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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 :)

GYRO-stabilization for aerial cinematography...

Peter Majtan

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Anyone out there had any experience in using Red One with gyro-stabilized rig for aerial productions? Any feedback would be much appreciated...

Also, if anyone used gyro-stabilized steadicam-type rig for shooting from moving vehicles, boats, etc...
 
Anyone out there had any experience in using Red One with gyro-stabilized rig for aerial productions? Any feedback would be much appreciated...

Also, if anyone used gyro-stabilized steadicam-type rig for shooting from moving vehicles, boats, etc...


We have used RED using the Continental mount (heli), Tisser mount (heli), A home made nose mount, A LIBRA 5 mount on tracking crane mount. A STAB C off the front of a Heli and a mate of mine that owns SPACECAM have just finished a RED CAMERA instilation in there BIG BALL heli mount using internally made drives.

All worked very well.

If you think your going to get sharp jolts, go to flash cards.
If your mount is gyro stabilized then RED drives work fine.

Life is made even easier when you have a remote on off cable.
Other than that nothing changes, it's the same as if you were shooting a Arri435.
 
oh.. this reminds me... we just got the prototype 10' LCD cables in... and they work great.
 
We have used RED using the Continental mount (heli), Tisser mount (heli), A home made nose mount, A LIBRA 5 mount on tracking crane mount. A STAB C off the front of a Heli and a mate of mine that owns SPACECAM have just finished a RED CAMERA instilation in there BIG BALL heli mount using internally made drives.

All worked very well.

If you think your going to get sharp jolts, go to flash cards.
If your mount is gyro stabilized then RED drives work fine.

Life is made even easier when you have a remote on off cable.
Other than that nothing changes, it's the same as if you were shooting a Arri435.


Do you keep the RED-DRIVE inside the mount or back in the heli? I would like to keep the "sensitive" stuff inside. The camera will of course be "Kenyonized"...

Which size are You guys using - KS-6's or KS-8's? And how many (2 or 3)?
 
I could be wrong, but I believe the new 7" RED LCD is the same resolution as the 5" RED LCD - 1024x600
 
Our production group has shot with RED ONE in a helicopter on several occasions since August 2007 - California, Hawaii, and elsewhere. Because of local equipment limitations and/or budget , it was using a Tyler mount each time. We also own a CineFlex gimbal mount which we mount on a helicopter and on our production yacht. We haven't used RED ONE in the CineFlex though. It is set up for use with our Sony HDC1500. At some point in the future we hope to also adapt our CineFlex for use with EPIC - we'll see.

All our copter shooting with RED ONE has been recorded to compact flash, rather than our RED Drives.
 
Helicopter Film Services Wescam is ready to fly with the Red camera.
Check out more at:
http://helicopterfilm.tv/

or

http://www.bluesky.se/

Blue Skies

Peter Degerfeldt DOP/Wescam operator

Would love to visit the Trollhättan's SAAB factory again! I was there when they have introduced the 9-5 range. Would be awesome to shoot the SAAB stunt team doing their SAAB-BALLET from HELI with RED ONE...!!!

Instead I am sweating off the 40˚C (100+ Fahrenheit) heat here in Mexico...
Bagger...
:cold:
 
Our production group has shot with RED ONE in a helicopter on several occasions since August 2007 - California, Hawaii, and elsewhere. Because of local equipment limitations and/or budget , it was using a Tyler mount each time. We also own a CineFlex gimbal mount which we mount on a helicopter and on our production yacht. We haven't used RED ONE in the CineFlex though. It is set up for use with our Sony HDC1500. At some point in the future we hope to also adapt our CineFlex for use with EPIC - we'll see.

All our copter shooting with RED ONE has been recorded to compact flash, rather than our RED Drives.

Which gyros are You guys using and in what configuration?
 
Do you keep the RED-DRIVE inside the mount or back in the heli? I would like to keep the "sensitive" stuff inside. The camera will of course be "Kenyonized"...

Which size are You guys using - KS-6's or KS-8's? And how many (2 or 3)?

Sorry Peter, I might be sounding like a dummy. Whats KS? 6 - 8 etc.

Oh I mount the drives to the camera still if we are using mounts that are mounted internally on a gyroed mount, if it's an external mount, either under slung or nose mount, we run the drives back inside with the operators.
 
We own a CineFlex V14 HD, custom adapted for use on our boat. We also re-mount the same CineFlex on a helicopter regularly for aerial work.

Link: http://www.cinetruck.com/cineflex-camera/

Our footage from using the CineFlex is super smooth.

We have used the Cineflex a few times, Its a very very special unit indeed.
I really don't think there is a better ball cam in the market today.
We had the most roughest of conditions one day in a heli, so bad that I could bearly view the split monitor because it was jumping all over the cabin. Even the operator was struggling to see his monitor let alone operate.
We landed to view the footage and couldn't believe our eyes, not a single bump. it was like it was stuck on a tripod.
If cineflex somehow was adapted using a RED camera, Id buy one myself without even thinking twice.
 
Sorry Peter, I might be sounding like a dummy. Whats KS? 6 - 8 etc.

Oh I mount the drives to the camera still if we are using mounts that are mounted internally on a gyroed mount, if it's an external mount, either under slung or nose mount, we run the drives back inside with the operators.

The "only" good quality gyros that I know of (and are used by most people in our industry) are Kenyon's Labs gyros:

http://www.ken-lab.com/

The actual models are almost identical in concept/design/construction and mainly differ by the ability to stabilize more heavy cameras:

"Explorer" KS-2 (The Baby) is the most affordable one at $ 1300,- USD
They are only made to order - I have two (SN: 0708A58 & 0708A59)

"Universal" KS-4 is identical to KS-2, but uses heavier rings so it can handle more heavy gear. $ 1600,- USD

"Commander" KS-6 is little bigger then KS-2/4 and again can handle more heavy gear - it is the most commonly used in cinematography for HELI, boats, cars and very common on various STEADICAM systems. $ 2200,- USD

"Admiral" KS-8 is the heavy lifter. Same size as KS-6, but heavier rings. $ 3500,- USD

And for those who need to stabilize Hubble Telescope there is "The Chief" KS-12 at whooping $ 8800,- USD

The gyros are worth every cent. You get a professionally stabilized footage even if You need handheld shot. Plus You can frame and focus much easier. I use my two KS-2 to stabilize my DSLR for aerial still photography and I did a very impressive test with the "babies" on custom made rig for HV20 out of helicopter - the footage looks like shot on Wescam or Tyler (as far as stabilization goes...)

What I am trying to find out is if anyone is gyro-stabilizing RED ONE and if so, which size gyro's are they using...
 
oh.. this reminds me... we just got the prototype 10' LCD cables in... and they work great.

So, as we are here right now ... any estimate about time ?
I wanted to order one, lightyears ago since it was in the store and it looked like it was gone ... at least I was under the impression after I talked to your staff...
 
Pictorvision has been supporting and renting the Red in our stabilized Wescam systems since last November.

www.Pictorvision.com

Keep in mind that stabilizing the system is often just half the battle. You also need to be able accurately control the steering (Pan, Tilt, Zoom), and monitor the image.


Tom Hallman

President
Pictorvision
Thallman@pictorvision.com
818-785-9282

http://www.pictorvision.com
 
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