News

eMotimo is releasing a stand-alone robotic controller. This first generation equipment already helped with Oscar winner, All Quiet on the Western Front

SDA, or Sir David Attenborough for those of you who aren't super fans, is a force . . . a national treasure.  His voice is iconic. He has narrated countless nature documentaries - mostly with the BBC Natural History Unit. He narrated the original Planet Earth Series that I fell in love with.  There was a shot where the seasons changed over a year while a camera slid across a hillside.  Spring to Summer to Fall to Winter and back to spring again.  It blew my mind. It made me want to see the world in new ways.  Planet Earth helped inspire me to create eMotimo.  eMotimo gear has been helping with the new versions of the Planet Earth, as well as all sorts of Natural History docs, but recently, SDA narrated Green Planet, a recent release from BBB's Natural History Unit. On Green Planet eMotimo gear was used extensively to support fine motion control moves for plant growth as well as robotic shots out in the field. This is a screenshot of the BTS from that production.  Shout out to Chris Field (biolapse) for using two ST4 heads to drive custom jibs and sliders to get the shots!  That leafcutter ant sequence was brilliant! This made my year to know that Sir David Attenborough was playing with gear that I designed. Damn, I wish I could have been there to see it myself - his smile is infectious.  eMotimo equipment and controllers are playing a part in bringing the next generation of natural history docs to life. I am proud of what I created and quite excited that eMotimo is just getting started on creating tools for creatives.    Check out how one of our long-time customers, Robert Hollingworth shot the opening scene for Netflix's All Quiet on the Western Front. It just won some awards.  What was it again? Oh yeah - the Oscar for Best Cinematography

after 11 years of running eMotimo, these past 15 months have been the most tumultuous. From running a business during a pandemic, modifying our sourcing and supply chain issues, and branching into new markets, nothing over the last year has been easy.

The pan/tilt head is characterized by a particularly user-friendly control, turning even the finest movements into child’s play. - Red Dot Jury What’s a Red Dot? Red Dot consists of an international panel of judges that have been scrutinizing products since 1955.  Apple, Dyson, Sony are some of the big players that win these awards.   An honorable mention from Red Dot is big.  eMotimo’s win for the spectrum st4 and Fz combo is huge. Large design teams chase this award their entire careers without ever getting one. For our small eMotimo team, winning this award is validation that our efforts in innovation are being recognized.Why did we win? Our design was super clean with well-thought-out wire management and the right materials.  Most of all we enabled the jury members to pick up our controller and program their first moves in minutes without reading the instructions. Motion control should just work.   -Brian and Logan

Not just a cold.  Not going away soon. Damn, now I have to write a blog post about this.

Part of the magic of a good piece of tech is making difficult things really easy.  We love the details and giving users options, but if you are in a hurry for an interview and don't want to have to think about which motor profile to use, or what your ramp should be, or darn it, I have focus changes that are light, but there, how many keyframes should I add . .  .

Flo Nick out shooting his latest piece  - HIGHER GROUND  plus BTS Video of the shoot. 

Professional product shooters take note.  This is an example of how to pay off a 4 axis motion control rig in two, half day shoots.  Oh, you have fun doing it too!

Create commercial quality visual effects faster, and more easily than ever with the spectrum st4. Repeatable camera movement is a powerful tool that is only accomplished by a computer controller motion control rig. Repeating that motion perfectly, pass, after pass enables things like: 1) Closing Subjects Object removal/addition - Just like people object that differ between scenes can be removed or added over time.      2) Blending of plates with different time bases - Slightly trickier in that the various passes are run at different framerates.  Overcranked, higher-framerate passes, must be run faster (over a shorter duration)  Undercranked, lower-framerate passes must be run slower (over a longer duration)  Each of these effects are possible without motion control. The effects are easy to do with locked off cameras, but "selling" a scene is much easier when the camera is performing a natural motion. Once you know the basic techniques and principles, you can apply them in many ways.Below is a quick first test showing off the concept. Below a full tutorial with BTS and editing tips to pull this off. Products Used:1) Spectrum + Dana Dolly Integration Kit 2) Dana Dolly - Original Track Ends 3) eMotimo RED SYNC Cable