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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 :)

VFS Inclino, Imperio, Origo News ??

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UPDATE: We ran late today getting these out. Basically we were dumping firmware on a few of the imperos and noticed a strange glitch with the software where the inclino would dither while the knob was not being used. We tracked down the issue after spending a few hours in the software and it turns out that its nothing to do with software. The encoder on the impero has a little magnet that has to be a precise distance abvce the encoder... for the production units we added a thick layer of felt to smooth out the feel of the control knob and it was just enough to affect the performance of the encoder. We're are changing out all of the felt and that seems to be fixing the problem.

So long story short, we are delayed another day. We'll have tracking numbers out tomorrow.
 
Its the little things that always bite you in the ass. thanks for the Update
 
It seems that there was a little more to the problem we found yesterday that originally thought. The felt did in fact add to some of the noise but there was also a problem with the wireless modules dropping communications. The published current draw for the Xbee modules is 40 mA but after talking to the tech support guys at Digi it seems that the true power requirements of the modules is actually closer to 300 mA - unfortunately we only have 100 mA to spare on our 3.3v regulators. This issue popped up after we went to the multi-controller setup where more traffic is being passed through the receiver unit. The short term solution is to disable multi controller support but the better solution is to go to the next size larger voltage regulator (300mA) so we can nip this problem in the butt. I ordered a few dozen of the bigger regulators and will have them in the AM. It takes about 15 minutes to disassemble the imperos and replace the regulators. Please have patience with this guys, we are finding all the major issues now that the firmware is turning everything on.

BTW, We shipped one non-wireless unit today! I know its not huge but baby steps right?
 
Thanks curt
 
First impressions...

First impressions...

First impressions from using my new Inclino/Impero.

I went up to ViewFactor today and picked up an Inclino/Impero. It's real! I had to leave with an alpha model of only the wired version, as the wireless receiver unit wasn't ready for me to take one with me. Here are some random first impressions.

Setup
Setup was trivial. I slipped the motor onto the base rod, tightened it with an allen wrench (would like to replace this with something that doesn't need a tool), plugged one cable from D-tap to motor, plugged the other cable from motor to Impero. Then I pressed the calibrate button. It zipped to one end of the lens and then the other. After that I was able to use the follow focus knob to adjust the lens. Couldn't have been easier. The whole thing only took about 60 seconds. I am hoping to use this as my every day, every situation follow focus, and the easy setup certainly won't get in the way of that.

Build Quality
Build quality is fantastic. The motors, cables, connectors all feel and look like top-notch gear. Very professional stuff. Considering this is currently the lowest cost wireless follow focus on the market, it's truly incredible how nice everything looks and feels.

Noise
This had been a worry of mine, but now that I've heard it in person, I'm not too worried about the noise. On normal, slow speed focus pulls, there's no significant noise at all. The faster pulls start to make some noise, but I don't think they'll be a problem either. I will need to test it in a real-world situation and see if any noise ends up on the audio track. My off-the-cuff guess is that it's not going to be a problem. I haven't listened to the current competing products, so I don't know how it compares.

Feel of Focus Knob
This is one where I'm going to have to wait and see how I end up liking it. It feels a tad more resistant than I'd like, but just a tiny bit. Too bad it didn't end up being adjustable. It's just a bit more resistant than my Chrosziel follow focus. I'm sure once I use it I'll get used to it. It also may be that the production units use different materials and could have a different feel. My complaint is definitely nit-picking -- it feels smooth, uniform, comes to a start and stop nicely. It's also a little bigger than my Chrosziel, which will take some getting used to.

Issues
First off, I consider this an alpha unit, so I'm expecting to run into little problems that can/will be fixed with firmware updates. I have no plans on taking this out on a real shoot and counting on it. I have already seen a couple of times where the lens position and the follow focus markings got out of sync with each other. Note that I've successfully done a test with multiple marks and was able to move between them repeatedly and reliably have the marks match up exactly with the lens markings, going back and forth 10 or 15 times. So I'm not sure how bad / often this getting out of sync happens, but I know I've seen it. I think it might happen when you do super fast moves. Not sure -- more testing needed. I assume a firmware update will be able to fix this. My guess is that in working like crazy to button things up, Curt may have introduced a bug. I know that the normal cycle of locking down the code and doing an extensive QA test before shipping isn't something he had the luxury of doing.

Another issue is that some features aren't in yet. The auto position 1 and 2 wasn't enabled. Will be soon. Probably would have been ready for me if I'd been willing to wait for half an hour, but I had to leave. Not sure what else is in or out.

View Factor
The whole experience in buying and getting this product is very similar to the experience of getting my Red camera. Red shipped late, shipped a beta version and then kept adding features and fixing problems over time. But that's what they said that would do from the get-go. And I have been very very happy. Red delivered an unheard of value and it was a privilege to be in the first batch of cameras. View Factor has had it's mis-steps, but it seems to me to be on track to do the same thing for wireless follow focus that Red did for cameras.

Having been to View Factor and having met Curt (and his mom and dad) I can say I came away with a good feeling about the product and the company. Curt is definitely swamped with too many things to do, and feeling the pain of being so late with the product. For me, though, the wait has been worth it, and I'm ok waiting a bit more for the final feature set and final bug fixes to be delivered.

Here are some pictures:

415_1232075952.jpg


415_1232076714.jpg


415_1232076063.jpg
 
CVB said:
BTW, We shipped one non-wireless unit today! I know its not huge but baby steps right?
Click to expand...

Flipping Awesome Curt!!!!

Wow - Great report John.... Keep it coming.

Prost to Curt & his gang!
Rich
 
Great to hear first impressions from a user. And good to hear we are finally getting close.

Curt, good to see your doing some quick regular updates, it only takes 5 minutes and you are gonna see a lot more customers happy to wait that little bit longer even if there are a few more things you find along the way. It only takes that tiny bit of communication and it keeps everyone happy. After all 5 minutes a day is less than half an hour a working week!

Good work, i'm happy to wait that little bit longer still while you sort out the little bugs along the way with quick little updates of where we are at. Nice looking unit and i'm sure it's gonna be great and something to be proud of.
 
CVB said:
baby steps right?
Click to expand...

Bob Wiley: ...baby step onto the elevator... baby step into the elevator... I'm *in* the elevator.
[doors close]
Bob Wiley: AHHHHHHHHHHHH!



You are doing great guys!
 
whoo hoo!! glad to see this out the door. and thanks to CVB for the update.
I am satisfied....going back to bed now.
 
Hi Curt or John Cordell,

How do you power up or down the Impero unit? (I assume with the inclinos you just supply or cut the 12v going to them?)

I can't see any ON/OFF switch button on the Impero unit. I am planning to use the Impero/inclinos in my underwater housing with a RED camera and hope that the impero can be turned ON and OFF while in the housing underwater? (via some sort of mechanical interaction, I suppose).

Any info greatly appreciated.

Regards

George
www.coralseatv.com
 
UPDATE: FedEx delivered the new voltage regulators at 3:00 PM instead of 10:30AM as we paid for... guess they decided to just throw it in with the other 7 packages that were not priority. Regardless we changed them all out and it looks like the problem is solved.. no more jitters. We're going to box up the orders in the morning and start sending out the tracking numbers. All 10 units will be on their way to their new homes on Monday... Finally.

CoralSeaTV said:
Hi Curt or John Cordell,

How do you power up or down the Impero unit? (I assume with the inclinos you just supply or cut the 12v going to them?)

I can't see any ON/OFF switch button on the Impero unit. I am planning to use the Impero/inclinos in my underwater housing with a RED camera and hope that the impero can be turned ON and OFF while in the housing underwater? (via some sort of mechanical interaction, I suppose).
Click to expand...

Yes, there is an on/off switch next to the power connector. When the switch is off and nothing is plugged in the unit is off. When the switch is on and the bus cable is unplugged then the unit is on. If the bus cable is plugged in then the unit will be on regardless of where the switch is.

Paul Kalbach said:
For Steadicam weight rationing purposes; does anybody know what the Inclino + receiver + cables would weigh? I don't find any weight specifications at viewfactor.net and don't want to bother them at this point in time.
Click to expand...
I'll weigh a setup tonight..
 
Hi Curt,

Thanks for that info, it is appreciated.

So it sounds like the batteries in the back of Impero are only for use during wirelss operation. If you were using Impero in a wired set up, you could leave Imperos ON/OFF switch ON all the time and power up/down Impero (and Iclino) via supplying/cutting power at the D-tap end (or RED camera power out). Hopefully cutting power this way would not loose Imperos memory of lens calibration details.

Anyway I am just thinking out load so don't worry about responding to this we will find out in good time.

Regards


George
 
Serial missing from VF website

Serial missing from VF website

Hi Curt/John,

My order numbers aren't appearing on the VF forum that shows the shipping serial numbers any more.

ORD200804081 - an Impero and 2 x Inclinos on the 8th of April 2008 -
ORD2008090211 - an additional Inclino on the 2nd of September 2008.

I've sent an email regarding this but received no response. After this long wait it would be heartbreaking to lose my place in the queue. If you can confirm my shipping serial numbers ASAP that would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Dan
 
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