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Freefly offer a list of features and statistics for the MoVI M10, asserts dominance

Brett Harrison

Brett Harrison

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http://forum.freeflysystems.com/index.php?threads/movi-competitors.2104/#post-26328

From the link:

Hi Guys,

I wanted to give a quick list of features that we feel differentiate the MōVI from competitors. The below contains a lot of technical details about the various sub-systems on the MōVI. The sum of these systems is a robust, reliable and adaptable camera stabilizer that works in real world filming conditions. We have kept pretty tight lipped about what separates the MōVI from the rest of the pack until now. What this means for our customers is that they will have a system which will allow them to focus on shooting and shot design rather then endless hours of tweaking and gain adjustments. The MōVI does not just carry a camera like the Red EPIC; it does it easily. The MōVI can accelerate and slew a Red EPIC and ultra prime lens at 150 deg/sec, while other systems using sensor-less motor drives struggle. This is important as it directly relates to your ability to accurately and precisely command the camera. The MōVI design team features 10 engineers who are all at the top of their respective fields. These industry experts all working together to re-define camera movement.

I know a lot of people are desperate to believe that our competitors (I use the term loosely as the majority do not even have a product, just a rendering) are just as good as a MōVI at 1/3rd the cost. I am guessing as these systems are released and things shake out a bit and actual users get their hands on them, you will notice an overwhelming trend. The MōVI will continue to produce the stable shots it has become known for and you will see a lot of wobbly, vibrating footage from others.

Motors

  • Motors designed and built in house by engineers at Freefly
  • Low weight and high torque - can stabilize larger cameras
  • Excellent heat dissipation
  • High-resolution shaft position encoder
  • Sealed design
  • Zero maintenance
  • Integrated into the structure
  • Large face-mount shaft for high stiffness
  • Extremely low cogging torque
Motor Drive Electronics
  • Designed in house - optimized for our custom motors
  • Sensored control - High peak torque in all situations
  • Silent drive technology
  • Highest quality components
  • 3 x 32bit ARM microcontrollers
  • Precise motion control in any position
  • Low voltage protection
  • Overcurrent protection
  • Motor temperature monitoring and protection
Stabilizer Control System

  • Each hand calibrated at the factory
  • Majestic Mode - the most extensively tested single-operator control
  • GPS attitude correction
  • High performance 32bit ARM microcontroller
  • High quality GPS
  • Barometer for advanced position information
  • Data logging for VFX post
  • Highest quality stabilization algorithm developed by experts in UAV stability and control
  • Robust control where any disturbance is quickly rejected
  • Android, PC, and MacOS programming options
  • Firmware upgradeable
  • Advanced live graphing
  • Bluetooth (wireless) parameter adjustment
  • Automatic setup for camera top or bottom mount
  • Automatic gimbal inverted option for steadicam use
  • Support for Spektrum and JR Remote Receiver protocol, Futaba S.Bus for second-operator control
Stabilizer Structure
  • Low weight
  • Easy to adjust (standard adjustment is toolless)
  • Easy/quick camera removal (<10s)
  • Fold for shipping
  • Wide camera tray, fits larger cameras
  • Quickly changes from handheld to multirotor use
  • Hollow tilt shaft, allows wide range of tilt motion without wire tangling
  • Easily adapts to almost any camera


Hope that helps give some insight as to why we think the MōVI is in a class of it's own.
Tabb
 
Last edited:
Does that justify its price tag? Only time will tell.

No one knows anything for sure... until we have a side-by-side shoot out.

I'm getting both the MōVI and the BeSteady, so I will be doing extensive testing.

I'll post the results here.
 
Of course Carey!

difference performance and feature sets for different price points only helps the end consumer. I just want to make it clear that there is a difference between products.
 
They are definitely real and shipping! Travis from RED today picked up his to head to Reducation in London.

Tabb
 

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Tabb Firchau said:
Of course Carey!

difference performance and feature sets for different price points only helps the end consumer. I just want to make it clear that there is a difference between products.
Click to expand...

I will own at least two company's products, so I will get a chance to test them both and see the differences first hand!
 
All I know is that for my short film "The RED dress" shooting on Dragons and Mono, I wanted to have the absolute best available stabilization system in the market, and while I tough about Steady cam, and have it listed as gear, I absolutely look forward to have the MōVI on our shoot, and for this I have been in communication with the guys at Freefly, and Denise She has been a real sport so far, and hopefully we get to use it extensively on it, and avoid many issues that we would encounter with steady cam and other systems in consideration of the shots I have set for it.


IMO has been always a give and take when it comes to this type of highly elaborate technical achievements, and I do not see any soon to be competitor to the MōVI.

And I want to worry about getting the best shots, and my actor's performance not worry about how the gear will handle, and if the stabilization will be good at all turn, with MōVI, I fill I don't have to worry about anything else then do my job well and point the camera in the right direction, then let my creativity take FLIGHT... ;)
 
I had the MOvi on a shoot last week and I have to say that although it performed admirably and we got the shot I do not feel it's quite ready for large production work. At least not the kind of productions that run on tight schedules and have actors and directors who are not tolerant of "technical" hold ups. The requirement for 2 operators (yes, you always need two for real work) battery system, with it's severe voltage limitations, the wireless system tuning and the general lack of responsive control make for a package that is useful for a very specific and limited number of shots. It is certainly not a replacement for a steadicam & Op. It is really innovative, and I'm sure those productions that can absorb the technical issues better will make great shots with them but I think we're a few generations from this being ready for prime time.

BTW I haven't seen any of MOvi's competitors yet but I doubt they'll aquit themselves any better, but at least they have a lower price point that helps offset their performance.
 
It is good to have this thread, especially since one group buy just got over and a few are in the pipeline.

All along we were hearing that MoVI is kind of the holy grail. Now we hear about some issues. So need to know in detail. I understand there would be some challenges initially, especially if a person is using a pre-production version. So I would like to hear more views of people using a production version of MoVi. From the initial posts in Vincent Laforet's blog I was under the impression that you don't need steadicam kind of training to operate a MoVI. Am I wrong?

The question I want to ask is how do I justify the 9k premium MoVI charges over the 6K Besteady/rocksteady/xxsteady etc. After reading all the marketing text by the OP I am still not sure if MoVI would be better in creating noticeably better moves vis-a-vis others.

Is MoVI aiming to be the ferrari kind of brand with high priced products which sell less numbers vis a vis all the Mercs and BMWs.

I don't mind paying a little bit extra if the product is better.
 
Sabyasachi Patra said:
It is good to have this thread, especially since one group buy just got over and a few are in the pipeline.

All along we were hearing that MoVI is kind of the holy grail. Now we hear about some issues. So need to know in detail. I understand there would be some challenges initially, especially if a person is using a pre-production version. So I would like to hear more views of people using a production version of MoVi. From the initial posts in Vincent Laforet's blog I was under the impression that you don't need steadicam kind of training to operate a MoVI. Am I wrong?

The question I want to ask is how do I justify the 9k premium MoVI charges over the 6K Besteady/rocksteady/xxsteady etc. After reading all the marketing text by the OP I am still not sure if MoVI would be better in creating noticeably better moves vis-a-vis others.

Is MoVI aiming to be the ferrari kind of brand with high priced products which sell less numbers vis a vis all the Mercs and BMWs.

I don't mind paying a little bit extra if the product is better.
Click to expand...

I think the point of the "marketing text" that you're seeing above is that Freefly is claiming superior stabilization through their proprietary software and algorithms, higher quality components, and ease of use. Frankly, I believe them. You have a company like Freefly releasing a product that they've been refining for 2+ years, and then 16 other companies see the idea and suddenly have the same product within 6 months? I have a hard time believing that those companies will match the same quality of the Movi just from seeing NAB demo units and going "hey we could do that!"

I've seen countless posts of people going "The movi is too expensive, those are just off-the-shelf parts!" and they obviously have no idea what goes into creating a product like this. The market price of a unit also has to take into account R&D costs, assembly, labor, etc etc etc. It's not just the cost of the parts. Is the price somewhat inflated because they're first to market? Maybe. But maybe it'll also prove to be worth the money, only time will tell.

My biggest hope is that Tabb and Co. take the RED business model and offer upgrades to their units. Being such a modular type system, I have to imagine it's not only possible, but relatively simple to upgrade the motors, control units, etc as they are improved over time.
 
Evin Grant said:
I had the MOvi on a shoot last week and I have to say that although it performed admirably and we got the shot I do not feel it's quite ready for large production work. At least not the kind of productions that run on tight schedules and have actors and directors who are not tolerant of "technical" hold ups. The requirement for 2 operators (yes, you always need two for real work) battery system, with it's severe voltage limitations, the wireless system tuning and the general lack of responsive control make for a package that is useful for a very specific and limited number of shots. It is certainly not a replacement for a steadicam & Op. It is really innovative, and I'm sure those productions that can absorb the technical issues better will make great shots with them but I think we're a few generations from this being ready for prime time.

BTW I haven't seen any of MOvi's competitors yet but I doubt they'll aquit themselves any better, but at least they have a lower price point that helps offset their performance.
Click to expand...

Evin would you care to provide some examples? You said it's generally unresponsive, that is hard to reconcile with the footage we've seen, which shows a variety of shot types. Regarding the notion of offsetting the performance: What would be the baseline?

For an in-depth and critical appraisal of the device there's this good thread:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showth...he-Movi-on-the-short-quot-The-Arborlight-quot

Which features a prototype model. Was this one a production model?

There are other ways to power the rig that involve putting a bit more weight on the handles using a full size battery - it's just a question of how much weight you want to deal with, then there's the ability to put it on an EasyRig or Steadicam arm. The possibilities are largely unexplored so far.
 
I would love to know more about the negatives too.

I haven't been able to get my jaw off of the floor since the moment the MoVI was announced... Am I the only one that sees how revolutionary these new gimbals are?
 
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