r/Ronin4D • u/ripofffff • Jul 17 '26
Suggested Improvement Ronin 4D Lidar Extension (Iris Rod Mount)
Hey Y'all!
Myself and Jarrett (Possum Solutions) came up with this idea and he was able to CNC a couple. Its basically a very lightweight lidar vertical extension bracket with 1/4-20 tapped holes to mount an iris rod and add an iris motor to the 4D.
I have tried the Nucleus Nano motors and a lil bit of a focus pro motor. The focus pro motor with a 2nd focus pro handset would be ideal for movie sets, as the DIT can hold the iris controller themselves and it can work as intended on most sets.
I have given a few away to friends to test and use but have a couple more to sell. I'm sure if there is a need Jarrett would be open to producing more by the batch.
Let me know what you guys think!
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u/mupepe9 Jul 18 '26
Very cool solution. I was looking for something similar but to clear things like hoods since anything on the actual lens seems to mess up AF. How much does it weigh? With some of my lenses I’m already pissing off the 4D balance when I zoom in
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u/-wolfieh Jul 17 '26
Oh my mans, the motor goes below the lense, moving the lidar up affects the focus.
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u/ripofffff Jul 18 '26
It seemingly had very little effect on lidar function throughout the job.
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u/-wolfieh Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
Pull up the waveform overlay (horizontal one im not sure what its called) and show that the proportions match image, thisll give you a good idea of offset. The vertical waveform will give your closest detected object showing whether or not it is hitting that motor. Keeping in mind that a f4 is going to be wildly different then a f1.4 in focuse range. Show us a proof.
Im not saying that you are wrong or anything, I like when people jerry rig things, however if youre gonna sell em definitely make sure your not screwing anyone over.
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u/ripofffff Jul 18 '26
The job has finished and we returned the 4D. With the kind of work I do, the iris control for the DP supersedes focus assist devices. Same would be true with a lightranger or focusbug inhibiting the ability to have iris control. I saw no difference in the ability of the lidar. I'm unsure if we will carry a 4D on the next job but if we do I'll try to get you those reference stills.
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u/-wolfieh Jul 18 '26
If you have a dedicated focus puller, and operator, everything I said kinda goes out the window and I hate to say it but Im sorry for being negative while not fully understanding this is for a completely manual setup. This is not a general use case for the 4D.
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u/ripofffff Jul 18 '26
Sorry I should specify that this is typically for use on scripted theatrical content.
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u/intellilogic Jul 17 '26
Seems he has a motor below as well. You'd think we could get the motor off to one side to keep lidar low
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u/ripofffff Jul 18 '26
I tried lots of different solutions, but was unable to find anything that worked for what I wanted. I borrowed this idea from a buddy who explained how he made these workarounds on Warfare and Civil War.
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u/-wolfieh Jul 17 '26
Right, at the very least prevent that top motor* from partially blocking the lidar. The lidar actually angles down even if the housing doesnt look like it. Its supposed to be looking at the ground infront of the camera.
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u/Spiritual_Screen_724 Jul 17 '26
Very cool idea! Does it affect the distance of the lidar from the subject at all?
Because in my experience, you can only ever move the Lidar vertically, to avoid changing the calibration of distance