General Cody Stabilizer Questions - Please Help:)

[Stephen Portman]

Hey There, Long time reader, first time, etc etc
Ive finally finished my Cody Rig (the budget version).
I couldnt afford to build the balancing frame, so balancing the sled has been tough. I use a Canon XL-1, as Codys origional plans use.
I have got some half-decent results from the few tests I have done, however, I have a couple of recurring problems during testing, and cant find much in the documentation to help me. The first is that I have that side to side, moving through soup kinda swing when moving around...you know, that kinda seasick kinda swinging motion when I change direction, or go from stationary to moving with the rig. Now, I heard that to have the sled slightly top-heavy is the best way to go, but to have it bottom heavy is best to counter the swinging motion. Can someone explain the difference between the two preferences? My cam is about 5.5lbs, and the weight I have on the bottom is 5lbs. My Gimbal handle is above the half way point, about 2/3rds the way up to the camera. Is there another option to reduce the pesky swinging, like changing the gimbal position on the central pole?
My second and a little more mystifying problem is that I seem to have a constant spin andti-clockwise. What I mean by this is that I will start my shot with the cam balanced and the lens facing forward, away from me, and during the course of my movement, the cam will spin slowly around until it is facing back towards me. To stabilize this, I can hold the central pole of the sled, lightly, but how does that affect the cam balance? Also, what would I need to adjust to rectify this cam spin? Without my balancing platform, I am having to balance the cam by holding it in mid-air, and obviously that is problematic, so the more I can figure out about what to balance in advance, the better prepared I can be to adjust the whole unit.
Anyway, I hope that someone can answer my questions and help me out. And to Cody, thanks for making these plans. You're a genius:)
Thanks in advance,
Yours,
Stephen

[Charles King]

Just hang in there. Someone 's gonna answer you.

[Stephen Portman]

Thanx, heres hoping, fingers crossed:)

[Phil Kindred]

You really need to build a docking bracket that will let you balance the rig.  For now, you need to find the balance on the post where you have a drop time of 2 to 3 seconds, then move the gimbal up 1/2 inch.  Try doing it wearing the rig and have someone help you, but a docking bracket can be built for next to nothing.  All you really need is a stud  for the gimbal mounted on anything that will support the rig--tripod, light stand, or even a table.   Just allow enough clearance for the rig.

[Stephen Portman]

Thanx for the reply, yeah, I want to try and set that up, but thats not really my question...I understand about the drop time, from reading the material, what I'm trying to figure out is why it is acting like it should, what those particular movements are signs of, and what particular settings would rectify that. Should I be adding more weight, moving the gimbal up the pole, etc etc...and what the spin represents, I really dont know:)
Anyway, if someone knows what these things mean, or methods to resolve them, that would be really helpful:) Thanx again

[Tom Wills]

The swinging motion is called the Pendulum effect, and is caused by too short of a drop time. So, move the gimbal down the post until you've got a 2 second drop time. As to the rotation, the rig should have a bit of a "mind of its own", but it shouldn't be deliberately turning, it should seem like it just wants to always stay pointed at one thing, and even as you move, it should stay roughly pointed there. You'll need to use light fingertip control to pan and tilt the rig, but if it is really turning on its own, then there's more here than just what's "normal".

Also, in terms of drop time, it always needs to be either perfectly balanced, or bottom heavy. Slightly bottom heavy (2-3 second drop time) is what is normally recommended.

[Stephen Portman]

Fantastic...just the kind of info I need, thats the swinging part sorted...I will adjust the gimbal...but why in the plans does it suggest slightly top heavy is the way to go? From what I can gather, the 'pros' use top heavy, the 'beginners' use bottom heavy....just trying to figure out the difference between the two settings, however, but your advice is great, thnx:)
Anyone want to tackle the mystery swivelling? I want to use fingertip control, but it always seems to want to return to a default position of facing me, which doesnt help much, as you can imagine, and constant adjustments on the fly increase the chances of me shaking the balance, or bumping the rig, which isnt so good. The rig isnt supposed to be made to be fought, LOL, im pretty sure of that:)
I have a feeling its another gimbal setting, but not sure what...anyway, anyone offer some wisdom, that would be lovely. Thanks for everyones help so far:)

[Tom Wills]

A stabilizer cannot be top heavy. It will flip over. Try it yourself. That would be a negative drop time. Newbies usually use a shorter drop time - it allows for basic pointing straight ahead and panning shots easier, but pros use a longer drop time, which allows them to tilt, dutch, and move so that they can finesse the rig to the exact shot they want.

[Stephen Portman]

Hmm...then either I have an old version of Cody's plans, or theres something not quite right, because...(quote)
"Try to match weights between the stage and the base. If the camera weighs 4 pounds, put 3-4 pounds of weight on the base....Usually it is good to have more weight up top than on bottom"
?
As stated in my origional post, my cam weights approx 5.5lbs, and my dumbbell weight on the bottom is 5 lbs, and the sled isnt inverting, or having negative drop time, just swinging...you suggest perhaps adding a pound or so to the bottom half then? Thats where my confusion is, cause im just reading the plans, and it seems in contradiction with what you say:)
Anyway, thanks for the continued dialogue:)

[Tom Wills]

Oh, sorry. Yes, true, most rigs do have more weight up top than down below. I thought you were referring to having the rig be balanced so that it wanted to flip over, like if you put the gimbal way down low on the rig. Sorry, I just got confused by the wording there.

[Stephen Portman]

Nooo problem:) So, moving the gimbal down the central pole would still help, without adding more weight to the base, right? Anyway, glad I wasnt going crazy misreading the plans or anything, LOL.

[Tom Wills]

Yes, move it down (or up, depending on exactly where it is right now) until your drop time is about 2 seconds. That'll solve some of the pendulum issue. To remove even more of it, lengthen your drop time by dropping the gimbal down even more. These are small adjustments though, and will require a lot of trial-and-error to get right.

[Stephen Portman]

excellent...thanks for the clarification...now onto the spinning problem:) Any suggestions, oh great and wonderful steadicam people?

[Phil Kindred]

Perhaps your gimbal fork is off or your side to side trim is off.  Both will contribute to the effect you describe.  Moving the gimbal up and down the post isn't going to affect this issue.  If I am understanding you--do you have a side to side trim adjustment?

[Stephen Portman]

Umm...I 'think' so...forgive my relative stupidity here, cause Im a beginner here, and Cody's plans dont refer directly to 'trim'...if side to side tilt is the same as side to side trim, then yes, in both directions...you suggest thats the issue here?