Bolt High Speed Cinebot from HDVideoPro Magazine on Vimeo.
Perhaps the most exciting piece of gear we saw at Cine Gear 2014 was the Bolt High-Speed Cinebot in the Mark Roberts Motion Control / Camera Control Inc. booth. Crowds gathered to see the Bolt with a high-speed Phantom Miro capture a water balloon being burst while simultaneously having the camera perform a super fast track back. The end result (aka shot) was a super slow motion shot with smooth camera movement, which creates a dynamic visual you normally don’t see in high-speed cinematography. And because it’s repeatable, you can do take after take until you’re satisfied with your shot. Besides speed, what also makes the Bolt unique is that it can literally stop on a dime at super fast speeds.
Bolt is an industrial robot repurposed for motion picture production and is controlled by Flair, an Academy Award winning software that controls all of Camera Control’s equipment. With the software, you can create moves on set, as well as import moves from Maya or other 3D software. Mark Roberts Motion Control offers a package that can control anything from a single motor to multi-axis complex studio and portable motion control robots. The computer system’s main feature is a specialised processor board that allows high speed communication between it and other axis cards distributed through the robot.
BOLT can go from standstill to high-speed motion and back to standstill in fractions of a second.
Key features of Bolt:
— Fast set up (typically 1 hour set up)
— High-speed control of lens focus, zoom and iris
— Interfacing to camera and external triggers
— Full safety integration to comply with regulations
— Import and export to 3D packages, Maya, etc.
— Lighting, DMX and Timecode interfaces
— Track options available
— Compatible with most high-speed cameras (max payload 35lbs)
Although it’s primarily being used in commercials right now, I’m sure we’re going to be seeing much more of the Bolt in motion picture cinematography. I can’t wait to see what directors like Martin Scorsese or Alfonso Cuaron will do with this kind of technology.
Check out this cool video of the Bolt in action…
MRMC release the Bolt High Speed Cinebot in the UK from MrMoco Rentals on Vimeo.
For more information, please visit www.mrmoco.com or www.cameracontrol.com.
