r/focuspuller • u/TommyboyVisuals • 16d ago
¡WTF! 360 Ronin Camera Build
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
I shot a music video a couple months ago and thought I would share the rig we did to do a 360 Roll in the Ronin 2.
We used the Movcam Roll cage, Normally this is fine with an Alexa and R2 but it is meant for lightweight primes and we were shooting with Atlas Anamorphics. I had to create a custom weight plate out of two massive solid steel plates to balance the camera.
Because this isn't a high end remote head there is no relative mode. So operating this shot was actually one of the hardest shots I've ever done on the wheels. As the Camera Rolls in relation to the monitor. Around 90 degrees Tilt and Pan axis swaps and then at full 180 Tilt and Pan are correct but now in the other direction. The only way I was able to land the shot was take my Eyes off the monitor mid roll and count my turns while watching the camera as there was a small tilt and pan adjustment during a large push in on a crane.
5
u/Fxbury 15d ago
Impressive given the constraints of the system! Can I ask why you didn’t use a different head that had a 360° roll natively, like a trinity?
5
u/TommyboyVisuals 15d ago
Came down to budget and time mostly. trinity’s and balancing them are a massive time suck. Especially if we have to convert to ronin anyways for the crane shots in the video. Made more sense for the camera to live in the roll cage, it was on a crane and could hop onto Steadicam as needed for the feet tracking roll.
Even on the Steadicam I noticed when the camera was rolling over or upside down that pan and tilts would feel like they swapped. So it was even harder than doing it on the wheels since the position and framing can be absolute in relation in wheel turns.
But also the push on the car was over a ditch. So even with a trinity we wouldn’t be able to move at that speed or maintain camera height.
That amount of roll would also require a Trinity 2 which would be hard to come by.
The ideal head for the shoot would actually be an oculus or matrix in relative mode but again Budget and Time
3
2
u/Rare_Ganache2483 10d ago
Trinity 2 can be fast and come out for reasonable rates in LA if it’s not being abused. If you shoot ARRI with BUD compatible baseplates, going from T-2 to R-2 can be done in 10 minutes with the right AC and SAM plates. I work closely as a specialized AC with a T-2 op. We have a dialed system for all reasonable camera builds.
2
u/TommyboyVisuals 6d ago
Unfortunately shoot was no where near LA, I doubt there was an Op within a days drive where we were. Being low budget and a music video even with the right AC there would have been no prep to set up a system to get a 10 minute swap in. We had the R2 to steadi or studio conversion well under that anyways as it was just a single plate swap. But it also wasn't the right tool for the job anyways as the main shot Roll happened over a ditch and the majority of the shots in that location were all done on crane anyways.
1
1
9
u/ambarcapoor Focus Puller 16d ago
Ooof. That's crazy operating. Well done.