MRMC News And Articles :: "Controlling Interest"

"Controlling Interest"

Broadcast in Production, September 1997

Perhaps because it is a production rather than a post-production tool, motion control tends to be the unsung hero of television effects sequences, titles, promos and presentations. Great praise is heaped on powerful post devices such as Henry and Flame but experts say the role of motion control technology in enabling scenes from the real world to be seamlessly multi-layered and combined with computer graphics and/or digital effects is often overlooked.

Essentially a camera housed on the end of a highly manoeuvrable mechanical arm or suspended from a metalwork grid, a motion control rig enables complex moves to be performed smoothly, accurately and repeatedly at speeds ranging fl-om one frame at a time to a swift 2 metres a second. Specialised computer software plots the co-ordinates and duration of each move so that a sequence can be repeated exactly while some aspect ot the set is changed. The lighting may be altered, for instance, or pyrotechnic effects triggered. The move can be speeded up or slowed down to gain different effects.

And because all the camera moves are identical, the resulting footage can be multi-layered in post-production to produce a seamless effect. Similarly, the data from a motion contl-ol shoot can be used to ensure that background scenes, whether real or computer-generated, fit the foreground action perfectly.

'It's a very precise way of creating the image you want, says: Andrew Vere, managing director of SVC, which has a large rig in White City, rnaking it one of only a handful of outfits in the country to offer top-of-the-range motion control facilities. But Vere adds that this technology has more to offer than simply executing multiple passes for effects work.

'To some extent, it's a producer's best kept secret because a lot of clients use motion control rigs to shoot complex moves smoothly and more accurately than a conventional crew, explains Vere.

One regular user of SVC's rig - Paul Fuller, creative director at Sky Sports would doubtless agree with Vere's assessment of the potential. 'Once you have the bones of a sequence shot in motion control, you can bring it back and let your imagination run wild,' he says.

'It gives you the opportunity to escape the limitations of the real world,' adds Fuller, whose team took that opportunity recently by using the SVC rig to create a 'virtual reality' ride for Sky Sports' Monday night football promo.

Senior BBC designer Rikki Kraftchenko is another motion control fan, with her enthusiasm also based on the fact that the technology can act as a bridge between the world of live action filming and the electronic world of 3D animation and post-production effects.

'The two crafts work brilliantly together,' says Kraftchenko, who adds that motion control offers designers the creative freedom to set the right look to their sequences. 'We get the organic feel and depth we want, plus the quality, and we can enhance it in post-production. she says. 'It gives you loads of control'.

Kraftchenko is another regular user of SVC's motion control facilities - although her reasons for going there have as much to do with the people as the technology. 'SVC has a fantastic rig but, even if there was a comparative rig elsewhere, I'd still go to SVC because the energy, drive and level of service you get is quite outstanding.' she comments.

Even given such rave reviews, however, SVC does not have the motion control market to itself. While there are a number of facilities and hire companies offering such services around the country, there are only a handful on the scale of SVC White City. In fact, it has only three real rivals, all of them in London - Cell, The Mill and Rushes. Each claims to offer state-of-the-art kit capable of meeting the needs of broadcast clients as well as those of commercials, features and promo producers who actually account for most of the work in this sector.

SVC has a Cyclops motion control rig that is housed in a 77 x 41 x 23ft studio. The rig is fitted with a pin-registered Mitchell 3.Smm camera that can be moved from a maximum height of over 17 feet (5.2 metres) down to a minimum lens height of just 3 inches (7.5mm). The whole rig moves along 40 foot of track that can, when the need arises, be repositioned for particular shots. And Cyclops is said to be accurate to within O.1mm.

Cell also has a Cyclops system at its Osnaburgh Street premises. Like SVC, it offers Cyclops with a Mitchell 35mm camera and Canon Super Speed lenses. Its studio is not quite so large at 65 x 5 x 25 feet but it still has 40 feet of fixed track as well as 12 feet of movable track. Additionally. Cell offers a smaller, permanent motion control system, Milo in a 30 x 30 x 25 feet studio. It currently has three more Milo systems available as portable live action motion control rigs.

The Mill has gone one better than a Cyclops by installing a Super Cyclops at its huge 179 x 52 x 32ft studio in Bow. It also has a Milo stage. Super Cyclops, as its name suggests, is larger, faster and more flexible than Cyclops. The Mill bought the rig about a year ago with a view to moving further into feature film work and has plans to move it and the Milo rig out to Shepperton Studios.

The motion control equipment at Rushes' Camden studio is entirely different from rival set-ups in that it hangs from the ceiling. This means tracks (or in this case, rails) don't need to be moved to accommodate sets. The drive-in studio measures 60 x 40 x 13 feet and the rails are a predictable 40 foot long. The rig enables Rushes' S35 Mitchell camera lens achieve a minimum height of 13.5 inches and a maximum of 11 feet.

These large, state-of-the-art motion control rigs represent substantial investments for facilities and rates are high.

According to their rate-cards, Rushes charges £3,000 per l0-hour day and SVC White City charges &3,200, while Cell charges £3,250 for the Cyclops stage and £2,750 for the Milo stage. To use Cell's portable Milo rigs on location isn't any less expensive. They cost £2,850 per 10-hour day and there are additional travel costs for both rig and crew.

However, regular broadcast clients get reduced rates. According to Kraftchenko, SVC White City offers 'competitive BBC rates', which is doubtless why she went there to shoot the title sequence for talk show Hard Talk (see box, page 16).

Over at Sky Sports, Fuller also reckons to get keen rates. 'Because of the sheer scale of Sky, there is a vast amount of work going through facility houses and I'm sure good deals are done,' he says.

'Rates are fierce,' confirms SVC's Vere, who suggests the price pressure reflects the size of the market. 'If a production company wants to shoot motion control they will get quotes from everyone so we all know how many jobs there are around. The trick is to get them to come and use you so there is a significant amount of price competition.'

Further down the motion control pecking order, Animation & Motion Control Equipment (AMCE) in Hertfordshire supplies smaller rigs that still offer basic effects such as lift, pan, tilt and movement along a track. Its portable Cygnet rig is controlled by Lynx Robotics software and has a boom arm with a 2.8 metre reach. A Cygnet with all the trimmings costs around £120,000. AMCE's sister company, Moving Camera Company, hires them out with an operator and an assistant for £1,950 per day.

But price isn't necessarily the biggest factor in choosing where to go for a motion control shoot, whatever the scale of the job. Familiarity, service and location count for a lot, as does the experience of the people actually operating the rigs.

'You become accustomed to working with a team who know what you want and you gain confidence from using them again and again,' says Fuller, who's used Cell, SVC and The Mill.

'Motion control is very boring to watch when you're building a move,' admits SVC's studio manager, Louisa Thomson, while explaining why service matters in this specialist market. 'It's a long day so you need to provide a good service and offices where producers can carry on other work. Once they're here, they're halfway through their next production.'

[Ian White is a freelance journalist.]

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