Genuflex MK III - Advantage
1. Track Flexiblity
The Mk III can operate on a Standard Style of Dolly Track;
this is a very good thing for locations that can not have the bigger heavier motion control track, such as a private house with tile floors or a basketball court with wood floors. Many times for quick set-up and special locations, our standard dolly track is ideal.
More details in real productions
One of the unique advantages of the Mk III is operating on curved track – the entire rig can move around the subject 360 degrees and more. We have done many commercials and movies with this very set up before.
Finally, the Mk III can run on motion control track; this track is often the choice for table-top shooting of small products like a can of soda. Conversely this is also ideal for expansive miniature sets, such as the movies King Kong, Hobbit movies.
2. JetRail Dolly
The JetRail Dolly is Modular unit, like everything else with the Genuflex Motion Control System. The basic dolly will allow you to place a tripod and a motion control pan and tilt head for a simple shot or because it weighs less – a high-speed dolly shot. You can achieve speeds in excess of 18 ft (540 cm) per second! For this type of shooting you would switch out the regular “dolly style wheels” for a “precision bearing type” (These are optional parts) that captures the rail for high speed and high precision as well. This modular wheel design is unique among the many motion control systems out on the market.
Our new JetRail wheel assembly has larg stainless adjusting handles; when you need to put our motion contol system on Curved Track, no tools are by the technician ! It is also very easy to take off the “track wheel module” and putting on the “precision ball bushings” for use with the General Lift SDI Motion Control track is a simple no tool procedure.
3. Boom Arms
The ability to be able to choose between 3 different arm lengths is one of the Mk lll’s greatest advantages. It is alone in this respect. Giving the film maker option of boom arm length and be able to helps the director be more creative and adaptable to the needs of the production – a very important feature !
Changing the Boom arm itself is as simple as lifting the retention handle on each side at the top of the cone and removing the pin from the top of the lift tube. The Boom arm is then lifted up and out of the pivot cradle. After reversing the procedure above, the change over is complete.
4. Motors
The Mark III was developed using over twenty years of experience shooting hundreds of commercials, movies and animation projects. Every project is going to be different and the equipment needs to be as versatile as it can be. As with the modular quality of the rest of the Genuflex Mark III, we knew that motor choice is a very important part of the design too. For this reason, we designed the Mk III to be able to switch between Stepper motors or Servo motors and sometimes a combination of the two. Servo motors are quiet and good for many types of shooting, but Stepper motors are the ideal choice for stop-motion animation and product photography, so we supply the operator with a choice that most other systems do not.
5. Kuper Controls Operating System
Our use of the “Academy Award Winning” Kuper Controls for its Motion Control Software is one of our greatest advantages. Kuper is the most widely used motion control cinematography package in the World. There are over 500 Kuper System software and hardware packages in the world, and the number is growing, that is why the Academy gave Kuper Controls it highest award! Almost every major motion picture for the last 18 years with visual effects and motion control have used Kuper Controls. General Lift recognized the importance of this amazing software / hardware package and in 2006 purchased Kuper from its founder who to this day continues to develop and innovate this system with us. We tightly integrate Kuper Controls with all our motion control systems, guarantying a superb motion control system. We are the only company using Kuper that can make this claim!
6. Motion Control Carts
As part of the years of working on many commercials and movies, we realized we needed a way to move the Mk III around on the stage and location. We have designed very special “moco carts” to hold all the different pieces of equipment such that it can all be wheeled around quickly and efficiently to the different set-ups that occur many times while shooting. When done for the day, they roll onto the back of the truck and back to the facility, ready for the next days shooting.
7. Shipping Cases
One very important aspect in the design of the Genuflex Mk III was modularization. This aids in transporting it from location to location. Wether your location requires air freight, a long haul truck, or local transport, the entire package breaks down into specially designed cases that make shipping safe and convenient.
8. Camera Control and Lens Control
Currently the Mark III can work with just about any film, video or digital camera. We have shot with Imax, Vistavision, digital still cameras, as well as many digital video cameras. General Lift manufactures its own focus and zoom motors, plus we also offer complete motion control using the Preston FIZ system, widely recognized as the world leader in lens control. We make it simple for camera operators and camera assistants to use the equipment that they are familiar with and enjoy using.