magiqcam - new gimbal
 

hi all,

just open up the parcel send by john and to my surprise, it is a totally new gimbal (look closer to a real steadicam gimbal now). very solid, slightly lighter, with a new handle and a shorter upright post. haven't got the chance to try it out yet.

for those who are still waiting for their rig, i would say, its worth the while.

ed

Ed, you can't just tell us without showing some pics. You are killing the suspense. ;)

will post some pics soon. the gimbal assembly no longer look like a glidecam v16 but more like the steadicam version. the gimbal is still fix though.

ed

That is something worth seeing...

charles,

here is the link to some pics of magiqcam new and old gimbal assembly - http://visualline.7p.com/magiqcam_new_gimbal.html

pics are not of very good quality though. if you want to see different angle of the gimbal, just let me know.

ed

Not bad. Now you see why they are increasing the price. A big plus. It was definately worthe the wait. Congrats Ed.

Are you going to keep the pics on this link or are you going to take them off? I would like to show the to the members at HBS.

Good looking gimbal. How much has the price increased on the system?

the pics will be there.

the new price on ebay is $18++ without the hard case if i'm not mistaken. it was selling for $15++ before with hard case.

one question - after balancing with the new gimbal and have it mounted on the arm, the sled tend to tilt to the right. what could be causing this? appreciate all the help.

ed

Not sure what you are describing, Ed. You say that you have balanced the rig but yet it is falling to the right--under what circumstances exactly?

charles,

well, first the sled with the camera will turn to the right and slowly tilt toward right. tried balancing again but it indicate almost to center. when i turn the sled on the balancing plate, the spirit level only level at one point. is this normal?

ed

So you are saying that you balance the rig on the stand, then pan it slightly and it loses level? If you then steady the rig, will it level out again or does it stay off level? If the latter, it sounds like a linearity issue with the gimbal and you should let John know about this. If however it can be leveled at any position, but loses level during a pan, this is a function of dynamic balance with the rig requiring you to adjust the components of the sled.

If you have any way of posting a short clip of what is going on, that would be helpful.

hi charles,

i got all the symptom you decribe:
1. "balance the rig on the stand, then pan it slightly and it loses level"
2. "If you then steady the rig, it stay off level"
3. "loses level during a pan"
i'll try to post a video clip sometime next week as my camera is on loan to an associate for a project this week end.

thank you for the help.

ed

Ed, I'm assuming you have a standard drop time going (between 2 and 3) seconds, as a longer drop time will make the rig more prone to acting as you described. That being the case, you definitely have a problem with your gimbal & should let John know right away.

charles,
the drop time was about 5 seconds. the post is at it maximum and so i add a manfrotto super clamp just to increase the weight at the bottom. as a result the drop time improved between 3 to 4 seconds.
you think i should let john know about my problem or should i give it more testing when my camera comes back? i just want to make sure the fault is with me and not the rig. i doubt john will entertain my problem with another part replacement as previously they wanted to refund me for my set instead . not getting much luck trying to break into this steadicam business:(

ed

Ed, sorry to hear about your problems.

5 seconds is a long drop time for a "beginner". See if you can add still more weight (or take something off the top, if at all possible) to get to a 2.5 to 3 second drop.

Then try this:

Balance the rig.
Pan 90 degrees to the right. Let the camera do "it's thing" (hands off, let it settle to a stop). Note which way the rig dips from level.
Pan another 90 degrees (180 from start) and observe again.
Pan another 90 degrees and observe.

Please post results. As long as you have truly balanced the rig, and there are no loose parts that are flopping around and shifting the balance, it should be able to be positioned anywhere in pan and not lose level.

charles,

will do further testing when my camera comes back on tuesday.

thank you for the help again.

ed

problems with static balance as well
 

(Ed, I'm assuming you have a standard drop time going (between 2 and 3) seconds, as a longer drop time will make the rig more prone to acting as you described. That being the case, you definitely have a problem with your gimbal & should let John know right away.)

Charles,

I have a Glidecam 2000 as well as another sled and both do the same thing. In fact when I static balance the Glidecam and then pan 180 degrees, the thing becomes very back heavy. My drop time is around 2 seconds at the present time. I have tried to solve this problem for a while but I'm baffled! I haven't had any luck (or skill as the case might be).

I hope the Glidecam isn't at fault but it might be. Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Terry

just tried balancing the rig. and this is the result - http://visualline.7p.com/gimbal_leveling.html
what am i doing wrong?

ed

Ed:

Thanks for posting those. I'm assuming you've sent them to John also.

My best guess is that there is a linearity issue within the yoke of the gimbal, that the axes of rotation are not intersecting.

John should be able to take care of this issue.

The rig looks good otherwise. Your method of cable management from the top to the bottom is very interesting (stuffed down the handgrip)! Never seen that before. I had mentioned to John that having power and video travel through the center post would be ideal (as it is in the bigger rigs) but I think that will have to wait for the "deluxe" Magiqcam.

Once you get the gimbal issue worked out, you will likely want to start spin-balancing to make sure that the rig is in dynamic balance. You have a significant amount of mass there and it will help your operating to ensure that everything is where it should be. You would need to perform this without the cables in place however (they would prevent you from making a 360 on the docking stand).

hi charles,

thank you for the info. just got a reply from john and he ask me to try this "It looks to me that in most of the pictures, the camera is leaning foreward. Is this the case? If it is, I wondering if you might be able to pitch the camera to the rear slightly by removing a few weights from the front balance arm, and relocating it to the rear balance arm. This won't effect your static balance, and it might correct the foreward pitch."

will give it a try later and let you know the out come.

on the cabling, you are right to have the cable go through the post. if i drill a hole on the post to have the cable go through it, i might void the warranty of the rig. at the moment it does get in the way. anyway, with john capability, the 'deluxe' model should be coming along very soon, i hope.

thanks again.

ed

hi charles,

tested it out again according to john advice but still the same result. even tried shifting the camera to the back a little, results the same. i forgot to mention this, when hands off, from it setup point, it'll turn to the right but always stop at the same place. about 135 degree turn.

any ideas?

ed

Ed:

Anything one does to adjust dynamic balance affects static balance as well, including shifting weights from the front to the back. The tip-off to me is that you can achieve static balance in one position, then pan the rig, have it come to a stop and have it go out of static balance. That is not normal.

charles.
i'll wait for john reply. will keep you updated.
thanks again.

ed

i'm hoping that john, you are checking on these forum. have not receive any reply from you. if you are having problem with your server again, could you please post your answer here so that i can have my problem solve. really need an answer.

thank you.

ed

Ed, a little OT question here.

Did you get the low mode too ? I got a couple of questions on that. Seems like I'm missing a monitor adaptor so that I can mount it on the top of the sled, but I don't know what it looks like but I think I'm missing it. Plus John has a vague manual which doesn't explain how to securely mount the camera onto the camera table on the low mode. There's a lot of space allowance so do I use a washer or something ?

Charles P. if you're in the know , please jump in to help me ?

p.s. why did I get the old gimbal ??

hi wesley,

i did not order for the low mode, can't help you on this.

ed

i managed to upload a video of my previous testing with the new gimbal. appreciate if both the "charles" can give me a clue on whats wrong with it so i can let john know. here is the link:

http://visualline.web1000.com/images...l_problem2.wmv

as in the video, i follow charles p instructions. as you can see, the sled tilted towards the front of the camera after the first 90 degree right turn and it also turn further to the right after hand off. at first i thought it was the wind blowing from a fan but after turning it off, still getting the same result each time. at the end of the 180 turn, the sled is totally off.
thanks.

ed

Here's my thoughts right off the bat. It's a case of axel mis-alignment of the pan bearing. I had that same problem when I made my first gimbal. Simply put Ed - The gimbal is mis-align. I could be wrong but I doubt it.

I think you should send the clip to John so he can see it.

Do you know how he made the axel alignment of the bearing? Not to blow you off this topic but check this video out of an HBS member who build his stabilizer using cody's plans. I'll provide the link to the HBS forum and at the bottom of the pics there is a link to a video he shot using the stabilizer. Just to let you know this is his first time.

The idea is to show you a well balanced system due to a well made HB gimbal: http://p200.ezboard.com/fhomebuiltst...picID=30.topic

thanks Charles, that was fun to watch. Footage looks great.

Cool looking rig that chap built! You guys are doing nifty things over there.

I think the only issue I see in that rig is that he's got way too much bottom weight for the GL camera. The gimbal is too low. Even though it would nominally balance out OK, it's a strange operating mass.

"The gimbal is too low. Even though it would nominally balance out OK, it's a strange operating mass."

Totally agree but hey, he's happy.

i have send john the clip but from his last mail i don't think he receive it. out of 10 of my mail, he only say he receive one or two. i'll send him another mail on this.
another thing is, now he want me to send the whole rig back for replacement but the shipping would be on me. i just can't afford it (cost about US$350.00). really stress me out.

ed

That is a lot of money. Ed, You could always get a second opinion from a steadicam operator in your country of resident to get their opinion and also to prove me wrong or right. Then you can either send just the gimbal instead of the whole rig.

not many over here but i did show it to one owner of a steadicam efp rig (i used to rent rig from him). he only said something is not right with the gimbal as it keep turning to the right. he said that the arm is working almost at it limit. reason being, he find it difficult rising the arm when flying it and my camera weight on 5kg plus. he also says that the docking plate is tilted, which shouldn't be in the first place.
one thing though, he was very impressed with the workmanship and the price i paid for the rig.

ed

Good, at least someone agrees with my optopsy. :)

Well, regardless of the docking bracket, it is still the gimbal that needs more attention. The docking bracket is the least of your problems. You can make your own if the need be. Just make your gimbal your top priority at the moment as this is the goblin causing the problem.

The rest can always be retified by yourself with some HB tactics ;)

thank you for the note. i'll wait for john to reply. will let you know what he have to say. really stress me out sometime just thinking, when will i be able to earn back the investment i have put in the rig.

ed

Ed:

Yes, I would have to agree with Charles about the gimbal based on your video. If it balances in one direction, it should be balanced 180 degrees panned.

finally, john reply with a good news. he ask me to send sled and docking station back for replacement instead of the whole rig. will be senting it tomorrow. he promise to replace it with a new sliding gimbal. once the new sled comes in, i will post some pics.
also, not to forget. thank you all especially charles p and charles k for the help.

ed

No problem. Glad he finally decided to give in. Good move on his part to replace it with a sliding gimbal too. I personally don't like the stationary gimbal as it is not as flexible as a movable one. In short it is more precise.

Personally, a movable gimbal is the best way to go. Good luck Ed.

<<<-- Originally posted by Charles King : No problem. Glad he finally decided to give in. Good move on his part to replace it with a sliding gimbal too. I personally don't like the stationary gimbal as it is not as flexible as a movable one. In short it is more precise.

Personally, a movable gimbal is the best way to go. Good luck Ed. -->>>

Dear Charles King,

May I ask what is a movable gimbal?

Regards
Leigh

Hi Leigh. When I meant a movable gimbal, I meant that the gimbal can be adjusted by moving the gimbal itself, up or down the post, when finding the CG.
In case of the Magiqcam, it's gimbal is fixed at a point on the post. To find the CG or balance the rig, you need to either extend the post above the gimbal or extend the post below the gimbal. Or contract the post.