Hello. I have a Movi M15 along with a Mimic. I'm currently using it on a TV series with Alexa Mini's. So far it's been working our very well, but I am wanting to increase my endurance for operating. I have an easy-rig with a serene but what I'm finding is that's pretty awkward to change height and to get the camera at the height I want it for a two hander lead, the easy-rig / serene smacks the top of most doorways as I go through. I've been experimenting with a Steadicam vest and ARM, inverting the M15 and then taking out the bar and popping it right into the arm spigot (no post) This works well, with the steadicam op on comms and operating the head with the mimic. I can usually get a small monitor mounted in between the two arms of the steadicam for the operator (not shown) What I'm finding though is that the spigot doesn't mate very well with the head and that as the head pans the weigh change is enough to "sway" the head on the spigot. It's like the spigot needs to be perfectly machined for this to work well. Is there anyone doing more custom modifications like this to enable the M15 to fly on a steadicam more simply ? I guess I'm wondering if there's a more specific steadicam arm to carry the movi ? I've had a look at the exo sekeleton and while interesting, I actually thing the steadicam arm is a better way to achieve what I need. I just want a more secure way of mounting it. Right now it's loose and it's difficult to dismount and change. Thanks ! JB John Brawley Cinematographer Melbourne Australia
John, i used a G-50 arm and used a 21 mm (od) tube fitted in a 25 mm tube. That gave me an exact inner diameter of 19 mm fitting the spigot perfectly. Best, Wolf
G'Day John, I have machined up a custom bracket to mate the MōVi to the steadicam arm, we use this set up regularly. There is an image here of the MōVi on our steadicam arm. We connect/disconnect the MōVi using the Toad in the Hole on our custom bracket. If you are interested I could make another one up. I also make custom Vlock Adapters to power the camera with 2 VLock batteries in parallel, giving much longer run times for the camera. Cheers Chris
Hi Mr Brawley, I have a system I use which is simple like your suggesting. The problem is switching to & from High to Low to get clearance on the movi for low shots from the steadicam arm. I've adapted something that works and is easily flipped by rotating the rod then locking off or just keep it loose. You can also remove the handles and main bar or add a smaller one or add joystick to short handle etc. Lots of options. Here's a pic I'll try to find a better one. Happy Hunters Shoot and say hi to Bonny for me please.
Hi Chris, nicely done. Are you still using this setup ? Do you prefer this to the over the shoulder support rigs for movi? how much would it be for the custom bracket ? thank you! Steve
Hey Steve, We still use this set up it works well for us. It is ideal for two person operations, but not so good for solo operations because you can not tilt. I'll put together the price for the modification and get back to you. Cheers
I did something similar with vest arm and custom toad.... but found that its nice to get the weight off but it didn't work as well as hand held..... it seems the pans were hard to get smooth on moving objects but i guess its good for long takes on objects that are still or have very little easy to predict moment. I also mounted it on the hood of my car invited on a toad on a suction cup mount. that worked pretty well when going on a strait or fairly strait road. It seems that when i put the movi in remote mode it still wants to move on its own going around corners when i only want it to move when i move the remote joy sticks.... any advise on that would be great? Chris
Not steadycam but similar results using easyrig + flowcine serene arm + 2 axis puppeteer combo from flowcine.com