You guys have GOT to see this. Its called the MOVI, Hand Held Gyro Stabilized rig

I believe thats in the pipeline.

Then again, you have to treat it for what it is. You need an AC anyway.
 
silyn said:
There is nothing unusual about this technology. It's not accidental the name of MōVI's manufacturer is FreeFly Systems (known for its Cinestar Gimbal used on various copters). MōVI itself seems to be just a repackaged version of such gimbals. It does not look like any critical piece of this technology has been patented. And idea to use such gimbals for handheld shooting is not new. Since FreeFly Systems is the first to implement it on a commercial basis, they will have (and should have) an opportunity to enjoy premium pricing for some time. But since they are not the only one who manufactures similar devices (for example, DJI's Zenmuse Z15N is another almost ready for handheld use), we'll see soon many other "MōVIs" and at a lower price.

BTW, I checked several sites that sells copter gimbals - most of them are suddenly sold out. Is it because of DIY smart guys?
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I agree.

Timur, I just can't imagine holding this device in eye-height all day long when there's a rigged Epic or Scarlet or Alexa hanging off it. Might be great in combination with something like Easyrig though?
 
jghenderson said:
And thank God for that. We don't need technology that will eliminate entire jobs from a production.
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I don't think this gizmo is going to do that (Well, maybe cut down Steadicam op days), but I think regular pro crews are going to be tasked with doing it. Camera ops will handle framing, pan and tilt, 1st AC has focus and strong backed, younger, 2nd ACs get to tote the gadget around. The guilds may have something to say about that for top shelf productions, but for everyone else, learning something like this would probably be required in short order.
 
There's a little disingenuousness in the third video. http://vimeo.com/laforet/movibts

Around the 3.10 mark the skater backs away from the car at the far side of the trash can and lamp standard. But at the 3.30 mark (which I take it is supposed to be material shot by the skater) his movement is to the near side of the trash can and the lamp standard. So, either the material was either not shot by the skater or it was shot by him on a separate run. As he would have to mount a kerb, difficult to do when on skates moving forwards let alone backwards, I deduce it was shot using different technology.

It doesn't detract from the cleverness of the gear and I know the video doesn't explicitly state that the close up/move away shot was taken by the skater, but there is a suggestion of legerdemain and that's a shame.
 
Focus - big depth of field.
Framing - so what are the steadicam guys doing? Yeah, do the same.
Done.

Like many have said - this was pretty inevitable. All the tech elements have already existed for a long, long time, including gyros. Someone needed to put it in a package. Now it's been done. Next step - let the Asians copy and/or improve and bring down the prices radically... at first there'll be a flood of crap, but then serious competitors will emerge, still at a fraction of the cost (just as happened with stabilizers). And once the prices have come down, indie folks on tiny budgets will come in and boatloads of this will sell (to the Asian sellers).

It's a very nice tool, but it's not a revolution.
 
Inveresk said:
There's a little disingenuousness in the third video. http://vimeo.com/laforet/movibts

Around the 3.10 mark the skater backs away from the car at the far side of the trash can and lamp standard. But at the 3.30 mark (which I take it is supposed to be material shot by the skater) his movement is to the near side of the trash can and the lamp standard. So, either the material was either not shot by the skater or it was shot by him on a separate run. As he would have to mount a kerb, difficult to do when on skates moving forwards let alone backwards, I deduce it was shot using different technology.

It doesn't detract from the cleverness of the gear and I know the video doesn't explicitly state that the close up/move away shot was taken by the skater, but there is a suggestion of legerdemain and that's a shame.
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Or it was done with a couple of takes and the BTS edit used one of them but not the one that made the final edit. Don't search for conspiracy's when there are many simple explanations that are more likely. Jumping a curb backwards isn't that tough for someone who is good on skates.
 
Inveresk said:
Please don't instruct. I was doing no more than pointing out an anomaly that I don't doubt there's an explanation for. Yours is plainly one. The 'searching for conspiracies' accusation is absurd.
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To be honest you make a fair point, there's been a few comments posted on various sites about differences between the chosen gimbal view footage versus the BTS, so it's valid to point them out. It's likely it's just the best cuts have been chosen in the edit which is understandable, at the same time what we have today is essentially a video sales pitch for a new product and in any sales pitch you focus on the positives and best results.
 
I'm definitely not one to shy away from heavy camera rigs, but this thing would concern me.


If it starts out weighing 3.5 lbs., and you add 5 lbs. of camera/lens, and add 1.5 lbs. for onboard monitor/battery, you're at 10 lbs. If you need a remote follow focus and a video transmitter, then you're at what? 13/14 lbs?


Holding that kind of weight with one arm at waist level is a lower back killer. Holding that kind of weight out in front of you even with both arms puts all kinds of stress on the back.


I could see it working with a light camera and a very light wide prime lens with focus set to all the way through the range and no remote monitoring for select shots. I'd rent one if needed, but I doubt I'd ever buy one.
 
Chris Santucci said:
I could see it working with a light camera and a very light wide prime lens with focus set to all the way through the range and no remote monitoring for select shots.
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Exactly. I don't see why the outcry about focus and framing - both problems easily avoidable. Would it be nice to be able to pull focus and have all the framing options in the world? Sure, but we have the same limitations in today's stabilizers and somehow the world has not come to an end. If it's good for steadicam operators, it should be good for whoever operates this thing.

It's still a useful tool - even if it doesn't do everything you might want. It's OK, if it doesn't toast your bagel either. It's a tool - useful, not revolutionary. If it falls in price - drastically - I can see fairly widespread use.
 
It's a cool tool with pro's and con's. I'm surprised I didn't see it being used in conjunction with an easy rig. Anything sucks holding it out in-front of you without an arm (like steadicam) or a form of support to help you.
 
Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
It's a cool tool with pro's and con's. I'm surprised I didn't see it being used in conjunction with an easy rig. Anything sucks holding it out in-front of you without an arm (like steadicam) or a form of support to help you.
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The Easy-Rig would be a prefect companion for the Movi, it seems to me (I haven't used either though). I can see where some shots couldn't be done with the Movi on the Easy-Rig, but for a day of shooting, it seems like it would save the camera operator's back for sure. Maybe we will see more and more TV shows go to a Movi/Easy-Rig combo and the days of the shaky hand-held "Edgy" dramatic episodic TV show will be over. THAT would be a welcome Game Changer!
 
Looking forward to a GH3 on a small one of these and seeing how the technology develops.

On a totally random note, we found those three girls busking as contortionists in Washington square park last year and put them in a 'different' kind of real estate video for a Art based Broadway Penthouse. They seemed about as far away from the film world and acting as I could imagine, fun to see them found and grow into bigger roles here. Small world and good theme for a moving camera.
 
A friend of mine sent me an e-mail link to this video. Was just about to post it to DVXuser, glad i saw this..

So incredible.
 
It isn't actually a gyro stabilized rig. It doesn't use gyroscopic stabilizers, aka a spinning mass that resists change in movement using angular momentum. It does have gyroscopic sensors on it, as well as accelerometers, to detect linear and angular motion, and then use motors to counteract those motions.

So if you tilt the rig up 1mm, the motors would tilt the camera base down 1mm so the camera would stay level.
 
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