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What is the purpose of smaller reach technocranes?


Edith blazek

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Could someone tell me? As I'm struggling to find a purpose for smaller reach technocranes like the 30 and 15 as while yes they are smaller than something like the 50, they're not small and still seem to require a good amount of crew and space unless I'm wrong and the size and weight differences actually do make a difference, I just thought that since they're built to carry similar payloads they'd have to be of a certain size anyways.

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1 hour ago, David Mullen ASC said:

Weight and space issues mainly, some locations have restrictions.

So the differences in size and weight do make a difference. Okay then. Also, are there ways to make up for a relative lack of reach on a smaller crane? Like could I place the crane on higher ground?

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24 minutes ago, Edith blazek said:

So the differences in size and weight do make a difference. Okay then. Also, are there ways to make up for a relative lack of reach on a smaller crane? Like could I place the crane on higher ground?

Or even a cherry picker?

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Even the lighter Technocranes are pretty heavy, sure you take one to a high floor of a building and stick it out a window if there are industrial elevators that can take it up, etc. But going higher doesn't make it reach farther. A construction crane could place a Technocrane on a rooftop. Basically if your crane is too small for what you need it to do, it's the wrong crane to rent.

You can, however, easily put a small Technocrane on dolly track. Or you can put a fixed arm crane on dolly track.

You really need to talk to a Key Grip about high-elevation rigs because the safety issues.

Putting a small Technocrane on a hilltop doesn't help much because a hill is not a cliff, the top is farther away, so sure, the camera will be higher but then doing a 15-foot boom doesn't look like much.

You have to keep in mind that a Technocrane is not robotic -- there is always a grip standing at the back end to make it rise/fall/swing so your platform has to take the safety of that person into account.

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On 4/9/2022 at 11:27 AM, David Mullen ASC said:

Even the lighter Technocranes are pretty heavy, sure you take one to a high floor of a building and stick it out a window if there are industrial elevators that can take it up, etc. But going higher doesn't make it reach farther. A construction crane could place a Technocrane on a rooftop. Basically if your crane is too small for what you need it to do, it's the wrong crane to rent.

You can, however, easily put a small Technocrane on dolly track. Or you can put a fixed arm crane on dolly track.

You really need to talk to a Key Grip about high-elevation rigs because the safety issues.

Putting a small Technocrane on a hilltop doesn't help much because a hill is not a cliff, the top is farther away, so sure, the camera will be higher but then doing a 15-foot boom doesn't look like much.

You have to keep in mind that a Technocrane is not robotic -- there is always a grip standing at the back end to make it rise/fall/swing so your platform has to take the safety of that person into account.

Good to know. Though I should've clarified that I brought up the technocrane more as a concept as I'm more looking to use the filmotechnic technoscope f27 which is way less heavy than the technocrane but I imagine what you said would apply there as well. For context I really want to pull the trigger on the f27 as it seems to be a crane that fits my lifestyle of using relatively smaller cameras on gimbals hence it's light weight but I was afraid I might not get as many rentals as a longer crane, but I see there is a time and a place for 30 foot cranes like the f27, thank you.

Edited by Edith blazek
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On 4/7/2022 at 9:41 PM, Edith blazek said:

Could someone tell me? As I'm struggling to find a purpose for smaller reach technocranes like the 30 and 15 as while yes they are smaller than something like the 50, they're not small and still seem to require a good amount of crew and space unless I'm wrong and the size and weight differences actually do make a difference, I just thought that since they're built to carry similar payloads they'd have to be of a certain size anyways.

I shot the entire season 17 of Greys anatomy on the 17' Scorpio crane.  Its fantastic and works perfectly on stage on all of our sets

While everyone wants a long arm, they miss that they can replace a dolly, and jib with the Scorpio 17.  Then when you add the "motion generator" which means you can have backspin assist and arc compensation so you can do straight line moves it turns into a massively capable system that ends up taking life easy

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