In the scramble to get media attention during the run up to NAB next week an unexpected product has leapt to the top of the charts, MOVI. MOVI is a hand held gimbal rig developed by Freefly Cinema and unveiled tonight on Vincent Laforet's blog. What we're seeing here is a handheld version of the rigs that are slung under octocopters these days but the resulting footage is stunning and some of the shots that Vincent displays are so complex, yet with MOVI, seemingly so simple.
Vincent reports that the M10, capable of holding 10lbs (an Epic with a prime lens) will be available shortly for about $15,000 and up. The up presumably being the ability to have a second operator remotely control the device with a remote monitor and a pair of joysticks just like a cineflex. In the near future the M5 will be launched for approximately $7500 and the capability of holding 5lbs, or a small DSLR setup. The units will be on display at NAB next week on the Freefly booth and I'll certainly be stopping by to take a look. I could babble on much further about this but really you just need to hit play on the videos below. The heli footage is decent, though not nearly CineFlex quality in my opinion , but everything else is pretty amazing. I only mention that because I know that paralells will be drawn but the fact is a CineFlex unit is way more than ten times the price so it's not really a fair comparisson. No word yet on whether any of this was post-stabilized as well but it's incredibly Impressive nonetheless.
Press Release
( 4th April 2013, Seattle) – Movi M10 – Introducing a family of 3-axis digital stabilized camera gimbal, so advanced, it redefines the possibilities for camera movement. The heart of the gimbal is Freefly’s proprietary high performance IMU and brushless direct drive system. The gimbal is 100% custom designed in-house by our engineering team. No compromises were made to accommodate off the shelf brushless motors, motor drives or IMUs. Creating the gimbal from scratch allowed Freefly to precisely execute our vision for the next generation of stabilized camera gimbals. In creating this camera gimbal we aim to empower a new era of stabilized cinematography. Freefly MoVI – “The New Moving Picture.”Design & Performance – Lightweight, agile, rigid – these are the words you hear day in and day out at Freefly research and development lab. Freefly began its business building aerospace and UAV products where every gram counts. We have carried this design ethos into our cinema products. In an industry where weight was once considered an advantage, we instead built one of the lightest weight, highest performance, cinema ready 3-axis gimbals the industry has ever seen. This allows the operator to run faster, jump higher, and capture more compelling footage than ever before.About Freefly – Freefly represents the intersection of art and technology. Our team consists of industry leading specialists all focused on one task – inventing solutions to allow unrestricted camera movement. Freefly initially created the CineStar line of multi-rotor camera platforms, which allowed smooth, stable and dynamic low-altitude aerials. After years of research and development in camera stability, Freefly has created the Movi stabilized camera gimbal. Our goal with the MoVI is to empower a new era of stabilized cinematography on a variety of platforms, from handheld to helicopter and everything in between.
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