thomas-english

I've always suspected it comes from the old American studio system where the director was undermined as much as possible. The producer made the big decisions and split power out as much as possible so anyone could get fired and replaced. I have heard its still the case in the US for TV series?

Here are my impressions Cinematographer is definitely someone that works for a Cinema release. Someone who composes, moves the camera and shoots for a giant screen. Director of Photography is originally an American term. It has now become a catch-all term but generally it is someone who does have a team. So you really need to have a gaffer, focus puller, key grip etc to be a "director" of photography otherwise there is nothing to direct. A cinematographer on the other hand can just have a billingham and an Arri 2C, load his own film and make his own coffee... so long as its intended for the big screen. In the UK it was Lighting-Cameraman until the 80's. Callsheets for some production companies for big commercials still use the term. Personally I like the term "Cameraman" .. pure and simple. Those old Jack Cardiff films it was just Cameraman. I like that. In the end... it doesn't matter how good you are or what you call yourself but who your clients are. The sad truth of life.

Use tungsten balanced for growing and daylight balanced for flowering. LED s are gonna be expensive for sure.

I have seen great stuff done on exteriors using Artem units http://www.smokemachines.net/r-artemsmokegun.shtml

I just wanted to show you guys this project we sweated on for a long time. Projection mapping an environment from the correct perspective of a camera with a playstation move strapped to it for camera tracking data. http://www.thomasenglish.co.uk/archives/466

http://www.dlr.de/rm/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-3803/

I found it. Its called the CMOCOS made by a firm in Germany http://www.facebook.com/pages/CMOCOS/117656408312#!/pages/CMOCOS/117656408312 http://www.cmocos.com/ It does seem to be a car industry unit rehashed for Motion Control. I am just not sure how its going to work with tabletop and closeup stuff where precision is key. http://www.kuka-robotics.com/en/pressevents/news/NN_060515_Automatica_02.htm Estimated price is circa 150,000 euros. Not far off the price of a secondhand Milo.

Who makes it? Im pretty sure its not Panther.

Thanks for all the responses! Yeah, it will be sending the full Gigabit video signal. I am interested in your explanation Phil about the number of cores etc. I like what you guys did Sinclair. I had heard of this. I am a little unsure if I have the courage to turn up on a commercial in two weeks with my homemade cut up cable. I'll order some in and see what I can do... In the mean time I am considering getting an SI-2K to two times 2 pair UTP cable.. That would give me two cables coming off the head each with 4 cores. I'll wrap one around the head in one direction (clockwise) and the other (counterclockwise) and hope their tensions cancel each other out. Then get a suitable Y cable to join them back together. My ideal is still just to find some super flexible 8 core cable.. it is 8 cores I need huh. Sinclair, I will be giving you a shout! Thanks

I am trying to rig the si2k onto my steadicam tango rig. I need the most flexible ethernet cable i can find as the slave head is very sensitive. Can i get away with 3m of cat 5 cable? Can anyone recomend me any super flexible cable? Recording onto a one beyond deck.

Thanks, Yeah I have thought about trying to drill out unbalanced ones or bolting some balancer to the other end. It just seems to me that this is such an obvious industrial need I can't believe they aren't more freely available. These are more for friction free remote head controllers where when you do let go with unbalanced ones the head just bobs. Do they really just cast their own? The Varizoom one looks quite well designed: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/626391-REG/VariZoom_VZCP_T11_VZCP_T11_2_Axis_Hand_Wheel.html

Where on earth can I get balanced handwheels. For the life of me all the handwheels I can find are very heavy in the direction of the rotating knob. GearNex, Arri, the motion control guys etc all seem to be able to find them..

Thanks Mitch, I was having issues there finding one on ebay.

Is this one of the longer tube types? Essentially I want to use the lensbaby control freak (nikon f) on PL cameras. You need to push the lens in by a good 6mm before you pass through infinity so the way I see it there is plenty of room for an adaptor plate. So Stephen, where have you seen any for sale?

Is there an adaptor out there to put a lens bearing a Nikon F mount onto PL mount cameras. I know and am not bothered in this application about the issues with flange depths and I am also aware of IMS mounts. Thanks

Are you insane? You want motorised vertical alignment? How much vodka have you been drinking? I would like to make it clear I am completely unqualified in any way as any kind of Stereoptician.

Mr. Dolan, What Alfeo said. I'm not too sure why you are hung up on this negative IO nonsense. Just because the rig is capable of it does that mean that you sir are going to turn up and do it? Your also capable of driving a car straight into a brick wall as well. You can stand on your head and drink vodka. There are all sorts of things that are possible that don't merit long forum discussions because they are obviously bad ideas. Although I strongly do recommend we all drink a little vodka. As Alfeo said. On Steadicam side swaps, handheld in tight spots etc etc we might want to swap the eyes over. A qualified stereoscoper will then take it upon himself to use negative IO and swap the eyes over. For the record Alfeo has worked on quite a few 3D jobs. The reason I demonstrated the full IO pull is for effect. To demonstrate. Its fine with larger cameras. I have 2 REDs in there on a current feature. The motors pull both cameras fine apparently. Chris Parks from Vision3 is pulling IO and convergence. It is tricky to set the rolls and calibrations but Chris Parks and Matt Smith are doing a sterling job in difficult circumstances.

I had the opportunity to test two RED cameras on my Steadicam rig the other day: http://www.thomasenglish.co.uk/archives/247 It s big and heavy but it works and is not completely unmanageable. Clearly I am available in the UK for your RED/Phantom 3D Steadicam camera needs. You can also contact Patric at Favarental.co.uk if you want to dry hire it.

I made this video demonstrating the P+S Technik Freestyle 3D Mirror Rig whilst messing about with it the other day. Let me know what you think. http://www.thomasenglish.co.uk/archives/234

The iphone is pretty light on the back.

Thanks mate. I am actually trying to work out who makes them as filmtools clearly just brand them up and sell them for $30 which is extortionate.

I am looking for other manufacturers if T-Bar flat head screwdrivers apart from Facom. If any of you have seen any other manufacturers or have one in your kit made by someone else? Much appreciated Thomas English

If I was to do that now I would use Steadicam (although he hasn't), a bit of remote zoom and a bit of frame stretching in post. I think he used a bit of track with a Jib arm and maybe post or maybe a subtle bit of that Dr. Who lens. Whats it called? Dinesh at panavision showed it to me. It twists a stretches the images and was used all the time on Dr. Who in the olden days. It goes in front of what ever glass your using and its massive.

This looks nice. We steadicam Operators have a similar problem. Turning over the video camera or Archos that records our live feed from the film camera for playback. What Film cameras is this compatible with? What Video Cameras is this compatible with? Thanks

I had the same problem with a bayonet to PL converted century optics 3.5mm and a 5.7mm Kinoptic. Deneesh from Panavision explained the same thing you report noticing. He simply turned the mounts on a lathe. As yet I have not had a chance to test it on the standard RED. The last job I did was an IMS RED. It worked fine on that but...