Steadicam

[Derek Roff]

I'd like to add my thanks to Richard, and add one more comment that I 
didn't see emphasized.

One of the most annoying motions in watching hand-held footage is 
angular change.  Slight tilt left and right makes every vertical line 
shift off axis.  Slight tilt forward and back is both more noticeable 
and more bothersome than small movements up and down, if the camera 
stays level.

With practice, the SteadyCam JR and GlideCam style stabilizers can be 
very effective in reducing the amplitude and frequency of extraneous 
angular movements in hand-held shooting.  The gimbal support is the 
key to isolating the camera from angular changes in the hand, so I 
would consider a gimbal to be esssential in any design for this sort 
of support.

Derek

Derek Roff
Language Learning Center, MSC03-2100
Ortega Hall Rm 129, 1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
505/277-7368, fax 505/277-3885
Internet: derek at unm.edu