RTS MagCam And Newton Camera Head Combo Debut At The Grammy Awards

RailCam Robotic Systems premiered the new RTS MagCam paired with a NEWTON stabilized camera head for the TV broadcast of the Grammy Awards.

The RTS MagCam is a wireless remote-controlled wheeled dolly with telescopic tower, that follows a thin magnetic tape line adhered to the floor. This tape can be attached or adjusted in seconds which allows for quick and safe installs of repeatable moves along a determined path that can be made in curves, straights, circles and forks. If conditions change, it is also possible to switch to free-running mode and steer away from the magnetic path.

The MagCam proved very practical on the Grammy set. Brian Sheid at RailCam explains: “There were a lot of cameras in a small room that needed to keep up with very quick stage changes. A dolly on rail tracks would have been too cumbersome and would have required many timely rebuilds, but with the MagCam, we just needed to tape a new strip on the floor in the path the director wanted.“

The MagCam system was operated by Dave Eastwood, who drove the dolly with foot pedals and controlled a Sony HCD-P50 camera and Canon HJ14x4.3 lens with a NEWTON stabilized camera system. Dave Eastwood also supplied 2 telescopic camera towers with NEWTON stabilized heads through his service company Fluid Pictures Inc and a 4th NEWTON system was provided by RailCam on a Chapman dolly. "The 4 NEWTON’s used on the show all preformed wonderful and it’s always a pleasure to operate ours. This was my 25th year as camera operator on the Grammys and I wish the NEWTON had been around back in the day as well", says Dave Eastwood.

You might also like...

Designing IP Broadcast Systems - The Book

Designing IP Broadcast Systems is another massive body of research driven work - with over 27,000 words in 18 articles, in a free 84 page eBook. It provides extensive insight into the technology and engineering methodology required to create practical IP based broadcast…

Demands On Production With HDR & WCG

The adoption of HDR requires adjustments in workflow that place different requirements on both people and technology, especially when multiple formats are required simultaneously.

NDI For Broadcast: Part 3 – Bridging The Gap

This third and for now, final part of our mini-series exploring NDI and its place in broadcast infrastructure moves on to a trio of tools released with NDI 5.0 which are all aimed at facilitating remote and collaborative workflows; NDI Audio,…

Designing An LED Wall Display For Virtual Production - Part 2

We conclude our discussion of how the LED wall is far more than just a backdrop for the actors on a virtual production stage - it must be calibrated to work in harmony with camera, tracking and lighting systems in…

Microphones: Part 2 - Design Principles

Successful microphones have been built working on a number of different principles. Those ideas will be looked at here.