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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 :)

Segway footage sample

Lee Dashiell said:
It's pretty smooth on the rig however I am doing some smoothing in post to take out anything that's not acceptable. There's certainly nothing wrong with that. The result is pretty good considering that there's no Steadicam in the mix. I've been experimenting with different ways to make this happen and I feel pretty good about this one. All of the footage was shot in 4K at 30pfs. Looking forward to having the EPIC. I think that 42 to 48fps will be nice. Here's a pic of the Segway w/hands free steering set-up.
wjavc8.jpg
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Thanks for the photo Lee..you did well!
 
Louis Maddalena said:
it looks really awesome, but I'm really curious what it would look like with out the stabilization from post.

Segways are pretty awesome though, and they do ride really smoothly and are great when it comes to controlling constant speed so it might be cool to see what happens if somebody with a technical background puts a shock mount on the segway also with a gimbal and a steadicam arm so the segway will support the steadicam instead of your body.. it might make for even smoother shots... now only if I had a segway, a technical background, and extra parts....
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Its called a Steadiseg =)

http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/07/17/steadiseg-finally-a-use-for-a-segway-i-can-get-on-board-with/
 
Absolutely no need for a steadicam. steadicams are for when you transfer weight between two different supports, (your legs), which are low frequency vibrations. when you are rolling you are just a dolly, do you see dollies with steadicams? not really, unless you have to fly a really tight lens and have the knowledge and the time to set it up. The reason why this segway shots are smoother than walking and dollies is because the rubber tires and your watery body absorb the majority of the high frequency vibrations, and the wheels help you avoid the low frequency vibrations that your walking creates.
I own the same segway, but i only used it a couple of times since the camera angles are to high for my taste. and forget about low mode, its almost impossible.
 
Very nice footage, however very wide angle as well. it would be a very different story with longer lens, and then you need to add a stabilizer steadicam device to do this and you need serious training as well.
Iam very impressed from the footage though, and I would like to ask if that was shot on shoulder mode.
Well done Lee.
great shots.
 
I use Final Cut's "Smoothcam" filter at least once a week. Nothing wrong with that, it works great if your footage isn't too bad. Looks great Lee, great alternative if the situation is right.
 
Steve Sherrick said:
We're all seeing the same thing. But I'll wait to hear it from Lee and give him the benefit of the doubt.
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Agreed, not crucifying Lee, it's good stuff. Nothing wrong with post stabilization (especially with 2k footage), just stating it was a wee misleading with the wordage.

Great job (especially for an hours work) Lee, I'd like to see more!
 
It is beautiful footage, Lee, don't get me wrong. But I'm glad you told us you did post effects on it. I get your point about using whatever tools, but I hope you understand my point: When we (not consumers-we are production people) are looking at things online, we evaluate the picture based on the tools used...tools that we might purchase to use.

So at first, I was amazed at the footage because it was so steady...thinking "I need to get a Segway." But knowing you stabilized and not knowing what the original footage looked like, well...it's hard to tell how amazing the Segway helped achieve it vs post processing. Someone mentioned Color Correction. Same deal. If a camera company puts out pictures from their camera that were heavily corrected and acted as if that was the raw image coming from the camera...well, we'd feel very misled.

So, thanks for telling us you stabilized and hope you understand why I commented the way I did.

That said, the footage looks beautiful. But had you gotten that with just a Segway AND without a steadicam...I'd be heading to the Segway store. :-)

Thanks!

Kevin
 
Hey Lee, that looks great! Keep up the good work! BTW I miss Sticky Fingers & Noisey Oster!
 
I've been shooting segway footage since the first day they came out. More often then not they want it to be high energy and not so smooth. I've done quite a few chases where the goal was to make it as frantic as possible.

Here's a short we did that was shot completely on the segway except for one shot. I shot it in less then 2 hours about 4 years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlAl0YB1ar4&feature=related
 
Gustavo Penna said:
Absolutely no need for a steadicam. steadicams are for when you transfer weight between two different supports, (your legs), which are low frequency vibrations. when you are rolling you are just a dolly, do you see dollies with steadicams? not really, unless you have to fly a really tight lens and have the knowledge and the time to set it up. The reason why this segway shots are smoother than walking and dollies is because the rubber tires and your watery body absorb the majority of the high frequency vibrations, and the wheels help you avoid the low frequency vibrations that your walking creates.
I own the same segway, but i only used it a couple of times since the camera angles are to high for my taste. and forget about low mode, its almost impossible.
Click to expand...

Well no - a Steadicam on a Segway is a better way because you are eliminating operator wiggle in pan-tilt which remains present on a Segway, as are unwanted body shifts. Steadicams are used on trucks too, very commonly, for the same reason - even trucks on smooth roads.

What I find less than super-cool is the wide angles seemingly necessary here - at least present in all shots- I doubt 35 mm or 50mm would be possible this way, as it is with a great Steadicam op.
 
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