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DIY Remote Focus Puller / Small Director's Monitor "Rig" ?
  • StudioDCCreativeStudioDCCreative

    Anybody have any ideas / photos of their DIY remote focus puller / small director's monitor setup?

    I'm about to homebrew a monitor + handle + wireless ff combo for my gimbal rig and want to see other people's examples beforehand. Basically something to put handles and a convenient mount on a 7" monitor, and the FF hand unit itself, of course. FF agnostic (I'm getting the RT Motion, but may use this rig with other FF units like the Bartech so flexibility and durability are important).

    Preferably something durable, clean, and professionally practical, but I'm not one for buying other people's prepackaged solutions if it's not necessary. I can do limited metalwork if it only involves drilling and cutting and tapping.

    Searching the internets has been something of a letdown for me, or I'm bad at searching, but I can't find too many nicely thought out rigs for this purpose yet - everybody seems to be throwing stuff together with duct tape and whatever's laying around the rental shop workbench. Of course, it might be that it's a problem that isn't well solved either. Anybody have some good thoughts on this? What works for you or what are you considering doing for this?

  • 7 Replies sorted by
  • bannedindvbannedindv

    Something like this:

    http://woodencamera.com/Director-s-Monitor-Cage.html

    With this

    http://www.paralinx.net/store/paralinx-triton

  • StudioDCCreativeStudioDCCreative

    Hi @bannedindv,

    Good to know someone else is using the Paralinx too. My main question regarding the wooden camera rig is that the handles don't seem to accommodate the FF unit itself very well. Having a FF that needs to be held with two hands doesn't lend itself to holding the monitor rig as well, if they are separate, but if a solid grip can be afforded the monitor via a good handle, then focus can be pulled via a remote wheel accurately with the other hand.

    How have you solved that issue with your 1st so far?

  • muntusmuntus

    I used a variety of 15mm rods and connectors(most I had lying around), Velcro, bolts, and some sheet metal.

    HDMI transmission is handled with the Nyrius Aries Prime system. I initially wanted to use some cctv style batteries I had, but the receiver seemed to draw too many amps. Using the cell phone style Anker batteries solved that problem. To power the monitor, I use a boost converter to go from the 5v usb battery to 12v. I added some simple rocker switches to be able to power things off.

    Haven't had a chance to test the range on a shoot yet, but works great in my apartment.

    Since everything is based on the 15mm standard, adding a follow focus should be as simple as using the right style connectors.

    Btw, I tried to delete the larger files, but when I did "{"Code":401,"Exception":"You don't have permission to do that."}" happened.

    Director's monitor front.jpg
    4208 x 3120 - 1M
    Director's monitor rear.jpg
    4208 x 3120 - 2M
    Director's monitor front web.jpg
    1000 x 741 - 545K
    Director's monitor rear web.jpg
    1000 x 741 - 514K
  • IronFilmIronFilm

    I'm currently in the process of building a remote controlled follow focus! Ordered the parts and working on it.

  • HellohogoHellohogo

    How did the Aries Prime work out for you @Muntus

  • muntusmuntus

    @Hellohogo I haven't done any real long distance testing with it, but for same room use, it has been flawless. Connects relatively fast and keeps the connection without problem.

  • HellohogoHellohogo

    nice!

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