Media Tips: GlideCam XR-Pro Review
Cooper Clelan tests a handheld stabilizer for the Reynolds Media Lab.
Attaching the Bottom Plate and Securing Your Screws
The first step in being able to stabilize your camera on the glidecam is attaching the bottom plate to the camera.
You want the plate underneath the camera in the best position possible so no side is heavier than the other. Next step is screwing in the plate to the top of the glidecam.
On each side of the plate there are two screws. Securing these screws is very important. You want the camera to be placed equally above the glidecam so you can set the balance correctly with the bottom weights.
Depending on your camera setup you want to move the plate forward or backward. In my case the lens I was using was very front heavy. This means I set the camera back a bit more than average due to the weight of the lens.
Placing the Bottom Weights
Next step is placing the bottom weights and trying to even position them to match the weight of the top plate.
This is the hardest and most difficult part of this set up because you have to constantly change the position of the weights to have it balance perfectly.
In my situation because the lens was very front heavy I had to combat the resistance and add more weights to the back part of the glidecam.
Because my camera is very light I did not need that many bottom weights to balance everything so depending on your setup you may need more or less weights for the bottom.
Finding the Sweet Spot
As I did more research on the GlideCam website and watched other YouTube reviews on how to balance properly, I found out that if you hold the glidecam parallel to the ground and let it free fall it should only have about one to two seconds of fall time.
Any faster or slower time would mean it is not balanced properly. This took me a bunch of extra time to try and figure out but if you play with the weights and let it free fall from being parallel to the ground you will be able to find the sweet spot.
I would highly recommend the GlideCam XR-Pro to students and filmmakers that want to use relatively inexpensive equipment for future projects. Just note that the balancing of the GlideCam takes time and is just another learning curve you will have to work with. It’s not as easy to balance as a gimbal.
