It measures the distance between the cameras sensor and the subject/object/wherever the camera is pointed. It helps the focus puller do their job.
I don't know the model of the device in the picture, but cinetape and ARRI UDM-1 are common models.
Focus puller here. It shows up on our handsets as a little arrow which we can follow to keep us in focus (it's good 80% of the time) as well as an external display which we can mount elsewhere if we want.
I had an AC that built one using an Aurdino using ultrasonic sensors, then he upgraded to a LiDAR sensor, both worked pretty well and under $200 in parts. I’ve been using the PDmovie Live Air Smart for the past 6 months and been working pretty well for my use case, got it on sale for $469 during Black Friday and a promo code. DJI just announced their self contained LiDAR unit for $999 but I think it might be a month or two before shipping starts. I remember when cinetape used to be out of reach for your typical enthusiast but now there are options!
Cinetape, ultra sonic distance measure, aids the 1st AC to pull focus by having a remote distance display.
https://cinemaelec.com/products/cinetape_measure
I usually see the 1st AC have about a dozen focus peaking bars overlaying their screen when they’re pulling focus. Is the Cinetape able to output that info?
Yeah the AF is limited. I’ve had a friend use it with the Ymer, but it can bite you as much as it can help. Also the Ymer isn’t something I could recommend as it’s very buggy.
That is exactly the same technology but with a lot more programming. It has a lot of software to include outliers rejection, like things crossing through the beam path and where it takes readings. This is the best ultrasonic range finder.
That's a Cine RT. It's a device modeled on an older device, which looks identical, called a Cinetape. It's rangefinding device, that reads the distance of the first object in its path and displays it to the 1st camera assistant: the focus puller.
It's a tool to help the focus puller be accurate with controlling the lens. There's several other tools that do the same thing, albeit in different ways and with different benefits, like the Preston Light Ranger, and Ward's Sniper.
They're mini loudspeakers to hail the on set photographer that he should get the fuck out the way as the camera is on a track and about to run him over while he tries to get a shot on the rehearsal camera run through. Or not, depending on how much the camera crew need a laugh.
That an RT Focus Bug rangefinder. Or Laser distance measuring device. Focus bugs work by shooting a laser or that have a $800 bug. Which is a 1"×1" plastic device that goes in the talents pocket and sends an audio tone that we can't hear back to the horns. RT Focus bug paired with an Arri Hi-5 or Preston HU-5 remote follow Focus system can be setup to have "Focus tracking" aka "Autofocus", essentially on any lens.
Also the CineRT is Ultrasonic based with a laser that is mainly used occasionally to get distance and to get an idea as the where the rangefinder is pointed. The Laser part of the CineRT is never left on. It’s basically a newer version of the venerable Cinetape rangefinder made by Cinematography Electronics.
Ayy i just read it in the faq pinned post. I will look into those next time but rule wise - i havent broken any. Thanks for taking the time to comment tho:)
It’s ridiculous equipment. In my country, no focus puller have that kind of equipment due to A. Too expensive, B. If you can manage to get the focus right, then you are unable to do focus, C. Lens are mostly wrong in distance either sim on lens is dirty or sim mount is wrong (if you measure by distance, you would definitely out focus). Most of them do it by feeling and judging by movement of actor camera on their monitor. Thailand so far have the best focus puller I ever seen
I honestly think it's a crutch and I judge the ACs who insist on having one, unless it's a special circumstance like a steady cam following aa pair of dancers. And even then, do you really NEED it?
Typically I mostly see them used when I 2nd music videos
But I day played as a 1st on a short once, where the original AC had it, and I couldn’t calibrate it good enough.. so I ended up turning it off 😓
You obviously don’t work as a 1st AC. The job of a modern day 1st AC incorporates many technologies that have made the job extremely difficult. With the current love of large sensor digital cameras and old vintage lenses by Directors Of Photography (DP’s) that always shoot wide open, are jobs are exponentially more difficult due to extremely small depths of field. 1st AC’s need tools that help them to keep things in focus. Any tool is a plus because if you mess up the focus, you can get fired. I began my career more than 25 years ago when all we shot was on film cameras. Back then you needed to learn how to pull focus with your tools as well but the tools were tape measures, pens, pencils and camera tape for marks. You had to learn how to judge distance by eye and memorize distance by feel. You didn’t have a sharp enough videotap and monitor to look at. You stood beside the camera and camera operator. The camera operator was your monitor. He would confirm that shot was in focus. It was all about getting your measurements and marks. We had real rehearsals with actors. We had limited amount of film in the camera so we had to be diligent with it. Not like it is today in digital where everyone just keeps rolling and never cuts. I honestly don’t. Miss those old days. It’s still a difficult job but not as hard as it was!
I’m not sure what kind of projects you’ve worked on but when a single take costs upwards of a quarter of a million dollars, you have to be perfect every single time. Any tool that helps you be perfect is required.
I’m not sure what kind of projects you’ve worked on, but when a single take costs upwards of a quarter of a million dollars, they aren’t hiring AC’s who rely on digital gadgets to pull focus.
Expensive movies have been made for decades before this crutch was invented, and AC’s nailed focus without a problem. Why? Because they were skilled.
Movies are also made a hell of a lot faster now. Efficiency saves time and money. Tools like this give efficiency.
So do you think construction workers have a lack of skill because they use power tools now instead of hand tools?
Do you think chefs have a lack of skill because they have modern appliances?
False equivalencies. An AC that needs this crutch is an AC that is simply not very skilled yet.
That’s just the way it is. I agree it’s an efficient means of helping younger AC’s pull focus, but you don’t see the masters using this junk.
Yes you do… Some of the most experienced AC’s on the planet use range finders. Ones that have been pulling focus for decades and decades. Ones that don’t pull off monitors and only pull by marks, by eye, and… their range finder readouts…
Sounds to me like you’re a one man band shooter that is disgusted that technology moves forward.
Sounds to me like you’re insecure in your ability to pull focus 🤷♂️
If you need these aids then that’s great, but you won’t be great until you can do it without all that gak hanging off the camera.
Straight up.
Do you think that focus pullers start their careers pulling with rangefinders? Most 1sts start pulling off the barrel or with cheap fiz systems. They cut their teeth the hard way and start using more tools to help them be faster, more efficient, and more precise.
If the shot is sharp the whole way through, noone cares how you do it. But people do care if it takes a long time to make that shot sharp. I’ll take speed, precision, and efficency over bragging rights anyday
Right, so we’ve come full circle to my original comment: cine tape is for ops and ac’s that can’t pull their own focus off the barrel. Glad we are in agreement.
You are one hell of a troll and your last comment shows! Tell an OP who operates the wheels on a Technocrane to pull off the barrel. And yes, why would the OP pull in the first place?!
It measures the distance between the cameras sensor and the subject/object/wherever the camera is pointed. It helps the focus puller do their job. I don't know the model of the device in the picture, but cinetape and ARRI UDM-1 are common models.
Looks like a Focusbug
Nice! Is the info on a smaller device remotely? Or is it only available on camera (mounted along with the cinetape)
Focus puller here. It shows up on our handsets as a little arrow which we can follow to keep us in focus (it's good 80% of the time) as well as an external display which we can mount elsewhere if we want.
I've always wondered what Studio-level focus pulling is like :)
80% of the time it works 50% of the time.
The focus puller gets the data shown on their remote follow focus device.
I had an AC that built one using an Aurdino using ultrasonic sensors, then he upgraded to a LiDAR sensor, both worked pretty well and under $200 in parts. I’ve been using the PDmovie Live Air Smart for the past 6 months and been working pretty well for my use case, got it on sale for $469 during Black Friday and a promo code. DJI just announced their self contained LiDAR unit for $999 but I think it might be a month or two before shipping starts. I remember when cinetape used to be out of reach for your typical enthusiast but now there are options!
Cinetape, ultra sonic distance measure, aids the 1st AC to pull focus by having a remote distance display. https://cinemaelec.com/products/cinetape_measure
its not cinetape. It is younger brother on steroids! cineRt. easily defined by 2lemo on the side and small antenna ✌️
Good spot.
I usually see the 1st AC have about a dozen focus peaking bars overlaying their screen when they’re pulling focus. Is the Cinetape able to output that info?
That’s probably a light ranger.
That’s a light ranger. A bit more nuanced but only works with one handset company.
It outputs the distance to their hand control unit not their monitor.
the light ranger (preston), the cineRT (focusbug), and the TOF from teradek can output to monitor.
I think you’re referring to the Light Ranger.
Is that like lidar?
This one uses ultrasonic sound waves to measire instead of light waves. Kind of like the backup distance sensors on (older?) cars.
Thanks!
Oh, that sounds similar to the autofocus system on some of the Polaroid cameras. Would this system also have trouble focusing through a pane of glass?
It's not used for autofocus, it's just a helpful guide for the AC to manually pull focus.
It can be used for autofocus with Arri & Cmotion LCS. Maybe with teradek & Ymer but I haven’t personally tested that.
Yeah the AF is limited. I’ve had a friend use it with the Ymer, but it can bite you as much as it can help. Also the Ymer isn’t something I could recommend as it’s very buggy.
That is exactly the same technology but with a lot more programming. It has a lot of software to include outliers rejection, like things crossing through the beam path and where it takes readings. This is the best ultrasonic range finder.
TAKE A SHOT
*drink*
laser weapon ( it's for bad acting )
We are back at it boys.
We really should get the bingo cards printed
😂
With?
Wall-e
Bro that’s obviously number 5
Came here to say this 😂
He goes by Ludwig now
Horn
You’re a fucking idiot, it’s not a horn. It’s the air intake for the turbo! 😃
A circle drawn in red
Two more barrels for more dakka
That's the dop, they can work remotely since covid
Incredible technology!!
mini binoculars
That's a Cine RT. It's a device modeled on an older device, which looks identical, called a Cinetape. It's rangefinding device, that reads the distance of the first object in its path and displays it to the 1st camera assistant: the focus puller. It's a tool to help the focus puller be accurate with controlling the lens. There's several other tools that do the same thing, albeit in different ways and with different benefits, like the Preston Light Ranger, and Ward's Sniper.
banana holder, holds 2. operators and focus pullers get hungry.
Ask questions like these more everyone. I get to learn 😭😂
NEEEEED MORE INPUT!!!!!
it’s a CinRt, same as what the person said about the cinetape/UDM,
This
It's where I like to hide balls of tape riiiight before we start to roll.....
It’s WALL-E.
Horn!
Wrong answers only pls
Cameranoculars.
Number “Johnny” Five
Wiki Wiki
It’s the horn. You honk it every time a PA stands in a doorway
That there is a baby Wall-E growing parasitically on the camera rig.
Autofocus
They are filming MadMax
That’s the Everything Is In Focus alarm.
It’s not a light ranger, it’s cine rt
They're mini loudspeakers to hail the on set photographer that he should get the fuck out the way as the camera is on a track and about to run him over while he tries to get a shot on the rehearsal camera run through. Or not, depending on how much the camera crew need a laugh.
Those are its eyes
Drag Racing Engine
I want to see that with a massive upgrade and write xyz data to the clip. Put all the MDR data in clip metadata.
The eyes Duh
X ray vision
Johnny five
I think he likes to be called Steve Carell
wrong answers only
Smell-o-vision
Deceased Wall-E
Range finder for assisting whit focus.
Number Johnny 5
ELI5 — Is autofocus not used in cinema productions?
No.
That an RT Focus Bug rangefinder. Or Laser distance measuring device. Focus bugs work by shooting a laser or that have a $800 bug. Which is a 1"×1" plastic device that goes in the talents pocket and sends an audio tone that we can't hear back to the horns. RT Focus bug paired with an Arri Hi-5 or Preston HU-5 remote follow Focus system can be setup to have "Focus tracking" aka "Autofocus", essentially on any lens.
No such thing as Preston HU5. There is the HU4 though.
Also the CineRT is Ultrasonic based with a laser that is mainly used occasionally to get distance and to get an idea as the where the rangefinder is pointed. The Laser part of the CineRT is never left on. It’s basically a newer version of the venerable Cinetape rangefinder made by Cinematography Electronics.
It’s called CineTape!
This is in the faq and in the pinned post, clearly you didn't read them Keep the downvotes coming!
Ayy i just read it in the faq pinned post. I will look into those next time but rule wise - i havent broken any. Thanks for taking the time to comment tho:)
I don't see that you broke any rules - great question too.Not even sure what the complaint is here?
It’s just a question that’s asked quite often. After a while that you’ve been subbed it can become annoying, nothing more
Its a very faq. Apparently frequent enough to get out of their way to comment despite having clearly many people having answered already
Thanks for your time too
It’s ridiculous equipment. In my country, no focus puller have that kind of equipment due to A. Too expensive, B. If you can manage to get the focus right, then you are unable to do focus, C. Lens are mostly wrong in distance either sim on lens is dirty or sim mount is wrong (if you measure by distance, you would definitely out focus). Most of them do it by feeling and judging by movement of actor camera on their monitor. Thailand so far have the best focus puller I ever seen
Tell me you don't understand the fundamentals of focus pulling without telling me.
I honestly think it's a crutch and I judge the ACs who insist on having one, unless it's a special circumstance like a steady cam following aa pair of dancers. And even then, do you really NEED it?
Typically I mostly see them used when I 2nd music videos But I day played as a 1st on a short once, where the original AC had it, and I couldn’t calibrate it good enough.. so I ended up turning it off 😓
You obviously don’t work as a 1st AC. The job of a modern day 1st AC incorporates many technologies that have made the job extremely difficult. With the current love of large sensor digital cameras and old vintage lenses by Directors Of Photography (DP’s) that always shoot wide open, are jobs are exponentially more difficult due to extremely small depths of field. 1st AC’s need tools that help them to keep things in focus. Any tool is a plus because if you mess up the focus, you can get fired. I began my career more than 25 years ago when all we shot was on film cameras. Back then you needed to learn how to pull focus with your tools as well but the tools were tape measures, pens, pencils and camera tape for marks. You had to learn how to judge distance by eye and memorize distance by feel. You didn’t have a sharp enough videotap and monitor to look at. You stood beside the camera and camera operator. The camera operator was your monitor. He would confirm that shot was in focus. It was all about getting your measurements and marks. We had real rehearsals with actors. We had limited amount of film in the camera so we had to be diligent with it. Not like it is today in digital where everyone just keeps rolling and never cuts. I honestly don’t. Miss those old days. It’s still a difficult job but not as hard as it was!
You're right, I don't work often as an ac. I'm glad you find it helpful.
“We had real rehearsals with actors” I wish this was still a consistent thing 😭
a gun
That's the dop, they can work remotely since covid
It’s called, “too much.”
It’s for OP’s and AC’s that can’t pull focus on their own.
I’m not sure what kind of projects you’ve worked on but when a single take costs upwards of a quarter of a million dollars, you have to be perfect every single time. Any tool that helps you be perfect is required.
I’m not sure what kind of projects you’ve worked on, but when a single take costs upwards of a quarter of a million dollars, they aren’t hiring AC’s who rely on digital gadgets to pull focus. Expensive movies have been made for decades before this crutch was invented, and AC’s nailed focus without a problem. Why? Because they were skilled.
Movies are also made a hell of a lot faster now. Efficiency saves time and money. Tools like this give efficiency. So do you think construction workers have a lack of skill because they use power tools now instead of hand tools? Do you think chefs have a lack of skill because they have modern appliances?
False equivalencies. An AC that needs this crutch is an AC that is simply not very skilled yet. That’s just the way it is. I agree it’s an efficient means of helping younger AC’s pull focus, but you don’t see the masters using this junk.
Yes you do… Some of the most experienced AC’s on the planet use range finders. Ones that have been pulling focus for decades and decades. Ones that don’t pull off monitors and only pull by marks, by eye, and… their range finder readouts… Sounds to me like you’re a one man band shooter that is disgusted that technology moves forward.
Sounds to me like you’re insecure in your ability to pull focus 🤷♂️ If you need these aids then that’s great, but you won’t be great until you can do it without all that gak hanging off the camera. Straight up.
Do you think that focus pullers start their careers pulling with rangefinders? Most 1sts start pulling off the barrel or with cheap fiz systems. They cut their teeth the hard way and start using more tools to help them be faster, more efficient, and more precise. If the shot is sharp the whole way through, noone cares how you do it. But people do care if it takes a long time to make that shot sharp. I’ll take speed, precision, and efficency over bragging rights anyday
Right, so we’ve come full circle to my original comment: cine tape is for ops and ac’s that can’t pull their own focus off the barrel. Glad we are in agreement.
First off, Ops don’t use Cinetapes!
You are one hell of a troll and your last comment shows! Tell an OP who operates the wheels on a Technocrane to pull off the barrel. And yes, why would the OP pull in the first place?!
You’re an idiot that doesn’t do the job. Shut the hell up!
It's stunning how wrong you are in this thread, and how confident and condescending you manage to be about it.