How To Use Radian With a 3rd Party Slider System
We all know that rotary time-lapses, and linear time-lapses are great, but what if you could have linear motion and rotary motion at the same time? Well, not only is it possible, but the footage is crazy cool, as you can see in the above video, which features Radian working in tandem with a Dynamic Perception Stage 2 Dolly.
What you will need
1 x Radian (You can also use a Radian Pan + Tilt set up)
1 x Motorized Linear Dolly System (such as the Dynamic Perception Stage 2)
Setting Up Your System
To set up your Radian with your linear dolly system, you will want to attach the Radian where the camera normally mounts on the dolly, making sure that your Radian is level to the horizon. Your camera will then mount to the Radian's mounting stud (you can also use a ball head in between Radian and your camera if you want). We recommend attaching the camera cable from your Radian to your camera, though you may also be able to attach your camera to your slider's controller instead.
Programming and Synchronization
To avoid motion during your time-lapse, you need to synchronize the motion of your Radian and your slider system. The first part of this is to program the same interval (time between photos) into both devices. The next step is to synchronize the two devices so that they trigger their motions at the same time.
The easiest way to synchronize the two devices is to follow the following procedure:
- Start your linear dolly system, and turn on your pre-programmed Radian at the same time
- Measure the difference in time between the motion of your Radian, and the motion of your slider (make sure to measure the time between when the Radian moves and then the slider moves ).
- Turn off your Radian and stop your slider
- Turn on your slider, wait the amount of time that you measured, and then turn on your Radian. Radian will need to perform it's preload motion, but once it starts executing the time-lapse, you should see that your Radian and your slider are now moving at the same time!
Notes :
Please note that this method relies on synchronization between the Radian and an external device. While we know that Radian is extremely accurate in the timing of it's movements (it is accurate to .002%) we cannot guarantee that all 3rd party devices are. We, and our customers, have had success with Dynamic Perception's products, but with a cheaper slider system, there is always the risk that the two units could become out od synchronization over time.