Blackjack (Mōvi Pro Series Software v2.0) focuses on new performance and roll modes. Mōvi becomes even more powerful, versatile, smart and reliable. ......Oh, and we fixed a few bugs also.
Learn more about the motivation behind 2.0 here at freeflysystems.com/blackjack or on our blog!
#lighterisbetter
Learn about Blackjack's 360° roll feature
This feature guide describes how 360° Roll works in Mōvi Pro v2.0 Software. For the best experience, take the time to understand both the theory and the practical aspects of 360° Roll modes before you go out on a shoot.
Enabling 360° roll is as simple as turning on 360° Roll mode from the App, Mōvi Screen, or Mōvi Controller menu. However, keep in mind that these new behaviors also introduce an additional level of complexity. All features described in this guide apply with 360° Roll on.
There are many ways to use 360 °Roll and its features, depending on your crew size and roll control method. Users can apply options like Tilt and Roll Snap to the different 360° Roll methods to modify their behavior as well—continue reading for more information.
If you don’t need to roll past ±90° for your shot, consider leaving 360° Roll off and using regular control. 360° Roll is a specialty tool and adds a level of complexity that may be unnecessary if you need to do a simple, leveled-off shot.
Mōvi Pro ecosystem currently allows roll commands from:
Mōvi Controller
MIMIC
Wheels
Gamepad
Pilot
API
iOS/Android apps currently don't have a feature to send continuous roll commands
Perfect for the single operator that wants to execute 180° moves without moving the ring, or 360°+ moves by rotating the ring to follow the camera lens axis.
360° Roll -> On
Roll mode -> Free / Majestic
Tilt mode -> Free / Majestic, or Snap!
Pan mode -> Free / Majestic
Make sure not to command pan rate from a controller.
Majestic Window -> Medium to reject unintentional movement
There are two ways to input the roll command for Barrel Roll:
Majestic Roll
Simply rotate the handles for a majestic roll.
Roll Command
Command a roll rate from a controller. Here are the options.
Follow the roll motion of Mōvi with the handles/ring to ensure Mōvi doesn’t get into a singularity or hit its hard stops.
Set Tilt Mode to Snap for shots where you want to ensure tilt doesn’t move up or down, i.e., a shot where you are moving straight down a hallway while rolling.
The perfect method for when you want continuous 360° rolls without moving the ring or handles. By rotating the pan axis 90°, it now acts as the roll axis and allows 360° moves.
In dual operation, there’s no specific setup required to use this mode. For a solo operator, this method is currently not possible.
Pan for Roll has the potential for confusion since there are two ways to set it up. The picture above is one possibility, the other is with the roll beam above the camera. The setup you use might depend on how far you need to look up or down.
In this orientation, more stress is placed on the pan motor and quick release. Make sure the quick release is fully engaged and tightened, and always use safety rigging.
Wiring and mechanical constraints still limit the available travel of the “roll” motor.
Pan balance is especially important in this orientation. Become familiar with pan balancing by watching the Mōvi Pro balancing tutorial.
Use the Hula Hoop method we showed here.
360° Roll mode allows users to set a ‘virtual’ target and command an axial roll along that line.
In 360° Roll mode, the roll axis is defined with respect to the camera and lens, not the horizon. So, no matter which way the camera is pointed, a roll command will always cause the image to rotate along the optical axis of the lens.
Start by adjusting the axis of Mōvi in dual operator mode (for instance with Mōvi Controller).
Command roll rate from a controller (here are the options).
This works best if you tilt down or up at least 30 degrees in gimbal up or gimbal down configuration.
If you have a setup with long lenses, make sure you have clearance with the roll beam.
Mōvi gently snaps the camera to the nearest 90° plane so you can execute roll moves but ‘land’ on a horizontal or vertical frame.
Settings
360° Roll -> On
Roll mode -> Snap
Majestic response -> Set to your liking.
It will change the speed of snapping.
Setup roll input source. Here are the options.
Operation
Start commanding a roll rate to start your shot.
When you stop commanding roll rate, Mōvi will snap to the nearest 90° plane.
Play with different majestic smoothing/response settings to vary how the snapping speed.
Try and stop your move slightly before 90° so Mōvi can finish the move and land perfectly at 90 degree plane.
Great for when a mobile or social company is paying the bills and insists on flipping that Red Epic on its side. Quickly transition from landscape to portrait mode with no change to the camera rigging.
This method is useful if you want to shoot in social media square or vertical aspect ratios by rotating the camera 90º. You will still have Pan and Tilt Majestic control in this orientation.
Settings
360° Roll -> On
Roll mode -> Snap
Set a wide window on Roll Majestic so you don’t accidentally put in a roll move.
Perfect for the single operator that wants to have full 3D Majestic control with no limits. This is useful for simulating a zero-gravity perspective or a first-person-view flight through open space.
360° Roll -> On
Tilt and Roll -> Free / Majestic
Majestic Window -> Small
Majestic Response -> Optional
This is similar to Full 3D Majestic, but with a remote 3D input from MIMIC. The camera will follow the MIMIC orientation in 3D with no limits.
MIMIC Mode -> Direct (not Level Roll or Majestic).
Tilt -> Free
Roll -> Free
Settings
Map Roll to the Gamepad left and right triggers from the MIMIC.
Use medium Joystick windows to prevent joystick/trigger-induced drift.
Tilt -> Free
Roll -> Free
Set a roll rate using the analog left and right triggers on the DS4 gamepad while also controlling pan and tilt with the joystick. This can create many complex 3D rolling shots. With snapping off, the roll will remain fixed when you release the triggers.
While 360 Roll is on, the usual Tilt and Roll modes (Level, Smooth Lock, Majestic) take on new options that are more applicable to full 3D operation
Free: When not being driven, the axis stays where you leave it.
Snap: When not being driven, the axis smoothly moves to the nearest 90º increment.
For roll, this means landscape or portrait.
For tilt, this means lens horizontal or lens vertical.
New high-level “360°Roll” toggle changes the behavior of Roll and Tilt modes.
Roll Mode 0
Level
Snap (New)
Roll Mode 1
Majestic
Free (New)
Tilt Mode 0
(Smooth) Lock
Snap (New)
Tilt Mode 1
Majestic
Free (New)
Here are more details about these new modes, whether you are using them in Majestic, MIMIC, or in Rate Majestic.
The angle of the ring or base determines the snapping orientations.
Window, smoothing, and span are applied to camera-frame axes. For example, roll settings always apply on the lens optical axis.
Tilt and Roll snapping are applied in parallel with Majestic commands. Must be within the Majestic Window on all relevant axes to fully snap.
Inputs are processed directly, regardless of MIMIC Mode settings.
Only the highest priority MIMIC input is used.
Tilt and Roll snapping should be off.
(Joystick, Rocker, Gamepad, Wheels)
A higher-priority rate command
on a single axis will be applied to that camera-frame axis, on top of the MIMIC/Majestic command.
on two or three axes will override the MIMIC/Majestic command.
The current attitude determines the snapping orientations.
This is due to a “singularity.” When the roll arm lines up with the pan arm, you mechanically constrain the system and end up losing tilt control. Software does its best to compensate for this, but it can’t defy physics.
Here is an example of why pan moves to achieve an axial 360° roll shot.
This video also goes over the concept.
There are a few options:
For unrestricted, continuous 360° roll shot, you can mount pan for roll (example video). Learn more in pan-for-roll section.
Don’t over constrain the system. Just command roll and have pan and tilt in majestic with zero windows. Currently only available with MIMIC + Wheels or MIMIC + Pilot but we will have many more options in the future.
Have the MōVI perfectly level (example video: level vs non-level).
Here are some options:
MōVI Controller: Map Roll to Zoom (360) on the TX Config screen
MIMIC + Gamepad: Map Roll in Gamepad screen
Wheels + MIMIC: Map Roll in Input Setup screen
Wheels + MōVI Controller: Map Roll to Wheels on the TX Config screen
MIMIC + Pilot: Map Roll in Input Setup screen
API
You can command roll from MIMIC itself in MIMIC mode as well, however this is absolute mode and not rate mode.
Learn about what's new in Blackjack
Mōvi can now roll 360°+ degrees. We built in a suite of advanced roll modes so you can #justkeeprolling.
Here are some example methods. Read the 360° Roll Guide to learn more or visit the Blackjack page for an overview!
Roll With Snap
Roll Continuously Via Pan
Axial Roll
Barrel Roll
Portrait Shooting
New high-level “360° Roll” toggle enables new behavior for Roll and Tilt modes.
Additionally, Mōvi now has a brand new Axis Mode screen!!
Make sure you understand the theory and practice behind roll modes before you shoot for the best experience. There is a another whole guide that focuses on 360 Roll!
Choose from predefined shooting methods in a single click or create your own custom profiles. Go from whip to slow in seconds—without opening the app.
Mōvi now includes a Majestic screen that lets you quickly switch between different majestic setting presets.
Try new Whip majestic preset together with Maniac mode! Also:
Whip preset temporarily sets Hold Strengths to 60.
Learn more on how to be a pro at using whip preset in this video.
You can set your “user” preset by toggling to “user” in the Mōvi screen and then modifying values in the Mōvi Pro App. It will automatically remember those settings, no saving required.
50% increased power to motors! More juice, more whips, more joy.
Enable Maniac Mode for Mōvi Pro or Carbon: MōviPro App > Tuning > Advanced.
It has cool down time if used a lot. Motors are
protected by an advanced thermal model that lowers current as needed.
Mōvi displays a warning on the details screen, shown as Drive “Limit” while in thermal cool down mode, but stays in Maniac Mode as long as possible.
Make sure to test your setup under load before going out on a serious shoot. Different setups have different power requirements.
Our test results show that the camera doesn’t shut down until Mōvi Pro batteries are less than 30% + RED & all accessory ports used + Maniac enabled + all motors maxed out.
Battery sets with poor health may not support Maniac Mode.
Maniac mode doesn’t automatically consume more power. Motors only draw more power if needed.
Autotune is now even smarter and more #prolevel! It models your payload in new ways to deliver the best software performance that is also tightly integrated with hardware.
Just Autotune like before, every time you change payload or setup. Simple as that!
All new changes happen behind the scenes!
Since previous firmware, the default Hold Strengths have been increased from 8 to 30. This improves the disturbance rejection, but previously would lead to overshoot on fast commands with a heavy camera package. 2.0 resolves this overshoot.
We are testing with even higher hold strengths: 40-60 for pan, tilt and roll on Pro. Keep XL at 15-25 since it is already very strong.
Default tuning percentage of 70% is a little high from our testing. Try 50-65. New default is 60%.
Mōvi had the fastest boot time in the market with ~2 seconds.
Now it’s even more robust.
Shaky shaky - We got rid of the motion booting setting. Now it’s called Live Boot and you don’t even have to think about it. MōVI will turn on instantly if you are running, jumping on a boat or barrel rolling on a plane.
Drift is annoying. Mōvi now features a dynamic fixed mount mode where the MōVI detects when it is stable and mitigates drift, using its high resolution encoders.
Mōvi Pro v2.0 knows when it is sitting still and uses this information to combat drift. Corrections are made exponentially when Mōvi is stationary. It takes about 15 seconds to get 50% correction and about minute for 90% correction.
If you are diagnosing a drift issue, make sure to turn off all controllers to determine if the source is Mōvi or one of the controllers.
Mōvi Pro 2.0 has learned to ignore the bad data from the accelerometer to help keep your shots level and stable, even in high accelerations without compass or GPS assist modes.
There are a lot of behind-the-scenes software features that make Mōvi more robust. We’re not relying on Heading Assist setting anymore and recommend keeping it off until you have a specific reason to use it. Additionally, the GPS option has been removed because GPS is now incorporated automatically.
Impact Recovery: Mōvi will automatically reset if it detects it was disturbed. Previously this would have affected an axis, such as roll, to be off for few minutes or require reboot.
Zoom Rate Scaling: Enable zoom rate scaling and the Mōvi will automatically slow down pan / tilt rate as you zoom in. Super helpful for catching Dave’s dance moves from afar.
Auto FIZ Cal on Boot: Mōvi can now automatically calibrate focus / iris / and zoom on powerup. Turn it on in Mōvi Pro App > Configurations > Dual Op > Adjustments
The Mōvi Wheels now automatically sets pan/tilt joystick settings to zeros for most responsive feel.
Bugfixes
Timelapse is now more robust!
And many more misc bugs!