Letus Gimbal

[Terry VerHaar]

I am still here Terry, don't worry. LOL
Give me pin counts also. Don't tell me 15 pins. LOL

OK - so far all I could find in the DSMC Operations Guide was this:

16-pin 1B LEMO; Custom digital video and power interconnection between DSMCBRAIN and RED EVF or RED LCD; Pinout not published

Could this mean the actual wiring diagram is not made available? :-( Could it be reverse engineered in some way? We just need a pass-through, right? If one supplied their own cables on either side of the port, a pass-through wiring could be made with the right hardware, yes?

 

[Barasz Mathieu]

Hienle, i sent you a MP, have you received it ?

 

[Adam Eden]

Deposit placed.

I want the steadicam version but from what i have seen on this thread so far it looks very awkward to operate if i replace my sled with this thing. I am a goofy operator and i need to move the gimbal with my left hand and balance with my right. it looks very difficult to operate with two handle bars mounted on my arms.

I have an archer 2 se with g50 springs.

 

[Elizabeth Lowrey]

I will strongly reiterate my support for this and - hate to say it - would pay extra if it were an option.

+1 on paying extra for it. Not like $500 extra, but certainly if it could come under $300, I'd pay it because the touchscreen is simply the most efficient, compact way to combine camera control with full monitoring and data display. I feel hampered without it.

OK - so far all I could find in the DSMC Operations Guide was this:

16-pin 1B LEMO; Custom digital video and power interconnection between DSMCBRAIN and RED EVF or RED LCD; Pinout not published

Could this mean the actual wiring diagram is not made available? :-( Could it be reverse engineered in some way? We just need a pass-through, right? If one supplied their own cables on either side of the port, a pass-through wiring could be made with the right hardware, yes?

Bummer about RED not publishing the wiring spec. Does this imply they WOULDN'T release the pin configuration to 3rd party accessory developers? In any case, I don't see why the right receiver jacks wired one-to-one wouldn't work. Any pin not actually used by the camera would not be transmitted by RED cables.

 

[Bob Gundu]

John, I'm not sure that "OK" was an agreement from Bob to do it. Putting together a little demo isn't always so little in terms of available time and effort. Maybe he meant he would do it. I interpreted it as, "That was a somewhat presumptuous request but whatever..." I'm not trying to put words in his mouth, but it is at least important to realize that fellow professionals don't always just have free time to do us favors. Whenever I write a reduser, I try to always say, "No problem if you don't have time."

Just something to think about.

No worries. I'll put something together after this weekend. And of course, post it in it's own thread.

 

[Les Dittert]

Redtouch cable is basically a flavor of DVI interconnect, that's why it has so many pins.

Is the 'slip ring' actually just the hollow motor shaft that you can pass cable through, or are you doing an old fashioned slip ring, with sliding spring loaded contact fingers ?
If so, I see why you would rather do SDI ! ( few conductors )

 

[hienle]

Redtouch cable is basically a flavor of DVI interconnect, that's why it has so many pins.

Is the 'slip ring' actually just the hollow motor shaft that you can pass cable through, or are you doing an old fashioned slip ring, with sliding spring loaded contact fingers ?
If so, I see why you would rather do SDI ! ( few conductors )

It's a real slip ring with real contacts so you can spin the system as much as you would like.

 

[Scott Pultz]

I understand that the software can store multiple behavior profiles. How does one switch between these? Is there a knob someplace on the unit?

 

[hienle]

I understand that the software can store multiple behavior profiles. How does one switch between these? Is there a knob someplace on the unit?

The LED button on the back is the selector Scott.

 

[Paul Kalbach]

Sounds like a pass-through for the Red Touch LCD cable is going to be problematic due to number of conductors. Defy makes an ultra-fexible Red LCD Cable. Pricey though.
http://defywithus.com/collections/all/products/lemo-monitor-cable

 

[Les Dittert]

If the group by is big enough, would you consider tightening up some of the arm dimensions to tailor a system to the smallest size specifically for the Red ( with side handle ) ?
I mocked up the design in CAD and I see it could be narrower. I was looking at rotation clearances.
Obviously this would only be practical if the quantity is enough, but the CAD change would take half an hour or less.
Are others interested in this ? Personally I want the absolute smallest/lightest handheld unit possible, as I am a run-N-gun shooter / one man crew in difficult shooting conditions. It would be a benefit of a group by for RED specific usage.
Just a thought.

 

[Umar Agha]

If the group by is big enough, would you consider tightening up some of the arm dimensions to tailor a system to the smallest size specifically for the Red ( with side handle ) ?
I mocked up the design in CAD and I see it could be narrower. I was looking at rotation clearances.
Obviously this would only be practical if the quantity is enough, but the CAD change would take half an hour or less.
Are others interested in this ? Personally I want the absolute smallest/lightest handheld unit possible, as I am a run-N-gun shooter / one man crew in difficult shooting conditions. It would be a benefit of a group by for RED specific usage.
Just a thought.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[Terry VerHaar]

If the group by is big enough, would you consider tightening up some of the arm dimensions to tailor a system to the smallest size specifically for the Red ( with side handle ) ?
I mocked up the design in CAD and I see it could be narrower. I was looking at rotation clearances.
Obviously this would only be practical if the quantity is enough, but the CAD change would take half an hour or less.
Are others interested in this ? Personally I want the absolute smallest/lightest handheld unit possible, as I am a run-N-gun shooter / one man crew in difficult shooting conditions. It would be a benefit of a group by for RED specific usage.
Just a thought.

I'd first be curious as to how much we are talking about in each direction.

 

[Aaron Pinto]

Do you mean shorten the cross arm on which the Helix sits in the 3 axis configuration? Right now the side handles are about 18 inches apart which is an average shoulder width. If that's the piece you are referring too, in theory we could offer different widths. You would sacrificing pan motion clearance but it would give you a more compact system. The side handle themselves can be raised up and down so you already have some adjustment there.

If you are referring to altering the height of the core of the Helix itself, that gets a bit more tricky.

 

[Terry VerHaar]

Personally, I would urge you to be cautious with any changes to the basic design; per the law of unintended consequences. And, again IMO, I am OK with shoulder wide and good pan clearance.

 

[Andy Roberts]

If the horizontal cross arm had a simple locking telescoping feature, the width could be adjustable... but that would add more weight I'm sure. I'm not suggesting this, just musing.

 

[Elizabeth Lowrey]

I didn't want to trash the hotshoe for those who mount monitors or other accessories that way, but I have little use for it either. What I'd most like to see is swat rail functionality somewhere on the non-moving back end, but as long as there's a flat surface 70mm wide somewhere with tapped holes, I can just attach a rail myself. I use the RED Sliding Top Handle and also have my RED Touch LCD on a swat rail clamp for quick mounting, and I know a lot of other RED users use handles with swat rail dovetail clamps built in. So maybe a show of hands for anyone who'd like to be able to repurpose their existing sliding handles onto a swat rail on the Helix, either for a centered handle on the three axis version that attaches to the stationary parts of the skeleton and/or for the U frame that is part of the 4th axis. Also would love to hear what ideas Letus and others may have for a quick release solution to interface the 4th axis with a crane.

Hotshoe was mounted to the back by 1/4-20, so if you don't want to use it, just remove it and underneath is the 1/4-20.

Followed by Hein's response:




I'll second Elizabeth's post - a SWAT rail is an excellent approach. Good thinking.

The problem with only one 1/4-20 is that a SWAT rail wants two mounting points. A single will likely introduce slipping under load.
Makes perfect sense to have two.


Though I won't be part of the initial buy, introducing this feature into the design will add this into the "to buy" list.

One 1/4-20 with a curved surface would count as 2 mounting points. It's going no where

Don't understand this, Hien. I want to put this . . .

. . . in an orientation perpendicular to the back of the Helix (parallel with the camera mounting plate). That requires something like this . . .

. . . to be mounted somewhere on the stationary part of the rig in an orientation that would be perpendicular to the camera platform and parallel to the cross piece of the third axis. So it requires a flat surface of some width. It certainly could be screwed down with one screw but IMO would not be nearly as secure from slipping. The sliding top handle, for those who have RED's or a similar product from another manufacturer, comes with a lot of additional tapped holes and a rosette for accessory various mountings, so it's a highly secure way to add an additional (centered) carry point to the rig while adding a lot of accessory mounting options. And the best part is it goes on and off almost instantly.

 

[hienle]

If the horizontal cross arm had a simple locking telescoping feature, the width could be adjustable... but that would add more weight I'm sure. I'm not suggesting this, just musing.

Right Andy, you didn't. LOL.

Actually, I would love to compact it even more and we actually can, but we may lose the roll axis spinning, the top of the camera may hit the side? Let me see what I can do.

 

[hienle]

Don't understand this, Hien. I want to put this . . .

. . . in an orientation perpendicular to the back of the Helix (parallel with the camera mounting plate). That requires something like this . . .

. . . to be mounted somewhere on the stationary part of the rig in an orientation that would be perpendicular to the camera platform and parallel to the cross piece of the third axis. So it requires a flat surface of some width. It certainly could be screwed down with one screw but IMO would not be nearly as secure from slipping. The sliding top handle, for those who have RED's or a similar product from another manufacturer, comes with a lot of additional tapped holes and a rosette for accessory various mountings, so it's a highly secure way to add an additional (centered) carry point to the rig while adding a lot of accessory mounting options. And the best part is it goes on and off almost instantly.

Elizabeth,
What I mean is I can make the bottom of the little piece in the second picture curved as the back of the Helix, then, I only need one 1/4-20 to make it rigid. But I have to make that piece, which is pretty simple. Hah, then you would be able to use RED handle for one axis handheld and low shot wouldn't you? Man, I am starting to be convinced about the modularity of the system. LOL.

 

[Elizabeth Lowrey]

Elizabeth,
What I mean is I can make the bottom of the little piece in the second picture curved as the back of the Helix, then, I only need one 1/4-20 to make it rigid. But I have to make that piece, which is pretty simple. Hah, then you can use RED handle for one axis handheld and low shot wouldn't you. Man, I am starting to be convinced about the modularity of the system. LOL.

Now we're talking!!


ETA: Also the use of a swat rail opens up all kinds of secure, quick release interfacing with other equipment. I could even see you developing an optional accessory with a flat plate and an integral swat rail clamp for interfacing to a Kessler crane, for example. (Yes, the squeaky wheel here, LOL).