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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 :)

Letus Gimbal

Curran Giddens said:
Which is better for use on a Steadicam arm? This or Ronin? The Ronin doesn't seem to include the type of universal mount that was talked about here.
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Curran, if you are using both the arm and the sled on your steadi - I would personally recommend to go with the 1-axis Helix. Without a sled - we need to see the final implementations of the various solution - and, more importantly, some hands-on test by experienced steadi operator...

:sifone: Peter
 
Been so busy the last few days I'm falling behind the times here, but WOW. Hien, consider this my official pat on the back.:-) Just going back and forth like that from low to high and having the angle hold is amazing. The prototype blew me away two months ago, but what you've done with it since then is just phenomenal.

Will we be getting edited footage shot with the final production model before product release?
 
Where does the battery go? In the NAB demos, it was attached via cable. Is that still the case?
 
hienle said:
Aaron, you failed me. LOL
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LOL All is forgiven - I'll be at Vince LaForet's Motion Directing seminar today so it will give me something to look forward to when get finished this evening.

I hope Cinegear was great. Things seem to be coming along great. An aside - looks like Ronin is pretty aggressively priced! ;-)
 
Wow. What a sweet build. Very clean. I just wish the camera tray area was larger. Im not sure if this will fly a F5/55, a camera I use regularly. Have you guys tested this? Congrats on the build though.
I'd love to get one for testing.
 
Peter Majtan said:
Curran, if you are using both the arm and the sled on your steadi - I would personally recommend to go with the 1-axis Helix. Without a sled - we need to see the final implementations of the various solution - and, more importantly, some hands-on test by experienced steadi operator...

:sifone: Peter
Click to expand...

1 axis version sseems truly excellent as a Steadicam add-on, but again - and please anyone here with real Steadicam experience back me up on this - you can't operate a Steadicam without the sled because

A) You need a monitor by your feet (the one at the bottom of the sled) to "walk backwards" in what is known in Steadicam parlance as a "Don Juan" - otherwise you are at much greater risk of falling.

B) The handle on the gymbal is not a direct connection - it has a lot of give. If you hold it gently, you don't add micro-motion to your move via your hand.
 
Spent a good deal of time checking out gimbals from various manufacturers the last couple days at Cinegear and the Helix is in a category of its own, for my work this is the winner by far. The build quality is top notch as one would expect with Letus, the leather handles a nice plus. Much lighter than the Ronin and no need to carry a stand around. Power distro box is well thought through and integrating into the system, great that we have options for battery types and sizes. The thumbwheel is working and there are multiple ways to configure the controls to the user's preference. Hien had it set up with tilt control on the right handle and pan and roll controllable via the thumbwheel, and after a few minutes playing around with it I can see how this will be an amazing tool for a single operator. Having pan control means that you can pan on a dime, as opposed to when you reach the threshold specified by the 'pan window' setting, so this mode (with a bit of practice) will allow the operator to be very responsive while still retaining the benefits of stabilization.

For me it is a huge plus that the lens sits at the level of your hands as opposed to about a foot below your hands as on the other gimbal options. Not only does it make it MUCH easier to get the camera up to eye level but as an operator it makes me feel more directly connected to the camera. It is hard to judge how smooth the footage is while operating, so it would be nice to see some demos shot on a 24mm or 28mm to assess the 'feel' of the Helix moving through space, but the motors were clearly handling the C300 with ease. Hien says these new direct drive motors that they've made for the Helix are the strongest on the market and after playing with it I have no reason to doubt him.

The versatility of this rig is one of the big draws for me, it changes mode from normal (overslung) to side mounted without a hitch, allowing an incredible amount of flexibility for jibbing from low to high angles (That may be a situation where you'll want a second operator controlling the tilt, as it may be difficult to get the desired amount of headroom by using the side handle to control tilt while jibbing). The versatility extends to being able to strip it down very quickly into single axis mode by simply sliding off the dovetail. I'm really looking forward to using it in single axis mode as well. Keeping the horizon level is by far the most important axis for camera stabilization, and I look forward to putting lightweight cameras like the A7s on a monopod with single axis Helix. Or putting the Dragon with single axis Helix on a Steadicam sled.

The rig stayed built with the C300 and I didn't get a chance to see the process of balancing, but after balancing some of the other gimbals I can really appreciate the design decision of aligning COG with optical center via the counterweights. It should be much faster with this rig than the others, and that's also a huge factor for me. The weights also allow for using longer cameras such as the F55. But it was also interesting to see that because the motors are so strong, the Helix works well even when not perfectly balanced (at one point it was drifting quite a bit in the roll axis when switched off, but still stabilizing perfectly when on). I'm imagining this will be useful when the sun is setting and it's time to swing a lens.

I didn't get a chance to check out the software running the Helix system, but I hope they implement the level of customization and controls that the Movi offers - both manual and auto tuning of motors, pan/tilt window and smoothing, being able to change the tilt mode between tilt lock and 'majestic'/follow mode, being able to assign one or more specific axis for a second operator to control via remote, etc.

So hats off to Hien, GT, Aaron and the rest of the Letus team on a brilliant design that is going to open up a lot of creative possibilities. I can't wait to get my Dragon on one of these.
 
Very excited to see all these Helix developments! Congrats to Hien, Aaron and whole Letus team...but I think ultimately, it may be us, the consumers, who end up the ultimate winners, as Helix appears to be expanding the defenition of a gimble, and even our expectations of them.
 
Thank you, Caleb, for the great write up. Short of being at Cinegear myself, this is a huge vote of confidence that we're in the right boat here.

Hien and team, hats off guys. The videos are really impressive and I'm really looking forward to wrapping my head around the myriad ways I'll be able to use this exciting tool. Thanks for all the effort you've put into it, and all you've been willing to share with us on this forum and on the Letus site. The Helix just keeps getting better and better.

Best,
Clint

Caleb Heymann said:
Spent a good deal of time checking out gimbals from various manufacturers the last couple days at Cinegear and the Helix is in a category of its own, for my work this is the winner by far. The build quality is top notch as one would expect with Letus, the leather handles a nice plus. Much lighter than the Ronin and no need to carry a stand around. Power distro box is well thought through and integrating into the system, great that we have options for battery types and sizes. The thumbwheel is working and there are multiple ways to configure the controls to the user's preference. Hien had it set up with tilt control on the right handle and pan and roll controllable via the thumbwheel, and after a few minutes playing around with it I can see how this will be an amazing tool for a single operator. Having pan control means that you can pan on a dime, as opposed to when you reach the threshold specified by the 'pan window' setting, so this mode (with a bit of practice) will allow the operator to be very responsive while still retaining the benefits of stabilization.

For me it is a huge plus that the lens sits at the level of your hands as opposed to about a foot below your hands as on the other gimbal options. Not only does it make it MUCH easier to get the camera up to eye level but as an operator it makes me feel more directly connected to the camera. It is hard to judge how smooth the footage is while operating, so it would be nice to see some demos shot on a 24mm or 28mm to assess the 'feel' of the Helix moving through space, but the motors were clearly handling the C300 with ease. Hien says these new direct drive motors that they've made for the Helix are the strongest on the market and after playing with it I have no reason to doubt him.

The versatility of this rig is one of the big draws for me, it changes mode from normal (overslung) to side mounted without a hitch, allowing an incredible amount of flexibility for jibbing from low to high angles (That may be a situation where you'll want a second operator controlling the tilt, as it may be difficult to get the desired amount of headroom by using the side handle to control tilt while jibbing). The versatility extends to being able to strip it down very quickly into single axis mode by simply sliding off the dovetail. I'm really looking forward to using it in single axis mode as well. Keeping the horizon level is by far the most important axis for camera stabilization, and I look forward to putting lightweight cameras like the A7s on a monopod with single axis Helix. Or putting the Dragon with single axis Helix on a Steadicam sled.

The rig stayed built with the C300 and I didn't get a chance to see the process of balancing, but after balancing some of the other gimbals I can really appreciate the design decision of aligning COG with optical center via the counterweights. It should be much faster with this rig than the others, and that's also a huge factor for me. The weights also allow for using longer cameras such as the F55. But it was also interesting to see that because the motors are so strong, the Helix works well even when not perfectly balanced (at one point it was drifting quite a bit in the roll axis when switched off, but still stabilizing perfectly when on). I'm imagining this will be useful when the sun is setting and it's time to swing a lens.

I didn't get a chance to check out the software running the Helix system, but I hope they implement the level of customization and controls that the Movi offers - both manual and auto tuning of motors, pan/tilt window and smoothing, being able to change the tilt mode between tilt lock and 'majestic'/follow mode, being able to assign one or more specific axis for a second operator to control via remote, etc.

So hats off to Hien, GT, Aaron and the rest of the Letus team on a brilliant design that is going to open up a lot of creative possibilities. I can't wait to get my Dragon on one of these.
Click to expand...
 
Looks absolutely amazing!

the one thing I did notice is that the camera seemed to drift on the roll axis...in effect ever so slightly going off the starting roll axis angle. Seemed that he needed to keep adjusting it. What is up with that? Just curious :) thanks
 
Adam Johnson said:
Looks absolutely amazing!

the one thing I did notice is that the camera seemed to drift on the roll axis...in effect ever so slightly going off the starting roll axis angle. Seemed that he needed to keep adjusting it. What is up with that? Just curious :) thanks
Click to expand...


We need to tune the trim for the joystick, we didn't tune at all. If the joystick was disabled, the high and low mode needs no adjustments. Not at all. It's the joystick that make the thing drifting, not only on roll, but also on pan.
 
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