my merlin footage. where am i going wrong?
 

It looks top heavy...? slight swaying side to side still. have tried all sorts of tweaks but just cant seem to get it level. any ideas.

here is the link..

http://homepage.mac.com/philip.bloom/FileSharing25.html

thanks!!!

The page you linked to is asking for a password.

- Mikko

sorry. try now!

That is a bit rough.

I have my Merlin still on order, so I can't address it, but my Steadicam Jr. would do a similar thing if it wasn't balanced correctly. Have you triple checked your balance?

rough? ouch!

Well it seems balanced. but maybe somehow i have balanced the wrong way...

Phil, I hope someone who owns a Merlin watches your footage so they can give you more informed feedback. In the meantime, I tried the Merlin when I was a NAB, as well as the Steadicam Flyer. Based on that limited experience, I'd say that your footage doesn't look that bad. It's about what I would expect from the Merlin. With a Steadicam, you control the rig by just ever so lighty touching it with a couple of fingers and thumb. Even then, they say it takes at least a month of practice before you really get the hang of it (thus the reason for all the Steadicam clinics).
The Merlin is hand-held, so its not going to give you the same results as a true rig with a harness and counter-balanced arm. I could be totally wrong, and maybe someone who actually owns a Merlin could pipe in here and help you dial yours in. But to me, the footage looked really smooth, just maybe drifting towards too much head room. I wasn't too bothered by the side to side motion.

The footage looks what I would expect from a new operator, in fact it's not bad at all. As I'm sure you've heard here and elsewhere, Steadicam (from the Merlin up to the Ultra) requires a skill that develops over time, and the typical new user will tend to over-control the rig by applying too much or constant pressure. With the shot you attached, since it is moving at a constant speed and framing, you would apply little or no pressure to the rig, certainly not constant. Try doing the same shot and start out with your fingers on the tongue of the gimbal, then once you are up to speed remove that hand completely from the rig and keep walking (don't make a big show of whipping your hand away, you can keep it near the gimbal, just don't touch). See if that improves the accuracy of the shot. If so, then this is proof that you are exerting too much and the wrong kind of force on the rig.

This is not to say that one should generally operate the rig without a guide hand, but suffice to say that every Steadicam operator is constantly dialing the degree of touch up and down depending on the immediate needs of a given shot. With a straightaway with no acceleration like this, the inertia of the rig should take it in a nice straight line without wobble.

From one Merlin user to another, your footage isn't that bad. My footage looked liked yours when I first started. I couldn't agree more with what Charles said. When I first started using my Merlin, it took time to adjust to its sensitivity and control with my weak hand. Only the slightest and deliberate touch combined with smooth body movement and footwork could produce the shots you want. Patience and practice will help you learn to smooth things out. Here are some of my samples if you haven't seen them already (I had the Merlin maybe 2 months when I filmed these videos).

(check out footage at 1:27)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...65487527187046

(a lot of Merlin flying in this one)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...97194404541649

Oh, and as far as whether or not a Merlin can approach the smoothness of a body-mounted rig: it should come very close. In fact, it may even do better than some of the lower-end bodymount rigs, as their arms are a bit choppy and may show the footsteps a bit more.

Again, all Steadicam operating takes practicing, not just weeks but months (honestly, years to get REALLY good, but don't let that discourage you) and the handheld rigs require an exceptionally light touch as well as dead-on trimming (balance). Keep at it and have fun!

thanks guys, and Armin your wedding video was cool, just the right amount of cheese and i bet they loved it, merlin stuff was lovely! what camera did you use?

so you think my balance is fine, just my operating that needs work? Does it matter how the balance is achieved even if it is nothing like the cookbook settings, as long as it is level and the drop time is correct?

...about to upload another video that i did today...teeny bit better i think!

http://homepage.mac.com/philip.bloom/FileSharing25.html

Phil,

I thought you did very well on those shots. Do they look like they were done on a dolly-No-but they are smooth with some side-to-side movement.

I agree with Charles...keep your control hand off the dang gimbal as much as possible but keep it close for corrections. The times when I find I need more gimbal control is when I am making "changes" to my movement i.e. acceleration / deceleration, direction changes, and also in windy conditions.

Terry

Thanks Phil, I was flying a TRV900. The other handhelds and stationary cameras were FX1 and VX2100.

The balance looks fine. I'm always tweaking and trimming mine though which I heard is normal. I used the cookbook, but still had to tweak it since I was using a heavier battery.

Sorry for teh late follow up from me in this thread.
I watched both your clips and woudl call them decent. #2 definatly shows a little improvment - and I'm very impressed with how you handled the corner. Not bad at all for a new operator.

About the only advice I can add is in deed; Practice Practice Practice!

You are dooing very well, and your rig appears at least to be in prety good balance. It doesn't matter if your successfull balance settings match the cookbook or not. (I don't use the cookbook most of the time anymore when I balance).

Keep shooting and with time your shots will be even better. :-)


P.S. That doesn't look one bit like London.

- Mikko

thanks Mikko

Have been practicing a lot today and here is the best clip (steady wise not compostion!)

http://homepage.mac.com/philip.bloom/FileSharing25.html

file: merlin3a

thanks for all your tips and advice!

Phil

P.S. er yeah it's a south-eastern suburb called Key Largo, we are having unseasonably warm weather, hence the palm trees in my lovely garden are flourishing!

From the voice of inexperience...Phil, the clips looked great to me. Way better than my first stuff with a glidecam variant.

Thanks Dennis,

You are a gentleman!

Nice "death lens" you're using on that recent clip!

Hallways are great to practice in because the horizontals and verticals make it abundantly clear when you are dipping in the roll axis. Do the "line" exercise with a cross or an x on the end wall, walk in and walk back ad infinitum, and don't forget to practice coming to a smooth stop on a regular basis. Walking forward/shooting forward is the easiest type of operating, but more often than not you'll need to be in front of your subjects so it's important to practice backing up; and believe it or not a large percentage of Steadicam shots involve holding still at some point, and the acceleration/deceleration process is where the operating errors often come into play. Thus practice gliding to a stop, holding for a few seconds, then pushing off again, both in a forward/backwards direction, and also side to side (much harder to maintain level!)

yeah. century 0.3x. It's great. Going to do some vehicle mounted stuff tomorrow on a suction mount as i cross over the seven mile bridge in the keys. Should look nice!

uploaded a walking back shot. my still stuff isnt too bad now, i have it balanced well enough so when i start moving from still it doesnt dip forward.

thanks for tips!

maybe a tiny bit top-heavy
 

It posted twice...

Looks a bit top heavy maybe
 

Phil, your latest clip looked to me like your setup is just a tiny bit top heavy. That little gentle sway shouldn't be there...

I agree with the practise, practise thing, for sure. This is not really some "casual prosumer" tool. Though costing peanuts compared to the big rigs, it can produce almost identical shots under certain conditions and some they'd kill to be able to do!

It's a bear with any wind though, especially if you have a light cam on it. We are flying a little Sony A1U on one, that has the wide-angle lens and larger battery. The extra weight definitely helps. Also, we found that the best combo with that lens and battery, was three mids and one finishing below and one finishing on the front. BTW, we did the "Armour mod" on the A1U for better balance.

One more thing: It seems like if you go for the hardest types of shots right up front, and can stick with it doggedly and finally get fairly decent results...the rest is a piece of cake!

We shot a runner with it the other day out of an open (back) car door (blocks wind) and also out the back of the same mini van (with the back opened up), on a VERY rough uphill, dirt/rock road. When we could keep the rig from hitting the roof, the results were incredible! Compared to that, dolly shots would be a piece of cake. Arcing pans too, were very nice...if we didn't go too fast and had those "really light touches" on the gimbal.

Good luck, don't give up. The results are worth it!

Stephen Armour - ABE Prod. - Brazil

Phil, nice looking stuff these newer clips.
That wide angle lens is both a blessing and a curse. It hides any shakes, but it makes rotational errors blairingly obvious at the edges!

I like how you managed to get simultanious camera shadows in yoru shot in clip3! :-D

Seriously thoguh, good stuff, enjoy London!

Oh yeah, you might want to add the .mov extension back to clip #4.

- Mikko

here's a question.

you can balance your camera on the rig by theortically putting the dovetail plate on the camera using any of the letters, right? You just move it on the stage backwards and fowards and do some extreme trimming...What effect does this have on the rig's overall balance and control if you have done this. I understand about finding the camera's centre of balance and using that but what if you actually completely ignored it and went for a letter the other end of the dovetail plate?

If you are in roughly the correct letter for your camera should the trims be roughly central, if you have to have them at extremes are you therefore in the wrong letter and will it be harder to control the rig overall, what sort of visible effects do you get?

I ask as I am currently using M for my a1 with armour mod for mic, century wide angle .6x and large battery. Is this part of my problem, should i really be in O? I find being in O makes in almost impossible to get my G-platz to touch the barrel.

I seem in balance and my stuff is okish with swaying, but i do notice that when i do the drop time it can sometimes move my horizontal trim out, not always, just sometimes! is that normal?!

Thanks

Phil

A couple of issues Phil.

First off, no, theoretically it does not matter very much which hole you use for the camera. However it does really.

First off, there's the convenience factor: It's just easier to balance properly with everything lined up. This is what is recommended by both cookbook settings and the "from scratch" procedure. Correct side to side is more important, as there is less room to correct with trim. You can in deed use a different fore-aft hole and then slide the plate to accommodate and you will get exactly the same result - as long as you have adequate adjustment range.

There are other convenience factors too. As you mentioned the G-platz is a big one. It is desirable to position the camera on the stage in such a way that G-platz can contact a solid part of the camera. For example with the Sony PD-150 there is a small flat area under the lens with a little lip at one end. If you blance with the G-platz pressing on the flat part and just touching the lip, it's really easy to re-blance. Just slide your dovetail so the G-platz hits the little lip (without needing to check the stage marks) and you are back in the right place!

Trimming with the rollers not only effects static but also dynamic balance. After static balancing, if you are out of dynamic balance, the solution is to slide the dovetail one way and then correct with the fore-aft trim roller. (Which way to go is easily decided by trying it one way, if dynamic gets worse, go the other way!)
So it is also a game to get the camera in the right position on the stage to dynamically balance the whole rig - again this may or may not work in harmony with the dovetail plate holes and the G-platz.

As for side to side, you generally want that as close to center as possible. And here's why:
The side-to-side adjustment on the Merlin actually slides the whole rig sideways in relation to the gimble. At the extremes that can begin to have an effect on dynamic balance in the sideways direction - something that is often referred to as "gremlins" in the larger rigs. As you pan the rig, it will being to roll off to the side (differently to the pendulum effect). Because of this, it's a good idea to center the camera side-to-side best as possible on the stage - even if it means using a wrong fore-aft hole as that can be much easier remedied by sliding the dovetail plate a little.

Whew! There's defiantly a lot to think about when balancing a Steadicam! That's why the cookbook is made to get you in about the right place to get started. With time and experience these things become second nature and the cookbook becomes less important, especially with more elaborate setups.



As to trim changing slightly during the drop test. This is normal, and not normally a major issue.
If all the adjustments on the rig where 100% solid they would jam up and you couldn't move them. So there is a *tiny* amount of "slop" in the moving parts, and when taken to the extremes, like during a drop test, they can shift a little. This is simply fixed with a quick turn of the horizontal trim roller once vertical balance is set. :)

- Mikko

Just to confirm: the "Armour mod" to the A1 is to reverse the XLR pod, right? which moves the centre of gravity of the unit back a little?

I must get my Steadicam Jr out again - you have inspired me.

( PS: Phil, I also loved the shadows of you+rig on BOTH sides of the walkway simultaneously in Clip 3. Have to think about the geometry there - I assume the sun was reflecting off the windows, giving the second shadow?! Makes a nice variation from the cameraman appearing in a mirror! )

Thanks Mikko for the advice. Very useful and very thorough!

Martin, thanks! Yes the windows were very reflective giving that nice double shadow, nice accidental effect with the fish eye!

I'm all for starting a trend for the cameramen to be seen in more shots! would make my mum happy!

The Armour mod is to reverse the xlr pod. There is a thread somewhere about it here...

Mikko,

I think the static/ dynamic balance is the thing I have been trying to get my head around. How you can be in balance but the rig to be unstable.

I think I have it pretty close now, am sure my daily practising will help and am planning to do a test shoot down on south beach in miami in a few days, am sure the body builder types with love the idea of being filmed.

if you are balanced, the drop time is around a second (maybe a bit slower) and it seems to operate quite well what does it mean then if during a violent side to side movement the camera tilts over to the left and hangs there until you manual push it up at which point it balances again. is this the gremlin you mean, how do i correct it? I thought it might be top heavy to do this yet my drop time seems spot on!

If the camera will stay tilted to the side, it sounds like your drop time is more than a second. Try shortening it as much as you can, and see if the problem persists.

Had a real nightmare evening with the merlin and my sony a1. Wanted to take it out tonight for some shooting, but could not get a decent balance. tried everything, moving the mounting hole, arc size, weights everything. The one key change I had made was to take the xlr mic module off, it seemed to make getting a good workable balance incredibly hard.

Has anyone else had any similar experiences? As soon as I put it back on I could balance relatively easily, get a nice drop time too. Even changing lenses didnt matter too much, no problem, but without the mic module and big battery it was a nightmare. I was pulling my hair out and my girlfriend was getting very annoyed with me!!

I still havent got my head around the physics, as soon as i do i will be a lot happier. The one that got me tonight was I had cookbook weights on and it was very top heavy, i moved the camera along the stage a bit and it became bottom heavy. Now that confused me, as does telling the difference between top and bottom heavy on occasion, they can have similar characteristics sometimes I feel.

Anyone it's balanced, I missed my shooting chance but will try again tomorrow.

Phil,

I watched the latest footage and it's good. You are using a steadicam cheat though...a real wide angle lens (or adaptor). Not to say it's bad but as you feel you are getting better, try the same shots with a regular lens and after that, do them again with the lens zoomed in a bit. Talk about tuff...but that exercise will help you become a much better operator.

I'm glad you have a way of showing your learning curve on the web. There are many here who can give you valuable feedback.

Terry
Indicam

Phil,
The XLR block is so big on teh A1, that when you take it off it changes the weight so much that you have to treat it like a whole new camera. Try using the HC1 settings to get started, as they are much closer to the A1 without the XLR block.


Dynamic balnace relates to the way the rig acts when you PAN (nothing to do with actualy movign the camera spcially, just roating it on the Pan axis.
Read the "Dynamic Balance Primer" here for more information: http://www.steadicam-ops.com/soamanual.shtml


Top heavy just means that the camera wants to hang upside down, bottom heavy means that it wants to hang right way up. Actual fine tirmming of tilt & roll are horizontal balance issues to be adjusted with (mostly) the rollers.


- Mikko

I have tried for a different type of shot, slower with panning. That is tough. I have so much respect for steadicam operators. You guys make it all look so easy!

uploaded to the same page.. file name is merlin 5

http://homepage.mac.com/philip.bloom/FileSharing25.html

Phil:

Some beautiful natural light in that bedroom!

Hope you've got yourself sorted out with the top heavy/front heavy business. One way to tell which sort of pickle you are in is if the rig is front heavy, it will want to tip forward (but not beyond horizontal). A bottom heavy rig can tip forward or backwards, and will want to fall below horizontal, i.e. upside down.

From watching the clip with more challenging operating business than walking in a straight line, it looks overcontrolled to me--I think you may be pinching down too hard with your operating hand. Always remind yourself to use the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM amount of touch to get the job done. I used a little trick years ago with this where I would squeeze the other hand tightly which would remind me to chill out with the operating hand. It's very common to tense up when performing a shot but this will always bone you.

I agree that you are probably controlling the rig too hard. Lighten that gimble hand more!

Also, some parts of the shot - the parts that wobbled - looked somewhat forced. Start thinking about how your shot will "flow" from one part to another and you will find that the rig will also want to flow naturally with the shot. Don't over control, but rather concentrate on where the "zen" of the shot is going and take the rig there.

A very important part of Steadicam operating is shot selection. Awkward shots are also normally Awkward to shoot. Shots with logical progression will progress themselves naturally.

- Mikko

Thanks,

There was still some wobbling at the beginning of the shot as I moved forward. I thought I was barely touching the gimbal. Even if I walk forward and dont touch it at all it seems to bob and sway lightly.

Am going to do some more practising tonight. The balancing is getting better, but i am convinced it isn't 100% right yet. Does anyone live either in Miami at the moment or by this weekend in London who fancies being my tutor?!?!

Phil

I went out tonight did some more interesting stuff. I have just slapped three shots together of a sequence that I did with some local key west guys.

I will keep on practicing until I get it!

The new file is called Merlin6, probably the best stuff so far...I hope!

I have also done stuck together 3 walking forward shots to see if my swaying has improved, just for fun have stuck on a shot of the same last guy that I did yesterday using my 35mm adaptor. The walking shots file is called Merlin7

http://homepage.mac.com/philip.bloom/FileSharing25.html

Phil

P.S. By the way Charles, your reel is amazing. I have seen so much of your work. You are an inspiration. Are you from the London, did you just move to the states for the work?

Phil, here's the A1>Merlin settings we used
 

Your latest video definitely looks better to me (until you hit the wind...), but still a tad bit top heavy? I asked our house Merlin expert his opinion and for his measurements and here's what he gave me:

He is flying the Merlin/A1 with almost exactly the same setup as you (Armour mod, .7x, big battery, mic) and worked up to doing some pretty good and fast trucks, dollies, pans, arcs. When he finally used the following rough measurements and a VERY light touch on the gimble, he's gotten some pretty nice stuff...consistently:

Arc 34 centimeters with -2 Z
Weights: Front = 1 finish, Bottom = 3 mid, 1 finish
He said the Stage needs to be set at -2 with hole "O" ...and he ISN"T using the screw in front. Doesn't seem to really be needed.

If I can rope and tie him down, maybe I can get some video up here to show! Hope you get yours worked out. Hang in there....

Stephen Armour - Lion Cub Productions (ABE - Brazil)

Oh yes, remembered one thing: he said turning cam on the gimbal in an arc or curve is very difficult and it will swing if too fast. If you can get that down while moving fast, you're one up on us! That is one limitation for sure.

thanks stephen

i was literally going to ask you for your settings!

With the bottom weights I assume you are using a start weight too?

the -2 z is that from the -4 start so two up from that?(or two down from the very top setting?)

I also am mainly using the century .6x wide angle, but it is probably about the same weight.

Thanks for comments, god with the wind it's a nightmare. Missed some cracking stuff with the tramps as the wind was blowing a gale! Perhaps I can rotate that shot in FCP as it goes to one side...is that cheating?

no start weight
 

Negative on the start weight. Just the three mids and a finish on the end.

Wind is a bear. With barriers, you can do it, but without...forget it! Better to go hand/shouldermounted with stabilization turned on! Like I said, we got some great stuff on a VERY rough dirt/rock road in a minivan, out the back side doors (opened to block the wind) and also out the open back. When we could keep the whole rig from hitting the ceiling, it did a great job. Like I said...it was a ROUGH road!

In the back of pickup or truck, tied in and with a wind barrier, you could do some really nice road shots, even zoomed a little. On a big bike, strapped to a "pilot" (and with a wind barrier), it would work well, I'm sure. More room to take the bumps and you probably could get some shots the big rigs would have some trouble with, right Mikko?

If I can find some practise tapes around, maybe I can post a few secs of the harder stuff our "Merlinmagicman" managed to do. It may be classified as "prosumer" by some because of it's cost, but prosumer it's not. The end results prove that. You can certainly spend MORE, but you can't spend BETTER for flying a little HD cam.

I would NEVER have thought about balancing this way. perhaps this where I have been going wrong. It just looked so wrong. I have been trying to make it LOOK balanced on the Merlin as well as actually balancing it!

Just balanced exactly as you said. Done a test in hotel corridor and it was so so much better. Sway, what sway?

Thanks ever so much Stephen.

Lots of good dicsussion here guys.

Stephan, thanks for your settings - somtimes it takes a fresh approach from a different angle to make things better! It's also why I encourage playing and expereimenting with various combinations of settings for the Merlin. Some work better than otheres and you never know untill you try.


Yeah, that wind is tough on the rig. It's about the one thing that can consistantly both even the most seasoned operators. I'm sure Charles Papert [a master operator] hates the wind as much as I [still a relative newbie] do when it's time to put on the rig. And the smaller rigs like Merlin as all teh worse off for it. Perhaps Kenyon could make a K-0.5 gyro for the Merlin. :-)


As for vehical shots, Yes the Merlin is infinatly more versitile that the bigger rigs for vehical shots due to it's small size. You can even use it INSIDE a vehical - something not even the Flyer, let alone the big rigs, can do. In adition to the small size, it's lightness alows it to be used with the felxibility of just the operator's arm, you can take bigger bumps that you can with full rig that's contrained by it's arm. the rule is 2-foot bumps with a soft mounted regular (dual-sprung arm) rig, The Merlin coudl take perhaps 3 foot or bigger bumps as long as the operator can hang on!
One thing to keep in mind that the Merlin is a little more fragile than the big rigs - you still shouldn't jolt the Merlin *too* hard - it's still a precision instrument that should be treated as sutch.
The other danger is that because the Merlin can't be hard mounted, there is always the possibilty that the operator could drop it. And a logn shot can become tiring, where it won't with a hard mounted rig.
But with a small camera like the A1, and a good shield from the wind, vehical work with the Merlin is very flexible and can yeild some fantastic shots. - And don't forget that the Opearator can always leave the vehical (when it's no moving!!) with the rig too - or pass it out of an open window to a 2nd operator, etc.

On a related note: Vehical shots are ALWAYS potentially dangerous. Be very carefull when planning, preparing for, and performing vehical shots. Rigs inside a car can be distracting and fly dangerouly in an accident, and operators can easily fall out of an open door if the proper precautions arn't taken. Helmets, Harnesses, Ropes, and EXPERIENCE & CAUTION are all part of the recepie for good vehical shots. And even the Merlin, like the other Stedicams, is NOT suitable for arial work. Helicopters & Steadicam don't mix.

- Mikko