CARBON XL CAMERA 1 World’S Lightest Camera Supports MOTION June 2011

JOURNAL Issue OF

CARBON XL CAMERA 1 World’s Lightest Camera Supports MOTION June 2011

Lease a com- Website: carbon-xl.com plete system for only $500/month Also in this issue See the details What can you do with Aim for the Carbon and Shoot controls? XL 10 Systems Cine Gear Expo comments from hands-on visitors. Sign up for more free newsletters Conserve cash by leasing.

Zero gravity heads can im- Download Car- prove your jib shots. bon XL brochure Keep your boom up with All in PDF Angle Balance.

Can Carbon Fiber save you money? See Next- Everyone knows carbon fiber costs more than those baggage charges in your mind. Start worry- WaveDV video steel and aluminum. The cost per pound for car- ing about whether one rental vehicle will hold all of Carbon XL bon fiber is more than 10 times higher than alumi- the equipment when you arrive at the next airport. num. So why are aircraft manufacturers replacing Try not to imagine what it will be like if you have 10 Systems at most aluminum with carbon fiber in all their new move all the cases by hand to make a flight con- CineGear planes? nection in an international terminal. Is the last leg of the journey in a The answer is carbon fiber actually costs less single engine air- when you consider the whole picture. The same is craft? Hope not. true for the Carbon XL 10 System. Because of the unique Carbon XL design, our systems actually When you finally cost less than buying all the same functions from do arrive, where other vendors in aluminum! will you get that extra 100 pounds Carbon XL 10 Check it out for yourself. Choose an aluminum of balance costs less than crane, jib, dolly system, powered time lapse, hot weights? head, etc. from a vendor’s website. Add up the aluminum sys- costs to match the Carbon XL features, lengths, The light-weight tems. and sizes. You will find that the total cost for these carbon fiber system costs less to buy. It is much separate aluminum systems is as much as 50% easier to travel with, in your car, or by plane, higher than the carbon fiber system. helicopter, VW bug taxi, or canoe. It costs much less for excess baggage charges. When you need Then add up the total weight of all the compo- to move it from the vehicle to the setup site, it is nents and the number of shipping cases. You will much easier to carry. You are less likely to strain be astounded at the advantage you will have with yourself setting up the lightweight parts, or moving the carbon fiber system. In addition, many of our the assembly for a different shot angle. You need features are not available anywhere else. about half as much balance weight. You are able to shoot where vehicles cannot go. Now imagine arriving at an airline counter with 4 cases of carbon fiber system weighing less than With the Carbon XL 10 System, carbon fiber costs 100 pounds, or an aluminum system with 8 to less than aluminum, in more ways than you can 10 cases weighing 300 pounds or more. Add up count.

June 2011 carbon-xl.com Journal of Camera Motion What can you do with Aim and Shoot controls? 2 Aim and Shoot camera control is a unique meth- od for controlling the camera pan and tilt when the camera is located remotely on the end of the Aim and Shoot is crane arm. Instead of using a joystick for pan- much more intui- tilt, you steer the Aim and Shoot pan-tilt using a tive than a joy- tripod control arm, just as you do with the camera stick. mounted on a tripod in front of you.

Move the control arm down, and the camera tilts up, just as it would if it was on a tripod. Sensors and motors duplicate your pan-tilt movements at the camera. You can use any tripod arm and at- tach it to the unique pan-tilt sensors.

Aim and Shoot camera control is much easier to learn and use than joystick control and it allows “This is amazing! I have only been using the Aim you to do everything with one hand, freeing your and Shoot for one minute, and I am already bet- other hand to move the crane. A frequent first time ter at aiming the camera than I am with a joystick. user reaction is: It is so much more intuitive.”

Cine Gear Expo 2011 comments from Paramount Studios in Hollywood.

“This is the most impressive product I have seen at the show!”

“This product is going to change the direction of Cine Gear the industry!” Expo has 10,000 visitors The new Aim and Shoot crane head control system was a big hit with many surprised camera operators. Instead of using a joystick for pan/tilt, excited attendees waited in line for a chance to steer the Aim and Shoot pan/tilt using a tripod control arm, just as you do with the camera mounted on a tripod in front of you.

See Cine Gear show video of the Carbon XL Testing the new Aim and Shoot feature at Cine Gear Expo System.

The Cine Gear Expo is a unique trade show event for cameras and gear. The exhibitor booths spread out through the Stages and New York Streetfront sets on the extensive Paramount Studios lot. More than 10,000 eager production professionals swarmed into the two-day event.

Aim and Shoot is Carbon XL received an enthusiastic response a big hit at Cine from the attendees: Gear . “I am in awe!”

“This System is incredible!” (This is frequent comment)

Pan-tilt-zoom-record with one hand Journal of Camera Motion carbon-xl.com June 2011 title="Carbon XL Video"

“This is amazing! I have only been using the Aim and Shoot for one minute, and I am already better at aiming the camera than I am with a joystick. 3 It is so much more intuitive.” Switch from crane People were also amazed to see the Carbon XL to front operated- powered crane head convert into a front-operated jib in 15 seconds jib in only 15 seconds. Start with a high Aim and Shoot pan over the top of the crowd, and then step out to the camera at the boom end and shoot a close-up interview with a perfectly balanced zero-gravity front-operated jib. No head change. No Fluid head to install. No rebalance. No jib drag needed. Just let go of the camera in any position and it stays put. Switch back to powered pan/tilt in 15 seconds. Switch to a front operated jib in 15 seconds

A Show stopping “This is a show-stopping feature! It takes me Another comment as we were packing to leave: feature 20 minutes to remove my hot head, install a fluid head, and re-balance everything. You just “Where were you 2 months ago? I just bought switched both directions in less than 30 seconds! another brand, and now I know I made the wrong This will change my whole shooting approach!” choice!”

The versatility of the lightweight carbon fiber Carbon XL had a very good Cine Gear Expo system continues to inspire new visions of produc- show. We were very inspired by everyone’s enthu- tion techniques. Open your car trunk and load in siasm for all our unique features. Soon there will a crane, jib, remote camera, dolly system, and car be even more unique features. Stay tuned. mount. No more missed opportunities, and you will still have room for luggage.

From a low-budget feature film producer at Cine Gear:

“We have been renting all these features, pick- ing up the equipment at the rental houses, and paying out enough to buy one of your systems every month. I think we can do 80% of what we need with the Carbon XL 10 System, and just rent the other 20% for specialty requirements. We will save a bundle of money and time.”

Use the head as a remote controlled camera Conserve your cash by leasing. A CXL 10 system is about $500/month. Lease a system If you need the equipment now, but you do not During the lease years, you can use the equip- now, and rent wish to use up your cash, you can lease our ment to earn income, and when you are not it out to your equipment for 3 to 5 years and buy it out for $1 at using it, you may be able loan it out to friends for friends to cover the end of the lease. enough to pay the lease each month, and more. the payments For example, a $15,000 lease would have a We recommend Baytree National Bank and monthly payment of about $500 per month for 36 Trust Company because they are familiar with months. At the end of the lease, you can buy the our products, but other lease companies may be equipment for only $1 more. For established busi- able to help you as well. Contact Baytree Nation- nesses with a good credit rating, there is no down al Bank, Steve Morgan, 888-942-7870. payment, just the first month’s lease payment in advance. Download Lease Application form

June 2011 carbon-xl.com Journal of Camera Motion Zero-Gravity heads can improve your jibs shots

4 With a zero-gravity head, many of these control problems go away. You can also save the extra weight required to balance the fluid head on a jib arm. If a zero-gravity head is properly balanced, you can pan and tilt the camera, and release it without kick back at the end of your move. Less A zero gravity effort is required and you can move the jib, and head on a jib is a pan-tilt the camera, with only one hand. Lower great system. inertia and no drag permit you move and stop the camera rapidly, and with less effort.

It is misconception that a heavy head and fluid drag is the only way to move the camera smooth- ly. A camera mounted to rotate around its center of gravity works as well or better. (The geared head can also achieve this in tilt, but it is slow.)

A zero gravity head can be top mounted or underslung

Shooting with a fluid head at the end of a jib is different than shooting with a zero gravity head. With a fluid head, you cannot pan or tilt without simultaneously moving the jib arm in reaction to the fluid head drag force. The camera operator must try to control the jib arm with his other hand, and even with his body and head, or add a lot of drag, or lock the jib arm down. Adding drag to the jib arm will frequently cause bounce back and drift if you let go of the camera at the end of a move. You also can only use one hand on the camera, because the other must control the jib reaction. Release Pin

Convert to zero gravity head operation by pull- ing the release pin Ironically, still photographers have been using zero-gravity heads to stabilize their extreme tele- Still photogra- photo lenses for years. phers have been A zero gravity head is standard on the Carbon XL using zero gravity 10 System. heads for years.

When properly balanced, a zero gravity head will stay in position when you release it without requiring drag.

Journal of Camera Motion carbon-xl.com June 2011 Keep your boom up with All Angle Balance.

5 All Angle Balance is the ability to balance a crane or jib at high tilt angles, horizontally, and at low tilt angles without drag or any adjustment. Can all cranes and jibs do this? No, very few jib/ cranes can balance at all angles. If most cranes Why balance and jibs are balanced horizontally, the crane will weights don’t be unbalanced at other angles, and it must have a always balance a drag brake to maintain tilt position. The problem is jib-crane not workmanship, it is due to physics.

If a crane or jib has a parallelogram linkage on the camera end, with the camera on a cantilevered platform, the crane cannot be balanced at all angles without a parallelogram weight platform on An 18 foot crane and 5 pound camera balanced the balance weight end as well. with 12 drink bottles in 2 grocery bags Some cranes have a cantilevered parallelogram weight basket on the rear. Will they balance at all angles? The answer is yes and no.

The second part of the solution for All Angle Bal- ance is that the balance weights must be concentrated at distance from the parallelogram pivot that is proportional to the camera offset on the front platform. The proportion required is the ratio of the front crane arm length to the rear crane arm length. The required offset varies with the length ratios, but conveniently, the balance weight offset is not dependent on camera weight.

If you see a crane with only one beam extending to the balance weight end, it cannot achieve All The camera and mount are offset from the Angle Balance. If the crane has a rear weight parallelogram pivot axis basket, it might achieve all angle balance if the Think about it. When the crane swings upward, weights are concentrated at the right distance the parallelogram arm leverage distance shortens from the pivot. with tilt angle at both ends. The problem is that the camera extends out from the parallelogram Carbon XL 10 Systems achieves All Angle Bal- linkage, and this distance does not change with ance with a pivoting rear weight bar on a paral- tilt angle. By the time the tilt is up to 60 degrees, lelogram link. The bar mount adjusts through the the balance error is about 5%, depending on weight offset range required for all possible front/ the crane geometry. It is easier to visualize the rear arm length ratios. imbalance when the crane is straight up; then the camera offset still unbalances the crane. You do not have to understand the explanation above. Just adjust the weight mount pivot until the For many cranes, the only solution is to add tilt crane balances at all angles. For the same front/ drag or to hold the crane in position manually; rear arm lengths, the weight bar pivot position will then you become the added balance weight. Oth- always be the same. erwise, the crane will fall with significant velocity when it is released if it has no drag brake applied. (Hence the call, “Be sure to lock the crane”)

June 2011 carbon-xl.com Journal of Camera Motion