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Timelapse shooters delight! the Genie II is a 3-Axis motorised timelapse delight

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When SYRP first introduced the Genie in 2012, we did not quite know how to swallow this new animal. It was a motorized panning head, but it had a wire-wrapping function that allowed to travel great distances, creating some very interesting results. Ever since SYRP evolved the system to include a second motor, a pan-tilt head a Cable Cam and a complete eco-system in general.

Now, the company is releasing their second version of the Genie – Genie II, and I have to say it makes a lot of sense.

The two most notable things are integrating PAN and TILT into a single unit. I mean, you could always kinda pan and tilt with the Genie, but it was a cumbersome solution involving a big bracket and two Genie minis. No,w this function seems a lot more mature and integrated.

The other big thing is that SYRP is bringing their app control (bluetooth) to the main unit. I have not seen the app yet, but I assume it will be similar to the app that drives the mini which is pretty easy to use.

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PINE is a universal wireless motion controller aimed at DIY maker photographers

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Motion control has so many applications for both photographers as well as filmmakers. From creating 360° stitched stills with your DSLR to moving timelapse and video sequences. There are a lot of complete solutions out there for this, and there are also many plans out there for completely scratch built DIY projects. But there’s very little that sits in between.

PINE aims to change that. It’s not a complete motion control system, it’s just the controller. It lets you control up to four motors from a single unit, and you can chain multiple units together. And it will let you do this wirelessly using a mobile app on your phone. PINE is currently being funded through Kickstarter,

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How to fake motion control camera movements manually

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Motion control hardware and even fully articulated robotic arms have drastically come down in price the last few years. To the point where they’re very affordable indeed. I even have one of my own on its way to me as I type this post. As a result, they’ve found their way into more and more video productions. Especially music videos, like Kendrick Lamar’s Humble (lyrics probably NSFW).

But what if you don’t have the cash laying around to buy one? Or just can’t justify spending that much for something you won’t use very often? Well, Jordy at Cinecom has come up with a great technique that allows you create a very similar looking effect, but without the robot. It’s all done completely manually.

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Edelkrone announces second generation Wing, Wing Pro & SliderONE Pro with time bending motion control

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Edelkrone’s SliderONE, whilst small, is still quite mighty. The SliderONE was introduced back in 2015, and it’s proven to be popular with those who own one. Last year, they added motors and motion control. Now the whole thing’s been updated with a slightly longer SliderONE Pro. But it’s also received some pretty cool app updates, too, offering some great motion control options to let bend time to your will.

The Edeklrone Wing also sees a second generation update, along with a new Wing PRO. While not a slider, it offers slider-like motion, allowing for a lot of movement in something that takes up very little space. This, too, has seen an update, offering higher load capacity, as well as more stabilised movements.

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eMotimo Spectrum St4 Review – Hands on With 4-Axis Robotic Motion Control

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What does it mean to have 4 axis robotic motion control?

Starting with just an eMotimo Spectrum St4 you have two axis robotic motion control – rotation (pan) and up-down (tilt). Add a slider and you’re got another axis – forward and back (push/pull). Add a new eMotimo Focus Fz unit and you’ve got your fourth axis – focus or zoom. (Or skip the slider and add a second Fz unit and you’ve got focus and zoom!)

So what exactly can you do with robotic four axis motion control? Think complex time lapse sequences with multiple silky smooth movements. Think live action video with precise movement and focus, zoom or aperture control.

If you are a timelapse photographer or film maker, the eMotimo Spectrum can enable you to make impossible shots – the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

But what is it like to work with 4-axis motion control in the field? Continue reading for our hands on review of the eMotimo Spectrum St4.

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Build an advanced DIY motion control slider for timelapse and stop motion animation

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Since initially discovering the Arduino, Eduard Puertas has spent a lot of time experimenting with it. It’s all an attempt to make his working life easier. As a stop motion animator, anything that makes his life easier is welcome. The Arduino allows him to automate many tasks that would be difficult to achieve manually. At the very least they’d take him a very long time to get perfect.

Eduard has built many automated motion control systems for his work based off the Arduino, including a slider. Now he’s revising his previous slider design to help improve things a little. He wants to keep the low weight while allowing for a larger load capacity.

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The Art of the Timelapse and some of our favourite timelapses from 2016

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Timelapse seems to have exploded in 2016. Every other week, there’s a new one coming out trying to best the ones that came before it. Part of this boom is the ease with which cameras can shoot it now. Nikon has had built in timelapse features for years. Other DSLRs and mirrorless manufacturers have also started included timelapse capabilities over the last couple of years. Video editing software has become more intelligent in putting it all together, too.

This video from DigitalRev In-Focus introduces us to the history of timelapse. First demonstrated in 1897 by French filmmaker George Méliès, it quickly expanded to biologists. They used timelapse to show the growth of plants over time, leading to increased preservation of various parks.

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This modular motion control slider fits in your backpack and can be reconfigured 30 different ways

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Sliders and motion control go together like bangers and mash. Or perhaps peanut butter & jelly for my American friends. Unless you just want a super quick grab shot, motion control makes work with a slider go so much more smoothly (pun intended). For timelapse, some form of motion control is pretty much essential for getting even and consistent slides or other camera movements.

There’s a million options already out there from companies like Kessler and Syrp, so what makes the new Starslider so special? Well, on the surface, not much, really. It strikes me as being very similar in application to Syrp’s family of motion control & slider products. But, it does look like it can handle substantially more weight and offer easier balancing with heavy cameras setups.

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Edelkrone adds motors and motion control from your phone to the SliderONE

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Edelkrone’s popular SliderONE is a pretty elegant and well made slider. Introduced at the end of 2015, the SliderONE is perhaps a little on the short side for some. But, when you only need to move small distances, it does its job extremely well. One thing it has lacked thus far, though, is any kind of motor or motion control system.

That all changes now with Edelkrone’s announcement of the new Motion Module. As one expect, it adds a motor to your slider, so you can get automate some of your process. Motors let you get smoother, cleaner, more even slides, and a whole bunch of other potential features. That’s where Edelkrone’s app comes into play, offering a wealth of options for both timelapse and video shooters.

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Syrp’s new Slingshot is a motion control zipline that lets you dolly your camera for hundreds of feet

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Creating super long slider or dolly shots is something many timelapse photographers and filmmakers dream about doing. For some, hyperlapse techniques and a lot of post production work is the answer. For others, that’s far too much work. When you look at the whole process, you can quickly see why. For others, the solution is a cable cam zipline type system.

It works with the Syrp Genie (review here), to provide you with a level of control that is otherwise difficult to achieve. Until now, though, these have been DIY solutions. In fact, you can see our own DIY Syrp Genie cable cam here. Today, though, Syrp have released their official cablecam, the Slingshot.

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