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Movi Pro Pan Balance

Discussion in 'MōVI Pro' started by David Beard, Jan 12, 2017.

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  1. Bryan Edmonds

    Bryan Edmonds Chief Mōvi Whisperer

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    It doesn't matter if the balance is off slightly when it is leaning forward in the ring. The feet are for resting, not operation.

    1. Put the feet on correctly so that the ring leans forward (so it doesn't fall backward when resting).
    2. Rig the camera with the weight distributed fairly equally to the left and right of payload.
    3. Balance the MōVI.
    4. Check the balance on the screen on the back as well as when you stand the MōVI in standard operating position (vertical)
    5. Adjust as necessary.
    6. Power the MōVI on and use it.
     
  2. AlexChailan

    AlexChailan Member

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    Hi Bryan,

    Since yesterday i tried a ton of setup with the feet on right side, each time the pan dont stay on the center like Dave.
    As i move the feet on backwards, everything was fine in less 10min.
    Now as all is ok, i will remove the movi and switch the feet on the right side to see if the angle have a incidence as my movi is balanced well.
     
    #42 AlexChailan, Jan 26, 2017
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2017
  3. Ben Platts

    Ben Platts Active Member

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    If the pan is properly balanced it should really hold its positions at any angle. I usually tip it up to about a 45 degree angle to see if it will stay at that point. If it doesn't i'll keep rebalancing till I'm happy. This is all for aerial work though where the pan is much more critical as the gimbal is always at an angle due to the angle of the drone. You can get away with it not being that balanced when its just for hand held work.
     
  4. AlexChailan

    AlexChailan Member

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    Well,

    I reversed again the feet to install them in good way after balancing everything with the straight ring, same problem. I open a support case in case. Works fine straight so I can work with before obtain the solution.

    Thanks !
     
  5. David Beard

    David Beard Member

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    Hey Gang. I've had some success since I've last had the chance to pop on here. After working with FreeFly, I have a better understanding of how this rig is intended to work. The feet should be oriented so that they face the open side of the top handle. If you reference the videos I posted, as well as any photos posted from FreeFly, you'll see this orientation. Also, please make sure hour ring has a lean to it. If your feet are on the wrong way, you run a risk of the rig falling over.

    From a perspective of best practices on pan balance, I've been moving forward with mindset of getting it pretty darn close to balanced, even if the arm wants to swing to one side. I've been leaning towards the gimbal being a little front heavy, so that the arm doesn't want to swing all the way to one side when at rest, and the motors are paused. FreeFly claims that the pan motors are so strong, that in a handheld environment, any offset of how the arm is at rest, will be corrected by the power of the pan motor. They claim to be abusing this gimbal, with intentions of reaching the limits of the motors, and haven't gotten there. We're talking about flying sideways at 60mph with a full package, and the pan motor still holds position.

    At first, I had trouble accepting a balance that was "good enough", as I am a bit of an obsessive personalty. But after my conversation with FreeFly, and understanding how well the motors are designed, I'm ok with a little bit of an offset resting position, as long as my shots look good.

    I was also experiencing some harmonic vibrations that were present when the gimbal was at rest on the feet, but would go away as soon as I picked up the ring. This was odd for me at first. This occurs when i have a tuning percentage of 70%. I didn't want the package just sitting there buzzing away. It was described to me that the vibrations go away as soon as I pick up the rig, because that level of tuning is designed for handheld use, and it takes into consideration that a human will be holding the ring. If I have a shot that for some reason didn't require hands on the ring, then I simply just turn the tuning down, and the vibrations go away. I'm cool with that. With the new firmware, it's so easy to quickly pause the motors, and re-tune when needed, that it doesn't bother me.

    I hope this helps.
     
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  6. Topher Wallace

    Topher Wallace New Member

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    Thanks a ton Dave. This helps a lot. Being a little obsessive like you, I just needed the affirmation that it is working as intended.
     
  7. AlexChailan

    AlexChailan Member

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    Hey Dave,

    Massive thanks for this complete feedback, thats really interesting.
    So finally it mean that is not a problem if the gimball dont stay straight when the system is not power on and stay on feet ?
    If its ok i am cool with that and will reverse the feet next time.
    Thanks again for your time
    Alex
     
  8. Arturo Bernardi

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    Mike hit the point!
    There is no reason why the pan axis will not stand in the middle, strange thing, with only one battery everything is perfectly balanced!
    We knows that when we start operating or when the motors are on, it don't mind anymore, but having a gimbal that always point right if is turned off is not harmonious, also for balancing the other axes, it is a issue to have the pan that "pull" from one side.
    Obviously we can always balance on the dock, but , damn, we bought the movi pro also for that new features to be able to balance on the ring!
    I will find the right weight to fix that issue, but i would like to listen something from freefly's Guys!
    cheers
    Arturo
     
    Samer Aslan likes this.
  9. Mike Reid

    Mike Reid Member

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    @Arturo Bernardi I added 9oz to the left side battery to correct the pan balance. I am going to try some other things to see if I can find some alternative methods cause that is a lot of weight.

    I don't notice any issues in handheld, but I have been running a single battery for aerial. It's actually nice that it is a bit off balance because it saves me a few grams when using it with my Alta 6.
     
  10. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Dave: It's a case of "tune it for how you want to use it and kill it when you're not using it."

    The tuning takes into account the natural resonances of the masses in motion -- and when you hold the ring (or not) it alters the dampening effect on the resonances. That's why you can have vibrations in the stand but not when you hold it and vice versa. Same is true for airborne use.

    Andy.

    Forensic Software & sUAV / Drone Analyst : Photographer : Videographer : Pilot (Portland, Oregon, USA): Trees=2, Ground=1, Props=11. :(
    The Ground Is The Limit™
    ---------- Forensic Drone Analyst : Forensic sUAV Analyst : Forensic Unmanned Aircraft Analyst : Forensic Drone Expert
     
  11. Gustavo Cardenas

    Gustavo Cardenas New Member

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    Hi, its the first time using a Freefly product, I use to have Ronin. Im really excited to start using my Movi Pro, I got it today!.. Does anyone have a tutorial on how to set it up? Cables to the RED epic W? thanks a lot.
    Jan
     
  12. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Hi Janmexico, welcome to the forum.

    If it's not too much trouble, would you be kind enough to change your user name to your real first name and last name, please? The reasons for this (and how to do it) are explained here: http://forum.freeflysystems.com/index.php?threads/real-names.497/

    Thanks

    Andy

    Forensic Software & sUAV / Drone Analyst : Photographer : Videographer : Pilot (Portland, Oregon, USA): Trees=2, Ground=1, Props=11. :(
    The Ground Is The Limit™
    ---------- Forensic Drone Analyst : Forensic sUAV Analyst : Forensic Unmanned Aircraft Analyst : Forensic Drone Expert
     
  13. Gustavo Cardenas

    Gustavo Cardenas New Member

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    done, thanks Andy
     
  14. Ulrich Thomsen

    Ulrich Thomsen New Member

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    Hi Dave

    I have the exact same problem. Also been following the conversations. Did also open a support ticket. It's still a little strange to me.

    I found out that my toad in whole connecter is not straight in the middle. Is yours that? I wonder if that could effect the balancing. (when it hits one side it just misses the other side) I would think it doesn't affect anything as long as the top part of the ring is straight.
    I'm trying to find out how to move it to one side, but the handle screws are just for the handle. The toad in the hole screw is so tight it wont loosen. Afraid to break something.

     
  15. Ulrich Thomsen

    Ulrich Thomsen New Member

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    Still struggling with this pan balance problem. In spite of all it's still strange. See how different the distance from the ring bar is on each side. I wonder if that has anything to do with anything. One side I can barely fit a finger. on the other ide I can almost fit two.

    IMG_4624.JPG IMG_4625.JPG
     
  16. Graham Futerfas

    Graham Futerfas Well-Known Member

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    If it makes you feel any better, mine's the same. It may have to do with off-setting the weight of the tilt motor by shifting the roll bar a little bit.
     
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  17. Ulrich Thomsen

    Ulrich Thomsen New Member

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    ah. okay... it's just that there's something funny going on. If I lean it. It's swings around, way back heavy. If I TILT it, like in the manual, it's perfectly balanced UNTILL I move it beyond the 90° point (between the bars it's 180°) then it totally swings all the way round, as if it's back heavy, but not before I move it around the 90° point
     
  18. Robert Spaniolo

    Robert Spaniolo New Member

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    Dave thanks for this. I am experiencing the same issue, and curious what I should be expecting...
     
  19. Marcus Gelhard

    Marcus Gelhard New Member

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    Hi Guys,

    i have the same issue and tried to find a asolution. I think we need to turn the pan tubes like with the m10. But the problem is that this one metal piece behind the pan motor looks like glued to the tubes so you can't twist them.
    Is this correct, freefly?

    You would be able to twist them by lossing the 8 screws which holding the lower parts of the tubes where the roll motor is.
     
  20. Ben Platts

    Ben Platts Active Member

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    I’m in the exact same situation with the glued clamp on the pan tubes. Been trying to get Freefly support to acknowledging and do something about the problem for about 4 months but it’s been the worst and most frustrating customer service experience of my life. I can’t use it with two batteries as it’s so out of balance. Every time I mention the glued clamp they say it’s irrelevant. Sent them at least 4 or 5 videos showing the imbalance issue and they just basically tell me I’m doing something wrong which I’m quite clearly not. So many people are seeing this issue but they refuse to believe it exists. They want me to send my unit back to them for the 3rd time from the UK so they can make me a video of how to balance my gimbal! (1st Pro had the wiring fault that many people have had, then replaced with a new Pro as couldn’t get good results, 2nd Pro more out of balance than the first, get pretty good results but only with one battery). I don’t want to pay another £100 for shipping, loose my gimbal for another couple of weeks just so I can be shown how to do something I’ve been doing for 5 years when there is clearly a problem with the frame. I either want them to say they’ll adjust the pan tubes so it’s balanced or send me a new unit that’s been checked and is balanced. It’s a pretty good gimbal and I love my Alta 8. I’ve bought the original Cinestar gimbal, radians, M10, M15, ALTA 8, Movi Pro but the customer support I’ve received from FF with the Pro would definitely make me hesitate before buying anymore products in the future which is a real shame as I used to love FF.
     

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