Hi everyone. Whats the best way to minimise/eliminate footsteps form my shots? I do realise that in the 4th and 5th axis there will be some movement visible because the gimbal is a 3 axis gimbal not a 5 axis gimbal but I'd still like to get the results perfect. A bit of what I've done already.. Firstly the M5 is perfectly balanced in all 3 axis and the stiffness is set as high as possible without vibration.. So that's all good. I've played around with the pan and tilt window/deadband and smoothness settings to try to get the best and smoothest results for my gimbal operation. I've tried various settings for pan and tilt window and smoothness.. I tried having a higher window/deadband setting and varied smoothness settings for this but the best I have found so far for my personal shooting style is a narrower pan and tilt window but with higher smoothness for both.. This way the gimbal doesn't react much to my movements and reacts slowly.. But still I get the dreaded footsteps.. I physically move like I'm using a glidecam.. I walk slow and heel to toe.. I walk slow and as stable as possible and never do any sudden moves. Well as best I can anyway. My results aren't too bad so don't get me wrong it's just that I'm expecting perfection.. Am I being too fussy?? I read in another forum for those DYS gimbals that someone was saying that a relaxed 'stiffness' is best because it is like shooting handheld with relaxed arms.. Less jitters because its less stiff.. Does this make sense to anyone here? Anyways.. Any suggestions that you could pass on to me ti get the smoothest footstep free results from my shooting would be great ! -Frank
I saw some great footage with the Movi operator in a wheel chair being pushed. He was sitting on an apple box to get the height of the camera right and was being pushed very fast. If you want to create a slow dolly move, this works great.
Some sample footage of what you are getting will help. On my long todo list is to post footage of me chasing dogs. I was holding the Movi in one hand and running. From what I recall you do not notice any footsteps. It was as if the camera is flying by them.
Ok.. I have some sample footage.. Movi v Glidecam - In the first section of this video.. You can see how the footage shot with the Movi is bumpy especially when I do 'half circle' type manoeuvres.. I have been playing around with the PAN WINDOW/SMOOTHING and TILT WINDOW/SMOOTHING to try to fix this but can't seem to get it right.. Also I just want to point out that the camera is well balanced and motors tuned nicely. In this video, the first few minutes are examples from weddings that I shot with the Movi M5 and in the second section there are shots from weddings that a friend of mine did with a Gildecam HD4000. Although the glide cam footage may rock a little on the roll axis, it seems overall more stable. The guy doing the glide cam shots is quite good mind you. But still with my Movi my shots should look smoother than his but they don't.. Am I asking too much to get my half circle moves to be dead smooth like as if I'm flying?? I hate those micro bumps and footsteps.. Why are there no footsteps in the glide cam shots? Makes no sense to me that there are no footsteps in the glide cam shots but that there are in my movi shots.. Any advice on how I can get smoother shots would be appreciated.. Thanks ! 0 - 2:41 is Movi and 2:41 Onwards is Glidecam Password is: movi
Hi Frank, From my personal experience I think you are being too picky. I think you are getting lost in your own footage and paying attention to areas that no one will be watching. When I watch your subject the video looks very smooth, watch the edges and you can see some footsteps. I am not a pro with the Movi by any means but this footage looks very good for no post work, I have been producing commercial content for 25 years. If I can add one piece of advice about your video it would be to just slow down a bit on your movements. They are very nice movements and help put us right in the moment but I feel it would have a bit more impact if slower. I hope I did not overstep my boundaries. Great work sir your clients will be very excitted I am sure. Best, J
Hi Jonathan thanks for your response.. You didn't overstep any boundaries at all.. Thanks for your opinion it's exactly what I want and need.. See I don' have anything to compare my Gimbal shots with so I don't know what to expect.. Thanks for pointing out that I'm being a bit picky.. I will shoot slower too like you suggested and see if that helps.. Maybe that's half the problem actually.. I still wish I could get rid of those 'bumps' and 'knocks' though.. I can't understand why the Glidecam shots don't have that though where as shooting with the Movi does.. The Glidecam seems to have errors holding the horizontal (roll) level where as the smoothness of the half circle shots are very smooth as you can see in the last minute of my video.. .. Where as with me and my Movi, the horizontal (roll axis) is perfectly stable always but the circular moves can be bumpy.. Also no footsteps can be 'seen' with Glidecam.. Does anyone know why? -Frank
Hello Frank. I see at times a bit of what you are talking about with the bumps in your movement. I looked at the Glidecam and didn't really see any bumps but sometimes I felt the roll in it was hiding. I used a blackbird stabilizer (similar to steadicam) with and without a vest for several years before getting my Movi. I do feel that the training I gained in trying to get smooth footage (and it was hard) from that device gave me some skills I can transfer to the Movi in keeping the device level as move. As far as I know the device cannot compensate much for vertical movement. In general I would agree with Jonathan in that your Movi footage looked smooth and I found myself often forgetting about any minor steps paying attention to the subject and the view. I will remember to post back here the footage of me running, one handed with the Movi while chasing dogs.
Ok this has nothing to do with the Movi per se but I show Labrador Retrievers in the show ring. One thing we learn early on is short strides from the handler = choppy gate when the dog is going around the show ring. My experience is that this translates well to the Movi. Try taking longer strides when moving with your Movi. You will surprised how that smooths out footage.