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MoVi for Epic

Will Keir

Will Keir

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I'm searching for some posts on this. Is MoVi still in development with beta sets working? Is there one company or many to choose from? What about options? Anyone have some BTS footage to post of them using MoVi on the Epic camera platform? Any users out there able to comment?

I've seen gyro stabilized rigs used for DSLRs, but with the full setup weight of an Epic, you gotta have incredibly strong arms and stamina to run this rig. Not a bad thing in my case. My current shoulder rig setup has gotta weight 20-25 lbs.

I've been hearing bits here and there, thinking, dreaming...

"Children of Men" did some incredible work with long shots.

Thanks for any posts, pictures, BTS footage and information. Cheers to the future here now, been wishing for this for a while.
 
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Dude MOVi has been out for a while, shipments going everywhere....there are heaps of knockoff systems available...I played with a few and seriously dont see how people justify the 15K for the movi....a friend of mine bought a noname gimbal off ebay for 1200 and it works almost just as well. fair enough the software needed some tweaking and the motors some initial calibrating but after the kinks were worked out it did exactly the same as the movi.
I worked on two shoots where we used the movi so far and both times it was a pain in the neck...yes the footage you can get is nice...but it takes ages to set up, ages to balance and ages to swap batteries or swing lenses.
just a quick google search brought up this:



someone did quite an extensive review with one of the first rigs on here, was a shortfilm involving horses in a forrest from what I remember, do a forum search his review was very very extensive and honest.

this baby looks interesting too: http://cinescopophilia.com/gimbalgunner-is-a-cross-over-shoulder-rig-brushless-gimbal-camera-rig/
 
its been out for a long time works perfect I have one and you can rent it out here.

www.rent-movi.com
 
used both Alexmos "Fauvis" and have the real Movi. Found Movi to be much better for a lot of reasons. We use a Pelican 1640 that will hold a fully rigged Movi, camera, lens etc. I'm now able to balance a fully rigged Epic in about 5 minutes. Similarly sized lenses can be changed very fast. If it's bigger or smaller lens it might take 4 or 5 minutes to change. After using it for a while we got our power/cords and setup dialed. It take customized cords, and some thought to get the rig super dialed though. Easyrig works well for certain shots - shooting from moving platform/heli/vehicle.
The thing is sick, but it takes some time to get used to it, and customize everything for max usability.
 
Dominik Muench said:
Dude MOVi has been out for a while, shipments going everywhere....there are heaps of knockoff systems available...I played with a few and seriously dont see how people justify the 15K for the movi....a friend of mine bought a noname gimbal off ebay for 1200 and it works almost just as well. fair enough the software needed some tweaking and the motors some initial calibrating but after the kinks were worked out it did exactly the same as the movi.
I worked on two shoots where we used the movi so far and both times it was a pain in the neck...yes the footage you can get is nice...but it takes ages to set up, ages to balance and ages to swap batteries or swing lenses.
just a quick google search brought up this:



someone did quite an extensive review with one of the first rigs on here, was a shortfilm involving horses in a forrest from what I remember, do a forum search his review was very very extensive and honest.

this baby looks interesting too: http://cinescopophilia.com/gimbalgunner-is-a-cross-over-shoulder-rig-brushless-gimbal-camera-rig/
Click to expand...

Which $1200 one did he purchase?
 
I have a Movi for my Epics. It's very good.

Power and video systems are the weak point currently, and require a lot of time to customise. But, other than that, very impressive.

In my market, clients ask for a Movi…. and not a copy.
 
Paul, would you mind sharing a few pictures, even a video of your setup?

Paul Watt said:
used both Alexmos "Fauvis" and have the real Movi. Found Movi to be much better for a lot of reasons. We use a Pelican 1640 that will hold a fully rigged Movi, camera, lens etc. I'm now able to balance a fully rigged Epic in about 5 minutes. Similarly sized lenses can be changed very fast. If it's bigger or smaller lens it might take 4 or 5 minutes to change. After using it for a while we got our power/cords and setup dialed. It take customized cords, and some thought to get the rig super dialed though. Easyrig works well for certain shots - shooting from moving platform/heli/vehicle.
The thing is sick, but it takes some time to get used to it, and customize everything for max usability.
Click to expand...
 
Now I know there is a review on RU, thanks. The search tools aren't very good. I appreciate the effort, although very little, you put into the post. If your not willing to find the post that you mention, why post at all? Google just isn't the kind of community RU is. Thanks anyway.
Dominik Muench said:
someone did quite an extensive review with one of the first rigs on here, was a shortfilm involving horses in a forrest from what I remember, do a forum search his review was very very extensive and honest.

this baby looks interesting too: http://cinescopophilia.com/gimbalgunner-is-a-cross-over-shoulder-rig-brushless-gimbal-camera-rig/
Click to expand...
 
Paul and Ruff,

Can you guys expand more on the value of the Movi? I've tested one out and it's true that it stabilizes Z-axis rotation. But it doesn't do anything for Y-axis movement, i.e. up and down. And that's the hardest smooth out of one's gait.

Once I realized that, I saw the value of the Movi's technology in a heli rig (which is its origins) but I failed to understand how it is any kind of a replacement for a steadicam. Of course, I could be missing something.

Love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
 
I am not trying to replace Steadicam with it (I own one of those as well).

It's very true that it's not able to takeout footsteps. But I am not using it for that. I shoot commercials, and each shot is only a second or two on screen, and often in slow motion.

It is very, very good for that. It makes it fast to get an awful lot of setups in, that would otherwise take a lot of time.

On a small tracking vehicle held by a good dolly grip it is very special. (Unlike so much of what I see online, I think it is best operated by a dolly grip, and I control the joystick… think of it like a crane or a dolly… you need a good grip).

Hope that helps, early days, and still learning… but I can really see the potential.
 
Will Keir said:
Now I know there is a review on RU, thanks. The search tools aren't very good.
Click to expand...

This is an old trick but just in case you don't know it, use the following to search in google:

movi review site:reduser.net

This will give you much faster and generally more usable results than an actual forum search.

I think this is the review referred to although I have not looked at it myself:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?104090-First-hand-with-the-Movi-on-the-short-quot-The-Arborlight-quot
 
I have the Gstabi H10. It works well, we've been using it on a bunch of out jobs. The only complaint I have is it wears heavy on your lower back.

We are shooting a short on Mondy with the epic mounted exclusively on this rig. Ill post the edit here once it is complete.
 
Hey Will, My buddy just told me he has sort of invented an awesome way to use the movi independantly with an EZ rig and a motorless brushless gimbal, I haven't seen it yet he is shooting in Tuscon right now but when he gets back I will definatly check it out and foreword pictures.

Will Keir said:
I'm searching for some posts on this. Is MoVi still in development with beta sets working? Is there one company or many to choose from? What about options? Anyone have some BTS footage to post of them using MoVi on the Epic camera platform? Any users out there able to comment?

I've seen gyro stabilized rigs used for DSLRs, but with the full setup weight of an Epic, you gotta have incredibly strong arms and stamina to run this rig. Not a bad thing in my case. My current shoulder rig setup has gotta weight 20-25 lbs.

I've been hearing bits here and there, thinking, dreaming...

"Children of Men" did some incredible work with long shots.

Thanks for any posts, pictures, BTS footage and information. Cheers to the future here now, been wishing for this for a while.
Click to expand...
 
I have a Movi and a Chinese clone that uses the Alexmos board. I bought the Movi with hopes that I could immediately put it to work, and I have. It worked well right out of the gate and I haven't had any issues with it so far. After using it for a couple of months now, I can balance it very, very quickly. I have a notebook with various camera set ups (caliper measurements) that saves a ton of time. The clone has been a real pain to set up and it is not nearly as good as the Movi flying dynamically on my copters. I gets weird when pointed straight down and/or pulling even minimal "G"s. Those who say the Alexmos system is as good as the Movi don't really understand the extra sensing capability the Movi has built in. This extra capability will allow for some very neat advancements in the future also. The various clones are playing catch up now and I suspect will continue to after Freefly starts rolling out upgrades.

For shots closer to earth, you really need to start thinking out of the box to get the most from these rigs. That's when they are really worth using. I don't recommend renting a Movi with the expectation that you will get 100% out of it in just a few hours.
 
Wendell Adkins said:
I have a Movi and a Chinese clone that uses the Alexmos board. I bought the Movi with hopes that I could immediately put it to work, and I have. It worked well right out of the gate and I haven't had any issues with it so far. After using it for a couple of months now, I can balance it very, very quickly. I have a notebook with various camera set ups (caliper measurements) that saves a ton of time. The clone has been a real pain to set up and it is not nearly as good as the Movi flying dynamically on my copters. I gets weird when pointed straight down and/or pulling even minimal "G"s. Those who say the Alexmos system is as good as the Movi don't really understand the extra sensing capability the Movi has built in. This extra capability will allow for some very neat advancements in the future also. The various clones are playing catch up now and I suspect will continue to after Freefly starts rolling out upgrades.

For shots closer to earth, you really need to start thinking out of the box to get the most from these rigs. That's when they are really worth using. I don't recommend renting a Movi with the expectation that you will get 100% out of it in just a few hours.
Click to expand...

The Alexmos controller comes without pretuned pid settings and those are, what make all the difference. I totally agree with you that they are difficult to setup and tune but I disagree that you speak about the quality of alexmos boards in general. It took me 2 extensive weeks of tuning recently and I made long test series of just walking and running to find good settings for the new Porta Head 5, which got a better frame and new motors, compared to my first prototype. That was even though I already had experience with tuning brushless systems since last February, but each motor type reacts different.

However, I need to make new videos to show the quality of the current system now that the settings are really good. But there are lots of videos of gimbals with alexmos controller on youtube and vimeo, which are great and of course some which are not that good. Every DIY builder and also every company selling ready to use systems needs to create own settings. That's why ready to use systems are generally a little higher in price.

Gimbal frames from Hongkong usually come without a controller or at least without tuned settings. Also the one mentioned here earlier: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HOT-DEAL-SU...560?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item338aba7cd8
Because of that, watching footage made with these systems only makes sense for a buying decision, if the seller provides the pid settings as well.

Best regards,
Andreas Kielb

www.portahead.de
 
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