hey Jason..aka Mazzy Star..some glidecam footage for you
 

Hey Jason, I saw on another forum that you might be buying the glide cam but have some doubts.
I have had mine for a couple years but hardley use it,
I dug it out yesterday for my sons birthday party and so glad I did and regret not using it more this last year.

Here is a small video I made from yesterdays footage.


www.dmbvp.com/video/owen_b_day_gc.wmv

Very cool Dave. Looks like a fun place...heck, even for ME. lol

Yeah Jason I wouldn't let other peoples negative experiences with it affect you decision to pick one up. I think you'll love it. Just know that there's a learning curve involved with the balancing and usage of it. Once you balance it a few times sucessfully you'll get a better understanding of how to do it in the future. It only gets easier.

I would pay to see footage of you riding one of those Bouncing balls ;)

Jumping into the pit of foam squares was my first compulsion.

niiiiiice!

i'm surprised they didn't jump the strange dad with he weird contraption under the camcorder.

i'm sold. glen prepared me well for the possible "tribulations".

and i'm hiring him as a fitness trainer when i get the glidecam.

Dave, you have the 2000 or 4000?

I have the 2000 and use it with my vx2000.
When I bought my GC, they didnt have any videos thier website like they do now. All I got was a lousy leaflet with poor drawings and a poor description on how to balance. I am a see it- do it kind of guy...at least that's what I tell my wife when she finds my hidden avi files and xxx bookmarks :).
All kiding aside, I need to see to learn, I only found those on line videos at glidecams website the day before and what a differance it made. seeing someone balance it made iteasy for me to grasp.. It's easy,

You'll love having it to use in certain situtions ;)

later

David-
Do you have any of the "extras" for your gcam 2000, like the forearm brace or the body pod? Do you need to have a monitor attached to be able to use it efficiently? I'm wondering how few of the extras I can get away with at first...
BTW, nice post of your son.
Thanks.
Vin

Hi Vincent,

I did buy the forearm brace thinking I would need it but don't use it.

I shoot with a vx2k still and use the 'flipout screen'. One thing I've been meaning to buy for it is a hood ( sunshade ) http://www.dvshop.ca/camera/lcdshades.html
but havn't yet, would make it easier for brighter outdoor shoots.

My advice, just get the glidecam, the rest can't hurt but isn't needed imho.

Take care
David

Got my eyes on a Glidecam 2000 with the body pod (supposedly used only once) for just over 300, so I'm bidding on that. I'd like to get some extra support for my arm, so this might be the ticket for me. I'll be using it with one of my PD170s. Good to know the extras are not essential, though. Thanks for the quick response and for sharing your expertise.
Keep up the fine work.
Vin

need advice
 

DMB or anybody.

I'm about to swipe the card, Is there anything else I need to purchase as an accesory to the Glidecam 2000 so I can easily transfer the camera to a #128RC Manfrotto Head?

Thanks.

Wow Dave, really nice piece, if that's not the most compelling reason to buy a Glidecam or similar I don't know what is. You just took something that I consider mundane (a kids birthday) and really made it fun and compelling to watch. The music (Killers) kinda scared me at first, but it really worked, I like the way the you kept yourself out of the full mirror as well, that would have scared the heck out of me but you found a sweet spot that kept you mostly out of frame, also nice touch by slowing things down.

Another nice touch was not always staying on Owen but some of the other kids at the party, some shooters are often inclinded to stay on the subject of the event and ignore that it's a party for a lot of people and they need to be in the video as they were part of the event. I really liked the running in a circle about 1/2 way into the footage during the "I've got soul but I'm not..." sequence.

Again very nice work and a nice demo of the Glidecam and the skills of the operator.

ML

thanks...it' wasn't really an edit. I just took some footage and dropped music to it, 5 cuts in 5 minutes is not what I call editing ;( . I just threw it together to help Jason make a good buying decision. I think it's the surreal feeling and the music combined that makes it..enjoyable to watch. Kinda sucks the viewer into a relaxed state of mind.

but thanks people for the positive feedback
www.dmbvideo.com