by ProductionHUB
An interview from the 2017 Cine Gear Expo at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles with Thomas Howie of Glidecam. Glidecam Industries offers a wide variety of camera stabilizers (camera stabilization systems) for use with motion picture cameras, video cameras, and video camcorders. These hand-held and body-mounted camera stabilizers create super smooth shots, and allow the operator to walk, run, go up and down stairs, shoot from moving vehicles, and travel over uneven terrain without any camera instability or shake. In this interview Thomas introduces the Glidecam Tru-Horizon, a motorized gimbal designed to attach to handheld stabilizers, such as the Glidecam Devin Graham Signature Series or a Steadicam, and to keep the camera horizontal no matter how you move the stabilizer.
The Tru-Horizon controls your camera’s roll axis. For example, swing the stabilizer to the left or right and the camera will maintain its horizontal position throughout all the motion. You can move the camera from low mode to high mode and back in a single fluid, cinematic shot while keeping it level horizontally. You can even rotate the stabilizer a full 360°, and the camera will keep its position the entire time. A built in slip-ring allows 360° rotations of the motor without twisting wires.
The Tru-Horizon’s motor works with position feedback, encoders, and an IMU sensor to communicate with a custom 32-bit controller. Combining the accuracy of the sensor with the speed of the controller provides for stable video in all three axes with .02° of accuracy. This system is designed to support DSLR type cameras of up to 5lbs in weight.
