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Movi Pro and Alpha Wheels settings

Discussion in 'MōVI Pro' started by Dale McCready, Feb 5, 2017.

  1. Dale McCready

    Dale McCready Member

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    Hi there,

    I've been scratching my head a little with the Alpha Wheels and Movi Controller settings and Movi Pro, but think I've worked my way through a few key things that help get it manageable.

    Experts may already know this stuff but I thought it best to share what I've found once in Alpha Wheels mode:

    Under Movi Config - Expert:
    The Mimic Mode setting will determine how the Alpha Wheels will be input, so if you are looking for direct control, with zero smoothing or exponential under the Dual Op settings, then make sure you're in Direct Mimic Mode. Switching to Majestic Pan/Tilt seems to default controls away from the Dual Op settings to the Majestic settings so you'll always have lag (if you've got your Majestic settings that way). This made me scratch my head for a while as I couldn't work out why I was still getting smoothing with it all turned off. So I guess the Controller treats the Alpha Wheels as a form of Mimic.


    Generally if you're used to operating a real geared head, you'll need to Reverse the Pan control in the Tx Config Alpha Wheels menu. But for some reason this setting seems to vanish on boot up even when you save. Not sure why the default is not the same direction as a mechanical head but there you go, it's easily adjusted.


    One thing that would be great is to still have Wheel control of Tilt when in Majestic Mode & Smooth Lock on the Movi Controller. Again, I might just have missed a setting again here, but the Joystick works but the Alpha Wheels are bypassed currently in Majestic Mode with Smooth Tilt Lock.

    Please feel free to add to this thread, I'm all about getting to know this nice new beast as well as I can.

    Thanks,

    Dale
     
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  2. Bryan Edmonds

    Bryan Edmonds Chief Mōvi Whisperer

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    Do you have the Controller Mode switch set to the upper most position, "D" for dual? This setting grants the controller authority over pan and tilt, regardless of whether Tilt is set to Majestic or Smooth Lock (as these are Single Op controls only being referenced if no controller is connected, or the Mode Switch is set to the middle position, "M" for Majestic).
     
  3. Dale McCready

    Dale McCready Member

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    Thanks Bryan,

    Yes i understand now that as the wheels work under the mimic control protocol, switching to the middle majestic setting bypasses the wheels. This is fine really. There are some shots where sŵitching between these modes could be useful, ie operating fully remote and then going majestic for allowing a car to steer the pan in the middle of a shot. It would be ideal to still have the wheel control of tilt, but its no biggy as the movi joystick is so good and in theory right above the wheels.
     
  4. Dale McCready

    Dale McCready Member

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    Hey Freefly team,

    I was wondering if there could be a firmware update to the Movi Controller that fixes the saving function? When using Alpha Wheels they have by default the pan backwards from a traditional geared head, so I always switch it, but it will not save to memory with other settings. It'd be great to be able to update to allow this small tweak. It would just save having to constantly reverse it every time we power on. No biggy though. 1A inform me this is a Freefly software tweak rather than a 1A tweak.

    Thanks,

    Dale
     
  5. Charlie Beyer

    Charlie Beyer Member

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    Yes ditto that. 1A says is a movi controller has a saving bug that needs to be fixed so Freefly can you look into this please.

    As far as the tilt axis in Majestic mode, Conner at 1A gave a description of why is not possible with the controller. Here are his words. "Regarding the tilt only in Majestic Mode, the answer is somewhat complicated. Is it possible? Yes, it is possible using our Alpha Link SBUS/SBUS XR, and Alpha Link: Mimic, but only using these systems with the Alpha Wheels. What makes the Alpha Wheels so special is they are delivering absolutely positioning directly to the Movi Pro (tot the .01 degree), so your moves are 100% repeatable(i.e. spin the wheel 10 times in one direction and 10 times back the other direction, the camera will end up in the exact poison you started). With the Klassen wheels, they are delivering "rate" or expo, meaning they respond to how quickly the joystick is pushed or how fast you spin the wheel. These systems are not repeatable."

    So I guess in order to be able to have tilt available to the wheels in Majestic mode, the user can not use the controller but will have to use the Alpha Link SBUS or Alpha Link Mimic. It seems like that the work around. I had asked about the Klassen Wheels, which I also own, that can do the tilt in majestic mode. The Klassen wheels use Futaba SBUS so that is perhaps a commonality that Conner is referring to with the Alpha Wheels Link SBUS. Any way here is a possible solution that I have not tested.
     
  6. Bryan Edmonds

    Bryan Edmonds Chief Mōvi Whisperer

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    This bug has already been fixed, in firmware version 1.2, available now through the standard app (not beta).
     
  7. Charlie Beyer

    Charlie Beyer Member

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    Great. downloading now. I thought it was Beta so stayed away.
     
  8. Charlie Beyer

    Charlie Beyer Member

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    So I am actually done with the firmware upgrade 1.2.1 on GCU and 1.3.1 on TSU and I am not getting the tilt available in smooth lock on the Alpha WHeels. It is available on the Controller Joystick. Nor am I getting the Controller 3.0.1 to save the setting of the R in pan rate.
     
  9. Bryan Edmonds

    Bryan Edmonds Chief Mōvi Whisperer

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    The only combination of Majestic and control I know is on the MōVI Controller. I don't have wheels setup here, so I can't verify if it works there. On the MōVI Controller, with mode switch set to M(ajestic), the following is true:

    • Gimbal set to Majestic Tilt on the back screen: both pan and tilt are in Majestic mode, no joystick control, FIZ control only
    • Gimbal set to Smooth Lock on the back screen: Pan is Majestic, Tilt is controlled by joystick, FIZ still works as usual

    I will verify and report this in the morning.
     
  10. Charlie Beyer

    Charlie Beyer Member

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    I don't think the alpha wheels and controller will do the smooth lock dual op tilt thing. Conner from Alpha Wheels said it's not possible with out their SBUS Alpha Link device which I am not totally familiar with. So that's worth looking into for me. This is a common configuration for me, one op on wheels takes care of head room while other op holding Movi in majestic covers composition. The joy stick will do it, it's just funky to jump from wheels to joy stick and back and forth. We'll see.

    As far as the R pan direction in the controller menu, I'd say that seem like you guys can solve that. I am able to save my pan rate and tilt rate settings. It's just the Reverse that doesn't save. Strange.
     
  11. Deniz Ozgoren

    Deniz Ozgoren Support Mage
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    Added to our list for future updates. Thanks for mentioning.
     
  12. Mike Moghaddam

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    Is there a way to control the roll/adjust the horizon with the Alpha Wheels when attached to the Mimic?
     
  13. Graham Futerfas

    Graham Futerfas Well-Known Member

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    Hi Mike, can you adjust horizon in the app?
     
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  14. Mike Moghaddam

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    I guess you can adjust the roll in the app but I don't know if that would work for me. I really like the Alpha Wheels but it might be a deal breaker for me if there isn't a faster solution then the app. I had a car job where we mounted the Movi to a Black arm and when the car would make turns some of the time I would have to re level the horizon while we were still rolling. I know with the Klassen and the PLC Verocity wheels you have the 3rd wheel option which would work but I was hoping the Alpha Wheels had some way of quickly changing the horizon too.
     
  15. Graham Futerfas

    Graham Futerfas Well-Known Member

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    Does Gamepad mode work while the Alpha Wheels are active? Maybe a PS4 controller to adjust Roll? I don't have a set of Alpha Wheels/Mimic to test with.
     
  16. Mike Moghaddam

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    I don't have a set of Alpha Wheels to test either.
     
  17. Deniz Ozgoren

    Deniz Ozgoren Support Mage
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    I haven't tested the exact combo, but you should be able to either
    • Use the second COM port on MIMIC to plug in a secondary API device (you can make one yourself easily).
    • Plug a gamepad. API has higher priority, so alpha wheels will still control pan and tilt, everything else on gamepad
    • Use MIMIC. API has higher priority, so alpha wheels will still control pan and tilt, everything else on MIMIC
    API for makers: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/16L65isO7Ifh3iWyqnqK69DHKzTWpJYlfl-hDMx7ABkY

    Also for roll horizon, I strongly suggest using compass heading assist. http://forum.freeflysystems.com/ind...-and-drift-with-mimic-on-jib.9357/#post-78220
     
  18. Mike Moghaddam

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    Wow thanks a lot Deniz.
     
  19. Tom Fan

    Tom Fan New Member

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    Hi Bryan,
    Why can't freefly allow Dual control in majestic tilt/pan mode? Sometimes we want the major control is in the handheld man, but in the meanwhile the remote control can assist in some complement situations at the same time. DJI has this function, basecam system can do that too, why does not Freefly make it?
    And please add majestic mode on roll. This is a very significant function,
    Please do make this. Thank you.
     
  20. Bryan Edmonds

    Bryan Edmonds Chief Mōvi Whisperer

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    I'll certainly add these to the feature request backlog!

    Features require development resources. We have an opening for a Mobile Software Engineer, you know anyone who needs a job?
     
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