Trying to see if the XL can do a 360º rotation looking at the horizon with a center nodal point. I know with specific balance and adjustments this can be accomplished looking straight down, but to look straight out at the horizon, is there a setting, or mounting option that would allow this? Maybe instead of being over or underslung, it's nose mounted? Just curious if anyone has had any success in this, or if the Oculus head, and Libra Head the only stabilized heads that can do this. Thanks for the help! Cheers! -NKramer
I've seen this nose-mounted roll thing work on a Movi Pro, but it had to be controlled by the Mimic -- no other controllers (like Movi Controller or Wheels) would work. At some point, you'll probably run into "Gimbal Lock", which will cause a jump in the gimbal, so I don't think the XL is the right choice for this particular shot. I would suggest Occulus, but it's not really my area of expertise. I've also seen someone try this with the Ronin 2, but again, Gimbal Lock is an issue, and you can clearly see it's effect when you try to do a Roll maneuver on the ring. Here's more info on Gimbal Lock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimbal_lock
And so I stand corrected! Freefly just announced today (and showed on Instagram Live) that in the next firmware release, they will be able to do a continuous roll. Getting it nodal may be tricky but not impossible if you can add weights around where you need it. Coming soon to a Movi Pro and Movi XL! It's a wicked bit of software programming.
I just noticed! Absolutely amazing when they're doing right now. Asked them when they anticipate the release of the update. Waiting to hear back. My show decided to go a different route regardless, BUT, being able to roll with a nose mounted XL will be a game changer!
Out of curiosity, especially after following your post on Facebook, what did you end up deciding to use?