HomeRobotic camera
Robotic camera technology
Rail systems and gimbals that repeat a camera move exactly, take after take. Used where precision matters more than a second operator.
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The systems
What the robots actually do
Robotic camera video production is filming with a camera that a rig moves instead of a person’s hands. Real Media, in Overland Park, uses two kinds: rail systems that repeat a move along a track at the same path and speed every take, and gimbal setups that keep a move smooth where a hand cannot hold it.
Two kinds of rig, and the one property that makes them worth having.
Rail systems
Repeatable camera moves along a track, to the same path and speed every take.
Gimbal setups
Stabilised movement that stays smooth through a move a hand cannot hold.
Repeatability
The same move, exactly, as many times as the edit needs it.
Where it is used
Three places it earns its keep
Robotic camera work is not a look. It is a way of getting a shot that a person holding the camera cannot reliably repeat.
Multi-camera studio
Robotic positions covering angles that would otherwise need an operator each.
Product and detail
Slow, exact moves across a small subject, where a handheld wobble would show.
Live and streamed
Camera moves during a live switch, without a crew member in every frame’s way.
In the building
PTZ cameras in our studio
A PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) camera is a robotic camera aimed and zoomed by remote control. In Real Media’s Overland Park building, the podcast room runs 4K PTZ cameras switched live to a master with vMix, and a PTZ camera above the cooktop on the kitchen set catches the overhead shot. Any set can go out as a multi-camera 4K livestream.
Questions
Robotic camera questions
How much does robotic camera work cost?
It depends on what the shot has to do. At Real Media in Overland Park, price is set by the goal, the number of shoot days and locations, the crew and the cuts you need delivered. Send the outline through our contact form, and we will quote it properly, in writing, before anything is booked.
When is a robotic camera better than a camera operator?
When the shot has to repeat exactly, or a hand would show. A rail runs the same path and speed every take, a gimbal keeps a move smooth that a hand cannot hold, and robotic positions cover angles that would otherwise need an operator each. Real Media uses them where precision matters more than a second operator.
Can robotic cameras run during a live stream?
Yes. Robotic cameras move during a live switch, without a crew member in every frame’s way. Real Media runs a multi-camera 4K livestream setup from any of its sets in Overland Park, for webinars, town halls and events, with our engineers on the switch, and the podcast room’s PTZ cameras are switched live too.
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Tell us about the project
Send us the outline and we will come back with next steps. If it is only the stage you need, say so.