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stabilizing HPX170 when shooting from vehicle
Hi folks,
I have a few shots I want to get that will require the camera to be inside a vehicle, essentially the car being a camera dolly. I do not, however, want the bumps of the road transmitted through a rigid tripod into the camera, as the shots should be as smooth as possible. Additionally I foresee that I’ll need to set the camera pointing in its direction, press start then drive the vehicle myself. No dedicated camera operators in my world I’m afraid.
Being that I’m not a real shooter I am not familiar with the options available for stabilizing cameras, and I don’t know what special requirements the HPX170 introduces because of its size (being that it is either relatively large or relatively small).
I’ve read the name “Steadicam Merlin” before but I don’t know if it is appropriate for the HPX-170.
Thank you for your suggestions.
— Wes Plate
Automatic Duck -
8 Replies
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You can go nuts trying to stabilze something, and by nuts I mean spend your savings. We use this:
https://www.filmtools.com/gripprob308m.html
It’s not a gimbal or anything, but we’ve attached it to cars and land movers (that’s movers, not rovers) and it’s done us very very well.
Smoothcam is pretty good at fixing any rough bumps.
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You’re going to get the bumps unless you have a very smooth road or you drive on a track. Those bumps are going to translate to the camera unless you have someone where a steadicam rig and they are moving with the bumps. My advice is to put the camera on a bean bag or bunch of towels. Make sure it’s stable enough so it won’t bounce around. Point and drive. if it’s too bumpy, you can smooth it out in FCP’s smoothcam.
Bottom line is there is usually a reason why really expensive equipment is really expensive. And there’s a reason why low budget productions look low budget. You have to face the facts.
I was on a shoot today that got canceled because they didn’t want to pay for the proper equipment. After 45 minutes of messing around, they realized that they weren’t going to get what they wanted. Reschedule for tomorrow at 9am with the right gear. Time wasted. Schedules re-arranged. Money still spent.
-trevor ward
Red Eye Film Co.
http://www.redeyefilmco.com
orlando, fl -
OK, so what is the proper or near proper gear to look for? Please note that my post was not “how can I get the Steadicam look for free?” I am looking for suggestions on what tools I should be looking at.
— Wes Plate
Automatic Duck -
You will be surprised with the suction cup.
Trevor mentioned beanbags, we have a cinesaddle, but it’s much harder to use when you’re by yourself. The suction cup is easy. Screw on the camera, suction the mount, hit record and go.
The bumps really aren’t that bad, depending on where you’ll be driving.
Jeremy
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I’m going to give the suction cup a go and see how it does.
One road I have planned to shoot is a three hour drive away and I can’t remember its exact condition. I suppose when the suction cut arrives I’ll just take a day and try it on the stretch I need to shoot and if the road turns out to be too bumpy I’ll investigate other options.
— Wes Plate
Automatic Duck -
I’ve used the cup before. I had good results. However, we were driving pretty slow, about 5 mph. When going a bit faster, the whole car, thus the whole camera, is going to go up and down. Don’t go too fast or you risk having the camera rip right off the car.
If you want professional level stabilization, you’ll have to get one of those production trucks that has a stabilization arm on it. It’s sort of like a giant steadycam but instead of a person, it’s a car. It’s kind of like a transformer, really. I just thought of that. I’ll definitely check the emblem on the hood next time I see one.
And here’s the other thing. If your camera is relatively stable (tripod, bag, whatever), the bumps may be noticeable but they are acceptable. I was in a taxi in India and I put the tripod on the floor and back seat. I pulled down onthe tripod to make sure it didn’t jump off the floor when the car hit bumps. And there were plenty of bumps because there is no such thing as a smooth road in India.
When playing the footage back, it looks pretty good. When playing it back at slow speed or time lapse, it looks great.
So, you can call your local equipment rental company as ask for a grip package for a car mount. You’ll get a bunch of bars and clamps and you can mount the camera anywhere on that car your imagination takes you.
https://www.picturehire.com/grip.html
https://www.filmcastentertainment.blogspot.com/2009/05/grip-grab-grog.html-trevor ward
Red Eye Film Co.
http://www.redeyefilmco.com
orlando, fl -
Wes
I just shot some driving footage a few weeks ago with the HPX170. I had the camera attached to a Bogen 561B Monopod.
Check out this link:
https://web.me.com/sbeisen/Driving_Footage/Driving_Footage.htmlSteve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Board of Directors
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group -
I did my first shoot with the carmera mounted via a suction cup mount. Worked ok, I’m now researching which tool in post will make it smoother. Here’s a section of one of the shots.
I also got a Steadicam Merlin to play with, and I’m wondering if it couldn’t be mounted to something on suction cups. I’m curious if that will work. Will experiment.
— Wes Plate
Automatic Duck
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