Video Camera Technology

[myhaliv]

Hi all....thanks for reading.

 

Is there camcorder technology that:

 

1) You can control the camera via long distance remote control. Meaning, pan/zoom the camera while sitting in a central booth.

 

 

2) A camera that will follow an object automatically.

 

 

I want to tape horses in a ring. They jump fences and run around. I want to know what's out there to do this remotely, or hands off by following the horse around automatically.

 

My background is computer programming, and unfortunately I don't know much beyond handheld consumerable DV cameras.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Michael

[David Mullen ASC]

You're the second poster in one evening to have ignored the first forum rule listed when registering... you should have seen this when you registered:

 

Forum Terms & Rules

 

READ THIS - IT'S NOT LONG

 

You must register using your REAL NAME. That means your first name, a space, then your last name. If you don't use your real name, or you register with a name that looks like your real name but we find out is not your real name, your account will be permanently disabled.

 

After you create your account, you MUST create a signature that will be automatically appended to your posts. The simplest signature will be your name, and we encourage you to add a link to your web site or IMDB profile if you have one.

 

 

You can go to My Controls and edit your Display Name to a real first and last name. Thanks.

[myhaliv]

Yikes. OKAY, i think i'm in compliance now....

 

You're the second poster in one evening to have ignored the first forum rule listed when registering... you should have seen this when you registered:

 

Forum Terms & Rules

 

READ THIS - IT'S NOT LONG

 

You must register using your REAL NAME. That means your first name, a space, then your last name. If you don't use your real name, or you register with a name that looks like your real name but we find out is not your real name, your account will be permanently disabled.

 

After you create your account, you MUST create a signature that will be automatically appended to your posts. The simplest signature will be your name, and we encourage you to add a link to your web site or IMDB profile if you have one.

 

 

You can go to My Controls and edit your Display Name to a real first and last name. Thanks.

[Ryan Brooks]

David why are you such a jerk when it comes to people not putting their first and last name in their display. Yeah it says in the rules that this is the way it should be. I don't get why it has to be in the first place but maybe people just want to get some help with their project and don't want to have to give their personal life story. And who the hell are you to point out their faults or what they are doing wrong? Did someone put you in charge? Did the power go to your head? Or are you just a member who feels he knows everything. I have been on the website for a few days and I have seen you post that same post four or five different times. Don't you have anything better to do with your time? Go complain about something that matters or don't do it at all.

 

Or by the way I am not sure what it is called but I think the cameras they have in football stadiums might be what you are looking for. They are attached by cables and are controlled remotely.

 

Brooksy

[Phil Rhodes]

> Did someone put you in charge?

 

Er, yes.

 

P

[Phil Rhodes]

> Yikes. OKAY, i think i'm in compliance now....

 

Unless your full name as it appears on your credit cards is "myhaliv", you're not.

 

P

[Adrian Sierkowski]

They're cable cams, in the stadiums, but they don't, as far as I know, automatically follow anything.

As for Mr. Mullen, I think he's been one of the most helpful and knowledgeable people here. The fact that he also has to police the forum, is less an issue of power in his head and more an issue of people not following simple instructions designed to keep the forum --overall-- professional.

 

The only camera system I can think of which follows motion might be certain security camera systems activated i with motion control?

 

I know they have motion-triggered still/video cameras used for wildlife photography, normally night photography and the like; but again, they don't track.

[Daniel Sheehy]

David why are you such a jerk when it comes to people not putting their first and last name in their display. Yeah it says in the rules that this is the way it should be. I don't get why it has to be in the first place but maybe people just want to get some help with their project and don't want to have to give their personal life story. And who the hell are you to point out their faults or what they are doing wrong? Did someone put you in charge? Did the power go to your head? Or are you just a member who feels he knows everything. I have been on the website for a few days and I have seen you post that same post four or five different times. Don't you have anything better to do with your time? Go complain about something that matters or don't do it at all...

You're way out of line here mate.

 

Those are the forum rules and David, as a moderator, is simply reminding people of those rules.

It'd be nice if he didn't have to, but when you get as many people not bothering to read the rules as we get here, someone has to step in and remind people.

 

If you'd bothered to look, you'd have seen that David does a lot more than remind people to register properly. You owe him an apology.

[John Brawley]

Yeah it says in the rules that this is the way it should be. I don't get why it has to be in the first place but maybe people just want to get some help with their project and don't want to have to give their personal life story.

 

 

You should pull your head in mate.

 

It's a condition of participation in this forum that you use your real name.

 

You agree to this condition by signing up. If you don't like it then don't participate. It's pretty simple.

 

And how obnoxious of you to *expect* that someone will get some help with their project. We are all very priviliged to be able to have access to many of the contributors to all these fourms if they decide they will respond to a discussion. They don't have to lend you their years of experience.

 

How about some respect and manners ?

 

jb

[Tim O'Connor]

David why are you such a jerk when it comes to people not putting their first and last name in their display. Yeah it says in the rules that this is the way it should be. I don't get why it has to be in the first place but maybe people just want to get some help with their project and don't want to have to give their personal life story. And who the hell are you to point out their faults or what they are doing wrong? Did someone put you in charge? Did the power go to your head? Or are you just a member who feels he knows everything. I have been on the website for a few days and I have seen you post that same post four or five different times. Don't you have anything better to do with your time? Go complain about something that matters or don't do it at all.

 

Or by the way I am not sure what it is called but I think the cameras they have in football stadiums might be what you are looking for. They are attached by cables and are controlled remotely.

 

Brooksy

 

Hey Brooksy, David does what he does, and which we all appreciate, a heck of a lot more politely than you just wrote your post to him.

Plus, you have the audacity to put a line calling him a jerk under your signature? I think that that is a violation of the rules and it's certainly a violation of the spirit of this friendly and excellent forum.

 

Even if you think that David is wasting his time, and you felt that you had to say something, why did you have to do so in

an insulting way? You use a mean tone and you tell him what to do?

 

David is one of those in charge of this forum and he plays policeman for our benefit. If you had any idea of how much he helps us, and how much he has done and how much he knows and yet still seeks to learn; you'd know that yes he does have better things to do but he's willing to spend time helping us, which includes the frustrating task of asking some new members to comply with the rules, when I'm sure he'd rather be reading or watching a movie or doing a million other things.

 

You know, I "don't get" a lot of rules in other clubs, gangs and countries but I don't just roll in to any of those and start

ranking them out.

 

Incidentally, I am less than impressed with your reply "Or by the way I am not sure what it is called but I think the cameras they have in football stadiums might be what you are looking for. They are attached by cables and are controlled remotely."

to the original post.

 

If you look through the thousands of David's posts, the least informative of them would still have a ton more specific information than your "answering" somebody with something vaguer than any football fan who has no interest in cinematography could have offered about the camera systems used in football coverage.

 

If you haven't already, please remove that insult under your signature and see if you can't start off again. This is a great forum.

 

I think that you owe David an apology but I suppose that will happen when you do "get" some of this.

[myhaliv]

Now this is the same problem as in politics. Too much fighting not enough problem solving. The replies to this post are all very childish - including David's initial reply. You have spent more time bickering over nonsense than attempting to offer direction on my question. Not only are you not helpful, but you have wasted my time (and yours). Do me a favor and please delete my account.

 

 

Hey Brooksy, David does what he does, and which we all appreciate, a heck of a lot more politely than you just wrote your post to him.

Plus, you have the audacity to put a line calling him a jerk under your signature? I think that that is a violation of the rules and it's certainly a violation of the spirit of this friendly and excellent forum.

 

Even if you think that David is wasting his time, and you felt that you had to say something, why did you have to do so in

an insulting way? You use a mean tone and you tell him what to do?

 

David is one of those in charge of this forum and he plays policeman for our benefit. If you had any idea of how much he helps us, and how much he has done and how much he knows and yet still seeks to learn; you'd know that yes he does have better things to do but he's willing to spend time helping us, which includes the frustrating task of asking some new members to comply with the rules, when I'm sure he'd rather be reading or watching a movie or doing a million other things.

 

You know, I "don't get" a lot of rules in other clubs, gangs and countries but I don't just roll in to any of those and start

ranking them out.

 

Incidentally, I am less than impressed with your reply "Or by the way I am not sure what it is called but I think the cameras they have in football stadiums might be what you are looking for. They are attached by cables and are controlled remotely."

to the original post.

 

If you look through the thousands of David's posts, the least informative of them would still have a ton more specific information than your "answering" somebody with something vaguer than any football fan who has no interest in cinematography could have offered about the camera systems used in football coverage.

 

If you haven't already, please remove that insult under your signature and see if you can't start off again. This is a great forum.

 

I think that you owe David an apology but I suppose that will happen when you do "get" some of this.

[John Brawley]

Do me a favor and please delete my account.

 

 

Delete your own account. No one else can do it aside from the account owner.

 

 

jb

[Vincent Sweeney]

Now this is the same problem as in politics. Too much fighting not enough problem solving. The replies to this post are all very childish - including David's initial reply. You have spent more time bickering over nonsense than attempting to offer direction on my question. Not only are you not helpful, but you have wasted my time (and yours). Do me a favor and please delete my account.

 

The other problem is that you posted the wrong type of question in a professional cinematography forum. Your post is suited for a security camera forum instead. You can simply call the tech guys over at supercircuits.com and get answers.

[Jonathan Bowerbank]

Ryan's post is disposable. Michael made a rookie mistake (but still hasn't quite corrected it). And this thread has gone wrong.

 

Michael, I'm sure you could probably speak with a Security Company to see what sort of system you could set up, and possibly apply their recommendations to something better than your basic CCTV cameras.

[Andrew Koch]

David Mullen is someone I admire and look up to. I am not saying this to be a kiss ass. I have learned so much from him on this forum and the couple of times that I talked to him in person he was a very nice person. This is why it really bothers me that someone would have the audacity to insult him on this forum when all he is trying to do is make it great. Ryan, do you have any idea who you just insulted. Do you really think you are making a good impression by talking like that to a very prominent Cinematographer? The movie industry is a small one and it is not wise to burn bridges so early in your career. The industry is tough enough as it is. We can make it more enjoyable by being nice to each other.

 

I like the fact that we use our real names on here, it makes us think clearly about what we post because we are representing ourselves to the film community. No one is forcing anyone to post in this community. Either you except the rules or you don't. It's not like when you are working at a job that you have to do to pay the rent and the conditions are not fair, so you fight for your rights as a worker. The difference with this forum is it's not a right, it is a privilege. I find it interesting that Michael says that people on this forum are wasting his time. Please try to be more appreciative.

 

I am sorry for feeding into the negative energy. It justs upsets me when people get attacked who don't deserve it.

[Mike Washlesky]

The other problem is that you posted the wrong type of question in a professional cinematography forum. Your post is suited for a security camera forum instead. You can simply call the tech guys over at supercircuits.com and get answers.

 

 

ZING!

[Tom Lowe]

David why are you such a jerk when it comes to people not putting their first and last name in their display. Yeah it says in the rules that this is the way it should be. I don't get why it has to be in the first place but maybe people just want to get some help with their project and don't want to have to give their personal life story. And who the hell are you to point out their faults or what they are doing wrong? Did someone put you in charge? Did the power go to your head? Or are you just a member who feels he knows everything. I have been on the website for a few days and I have seen you post that same post four or five different times. Don't you have anything better to do with your time? Go complain about something that matters or don't do it at all.

 

Don't be a douchebag.

[Serge Teulon]

David why are you such a jerk when it comes to people not putting their first and last name in their display. Yeah it says in the rules that this is the way it should be. I don't get why it has to be in the first place but maybe people just want to get some help with their project and don't want to have to give their personal life story. And who the hell are you to point out their faults or what they are doing wrong? Did someone put you in charge? Did the power go to your head? Or are you just a member who feels he knows everything. I have been on the website for a few days and I have seen you post that same post four or five different times. Don't you have anything better to do with your time? Go complain about something that matters or don't do it at all.

 

Or by the way I am not sure what it is called but I think the cameras they have in football stadiums might be what you are looking for. They are attached by cables and are controlled remotely.

 

Brooksy

 

 

Brooksy,

 

I hope that you now got an understanding of everyone's regard towards not just David but all contributors in this forum.

This is a community that is not centered on one single person. It is here to help and to share information with all.

Information = knowledge and that is more valuable than anything else.

 

I don't think that you are someone that has just stumbled across this forum and with no interest in mind decided to join in.

So, just do yourself a favour and redeem yourself and be part of this forum!

I'm sure you have lots to gain from everyone and vice versa.

 

Cheers

S

Edited March 12, 2008 by Serge Teulon

[John Sprung]

Remote control is commonplace.

 

Sony a few years ago demonstrated an automatic object tracking system, and presented a paper about it at SMPTE. They were able to track a golf ball against the sky. What they said about eliminating the jobs of camera operators was met with an understandable lack of enthusiasm here in Hollywood.

 

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[Daniel McAlister]

You're the second poster in one evening to have ignored the first forum rule listed when registering... you should have seen this when you registered:

 

Forum Terms & Rules

 

READ THIS - IT'S NOT LONG

 

You must register using your REAL NAME. That means your first name, a space, then your last name. If you don't use your real name, or you register with a name that looks like your real name but we find out is not your real name, your account will be permanently disabled.

 

After you create your account, you MUST create a signature that will be automatically appended to your posts. The simplest signature will be your name, and we encourage you to add a link to your web site or IMDB profile if you have one.

 

 

You can go to My Controls and edit your Display Name to a real first and last name. Thanks.

 

 

All right in an effort to bring a little civility to the debate and in no way to I mean any disrespect to any of you guys (and girls) on this sight, as a film maker myself (not a cinematographer) I?m blown away by your guys knowledge and passion I?ve seen not to mention the quality and celebrity that?s cruising this sight.

 

As a *newb* myself I posted a question without my name being correct and was immediately reprimanded by the ?sherrief? and although for all you regulars who have been on this sight forever can?t seem to fathom how dumb we are for not following the rules but the simple fact is who reads the terms and conditions when they sign up for stuff on the net. You hit register you click the little box and you go on. Everyone does it. The other thing that I personally thought when I signed up was sure I?ll register my real name for the account but that doesn?t necessarily mean I have to use my real name for my ?post name.? In my opinion if you want to get rid of the problem just change the way they sign up, have boxes for first and last name and that becomes the ?post? name automatically, issue averted.

 

Nobody is ?ignoring? the rules like he said, it was just a little naiveté in coming into a new forum. And if you want them read it might be a better idea to pot them by the appropriate boxes when you sign up not in the ?terms and conditions? area I?m sure 95% of people robotically go past.

 

Although it was rude to call Mullen a ?jerk? by Ryan I can definitely agree with the new guys reaction of ?yikes..? I to felt like ?hey jeez, I didn?t know, don?t jump down my throat, sorry.?

[John Brawley]

Remote control is commonplace.

 

Sony a few years ago demonstrated an automatic object tracking system, and presented a paper about it at SMPTE. They were able to track a golf ball against the sky. What they said about eliminating the jobs of camera operators was met with an understandable lack of enthusiasm here in Hollywood.

 

 

-- J.S.

 

Yeah ? But could it frame creatively ?

:rolleyes:

 

 

jb

[Tim O'Connor]

All right in an effort to bring a little civility to the debate and in no way to I mean any disrespect to any of you guys (and girls) on this sight, as a film maker myself (not a cinematographer) I?m blown away by your guys knowledge and passion I?ve seen not to mention the quality and celebrity that?s cruising this sight.

 

As a *newb* myself I posted a question without my name being correct and was immediately reprimanded by the ?sherrief? and although for all you regulars who have been on this sight forever can?t seem to fathom how dumb we are for not following the rules but the simple fact is who reads the terms and conditions when they sign up for stuff on the net. You hit register you click the little box and you go on. Everyone does it. The other thing that I personally thought when I signed up was sure I?ll register my real name for the account but that doesn?t necessarily mean I have to use my real name for my ?post name.? In my opinion if you want to get rid of the problem just change the way they sign up, have boxes for first and last name and that becomes the ?post? name automatically, issue averted.

 

Nobody is ?ignoring? the rules like he said, it was just a little naiveté in coming into a new forum. And if you want them read it might be a better idea to pot them by the appropriate boxes when you sign up not in the ?terms and conditions? area I?m sure 95% of people robotically go past.

 

Although it was rude to call Mullen a ?jerk? by Ryan I can definitely agree with the new guys reaction of ?yikes..? I to felt like ?hey jeez, I didn?t know, don?t jump down my throat, sorry.?

 

There already is more than a little civility on this forum and in this particular discussion. The original poster was invited to

become a proper member by David, who by the way signed his request "thanks".

 

Several other people have responded to Ryan's rudeness with clear explanations of why his post is offensive and yet, unlike

other forums on which he might be told to get lost, people have extended offers of friendship and suggested that he could still become part of this forum and benefit from it.

 

Daniel, some of your suggestions to make the real name posting easier are good ones and might work well if the administrators like them. However, just because you too had a "yikes" reaction doesn't mean that you or anybody else should automatically express it.

 

You have four posts on here. The first four times that I worked on an actual film set, I said less than you have already

on here, even though I had some yikes moments. I guess that I went in with the idea that even if I didn't understand some

people's reactions, I would wait a bit and see how things work before commenting or not.

 

Maybe it's a generational thing but your "Everyone does it" argument is something that I never would have said to the veterans on those first sets on which I worked. In fact, most of us as children attempt that "all the other kids are doing it" argument with and quickly learn that it doesn't work. Just because lots of people break a rule or a law doesn't necessarily

make it okay.

 

I think the big problem here is the behavior of the new posters. Myhaliv calls David's request that he (Myhaliv) first sign up

properly "childish" and then says that everyone on here has wasted his time. Ryan not only calls David a jerk; he puts that in a sentence in a banner below his signature. Now you come on and say yeah, Ryan was "rude to call Mullen a jerk".

 

I believe that you are the first person on this forum to ever call David Mullen by his last name only and you do it in the same sentence in which you show Ryan Brooks the courtesy of calling him by his first name.

 

I think that you're probably unaware of that and wrote with no intended rudeness. That is representative of the problem that is getting everybody's attention. Myhaliv asks us to delete his account because he thinks we're bickering childishly and wasting his time and he's mad because he didn't get his question answered.

 

The members of this forum are responding because so many new members show up and ask incredibly general questions, such as the original post in this thread, without apparently doing any work to either sign up properly or respect the other member's time on here. I would suggest that Myhaliv vould have done a little research and then perhaps asked a more specific question. His question is pretty much in the ballpark of "how do you light a night scene?" or "What film should I use for my film?"

 

Members on here spend a lot of time typing thoughtful answers to questions. Myhaliv's question is so general that I think no one was inclined to type an answer to somebody who apparently hadn't even done a simple search and obviously hadn't even posted properly.

 

Elsewhere on this forum, there's a thoughtful discussion about the pros and cons of the real name policy. Some of those feelings came into this thread I would guess because we value David and our other moderators highly, appreciate all their work, sense their frustrations and perhaps selfishly don't want them to feel that they're wasting their time and thus stop coming on here.

 

I'm seeing fewer postings on here from regular contributors. I hope that it's because they're all busy with great gigs but I'm afraid that they're getting worn out by the amount of fresh attitude shown more and more often on here. David is working to keep this forum together. If you and others want to change the forum, well, governments and forums can change. In the meantime though, those of us who like the forum as presently structured are going to work to keep it that way. If others don't like it, they certainly can express their opinions but they'll get a lot more respect if they do so civilly.

 

I understand if you "agree with the new guys reaction of 'yikes'". Your suggestions for making it easier for people to fulfill the forum rules are good ones.

 

On balance however, I wish that you would have disagreed more with the banner insult to David under the new guys' signature.

[Vincent Sweeney]

Yeah ? But could it frame creatively ?

:rolleyes:

 

jb

 

Not until June 16th, 2042 when all auto-tracking camera systems will become self aware.

[John Sprung]

Yeah ? But could it frame creatively ?

:rolleyes:

 

 

jb

IIRC, it framed like an inexperienced human operator after a three martini lunch..... ;-)

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[Michael Nash]

IIRC, it framed like an inexperienced human operator after a three martini lunch..... ;-)

 

That's not "creative"? :P

 

Maybe that could become the new aesthetic to replace the hand-held, pseudo-documentary look. I mean, if the cinema verite look has gone from the guise of "truth" to obvious affectation, then something else trying to behave like a human who's falsely trying to pass on the truth seems like the next logical step! Maybe call it "cinema machina"... ;)