FloatCam Wireless Motion Control Unit

User Manual pdf

This unit allows you to motorise the Floatcam movement with a wireless controller. The motor is supplied with an AC power adaptor but you can run it off a V loc battery with the correct plate and lead.

Essential for time-lapse moves but also very good for standard shooting. It allows you to do repeatable smooth tracks at a specific speed and you can also control the ramp up and down in speed easily. This motion control is accurate enough to comp two shots together for special effects, you can see an example of this in the We Are All promo on the Videos tab.

MotionControl – Developed specifically for use with the DollyCrane and DollyCrane HD, you’ll enjoy endless possibilities of camera movement and control. MotionControl allows manual and programmed movements. Every movement, manual or programmed, may be recorded and stored for later use. There are nine persistent banks and one volatile bank available. Each movement can be repeated up to 999 times and extended “time extension” up to 99 times, allowing the user more than enough opportunity to get that perfect shot. You’ll really appreciate the wide range of speed settings from 0-20cm/sec. and a speed ramp range from 0.5-2.5 seconds. Due to the patent pending, precision counter balance system on DollyCrane and DollyCrane HD family, only one motor is required for all functions of the motion control. The MotionControl System allows the use of the mutli-angled slider to achieve a wide range of unique shots.

DSLR — Time Lapse and Stop Motion Modes:MotionControl – Developed specifically for use with the DollyCrane and DollyCrane HD, you’ll enjoy endless possibilities of camera movement and control. MotionControl allows manual and programmed movements. Every movement, manual or programmed, may be recorded and stored for later use. There are nine persistent banks and one volatile bank available. Each movement can be repeated up to 999 times and extended “time extension” up to 99 times, allowing the user more than enough opportunity to get that perfect shot. You’ll really appreciate the wide range of speed settings from 0-20cm/sec. and a speed ramp range from 0.5-2.5 seconds. Due to the patent pending, precision counter balance system on DollyCrane and DollyCrane HD family, only one motor is required for all functions of the motion control. The MotionControl System allows the use of the mutli-angled slider to achieve a wide range of unique shots.

Time Lapse Continuous mode allows for continuous movement across the slider during the time lapse process. When using Canon and Nikon DSLR’s and the accessory camera control cable, it is possible to control the shutter speed and exposure from the remote control which contains a built in intervalometer. In this mode it is possible to set the total movement time, number of shots and control the shutter and exposure of a DSLR camera. It is also possible to trigger multiple image sequences from the MotionControl. This can be useful for high dynamic range imaging, exposure-bracketed time lapse or multiple constant- exposure shots for noise reduction in the post production process. The time lapse continuous setting also gives you the option to read a saved track from the memory, or manually set the start and stop position desired.

Time Lapse After Shots or Shoot-Move-Shoot mode works similar to the continuous time lapse mode, but the camera stops before each shot. Set the distance, number of shots, movement time, and control shutter and exposure of DSLR’s. Multiple image sequences for HDR shooting are also capable in this mode.

Stop Motion Distance mode allows programmed distance between each shot with precise accuracy. Every move and shot is initiated manually through the controller.

Stop Motion Shot mode allows camera movement with factory settings and programmed number of shots. In this mode, it is possible to set the total movement time, number of shots and control shutter and exposure of DSLR cameras with the use of the accessory camera control cords.

To view the incredible NightFall Time-Lapse video, shot primarily with the FloatCam DollyCrane and Motion Control System by the 2012 VIMEO Awards nominee Colin Rich, please click on: https://vimeo.com/47224216

Los Angeles, CA. Cinematographer Colin Rich has two loves; Time-lapse photography and the City of Los Angeles. He’s shot several stunning ventures through his city, but none as awe-inspiring as his recent three- minute documentary journey, NightFall, shot primarily with the FloatCam DC Slider and Motion Control System as support.

“Night fall is my favorite time to shoot time lapse,” says Rich. “Capturing the transition from day to night, while looking back at the city as the purple shadow of Earth envelopes the Eastern skyline and the warm distant twinkling halogen lights spark to life and give the fading sun a run for her money will never grow old or boring.

“Shooting skyscraper shots are always intense,” he explains. “They require a lot of rigging and securing of every element. While setting up on the 57th floor roof deck of a downtown scraper for a day to night motion controlled transition shot, I saw something zoom past my head but only in my periphery. My camera assistant shouted ‘look out!’ and I ducked right in time. A falcon had just whizzed right by my head. This bird was angry and we were in the nesting grounds so that made it even angrier. I’m now on the ground looking up at a male and female falcon circling above then they start diving at me in tandem, screeching past, talons out.

“I jumped up, ran through the motions really quickly and in no less than four minutes, I had setup a day to night transition with angry peregrines dive-bombing me,” he continues. “Any other setup on the market would have taken three times as long but with the ease of the FloatCam DC-Slider time was on my side. We made a dash for the door and let the camera ride out the movement for the next two hours until night fell and the birds had retired for the evening.”

It isn’t just the ease of use and stability of the FloatCam system that helped Rich to get these spectacular shots. “It allows me to concentrate on the shot,” he explains. “The system is much easier to use than other platforms. Set up is simple. The weight of the unit proved to be a stabilizing element, where I knew I could really get it to do my bidding when it came into designing a shot and knowing that when it was finished, I had what I needed and didn’t have to worry about vibration.”

FloatCam’s DC-Slider is a unique, counter-balanced, multi-function, multi-angled camera platform that can create more than smooth horizontal camera movement. It can become a mini-jib as well as a six-foot tower. It can be mounted on a single tripod and placed on level or uneven surfaces, where the constant counter-balance can maintain a uniform pressure for smooth camera movement. It can capture a wide range of vertical images in mini-jib function, no matter how acute the angle. DC-Slider will carry a wide-range of camera styles up to the maximum weight of 22-pounds (10kg) and Heavy Duty DC-Slider up to 70-pounds (30kg).

By adding the new FloatCam Motion Control System features, shooters can capture a series of DSLR Time Lapse and Stop Motion modes. Every movement, manual or programmed, can be recorded up to 999 times and stored for later use. Up to 99 time extensions can be recorded. The FloatCam Motion Control System has a wide range of speed settings from 0-20cm/seconds and a speed ramp range from 0.5-2.5 seconds.

We Are All – Keep Me Alive

dop: Franklin Dow

Floatcam HD with motion control unit

Sony F5, Zeiss Super speed 16mm primes

NightFall by Colin Rich

Timelapse tracking shots example