Flair
Flair is the culmination of 50 years of robotics experience, resulting in the industry-leading software solution for motion control camera robotics. Quite simply, there is an infinite number of possibilities you can do with Flair when it comes to creative robotic camera movements. From simple arcs, orbits and linear motions, to much more advanced features and control, resulting in pixel-perfect repeatable motions — Flair is the tool every creative dreams of!
Flair is the culmination of 50 years of robotics experience, resulting in the industry-leading software solution for motion control camera robotics. Quite simply, there is an infinite number of possibilities you can do with Flair when it comes to creative robotic camera movements.
Feature Highlights
FOCUS ASSIST
Focus Assist removes the need for manual tape measurements in order to achieve crisp focus of objects. Through the simple click of a mouse, the feature automatically measures the distance to the operator’s target, simplifying and speeding up the creation of moves. Focus Assist knows the object’s distance and the user can adjust the focus as needed through the live video view. The small hardware add-on attaches to the front of the camera, utilising the same power and data wiring already existing for the lens motors.
SYNCHRONISATION
Flair can be synchronised to the pulse signal of a wide range of video and film cameras, allowing you to run repeatable frame-perfect moves every time.
Timecode and input trigger pulse signals are also supported, which means the move can be configured to automatically start at the exact moment without any guesswork.
Program move timings in frames, timecode or incremental values of either to ensure the precise order of events.
TARGET TRACKING
Set your start and end positions, identify the subject and let target tracking automatically calculate the individual axis movements.
Step-by-step guides to calibrate the lens focus, zoom and iris control are provided, reducing set up time and increasing accuracy. Easy to understand units are displayed for each axis: focus in distance, zoom in focal length or field size and iris in f-stop.
Edit the move paths in the 2D or 3D editors, or edit the individual axis positions. The flexibility is there.
LIGHTING CONTROL
Utilise the DMX universe to control 512 channels, trigger multiple events simultaneously and synchronise with the Flair move.
Trigger an external lighting desk using the OSC protocol, giving even greater adaptability to the lighting requirements for the shoot.
IMPORT/EXPORT
Suppose you have a move visualised in another CGI software application showing the path of the camera. In that case, Flair can import that same move so it can be physically shot with a motion control rig.
Moves can also be exported to other software packages for further editing or as a reference for CGI post-processing.
CONNECTIVITY
An extensive range of input and output devices can be connected to Flair:
- Mimic input allows recording of motion including manually pushing a rig or turning a motor by hand and then playing back the motion.
- Fully compatible with any USB HID, such as joysticks and gamepads.
- Actuators can be of any kind, including steppers, AC/DC servo motors, PWM, CAN and analogue.
- Multiple serial and Ethernet channels for real-time communication to external systems, supporting FreeD, OSC and much more.
INTUITIVE UI
10 editor views and counting to give the user choice on how a move is created and visualised.
Customise the main window layout to suit every move creation workflow. Layouts can be saved and loaded on demand to support different user preferences.
Flair works on everything from touchscreen tablets, to laptops, desktops and rackmount PCs.
The incredibly intuitive interface for Flair 7 has helped me jump in and be productive from day one. Mark Roberts Motion Control has the best system that integrates software, hardware, mounting options, and the ability to be portable, to be able to give me [a] competitive edge.
— Creative Director, Manmade Media
Ease of Use
PERFORMANCE
Built using a high-performance real-time architecture for perfect timing. Turnkey error checking, emergency stop integration and H/W are provided. Homing, zeroing, calibration & limit sensor inputs for quick set up.
INTERACTIVE LIMITS
As the move is created, Flair will continually check it against the limits of every axis (hardware or virtual). This gives the operator immediate notice of the capabilities of the rig.
Live View
Connect the camera feed directly into Flair and display it in the live view. USB camera input, Blackmagic Decklink and RTSP network streams are supported.
VISUALISATION
The 3D rig view and 2D graph views are updated interactively as the move is being created. The move can be visualised in the virtual scene without having to move the physical rig.
EFFECTS
A number of useful move-editing tools are provided to quickly adjust the move should the scene change. Need to rotate the move path around the camera by 45°? No problem!
STOP MOTION
Stop motion moves are fully supported. Stepping each frame as a single step or alternatively as a moving step (for motion blur) is possible. Integration with the popular Dragonframe software is available.
FLAIR TIPS & TRICKS
Output Triggers
Customising the Main Window
Focus Calibration
Keyboard Shortcuts
Live View Setup
Exporting a Move
Graph View
Hand-held Box Configuration
Move Import
Output Triggers
WALKTHROUGHS
How to Create a 3-point Move