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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 :)

Steadicam opinions?

Nick Gardner said:
If making it work is what you are going for, then by all means go for it. If charging people money and expecting professional results on a professional job, then head the above advice.

Nick
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Sometimes it's about managing client expectations and delivering within a tight budget.
 
I'm over this. Sure! steadicam is easy all you need is $4k and a strong spirit. Go knock your self out. I don't care anymore. I was never really very good at it due to my enormous ego, and my even bigger cock (kept tripping over it).
 
Nick Gardner said:
I'm over this. Sure! steadicam is easy all you need is $4k and a strong spirit. Go knock your self out. I don't care anymore. I was never really very good at it due to my enormous ego, and my even bigger cock (kept tripping over it).
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Nick, I never said it was easy....in fact I said the opposite. I'm sorry if my retaliation to your post upset you...really I am. But hey, I'm sick of people's dreams and ideas being shut down by forum experts and industry professionals who give advice like "don't even try, just pay someone else to do it, or buy the absolute best equipment you can". At the end of the day, for me, it's about the craft and how I can master it regardless of budget.
 
Matthew Scott said:
Nick, I never said it was easy....in fact I said the opposite. I'm sorry if my retaliation to your post upset you...really I am. But hey, I'm sick of people's dreams and ideas being shut down by forum experts and industry professionals who give advice like "don't even try, just pay someone else to do it, or buy the absolute best equipment you can". At the end of the day, for me, it's about the craft and how I can master it regardless of budget.
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+100

Thanks for your posts Matthew.
You are one of the few helpful people on here.
There is a lot of negativity and hostility on reduser.
Shame.

Nice shots in your video.
 
Everyone is a professional, master of the universe, best at everything, all around genius, on the internet.... Don't believe me, just ask them, they will tell you, HA! It is the nature of forums to attract all around know it all people.

Matthew Scott said:
Nick, I never said it was easy....in fact I said the opposite. I'm sorry if my retaliation to your post upset you...really I am. But hey, I'm sick of people's dreams and ideas being shut down by forum experts and industry professionals who give advice like "don't even try, just pay someone else to do it, or buy the absolute best equipment you can". At the end of the day, for me, it's about the craft and how I can master it regardless of budget.
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Cool story, the next time I am in Montreal I'll buy you a beer!

fREDeric ChAMbERlAnd said:
Very good advice from everyone here ,
Workshop first if you are serious about this .
Then you'll know if you want to invest more into steadicam .
I really wanted to do steadicam and built my first stabiliser with abs plastic pipes and a gimbal made of wood , i spent about 15$ at the time .
Then worked my ass off at costco as a cashier to pay for the "big" workshop at Tiffen (cp at the time)
And then got a loan and got my first big rig.
I followed my dream and today, I live and breathe as a steadi op and I pinch myself every day for having the best job on set .
Here's my rig today on SyFy Being Human 2 .
(I cheated and put my Epic on my sled for the picture as we are flying Alexas on our show ... :-))
http://t.co/kS1S0S3S
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Matthew Scott said:
I can't believe some of the "advice" people are giving here. Honestly, if someone has $4k to spend, there ARE alternatives to hiring a pro or using post to get a result (was that a joke?). What about the fun and enjoyment that comes with learning a new skill? I got myself a Glidecam 4000 Pro second hand a couple of years ago and it completely changed my life! I now travel the world teaching people how to glide....it's awesome. I too have purchased a Scarlet and am excited to see what I can do with it, but especially how I'm going to glide/fly it on a budget.

Persistence, practice and learning from your first month with a glidecam/steadicam is the best way to go. Courses and books and 40k kits come second. My advice is borrow one, and don't give up. Make it work....

Here's what managed with the 5DII and kit lens: http://vimeo.com/18467488
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well put!!!
 
I say go for it. When I started doing Steadicam over 15 years ago, I just went for it.
the only thing I want to point out though is that I was a full time Steadi op until recently, and it took all my attention to become one. I don't know if Steadi is one of those skills you can acquire for your "bag of tricks" so you go on shooting and if you need it, you just dust the rig off and do some Steadi. You need to constantly keep your skills up to date.
another thing to point out is that it's one thing doing B roll footage where you roam freely and all you have to do is to keep the rig level and something in frame. Another is doing a scripted scene with directions from a director, lights and stands everywhere just waiting to peek in your shot. I usually say that the hard part of a Steadicam shot is not what's in your shot, but what needs to be just outside your frameline.
Go do a workshop, see if it's something you think you could put a lot of your time and money in. If its so, go for it!
 
Just read through this entire thread to try and figure out whether the 4000 will be enough to fly a Scarlet and right now I'd like to do it, if nothing else, just to prove all the naysayers wrong.

If the right idea is to hire someone else to do it and not even try yourself, why not apply that to everything and hire a professional DP? And screenwriter? And director? In fact, why don't you just sit in your couch and use your mountain of cash to pay someone else to go make a movie for you.

Well a lot of people don't have the money or the budget. We all know that hiring a world class pro will get you the best results, at least in the short term. And that a 10x more expensive product will probably give you better results if you use it right. I don't even understand what the point is of giving that kind of advice.

Even if I did have the budget, I would want to try a lot of things on my own anyway. I enjoy trying and I trust that I can become really good with enough time and practice. That's why I'm in this business to begin with. There are a lot more profitable businesses to be in if that is all you care about. I came from one before deciding to go into filmmaking.

With the influx of Scarlet users into this forum, I think some of the established attitudes around here will have to change... Okay, enough venting, I know people probably don't mean anything bad but it upsets me when new users arrive with enthusiasm and leave with nothing but negativity. Well I guess we'll have to feed off of that energy. :)
 
In short, no, $4000 isn't really enough. But it is enough to make a start at learning Steadicam operation.

Pretty much everyone, at some point, said to themselves, this may be a crazy idea, but I want this. I'm gonna go for it.

If this is such a moment for you, then welcome to your journey. May it be fruitful and rewarding!
 
Mark Britton said:
In short, no, $4000 isn't really enough. But it is enough to make a start at learning Steadicam operation.

Pretty much everyone, at some point, said to themselves, this may be a crazy idea, but I want this. I'm gonna go for it.

If this is such a moment for you, then welcome to your journey. May it be fruitful and rewarding!
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Hey Mark, great words there, totally agree. But I think Jonas was refering to the model "4000" not a budget :) ... *EDIT* actually, maybe you were right hehe ;)

Jonas, the 4000 alone (pro or HD model) is not enough to fly the Scarlet. It's too heavy a camera. I hate saying this but you really need a support vest/arm to do it well, and from my research (using an Epic), I'm planning on purchasing the x-10 arm for my 4000 Pro. Hope this helps.
 
Matthew Scott said:
Jonas, the 4000 alone (pro or HD model) is not enough to fly the Scarlet. It's too heavy a camera. I hate saying this but you really need a support vest/arm to do it well, and from my research (using an Epic), I'm planning on purchasing the x-10 arm for my 4000 Pro. Hope this helps.
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Sure, I've been playing with the Steadicam Merlin and a 5D and even that gets heavy quickly...

But the 4000 Pro and X-10 comes out to well below $4K?
 
Matthew Scott said:
Yes it does! I thought you were referring to the model number 4000....and not a budget of 4000. So, $4000 is plenty enough :)
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Great, thanks! Is there a particular reason you recommend the X-10 over the "Smooth Shooter" other than the terrible name of the latter? :)
 
Jonas Klittmark said:
Great, thanks! Is there a particular reason you recommend the X-10 over the "Smooth Shooter" other than the terrible name of the latter? :)
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"The GLIDECAM X-10 is very similar in design to the Glidecam Smooth Shooter; however the X-10 comes with both sections of its support arm being able to move vertically, whereas the Smooth Shooter comes with only the front section of its support arm being able to move vertically. Also, the X-10 comes with a trimmable Arm-to-Vest Connector, whereas the Smooth Shooter’s Arm-to-Vest Connector is not trimmable."

:)
 
Just before Xmas I got an Artemis DV Pro MD with upgraded heavyweight springs. With Epic M, touchscreen, 15mm rails OConnor Follow Focus, sidehandle and a Canon L wide angle lens I can get it to fly nicely. It's even better without the rails and FF. It took a while to set up the weight and the dynamic balance, but it's very smooth now. I'm just scratching the surface, learning the ropes, working my way through the Steadicam Owners Handbook, certainly wouldn't feel confident yet about getting a director to tell me exactly where to go, it's not as easy as it looks. Going downstairs is the hardest.
 
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