Technology in Technocrane / Technodolly etc

[Brenton Lee]

I'll probably never end up on a serious production with a modern camera crane so I was wondering if anyone who has, could shed some light on some things for me?

1. What technology or process is involved with the moving rear counterweight to counteract the boom moving in and out? Watching videos, I can see that dynamic reaction is instantaneous, how is that set up or calibrated?

 

2. What moves the boom / telescoping section in and out? Is it some kind of rack or belt drive?

 

3. Do most crane heads have a built in stabiliser?

 

Any help is appreciated! I'm struggling to find details youtubes.

[David Mullen ASC]

Can't answer how telescoping cranes work but in terms of the head, you can attach whatever you want to the end of the crane -- from a 2-axis unstabilized head to a 3-axis stabilized head. Recently I did a shot where we attached a Movi rig using a magnet to a 45' Moviebird telescoping crane so we could detach it at the end of a crane move and then walk the Movi through a crowd.

[Gregg MacPherson]

I looked for some videos to try and see how the telescoping boom is balanced in practice but couldn't find one. The physics for the simplest possible way is quite simple, which is not to say that the chosen engineering solution is by default simple.

 

If the crane is balanced, the torque produced by all the mass on one side equals the torque produced by all the mass on the other side. There is an idealized centre of mass (CoM) for each side, which is not hard to calculate. The distance from the centre pivot to those CoMs must stay in the same ratio, so if the camera end telescopes, it's known how much the balance end must telescope.

 

If anyone spotted a video showing mechanical details of the telescoping can they let us know.

[AJ Young]

You should contact a rental house that has one and have them show you how it works.

 

Benefits:

• Creates a networking opportunity with the rental house that may lead to you getting on set with one of their clients using the crane.
• Answers all of your questions! :)
• Allows you to play with a technocrane.

Pro tip: bring beer and food. A free lunch for a rental tech will make them like you a lot.

[Brenton Lee]

There's some videos on a youtube channel by supertechno which are kinda helpful but not overly specific on how they work.

 

Which i totally understand.

[Brenton Lee]

http://www.google.com/patents/US8251599

[David Erlichman]

It's all motors. The sections are linked by internal cables which are also linked to either a belt or cable driven weight carriage. Chapman's HydroScope line are a little different but the principle is that same. The Mitchell mounting point on the nose is not "stabilized" as per say, but is motor driven to stay parallel with the ground.

 

Some of the manufactures you can find on the Interwebs:

 

Chapman / Leonard - HydroScopes

ServiceVision - Scorpios

SuperTechnoCrane - TechnoCrane and SuperTechno Cranes (I'll never understand the naming scheme)

MovieBird

Louma

 

If you have any more questions, please feel free to leave me a message here and also check www.Dollygrippery.com where you might find some more insight. On my current job we have a Scorpio 30+7 and Scorpio 23 full time so I'm on the cranes daily.

Edited July 29, 2017 by David Erlichman

[Brenton Lee]

Thanks David, I actually came across your website when I was googling the subject! Bookmarked and looking for the time to read back through the archives.