. The rig used has low-pressure XT (all-terrain) tires which allow for a more rugged surface. Also the Operator is in vest-mode rather than hard-mount, so in one shot, he comes to a stop and dismounts while still shooting, following the actor on foot, then remounting and continuing the shot. There's no camera POV for this segment, so how smooth the mount and dismount transitions are we can only guess. The tires on my i80 Segway will not give me a smooth shot on grass, so I plan to eventually upgrade to the XT tires (which will also require me to rebuild my hard-mount).

Paul Kalbach
www.ArtichokePro.com
www.RedZephyrCam.com
www.PaulKalbach.com
 
Really awesome, Paul. The other reduser who has a similar rig did not place the steadicam arm on a pole as you did. That pole seems like a good idea.

I'd also love to see some faster shots. If it can do 12mph, you can keep up with someone sprinting, riding a bike, driving a car slowly, etc. The other guy here had a gorgeous clip of two girls riding a bike... it really showed off the capabilities, IMO.
 
Biba said:
We have this system . We like it. For long shoot it is best solution , we shoot about 6 km street shoot full of people with Handsfree ..
Click to expand...

Hi Biba,

I noticed you have the 2nd generation model where you steer with your knees, rather than foot pedals. I was looking at the Handsfree site yesterday and saw that they no longer show any of the 2nd generation models. There's only foot pedal types. This makes me wonder if there's a problem with the 2nd generation. Have you run into any issues?
 
I also have same system (off road unit). Works pretty good for us
 
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