WHAT IS IT?

The TechnoDolly is completely unique. A fully repeatable camera crane and all axis motion control rig in one. Although it looks like a SuperTechnoCrane, every axis is evaluated and is fully repeatable. Use it on main unit productions as a camera crane and at the click of a button repeat the move instantly. Or for smaller crews and motion control work, simply program keyframes or input 3D moves from your VFX department and watch it fly, like a camera crane, from keyframe to keyframe in a way that looks like it’s being operated by a human – rather than a robot. In a nutshell: 

• Multi-axis repeatable camera crane with motion control functionality.
• Studio or Location operation 
• Custom built lowloader box van for transport – no tachograph required for flexible delivery and collection to suit production
• Off the van and setup in under an hour without track and normally 90-120 minutes including track (at ground level)

SPEC:

• Power = 1 x single phase 63A feed for full operation – can be run with less power, but it is slower and more prone to stall)
• Camera weight = 35kg – note the camera size also (see below)
• Full FIZ lens control including Preston and C-Motion integration for seamless memorised focus pulls in repeat passes

• Repeat passes and motion control can be triggered via bloop or other external trigger, like QTake or TimeCode
• Shooting area:
• 4.2m (14’) from ground level (boom can also ‘undersling’ by 3.2m (10’) when mounted on a rostrum to achieve greater movement area) achieving a lowest position to highest position distance of 7.4m (24’)
• 3.6m (12’) telescopic boom from crane centre
• 2.4m (8’)  telescopic extension (minimum to maximum point on telescopic boom only)
• Over 18m (60’) of dolly travel on full 6 section track + telescope extension

RESTRICTIONS AND REALITIES

• The TechnoDolly is incredibly flexible – so much so that rarely do two people use it the same way – for this reason we offer free demo days for all long-form productions to ascertain the best way it will work for you.
• The TechnoDolly is infinitely more simple to use without the track. See specs for reach with and without track.
• You cannot move every axis of the crane from the head by hand. EVERYONE thinks you can, in reality assume it is a camera crane with memory. Moving the head is really only recommended if the DOP wishes to find their optimum camera positions rather than to create ‘by hand’ complete moves.
• The rig cannot move itself as fast as a human can, so not all manually operated moves can be repeated by the motors in the TechnoDolly. However, if you want to move every axis and repeat it, this is the only rig in the world that can do it.
• The TechnoDolly is NOT a Mark Roberts Milo, it is a camera crane with repeat functionality. If you require lots of external motors and pinpoint accurate motion control over weeks or months, it is far easier to use our Cyclops, for instance.
• For audio work the rig stands alone, it is incredibly quiet and moves like a camera crane even when used as a repeatable motion control. 
• Once a manual move has been made and approved, it is ready to repeat immediately.
• The S Head (where the camera is mounted) on our TechnoDolly is very small, it will not fit a 35mm film camera and most digital cinema cameras need to be striped back to a minimal setup to comfortably fit in the rig – our most common cameras on the rig are Alexa Mini LF, Alexa SXT, Phantom 4K and Sony Venice. The advantage of this head, however, is that it has full pan, tilt and roll built in and fully repeatable.
• It is ideal (but not essential) to use a set of lenses that are the same weight and size where possible (like Signature Primes and Master Primes), this reduces the time between lens changes which on some vintage lenses can be quite time consuming due to reweighting the crane and re-balancing the head.
• Both Preston and Cmotion FIZ are fully supported. The brain can be mounted on the camera or at the desk with a direct feed into the TechnoDolly for repeatability.

SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY

The TechnoDolly’s memory is controlled via a custom built Linux interface and can be manually driven via a toggle ‘pickle’ hand control in repeat mode or moved completely manually and memorised for repeats.

TechnoDolly is compatible directly into Unreal Engine for fully repeatable, fully real-time integration. It also works in Motion Builder for previewing camera moves in 3D / CGI visualisations.

It is also possible to synchronise with QTake for live overlays and frame accurate synchronisation as well as timecode for music synchronization.

MOUNTING THE TECHNODOLLY ON A ROSTRUM

It is possible and often most suitable to have the TechnoDolly placed on a high-level rostrum, when building your rostrum, please ensure that it has adequate space for the grip to work from to swing the crane.

TRANSPORT

Our TechnoDolly has its own custom built lowloader box van, this means unlike many other TechnoDolly rigs we are not restricted by tachographs and can bring the crane onto set quickly with a small team… it’s also a lot less hassle and a lot more affordable.