I'm adding this build log to help others who may be building their own camera rigs inspired by the rigs shown at NAB carrying Reds and 5D's.
Me and a buddy ordered a kit with the Carbon Fiber CNC parts and motors and a stand for the rig. It's very similar to the Cinestar gimbals. This one has the 810T iPower motors. No controller or other electronics are included. It did come with a bunch or extra hardware and 4 plates. But you need to get the following:
Gimbal Controller with 3 axis - I did get the Alexmo and 3rd axis add on board purchased from vendor here. Came with 2 x JST SH cables for IMU. Nylon risers, nuts and screw kit - got one on ebay. 22 gauge or bigger silicone wire for + - battery power leads. 5-10 feet - I got 20 gauge black and red. various small nuts and bolts to mount electronics to plates. - got these from ACE hardware. JR conntector with pin kit to make motor connectors - online or LHS. shrink wrap kit with various sizes - online for cheap. soldering iron.
So I got the kit in DHL and put it together in about 2 hours. No instructions but use the photos on the web store to figure it out. This rig kit costs about $1200. Nice parts clean and good quality. Most motors mounted and about 25% done on arrival. Screws are loose - need to locktite everything once done. Repeat the screws are not tight on arrival. Also carbon fiber is razor sharp. Think about sanding down sharp edges to protect cables.
Balancing a Canon 5D with 16-35mm IS was tough. No thumb screws. You have to loosen many hex screws to move all the parts to get it semi balanced. Not easy with a swinging swaying gimbal with all the various axis holding a camera that weighs 2-3 lbs.
But, I did get it semi-balanced. The pitch was hard as the camera sits on top of the tube so it's top heavy against the axis. Need a counter wieght on the bottom I think ---but I don't want to add more weight to that pan motor that swings the whole enchilada.
Pic goes here when I figure out the commands:
Day two
I got the Alexmo Controller Board with 3rd axis - read the instructions on the web on hooking it up. You have to flash the firmware from your computer. So I just did the steps 1,2,3 and got it done. You can find those instructions online where you buy it from. Then I came here and got the latest software. Simple BGC This is an amazing piece of software and I thank Alex and the developers.
I learned you can power the board from the USB cable right out of the box. As long as no motors are connected. I did just that and had the IMU up and reading positional data. The 3rd axis board does not work until you wire the power leads to the batteries. .
Pics go here...
So long for now. I have lots more done to post about. It's amazing. I feel like I'm just making it up as I go as far as mounting the boards. Not much online that I could find. Not many pics of a Movie Style Gimbal with Alexmo Boards running Simple BGC.
Thanks, it's been a learning experience for myself as well. Many people have helped me as well. When I started, on DIYDrones they allowed blogs on hand held gimbals, but then they started censoring my info as not being of interest to the DIYDrones readers, so I moved my site to www.jodagimbal.com. We are having a prob today with Wordpress but I hope to get it resolved soon. (March 25th)
Yes it's down, if you know anything about Wordpress sites, it just died this morning I did not change anything. I have a support request in to the hosting provider, but I don't know that much about Wordpress to figure it out. If you know how to troubleshoot message me, thanks.