User Manual

9
NOTE: You will need a common Film Industry "C" STAND (also known as a Century Stand, or
Grip Stand), or a Film Industry LIGHT STAND so that later during the BALANCING procedures
and operation of the Glidecam GOLD SLED you will have something to attach and park your
GOLD SLED SLED onto. The "C" STAND or LIGHT STAND needs to terminate with a standard
5/8" diameter STUD on its uppermost riser. The STAND must also be of Film Industry quality in
the sense that it must be rugged and made of steel etc. Do not attempt to use a light weight
aluminum light stand, like the ones that are often sold at local amateur photography stores.
NOTE: Whenever you attach ANYTHING to the BASE PLATFORM, be it a BATTERY, or
MONITOR etc. make sure that it is attached so that it can not shift or move in place when the
GOLD SLED is in operation. If something that is attached to the GOLD SLED SLED shifts during
operation, it could throw the system out of balance, possibly causing unstable results.
When it comes to choosing a BASE PLATFORM configuration, one should take into account the general
principle that: The lighter the load on the top section of the Camera Mounting Assembly (the Sled),
the less counterweight required to counterbalance the Sled. In other words, if you reduce the weight
of the CAMERA PACKAGE attached to the top of the Sled, you’ll need less COUNTERWEIGHT at the
bottom of the Sled, (i.e. monitor and battery) thereby making the whole System lighter and more
comfortable to use.
You can reduce the weight of your CAMERA PACKAGE in several ways. First, the Camera you choose
to use with your GOLD SLED should be as light as possible. For instance, if you can choose between
shooting with a Camera that weighs 26 pounds, and a Camera that weighs 18 pounds, then definitely shoot
your footage with the 18 pound camera, given of course that the lighter Camera will be able to fulfill your
projects needs. Shooting with certain Film Formats and Tape Formats seems, at present, to sort of dictate
which camera weight you will be dealing with. An example being most of the Betacam and Betacam SP
camcorders. For now, they tend to weigh in around 15 pounds. In the 35mm and 16mm Film Camera
market there is a much wider range of camera weights available.
If you are unable to choose which Camera to shoot with, then you should a least try to lighten the overall
weight of your CAMERA PACKAGE. You can reduce the CAMERA’S weight by select a lightweight
PRIME LENS (preferably a wide angle lens) instead of a longer and heavier TELEPHOTO or ZOOM
LENS. Still another way to lighten the CAMERA PACKAGE is to remove any part of the camera's VIEW
FINDER SYSTEM that you will not be needing. Most Betacam Cameras have completely detachable
VIEWFINDERS. One could even lighten the load by using only a 20 minute tape or a 100 foot load of
film, but this is not at all necessary, for the weight gained from shooting with a 100 foot load instead of
400 is too small to be of any real concern.
Also it should be NOTED that moving the MONITOR AND BATTERIES closer to the CENTRAL
SUPPORT POST reduces the CAMERAS PANNING INERTIA, or in other words, moving the monitor
and battery closer to the POST, will allow you to PAN your CAMERA quicker. Moving the monitor and
battery away from the POST, increases PANNING INERTIA, thereby smoothing out, or causing the
PANNING motion to be slower.