 Hey you all, welcome back to the channel, Amanda here. Today's topic needs not much introduction, as this has been a stabilization tool using the filmmaking world for decades and beyond, and it's still one of the prominently used gears in the visual creative space, popularly known as the Steadicam. This is a highly specialized mounting device for the camera, with a body mounted vest that is worn by a Steadicam operator. The vest distributes the weight of the camera rig across the body and allows for smoother and more stable movement, giving you the ability to move through scenes and follow actors smoothly, placing the audience in the center of the on-screen activity. The Steadicam was invented by Gary Brown with a groundbreaking debut in 1975 on the set of Bound for Glory. Since the Steadicam was first introduced to the film industry, it has gone through many changes. There have been many different models of the system and brands, and also there have been support stabilization gears to ease the operation for the Steadicam operators. The role of the Steadicam operator requires deep technical knowledge and proficiency, as well as theoretical knowledge on how to move the camera and how to frame shots and how to be able to use the Steadicam properly. Many Steadicam operators attend special training classes to be certified to use the gear. And today we'll be looking at a variety of film tools and work out how to use the Steadicam effectively as a full-body rig, which consists of the vest, arm, and sled, and how to achieve attaching a full Steadicam build on a rickshaw. And as a Steadicam operator myself, I thrive in the possibilities this method presents. So here we are, and we've got a rickshaw with the head mountainous, with the smooth ties, and then I've got my Steadicam sled here with my top monitor and my lower monitor all width balanced. So now I'm going to take my camera, which I told you has my lens on it, my transmitter, which will be sending signal to my monitor. You can see I have from my SDI to my HDMI from my top monitor, my SDI which will be transmitted from here on the body of the Steadicam sled to my down monitor, giving me feed for if I have to go top mode or low mode. So now I'm putting in all of my cords from my monitor to my battery, to my SDI cords, my HDMI to the monitor and both the camera as well. And then I'm going to put on my V-LOG battery that I'll be powering the camera. I really have, we have a power station down here as well. I'll be powering my monitor and my sled. Okay, so now that has been done. I have my camera on my sled. I have it powered. I've got feed on my top mode monitor on my low mode monitor. For a lot of Steadicam operators, they don't put a top monitor on their camera. It's enlightening the weight of their gear on their body. But for me today, since this is a light weighted camera built up, I'm going to have this and the option of both my top and my low monitor. So what I'm going to do now is I'm going to try balancing our camera like the Steadicam and everything to make sure it is properly balanced. I need the top forward straight to me and my dynamic balance good. And I need to achieve a three-drop time to be able to do my pan and tilt smoothly for all of my shots. So now from the look of it, I'm not balanced entirely. You can see that my camera is falling forward and I have the back of my camera falling backward, meaning my front load is way much more than what I have at the back of my post. So let's do this. So what I'm going to adjust since I don't have too much, will most likely be my battery down here just for a slight relief for you to stay steady. A lot of times you might not have an assistant. You also have to ensure that you are not too far away from your post. For accident purposes, yes, have a stand back on your combo stand for safety, but as well, do not go far from your post. Do not, I repeat, go far from your post. So now it looks like I have my balance here and I need to check by standing in front of it and also here. So now let's check our drop time because that can really mess you up. Oh, 1,002, 1,003. Oh yes, I have three. So now what's going to happen is I'm going to take off my gimbal from my ducking bracket and safely hang it back while I wear my vest and we get to practice one or two things, one or two shots and see how it is. So now I already have my vest on with my arm. We have camera rigs that can go as high as a 20 kg, like on your sled. It could be way heavier. So having your arm being powered up enough to carry heavy weights, you also have to be very careful of that because if your arm is not carrying, you have your body carrying and that's very, very dangerous for yourself as a steadicam operator if you want to go a long way in the job. This total rig is about 25 kg or a little bit more. My vest and my arm is about 10 kg. This is 5.5, this is a 4.5 and this compensates for why I said it's 24 or 25 kg. So let's do this. So I already have mine and you can see this. Yes. So even if I leave it and I'm just holding this, you can see how balanced I am and I can jump and dance. So it stays. And that's why you should have your balance pose because if you have sets where you have run to catch your cast or catch your actor, then you would need that happening. So that way this is like your only hold and this is just touches to bring back your pose to position. There you have it. Normally this is done on sides by the first camera assistant but I love doing my steadicam build up sometimes with little on assistance. I definitely don't feel like I'm a master by any stretch but I do feel confident about offering up my services professionally. But like any movements get, it is an ongoing thought process and learning curve. Now this speaks for the rickshaw. A large camera setup works with different rigs but how do you achieve this kind of shots? Keeping pace with the action. That's where a rickshaw comes in handy. So here we have the rickshaw with the head mount already mounted on my sled which I will attach in my arm too to be able to operate my steadicam. So now for the tyres, you will notice that these are like the small tyres and they could work on smooth floors, floorings like this, a studio setup, somewhere without bumpiness and all of that. And then there's also a sand tyre. It's quite big and they would work for you in forest settings, in rough brown settings. Like I said earlier, the rickshaw is versatile too and it just makes operating the steadicam easy because there are shots where you don't necessarily have to wear your vest and walk on the road and all of that when you can have your rickshaw do it. It just makes it easier for all steadicam operators when it comes to situations where we don't have to abuse our body or abuse the usage of the steadicam with our vest on. So now we have two positioning for this sled. There is this side, could be used for different shots. For steadicam operators, you know how this works. You could be used for different shots like let's say you're tracking a shot by your side, you don't have to have your sled in front of you because then that means you have to be stretching out your arm and your steadicam facing the other way so you're actually stretching your arms. So for comfort, you have this here and then you can turn your post in a way that suits you as convenient for you that your steadicam gimbal could sit on your arm with and then that way it's just your grip guide pushing and pulling and you have your shots in place. So with that being done, voila, I do have this. So what we're going to do is the steadicam will come up here and then it's high right now because there's no load on my arm. But once the steadicam comes here, it drops down. So let me show you what it looks like. And you see, I could decide I want it this way and if I was to turn my, now you see why I said you can't have shots like this facing forward. Like you have a shot in front of you or this is like a side track, this wouldn't work. So that would be a case where you have to readjust your sockets, your head wound to this direction, enough to have your arm here and your post or a steadicam facing in this direction. But in times where you have shots that has to be like forward or in this direction you could have your post in this triangular bracket you see down here. But is it comfort for a shot that I'm going straight? Like I have a shot I'm tracking in front of me. This is great because all I need to do is maintain my position make sure my steadicam is straight and balanced and my grip guide just does pulling and pushing and that's all that needs to be done. So here, you're going to see a shot that was done with a rig shot on this. There's a smooth shot, there's a bumpy shot. There are many examples. I could pull off a movie scenes and set scenes and you'll see how versatile this tool is. Using a steadicam with a rig shot can add dynamic movement and cinematic flair to your shots. This is an awesome tool for sharing the load of camera movement. It is incredibly versatile. This platform can be configured for different camera builds. You can build it with your steadicam, your small rig, your gamebal can also work for you if you're sitting on a rig shot over the shoulder rig or sometimes unheld, which I wouldn't advise for safety purposes except you've got on your safety strap on. The rig shot allows you to move the camera in new and more convenient ways, which can also sit the operator. Special credit to the grip guides who control the motor wheels by pushing, pulling, rotating or moving the rig shot in various direction as required. The rig shot gear is built for different terrain with all sorts of vibration isolators as they come with different tires fit for different terrains. It's truly a versatile gear which requires practice and coordination. Thank you for your audience and for joining on this practical. If you enjoyed this video on county education now, give us a thumbs up, hit that subscribe button, share and don't forget to ring notification bell, which will invite you to our upcoming content. Until next time, improvise, adapt and overcome and I'll see you soon. Bye.