Vimeo member Stanislav submitted this tip on holding a tripod for extra stability. I know this isn't the most advanced thing on this blog, but you'll be surprised how many people will find this useful. Let's not forget our budget film making roots. I've used this method myself a couple of times when in a pinch and any stabilizer is better than nothing. His video says Shoulder Rig, but it's more of a 'Shoulder Support'. Using the same 717AH fluid head, he's taking advantage of the lengthy pan handle as if it were a DSLR shooter. You might think this would be crazy heavy, but looks like he's purchased a set of the FT6826T Carbon Fiber Tripod legs, keeping things light.
[Thanks Stanislav]
DIY Equipment
L’AIGLE (The Eagle) Stabilizer / Shoulder Support
Thanks to Pierre on Vimeo for sharing this bit of information. I believe the company is called L'AIGLE which if my French isn't too rusty means "The Eagle". Ok i'm lying, it's translated on their website and I double checked on Google Translate. LOL. This particular DSLR stabilizer is called the 'Titan'. The Titan goes from hand held stabilizer into a folded camera shoulder support. Looks pretty cool, and the website offers a bunch of different upgrades and options, with even more confusing price packages. I'm thinking it's going to run a pretty penny since they even threw in some very expensive words like Carbon Fiber, Titanium, Tungsten Carbide, and Aluminum.
From the video it looks like it's pretty quick to setup with a bunch of fine tuning options. Most of these methods to balance are very similar to the Steadicam Merlin stabilizer, including changing the size of the arc. Changing the arc on these types of stabilizers shifts the weight further from the Gimbal making it more bottom heavy without adding additional weights. Being able to adjust this minutely is key to getting perfect balance.
Instead of going for the vest, they've got a beefy waist belt that could be used for some interesting POV shots, JK!. If the belt works, it would be more comfortable to hide under a jacket, hmm..where did I see this before?
All in all it looks like a quality made stabilizer with lots of thought and design. I'm still going to say that it doesn't have the range and flexibility as the Glidecam HD stabilizers i'm using. For a few reasons, you can't rotate 360 degrees, run while tilting the stabilizer, and if you dare - flip it upside down! I flipped mine taking advantage of the Canon 60D articulating LCD screen. Very handy for Steadicam Stuff. If you think that all sounds like too much to ask, check out some of my ''amateur techniques'' (i'm no professional) with the Glidecam HD 4000 Product and Steadicam Merlin Vest.
[Thanks again Matt for letting me use the BTS footage]
Three Camera Music Video shot on Canon EOS 60D
It was a scorching hot day yesterday, but the bright sun helped bring in some light into this old unused factory. There was no electricity so the band rented a 5000 watt generator for the shoot. We had full run of the entire abandoned lot which was awesome. This place was huge with several buildings over 8 stories high and had so much texture of steel, brick, and concrete. Sitting right off the water, the place was just so large, we didn't get to see everything. The entire area is private, fenced off, with 24 hour security so we were able to just leave stuff everywhere. I'd love to get back there and shoot again if I could. Would be a perfect setting for a horror film, that's for sure.
We started indoors with some really slow camera movements on the DIY track. It could have used another saw horse down the center for some additional stability, but worked fine for just slow movements. Going faster, it wanted to flex. We also did a bit of Crane shooting and later threw in some really close up hand held beauty shots of the band.
We moved up to the roof in the late afternoon, and to really show off the height we were at, slung a Canon 60D on a crane over the side of the building. A bit scary, but it should be a really cool looking swing from over the side of the building back onto the roof. Hopefully that went pretty smooth, but from what we can see on the LCD it came out great.
Next we went down to the outside grounds for a walking Steadicam Shot. The band followed the camera slowly while singing to the music. With the Canon 60D articulating LCD, I was able to walk forward and let the band frame themselves by looking into the LCD. They were able to monitor themselves and stay in frame, while I concentrated on not falling over or tripping on anything.
I'll get the video footage once the editor hands them back, and show some of the shots we did. The Steadicam looked really great with the Canon 10-22mm Lens I rented and had all this space to run around in. Flying through a wide open room with large glass windows and concrete pillars everywhere had a very cool flying effect. I have to admit that with the changes in light, using the white balance on the 60D was much more effective than trying to set it on the T2i (which was being used for some BTS video). The 3 Canon 60D's worked really well and meshes closer to the workings of the 7D than a T2i. Definitely a great camera to work with. Now that i'm done with this project, I may sell one of them, but tempted to keep them both!
[Thanks to Matt for grabbing these BTS photos while we were running around in the heat]
Related Articles:
http://cheesycam.com/canon-60d-video-stabilizer-first-flight-glidecam-hd4000/
http://cheesycam.com/glidecam-hd4000-bts-with-canon-60d-steadicam-vest/
Redrock Micro EVF – Electronic View Finder
Cinema5D's got the scoop on a new Redrock Micro 'Electronic View Finder' specifically designed for HD Video DSLR's. We all new this day was coming, but what I totally didn't expect was the expected price point. Wow, I really hope they can meet those goals, that's just ridiculous pricing for anything RedRock Micro. It looks very functional and I can see myself using that quite a bit. Today we had a crane shot on a roof of a building in broad daylight. It's was about 90 degrees out on a clear day, and we couldn't see crap on the monitor. Having a remote EVF like this running down a jib would have been a perfect solution. This design in remote View Finders via HDMI also means it would be cross brand compatible. Regardless of camera make and model, this should be fairly future proof. Zacuto has also admitted to be working on a new EVF, but so far nothing tangible has hit the web. Even if Zacuto does release an EVF, it would be interesting to see if pricing will be competitive with the new RedRock Micro Electronic Viewfinder. Check out the Cinema5D Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZYW1VwFdHk
I’m late, but should be worth it.
Running a bit late on the shoot today, but we wanted to have a rail longer than a 4ft. slider. Ran over to Home Depot and quickly assembled a raised dolly track fit for the SpiderTrax Video Dolly. Everything comes right off the shelf, clamps together securely, pretty portable (except for the long rails). The stock wheels fit perfectly inside the Strut channel (same one used in the Cheesycam DSLR Fig Rig Cage). I'm a bit late, but these longer dolly shots should add more worth to this project. Ok, i'm out, but will have some fun BTS video of this shoot soon.
Below: Click for SpiderTrax Rotating Video Dolly Pricing
Better Audio DIY Portable Sound Booth
Since we're on the topic of Audio capture, one of tips I remember came from an article about mobile Podcasting. This was when the iPod first came out years ago and there was a slew of audio podcasting stations (which I see now replaced with Video castings. So Podcasters who traveled the country often needed to setup a microphone and record themselves, sometimes in a hotel room which wasn't always the best place for clean audio. If you catch some of my random videos shot in the warehouse (even on Zoom H1) you'll hear a bit of reverb from the sound bouncing around on the walls.
So the tip that I was reading was that you don't necessarily need an extremely large sound booth to contain a whole person. That's mainly used to block out ambient noise. If you're in a fairly quiet spot and you want to minimize the reverb on the microphone you can just contain the microphone into it's own little sound booth. Anyways, I forget where that article was but Fred over at Tuperhero.com has a budget way of making a DIY portable sound booth to contain your microphone or portable audio recorder. With this positioned close to your subject and out of camera frame, it could help clean up the audio pickup from all that reverb and minimize some of the ambient noise from the sides and rear of the microphone pickup. [Thanks Fred]
DSLR BTS Video Group
Yeah there I go, second member of the DSLR BTS (Behind the Scenes) group over at Vimeo immediately after the man of Zacuto himself, Steve Weiss. Another top DSLR gear maker as a member is Cinevate, which BTW I am patiently awaiting the release of their new and more affordable Atlas 10 Camera Slider (hurry up guys! or send me a Beta!). It's a new group started by the dudes at DSLRUniversity.com dedicated to behind the scenes work with DSLR's, and that's where you'll always find the latest gear, tips, tricks, and techniques. If you guys are interested in that kinda stuff (which if you're on this blog, i'm sure you are), check it out and join in. After my music video shoot with the 3 Canon 60D's, i'm hoping to add a BTS video there too.
New Take on a Cold Shoe Adapter
I got a few emails about a recent product review post over at the Strobist blog. If you're getting into flash photography, the Strobist Blog is one you can't live without. The new product being reviewed is a Frio Cold shoe adapter. Cold shoe adapters are those small accessories that hasn't had an upgrade in design for quite some time, so there is a reason this new Frio Cold shoe is quite the talk right now. From the comments over at Strobist, it looks like it's going to be a hit. Not just designed for simple Flashes, but also for a ton of other accessories that require a cold shoe mount like shotgun microphones & LED lights. Something DSLR videographers could use on the DIY DSLR rigs. Check out more information over at the Strobist blog.
New DSLR Accessory – Friction Arm
Someone asked me the other day about getting a bit more height on the Z96 DSLR LED Video light. I had a bit of insight on this item, but it wasn't available until 'now'. (Literally just now!). This is called the 'Power Arm' and it's a variable friction adjustable arm made out of Aluminum. Comes with a Shoe mount, but can be broken down to accept standard 1/4x20 threaded insert. If you look at the image with the hand, it's a decent size even folded up. Other images show off carrying the Z96 LED video light, so it's gotta be able to carry some weight. I have two in the mail which should arrive any day now, and hopefully get the hands on review of this new item. The reason I ordered two is because the images show some mounting options which looks like I can combine them together to gain quite a bit of distance. If combining these arms works out, it would be a good fit along with the Manfrotto 386B Nano Clamp.
Manfrotto Nano Clamp
This could prove to be a popular articulating arm that we'll see more of to carry those new EVF remote LCD Viewfinders, or something as simple as positioning your portable audio recorder further from the camera reducing that all annoying 'handling' noise. Similar accessories like this arm are discontinued everywhere, but i'm guessing their $150+ dollar price didn't make them very popular. I should have mine in soon to do some weight lifting tests, but you can only find these here: Aluminum Variable Friction Adjustable Power Arm
