Some cameras have a built-in adjustment mechanism to compensate for shaking motion, but it doesn't come close to the natural stabilization system in the human brain. The camera will still record a lot of the motion from the camera operator's steps. Even when an operator is standing still, the camera may pick up a lot of jarring motion.
It's so easy to pivot the camera that even a light push in any direction can translate to a considerable jump in the film or video image. Don't get us wrong.
The jolts and shakes of hand-held footage work well for certain scenes -- an unsettling chase in a horror movie think "Evil Dead" or a bare-bones documentary, and some directors intentionally employ shaky cam , as "The Blair Witch Project" and "Cloverfield" did.
But for the most part, filmmakers have shied away from hand-held cinematography. When a scene called for the camera to move, the crew attached it to a dolly , a wheeled platform that rides on a track or smooth floor.
Dollies work great for a wide range of shots, but they have certain limitations. You can't use them on stairs, for example, and they are hard to navigate around obstacles.
It is also extremely difficult to set them up on rough terrain. In the early s, a commercial director and producer named Garrett Brown began working on alternative stabilizing systems to get around these limitations.
Brown wanted to build a highly portable device that would isolate the camera from the operator, as well as improve the camera's balance, to minimize shakes and shocks. In , Brown realized his goals with a revolutionary but remarkably simple machine. Larger models steady a camera using only three major elements:. In the diagram, you can see how these elements come together. The camera, along with a battery and a monitor, are positioned on the sled.
The sled is attached to the articulated arm, which is attached to the vest. The arm and vest configuration works to isolate the camera from the body of the cameraman. The sled's job is to provide optimum balance for the camera.
In the next few sections, we'll look at these elements to see how they virtually eliminate the shocks and jolts of hand-held camera operation. The Steadicam's articulated arm is a lot like a spring-loaded, swing-arm lamp. It consists of two arm segments, connected with a pivoting hinge. Each arm segment is a sort of parallelogram: It's made up of two metal bars, fastened to two metal end blocks. Just as with any parallelogram, the metal bars will remain parallel with each other or nearly parallel no matter how the arm is positioned.
Since the end blocks are secured to the ends of the parallel bars, they'll remain in the same position as the arm swings up and down as you can see in the diagram. If you were to attach a light to one of the end blocks in this design, as in a swing-arm desk lamp, the light would continue to shine in the same direction as you moved the arm up and down.
In the same way, a camera attached to one of the end pieces keeps pointing in roughly the same direction. But in order to keep the camera sled absolutely level, the arm grips it with a free-moving gimbal.
The sled's own weight distribution keeps the camera balanced as we'll see later. In this setup, the weight of the camera sled constantly pulls the arm downward -- it works to bring the parallel metal bars together so that the front block A and B of each arm segment is lower than the rear block C and D. To counteract this downward force , the parallel metal bars in each arm are connected with a spring system.
The spring system works to close the parallelograms the opposite way -- so that the front blocks are higher than the rear blocks. The system is precisely calibrated to exactly match the downward force of the sled's weight.
In this way, the arm and the camera sled will stay in the same position until the cameraman shifts the camera up and down. In the original Steadicam design, the bars were connected directly with springs. In the modern Steadicam, the arrangement is a little more elaborate, but it serves the same function. You can see how this system works in the illustration. The lower bar in each arm segment is actually a hollow cylinder, with a large coiled spring inside.
The spring is attached to a pulley, which is connected to a drum by a pair of metal cables. The drum, in turn, is connected by a cable to the opposite end block.
In this configuration, the spring pulls the pulley back, which rotates the drum, which pulls the cable attached to the opposite end block.
In this way, the strength of the coiled spring works to move the parallel metal bars opposite the force of the camera's weight. The advantage of this system is that it's easy to adjust the spring strength to match different weight loads.
The cable can be moved up and down on the end block. Moving it up rotates the drum, which pulls the pulley in closer, which stretches out the spring. This increases the pulling force working against the weight force. The articulated arm essentially acts as a shock absorber for the camera sled. When the operator moves, the base of the arm moves as well. But the spring system in the rest of the arm responds to the weight of the sled.
Instead of a sharp jolt, the camera shifts its position smoothly. The arm also frees up the person's hands -- it hangs directly on the vest, so the operator doesn't have to do anything to hold the camera sled up.
He or she can concentrate on positioning the camera to get the best shot. The Steadicam sled is the assembly that actually holds the camera equipment. A Steadicam operator moves the camera by rotating and tilting the sled pole , the central piece of the sled, which connects the various camera components.
In the standard configuration, the monitor and battery are attached to the bottom of the sled pole , and the camera is attached to the top.
Some Steadicams are reversible, so the cameraman can position the camera on the bottom and the other components on top. This makes it easier to get low angle shots.
In addition to moving with the pole, the camera can be pivoted up or down on its mount called a sleigh , and in some Steadicams, the pole can telescope up and down. This lets the cameraman get high angle shots. Other than holding the camera equipment, the sled's primary job is to provide balance. It achieves this by increasing the camera system's moment of inertia , or how resistant it is to rotation. This is determined by two factors: how much mass the object has and how far that mass is from the object's axis of rotation.
It utilizes a balancing system that dampens the user's body movement, providing a smooth, floating moving image appearance usually achieved with more expensive equipment. The Glidecam Pro is newly redesigned. It not only allows super-smooth tracking shots panning tilting booming and running but also allows you to easily shoot fluid traveling shots from moving vehicles.
New features of this model are a no-tools telescoping center post, a sleek and lighter base which allows you to quickly attach and dynamically adjust the counterweight disks, a foam handle grip, a lighter gimbal with a more compact main bearing assembly, and a new yoke design. The up and down movement alleviates the bouncing pogo-type action associated with other systems whose handles can't move up and down. These precision bearings create the super-smooth and pivotable connection between your arm and the unit's Central Support Post.
Camera's vertical balance is adjusted by varying the amount of counterweight disks on the base platform. When balanced properly the camera floats, ready for you to move into action. We are an authorized Glidecam dealer. Imagine a world in balance. Imagine smoothness, freedom and grace. With the Glidecam PRO your camcorder floats, always balanced, isolated from your hand's undesirable motions. Now you are free to move with your camera panning, tilting, booming or running without any camera instability or shake.
Lightweight, hand-held camcorder stabilizing systems allows you to shoot incredibly smooth and graceful shots, even while running up and down stairs or traveling over rugged terrain.
And when it comes to normal shooting, like walking or moving the camera slowly around someone, the results are equally magical. Shot after shot, move after move, it delivers beautifully smooth and professional results. With the Glidecam Pro you no longer need a tripod or a dolly. All you need is your imagination! GlideCam Body-Pod. The Glidecam Body-Pod is a lightweight, rigid support system which, when used with the Glidecam Pro or Pro hand-held stabilizers, allows all the weight of the system to be supported by your body.
GlideCam Forearm Support Brace. Features Steadicam Volt technology directly built-in. Modular - customizable to your preferences. Lighter weight and lower cost high-end system. What is it? About the Volt. Further Information. Manuals: Click here to view the Steadicam M-2 instructional manual. Financing: We will be developing financing options for purchases of the Steadicam M-2 to make it even easier to upgrade to the newest, most feature rich stabilizer rig on the market.
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