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Pan Drift with Movi Controller on Movi Pro / Alpha Wheels

Discussion in 'MōVI Pro' started by Dale McCready, Apr 10, 2017.

  1. Dale McCready

    Dale McCready Member

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    HI there,

    I was wondering if anyone else had any drift with the Movi Controller with or without Alpha Wheels in Pan? If so what is the best way to correct it? I'm using the pan trim on User 2 to tweak it but I'm surprised it drifts as much as it does. Is it normal or should i be able to correct it out somehow?

    Thanks,

    Dale
     
  2. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    Dale likely this is normal. The accelerometers do the best job while there is some motion. Once the unit is fully stationary there is some drift.
     
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  3. James Layton ACO

    James Layton ACO New Member

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    Hey Dale,

    Speak to Ivailo at CVP. We had the same issue and then he found some setting that sorted it out, I think...

    James
     
  4. Dale McCready

    Dale McCready Member

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    Yes this was an issue with the Gremsy H16 also, but they managed a feedback algorithm that sorted it out. What might help is a finer drift correction in the Movi Controller. I end up getting it really close to stationary but there's only so fine an adjustment I can make on the pot for User2
     
  5. Vinnie Laraway

    Vinnie Laraway New Member

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    We're having the same issue. Everything is fully updated.

    Movi XL, Movi Controller, Alpha Wheels. The pan has a constant drift in one direction.

    Freefly, is there any fix for this?
     
  6. Ryan Forte

    Ryan Forte Member

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    I was previously using the movi controller with the movi pro and Alexa Mini as a remote head on a dolly and Jib.

    I experienced the same thing. I was able to change the heading assist to fixed mount to fix the problem.

    Please note: when you switch the heading assist while in use the movi will spin really strange and get weird for a moment.just take the joystick or wheels and pan back to the position you had previously and everything should hold. I noticed on telephoto focal lengths you may still need to adjust pan drift in the controller.

    Hope this helps!
     
  7. Charlie Beyer

    Charlie Beyer Member

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    Yeah the drift sucks. Same thing with the Klassen wheels with the futaba. So it's unfortunately seems to be a thing. I have found that wth the alpha wheels and controller, the pan speed turned all the way down does slow down the drift.
     
  8. Vinnie Laraway

    Vinnie Laraway New Member

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    Just got the 1A Tools Alpha Link Mimic and I'm happy to report the pan drift is nonexistent - as advertised. The Movi controller is bypassed completely so the pan and tilt are 1:1 with no drift.
     
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  9. Kurt Wallrath

    Kurt Wallrath Member

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    Hey Vinnie, glad to learn this exists! There shouldn't be any pan drift if you aren't in Mimic mode. As Ryan F. recommended, try changing your heading assist setting to 'fixed mount'. From the info on heading assist, "using this setting, the MōVI references only motor position during pan moves."
     
  10. Charlie Beyer

    Charlie Beyer Member

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    Vinnie good to hear. Mine are being made according to 1-A so I hope to have mine soon. Any other notes positive or negative regarding the Mimic Alpha.
     
  11. Vinnie Laraway

    Vinnie Laraway New Member

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    Hey Charlie. Keep in mind I've only tested the Mimic Alpha with the MXL but I did encounter one thing... In the Movi App I have the Tilt Angle Limits set to -170 and 90 (maximum limits). I noticed that if I get to one of the limits and tilt 6 or less rotations, I have to spin the wheel the same number of rotations back to get the head to move at all. If I spin 7+ rotations, the head kind of freaks out and goes through the "dead zone" to the other side. Hope this makes sense.

    I'd assume this is so the tilt cable doesn't get tangled, but with any other remote head, if you spin past the limit you don't have to "rewind it" for the head to react again.

    I brought this up to Connor at 1A and they said they'd look into it. It's minor but if it can be fixed through 1A software that'd be great.
     
  12. Ryan Forte

    Ryan Forte Member

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    I'm really ready to pull the trigger on the alpha wheels with the XR wireless module. I don't really like much about the mimic if I could take that out of the equation it would make me very happy.

    If you confirm that the wheels will fix the drift issue when using as a remote head. I will feel a lot more comfortable spending the extra money.

    Like I said I have found a workable solution with the movi controller and the heading assist, but If there is a controller that allows me to solve the problem without changing setings

    I have to make a decision between Alpha Wheels and Movi Controller. I'm by no means an expert with the wheels, but I very often need to do very small pan or tilt movements in our tabletop setup and the joystick can be a little less acurate thatn I prefer in these scenarios.

    How do you like the wheels?
     
  13. Charlie Beyer

    Charlie Beyer Member

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    Vinnie thanks. Interesting problem there.

    Ryan. I like the wheels. Excellent performance. The drift issue apparently is solved with the alpha mimic and I but the alpha SBUS thing will perform similarly. I would recommend them for table top, if in fact the drift is eliminated. I would say that a hard wired head that is not stabilized is probably cheaper and may perform more better for you in your macro world. Any way good luck.
     
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  14. Deniz Ozgoren

    Deniz Ozgoren Support Mage
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    Here is what I posted on another thread:

    Drift

    Have you tried Heading Assist?

    With heading assist off, MōVI Pro and MIMIC uses only the IMU, which is normal to see drifts over ~10 minutes period. You can set it to Fixed Mount on MōVI Pro, which will enable referencing the encoder on the pan motor. This is a significant change for drift.

    Other options are GPS and Compass. If you use Compass option, it also adds compass on top of IMU to calculate heading, which should also help a lot with drift. In this mode you need to make sure your compass is calibrated through the app and that the declination value is set for your location (google it: https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag-web/). In your case you can try setting MIMIC to compass (since it doesn't have fixed mount option as it doesn't have a motor).
     
  15. Charlie Beyer

    Charlie Beyer Member

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    Is it ok to leave in Fixed mount for hand held slow moves steady cam like moves that end with a steady hand held lock frame shot? I don't see why not but this fixed mount is much better.
     
  16. Ryan Forte

    Ryan Forte Member

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    I had some really weird things happen to me on set when the heading assist was left in fixed mount. The pan motor was locking up and vibrating really bad.

    It took me a moment to realize that I had been using it for days on a jib and dolly as a remote head. Switched it off and the problem was fixed.
     
  17. Ryan Forte

    Ryan Forte Member

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    I traditionally was using Cartoni Underslung Fluid heads and they were preforming pretty well once you balance all the axis, but any sort of jib movements that involve pan and tilt become really tough. What they need is motion control, but a lot of the reason I get the work I do is because the budget is just under what they could hire a company to do motion control. I'm trying to perfect a human operated small jib setup for macro work. The movi seems to be helping the little bits of unwanted movement once I solve the few bugs like drift.
     

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