MRMC Motion Control Newsletter 110308

This Update: • The BSC Show, 14th and 15th of March • The SFH-30 head spec sheet • Motion Control in Universities and Colleges • Oscar Winning Techniques for the Golden Compass • The RED camera used on Mark Roberts Motion Control rigs
* The BSC Show, 14th and 15th of March * As you heard in our last newsletter, the largest British Society of Cinematographers event will be taking place at Elstree Studios this week on the 14th and 15th (Friday and Saturday). Mark Roberts Motion Control will be there exhibiting our Modula Rig, new SFH-30 head and a wireless Ulti-Head. We'll be giving demonstrations and tutorials on these and other products. A RED camera from Ross Media Ltd will be on Mark Roberts' stand during the exhibition. Ross Media specialise in supplying RED cameras. Nick Shaw and Patrick Veale from Ross Media will be available to discuss RED with film professionals looking into integrate this new system into their part of the business. Everyone is welcome to visit. Click here to register for your free tickets. We look forward to seeing you there to show you some of our latest equipment. * SFH-30 Head Spec Sheet * Due to the huge demand for more information we have received after the release of the SFH-30, we have put together a spec sheet on this new head. Click here to download the SFH-30 spec sheet. * Motion Control in Colleges and Universities * An increasing number of media, film and computer graphics degree courses are including motion control as a major part of their curriculum. While motion control has been a standard part of filming and special FX for many years, it has rarely been given as much importance at higher education levels, often because it was so rarely discussed by the top post-production companies unwilling to give away tricks of the trade. Now the secret is out and motion control equipment is finding its way into many different academic facilities, all over the world. Here we feature three who were supplied with equipment last year. KOREAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS CREATE MAGIC Last year one of the Motion Control systems supplied was a Talos II (also known as a Mini-Milo) to the Visual Media Lab at Kaist University in Korea. The motion control rig is installed in the same studio as their motion capture equipment, and has been successfully used by their graduates as part of their media course. Here is an example of a project created by three students, consisting of an advertisement for a board game. Click here to see the board game advert. Click here to visit Visual Media Lab at Kaist University The Talos II at Kaist University The Talos II at Kaist University The Talos II at Kaist University BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY - THE FIRST UK UNIVERSITY EQUIPPED WITH IT'S OWN MILO Last year the Birmingham City University acquired the Milo and have been using it to train their students on motion control. Recently the University was approached by Quench Design to shoot the new title sequence for Maverick TV's production "How to Look Good Naked" using the university's Milo. This is the first time the Department of Visual Communication at the university has collaborated with an industry partner on such a live project and the enormous benefits of such an arrangement are already apparent. Birmingham based production companies are watching developments with interest and other projects are in the pipeline. Two final year students are working as stylists on the shoot and others are involved with rehearsal and preparation. The experience is proving invaluable for the undergraduates and clearly signals a new direction for the university in the way it can contribute to creative activity within the region. The Milo motion control studio at Birmingham City University UNIVERSITY OF TEESSIDE GET EQUIPPED WITH MOTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT The School of Computing at the University of Teesside maintains state of the art equipment across all areas of its work. The University has recently built a new post production/sound stage studio. They have also equipped themselves with motion control technology and are up and running with the Ulti-Head and Modula Base from Mark Roberts Motion Control. The Ulti-Head and Modula Base at the University of Teesside The Ulti-Head and Modula Base at the University of Teesside * Oscar Winning Techniques for the Golden Compass * In the last newsletter we told you about the success of The Golden Compass with its Oscar winning special effects. As part of creating Iorek the polar bear, Framestore CFC commissioned Ian Menzies from Motion Control Cameras to build a mechanical structure which would move with similar motion to a walking or galloping bear when mounted by a rider. This consisted of a 6-degree of freedom motion base platform and several additional axes of motion, all controlled by Flair motion control software. The motions were programmed and pre-visualized in 3D to relate to the motions of the bear, and transferred to Flair for it to exactly duplicate the motions with the actors, so that their motion would match that of the computer animated bear. Here is some footage from the pre-visualization showing only the mechanical skeleton without the bear flesh, as well as a shot of a test shoot with the Cyclops rig and the motion base in the foreground. Click here to see footage. * The RED Camera used on Mark Roberts Motion Control rigs * With the first RED cameras shipping at the end of 2007, we are now starting to see them being used in conjunction with precision motion control. Dennis Henry, owner of MC2 used a RED camera on his Cyclops motion control rig and had the following to say, "The shoot was a Nip Tuck sponsorship for FX Channel. The shoot involved macro abstract to reveal different medical environments. The moves were pretty fast and shot in real time without any camera shake. "The RED camera worked very well. It's much more compact than standard HD cameras and has a really solid mounting plate like a 435. We shot at 4k res onto 8gb cards which were downloaded onto a MAC running RedCine software for grading and final output to digi tape." RED camera on the Cyclops. Courtesy of MC2 Meanwhile The VFX Co. recently also did a shoot with a RED camera on their Milo. The RED camera was supplied courtesy of Ross Media who will be at the Mark Roberts booth at the BSC Show. RED camera on the VFX Co. Milo. Courtesy of Ross Media RED camera on the Milo. Courtesy of the VFX Co.
Have you done something cool with motion control? Let us know. * Don't Forget the Moco Forum * Remember everyone is welcome to become a free member of the online motion control forum. It's a great place to ask questions about motion control and how to get things done on set or off. We want to see this service get used as much as possible so join today. http://www.mocoforum.com

Do you know anyone else who should be getting regularly informed about the industry? Let us know; we would be happy to send them our newsletters or DVD Showreel - The 2006 Motion Control Explained DVD. Email showreel@mrmoco.com to request one. If you would like to have more information about CGI, remote heads, cranes, dollies, accessories or any other filming equipment please let us know at info@mrmoco.com Mark Roberts Motion Control Ltd. Tel: +44-1342-334700 Fax:+44-1342-334701