American Cinematographer - February 1995 - 79

compiled by Marji Rhea

for rapid adjustment without tools. The
series comes with a five-amp nickel-cad¬
mium battery pack and a 12/24-volt
switcher with twice the capacity of pre¬
vious units and greater than 90 percent

operating efficiency.
The Master Series features

represent the input of Steadicam opera¬
Brown, the inventor of

Progress St., Edison, NJ 08820, (908)
754-5800.

For information: Cinema Prod¬
ucts, 3211 S. La

Cienega Blvd., Los An¬
geles, CA 90016-3112, (310) 836-7991,
(800) 955-5025.

Steadicam Advance

unit is in

use.

The

arm can

support cam¬

weighing up to 40 pounds with uni¬
form support from the lowest to the high¬
est boom

as NTSC, PAL D-1,
HDTV, and film (4,000 X 3,000). Moving
pictures can be processed; parameters

The color-correction window

Lighting Unit
Sinar Bron's Broncolor HMI
1200 Continuous Lighting Unit is an elec¬

tronically-controlled, daylight-balanced,
continuous 1200-watt light system with
21/2 times the output of equivalent halo¬
gen bulbs. It offers flicker-free operation
and a low-noise switch for shooting
video while recording sound. It consists
of a lamp base with discharge lamp and

position.

an electronic ballast unit which allows
for hot restrikes. The unit is multivolt,

A

measures

redesigned, narrower sled
composed of composite materials pro¬
vides a lightweight but strong structure
with quick-release lock rings on the post

from formats such

automatically interpolated between
key frames. A GUI menu offers quick and
effortless operation with simple pointand-drag mouse control. Image data at 8/
16 bits per RGB channel can be imported
and exported. Internal processing is com¬
puted at 16 bits per RGB channel. Up to
10 layers can be composited with its
multi-layering capability. Image data can
be transferred into a wide variety of file
formats, such as SGI (RGB), Tiff, Abekas
(YUV), and Softimage. There is also a
noise-canceling function.

design of the Steadicam camera stabiliz¬
ing system. The series has a new moni¬
tor with a brighter, higher contrast im¬
age, provides 16:9 aspect ratio, and has
been designed to accommodate cameras
equipped with Vidiflex, Cinema Products'
new fiberoptic video tap. A patented
gimbal system permits the operator to
hold the hand grip closer to the unit's
center of gravity for more precise camera
control. A new camera stage offers both

eras

Chromakey Software
Imagica's Primatte Version 5.0
chromakey software is compatible with
a wide variety of SGI workstations and
offers powerful, precise matte control
functions for quality image composition.
The new version accepts any resolution

are

Cinema Products Corporation
has introduced the Master Series, a new

adjustment while operating.
A redesigned stabilizer arm
permits the operator to adjust support for
cameras of various weights while the

ries such as barn doors and correction
filters are also available.
For information: Sinar Bron, 17

Steadicam. Final design was executed by
Cinema Products and Sand Lake Design
of San Francisco. The system has been

tors.

lateral

light switch. Additional front lenses with
lengths can be used for a
variety of lighting effects. Other accesso¬
different focal

tors and Garrett

rigorously tested in-house and by several
leading independent Steadicam opera¬

manual and motor-driven control of X and
Y axes, with a wireless control housed in
the gimbal yoke for easy tilt control and

vice life of the element. Its lamphead can
be focused and comes with a separate

11

11" X 4.5" X 8.5", and

weighs

pounds.

Constant color temperature is
electronically maintained over the ser¬

February 1995

allows

quick and independent readjust¬
ment of foreground and background,
making the necessary color balance by
manipulating pedestal, gamma, gain,
hue, saturation, and brightness for each
layer. The color-spill removal function
uses an internally generated defocused
image, which allows natural-looking, re¬
fined composites at the edges between
foreground and background. The user can
undo/redo up to 500 levels. There is also
rectangular garbage-matte control, as
well as 3-D color monitoring.
For information: Imagica Corp.
of America, 5301 Beethoven St., Suite

American

Cinematographer

77
American Cinematographer - February 1995

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 1995
