BIG GIMBALS GE AR .
electronics to respond. That’s led to the development of a lot of mechanical isolation and damping systems, which we could call inertial stabilisers. Such designs often predate modern active stabilisers and have been taking the worst bounces out of camerawork for some time. Some of the film industry’s most venerable companies are therefore found supporting the good work of newcomers. Chapman/Leonard has a stabiliser called a gimbal, albeit actuated by gas springs as opposed to electronics, as well as vibration isolators in small, medium and large sizes. These isolators have something in common with a single section of a Steadicam arm, leveraging the ability of a hinged parallelogram with a spring across its diagonal, to keep something upright while allowing vertical movement. It’s comparable to the vertical stabilising arm of a Ronin 4D, but entirely mechanical. The best-known purely mechanical stabiliser is most likely the Steadicam, although the company’s recent work brings automation to a system that’s been
hugely successful under entirely manual control for decades. The M in the new M-Series is intended to stand for ‘modular’, emphasising interchangeability – but from a functional perspective, the biggest update in years is the Volt system. To understand Volt, we need to appreciate a conventional Steadicam-style stabiliser. Ordinarily, a Steadicam sled remains upright because it’s free to rotate in all axes in its centre, slightly heavier at the bottom. The problem here is that going around a corner causes the bottom end to tend towards the outside of the curve under centripetal acceleration, requiring manual correction. Maintaining a tilt (or, rarely, a roll) requires the operator
to push gently and constantly on the post, risking instability. The Volt system is designed to make some of those inputs automatically, maintaining a level horizon on corners and allowing tilts to be precisely maintained by applying a constant, measured force. It’s often suggested that gimbals and Steadicams are in competition. While that may be the case in specific circumstances, Volt potentially brings the dead-level horizons of active stabilisation to the world of Steadicam. Steadicam also offers the Steadimate A-15 and A-30 systems, designed to support gimbals from DJI and Freefly. The spring- loaded arm provides translational isolation, as well as a welcome load relief for the operator’s arms. The A-30 supports a maximum payload of 13.6kg, which is otherwise a lot of weight to support on two frail human limbs in the normal operating position for a gimbal. STABILISED TRANSMISSION The world of broadcast has options of its own. Newton Nordic’s stabilised remote heads could
SPORTS SOLUTIONS Mark Roberts Motion Control uses a ‘track, follow, capture’ method for sports broadcast
AT ARM’S LENGTH Automation is the watchword for the newest stabilisation technology
“Some of the film industry’s most venerable companies are therefore found supporting the good work of newcomers”
57. DECEMBER 2021
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