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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 16, 2011 - 01:56am PT
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hey there all, say..... man oh man, the sister i always the last to know (just teasing, to copy a phrase, as in: wow--what a COOL surprise to hear about) :)
congrats to my brother mark! (chappy, for those that do not know me)...
he recieved this, as well as two others (will post their names, just give a few minutes, here):
ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS & SCIENCES
SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING AWARD
WOW! (i added the "wow!" by the way) ;)
here is a photo:
oh my.... awwwww, shucks, something creative must be a'flow in our family, we seen to love to find ways to get things to work....
thank you dear lord god for that little spark, that all mankind has,
that leads so many of us all off to these adventures to learn, and thus, do... :)
sure hope i get my trail to work out, someday, too... :))
CONGRATULATIONS CHAPPY!!!
LOVE FROM SIS!
*i have a some nice pics of mark and his wife, but i do not want to
post them unless i ask him first....
willl let you know, when i get hold of him...
*busy guys, ol' chappy...
:)
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Feb 16, 2011 - 01:58am PT
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That is like totally awesome.
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
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Feb 16, 2011 - 02:05am PT
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Isn't this NUMBER TWO for Mark?
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chez
Social climber
chicago ill
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Feb 16, 2011 - 02:07am PT
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congrats Chiily wip
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 16, 2011 - 02:09am PT
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hey there say, ihateplastic... that is what i asked my dad, and from what my dad said:
they gave this award out, due to the first project becoming even more valuable than before, when first recogonized... (meaning it has now acheived new advances, or something like that)...
does that help?
sounds really intregeing to me...
:)
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 16, 2011 - 02:11am PT
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hey there say, crowley.... hahaa... wow, say, where did get that one...?
GREAT PICTURE....
say, mark and jaimie, are really nice, too, but i want to ask him
about that first... or i'd join in some more fun with you :)
great photo!!!
thanks so very veryyyyyy much...
(i only had a few) :)
*say,can i share the group photo on facebook?
it is clearer... :)
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 16, 2011 - 02:15am PT
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hey there say, crowley.... yes, i had learned that, but i had forgotten WHAT i had learned... :) oh my--so much for retention, :))
well, from what my dad said, this award is somehow connected for the great stuff that is happeneing from this???
*or in otherwords, i do NOT have a proper clue... :))
not yetttttt, anyways... :)
edit:
wow, how really cool... wow, how neat, too...
i love stuff like this... :) folks making
ideas into realities...
:)
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 16, 2011 - 02:19am PT
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Mark second from right, more or less in middle row?
Awesome!
ps Does anyone know what "Cablecam 3-D volumetric suspended cable camera technologies" is or does, specifically? Seems clear that it's a camera on a cable, but there's surely much more to it than that.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 16, 2011 - 02:22am PT
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hey there say, mighty hiker... yep... you can see him, too, on the top pic, that i posted...
but, that is the sideview...
:)
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Feb 16, 2011 - 02:29am PT
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Very cool! Congratulations Chappy! Congratulations, neebee!
John
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Feb 16, 2011 - 02:29am PT
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If you watched the 2011 Super Bowl, you saw this in action.
I'm not sure how Mark Chapman fits in, but maybe with fast rigging and derigging?
google yields:
http://www.occfiber.com/main/index.php?m=1&p=7&l=en&e=N&n=27
January 7, 2008
Flying High With Fiber
With the onset of HDTV, meeting the heavy-duty requirements of the amazing flying camera requires a ruggedized fiber optic cable solution
When he first went into the motion control business, Alex MacDonald gave little or no thought to awards, let alone Academy Awards. At the time, in the late 1990s, he was in New York, a motion control engineer who was mainly interested in the possibilities of robotic control of video cameras for making television commercials. Yet, his passion for creating visually exciting scenes with computer-controlled equipment would lead not only to an Academy Award in 2006, but also innovations that today give us previously unimagined, almost surrealistic perspectives in movies and sports that makes it hard for most of to believe our own eyes. His tour de force is the Optical Cable Corporation fiber optic cable-based 3-D flying camera system.
Today, with many high-profile films among his flying camera credits – Troy, Catwoman and The Poseidon Adventure, to name a few – MacDonald traces the breakthrough in flying camera technology to a 2001 trade show in Los Angeles where he met James Rodnunsky, who would become his Cablecam International (Los Angeles) partner until 2006.
“Jim’s first Cablecam, not much more than a clothesline down a ski slope, was invented to provide video for a ski instruction simulator and depended on pulleys and gravity for mobility. By the time I met him in 2001, his system had progressed to high speed hydraulic winches and a rudimentary rig to provide 3 Dimensional camera moves (moves in XYZ). At this point there were essentially three major limitations – the heavy, noisy hydraulic compressors and oil lines, the lack of computer control, and the inability to get a reliable signal back from a video camera. I brought my servo engineering background to the table and within a few months we found ourselves in Prague, Czech Republic operating the world’s biggest electric servo, computer-controlled 3D gantry system suspended 120’ high over a 600’x250’ village shooting all the flying creature scenes for Van Helsing. Now we had the ability to repeat moves with precision that made multiple takes possible and directors and stunt coordinators very happy – a whole new ballgame.”
That precision control and repeatability would soon lead to Cablecam’s high-speed, high-flying equipment being used in films such as The Longest Yard, Lemony Snicket and sports events including the Super Bowl. The Academy Award was presented to Cablecam in 2006 was for “development of the Cablecam 3-D volumetric suspended cable camera technologies.”
But still in 2001 MacDonald realized that these successes in the film world left a major hurdle to jump in the world of broadcast television – image transmission from a video camera to recording equipment was dependent on RF signals coming from a moving transmitter, signals too undependable to integrate with ground-based network coverage.
“HDTV was becoming the standard, and to meet the high-definition requirements, we needed lots of bandwidth for transmitting high-quality images to the control room for televised events,” MacDonald says. “At the same time, in order to get the most exciting 3-D views and follow the actions over greater distances, the camera ‘runs’ were getting longer. We needed fiber optic image transmission, but that also introduced a number of challenges, chief among which was asking the fiber attached to the rig to move through an extensive pulley system at the same high speeds as the camera. We had no idea if any fiber cable on the market could survive this treatment.”
In search of a workable fiber optic solution, MacDonald visited Optical Cable Corporation (OCC) in Roanoke, VA. A manufacturer of a broad line of standard and custom fiber optic cables, OCC and MacDonald reviewed the requirements for a fiber optic cable suitable for a flying camera system, and recommended its “B” Series Tactical Breakout Cable. With a rugged design suitable for military applications, this hybrid copper-and-fiber OCC cable would meet MacDonald’s high performance, durability and safety requirements as well as carrying both fiber optic signals and electric power through a single line.
“With venues ranging from the windy Chicago to the Frozen Tundra of Green Bay to the severe heat of the Southwest, it was important that the cable could withstand extreme environments,” MacDonald explains. “Also, since the entire system is rigged and de-rigged in a new stadium every week, the cables had to survive rough handling. For example, the maintenance crews at football stadiums often don’t know whether they are handling standard copper cable (Triax) or fiber optic, so we needed a tough jacket providing exceptional kink-resistance properties. Plus, cable runs between the camera and receiver station are often 1,300 feet or more and since this equipment moves at very high speeds, we needed to have a cable with excellent tensile strength for dependability and safety considerations. Of course, the fiber needed to carry a reliable HD signal at a bandwidth of 1.5 Gig. The rugged, weatherproof OCC military style cable met all of those requirements.”
The new copper and fiber cable also solved other problems. Powering both the camera and the servo motors on board through the single cable eliminated a heavy payload of batteries and their unreliability and limited power life. MacDonald says the robust B Series cable handles all these demands – high tension at high speed with flawless simultaneous power and signal transmission coupled with an added margin of safety.
Properly rigged, today’s flying camera systems give spectacular views of events ranging from concerts to political conventions and countless sports events. In fact, they have become so deft that the latest systems can give viewers the impossible perspectives that were previously only seen in digital video games like Madden NFL Football.
“The camera moves in high-quality video games have actually become the new standard for shooting films and live events,” MacDonald says. “Today we can shoot scenes for an action film that are so exactingly repeatable that we can more easily and less expensively combine live action with special effects.”
These days MacDonald continues pushing the image-recording envelope as a motion control consultant, engineer and programmer (visit RigMoves.org). Among his clients is ActionCam, LLC (Tulsa, OK) where he is helping to develop the next generation of flying cameras for television sports.
“We’re making improvements in safety, ease of setup, portability, stability, reliability – across the board upgrades in performance,” MacDonald says. “One of the key new elements will be a high-speed winch carrying B-Series tactical breakout cable with elements of copper for power and single mode optical fiber for HD video transmission. By using an active winch with a fiber optic joint, we will have the dual benefit of tracking the moving camera more responsively with the fiber link, and at the same time have the additional safety provided by the enormous tensile strength of the B Series cable to support the camera platform if necessary and to raise it twice as high over the playing field when required.”
Some guys have all the fun.
Founded in 1983, Optical Cable Corporation manufactures a comprehensive line of tight-buffered fiber optic cable products that address nearly all communications applications including data communications, LANs, telecommunications, video transmission, cable TV, traffic signaling, and military tactical communications.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 16, 2011 - 02:32am PT
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hey there say, crowely... wow, thanks... :)
wow... well, i got to get off now, i got work to do
as to gift projects...
:)
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 16, 2011 - 02:34am PT
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Wow, cool stuff neebee. It's always great to be proud of your siblings achievements. Maybe some of the magic rubbed off on some the others in the tribe. Good stuff to you and your's.
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Feb 16, 2011 - 02:46am PT
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Huge congratulations on another win, Mark.
I really hope we get to see you soon.
Love to you from M and J.
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Anastasia
climber
hanging from a crimp and crying for my mama.
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Feb 16, 2011 - 02:55am PT
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Yeah! Congratulations! Now I know an academy award winner too. Wow, wonders never cease...
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hooblie
climber
from where the anecdotes roam
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Feb 16, 2011 - 06:07am PT
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really happy for mark and the outfit. those cable cam shots make for such a cool, immersive experience,
they are an actual positive contribution. tux'ing it at the academy packin' oscar must be great,
but fist bumps on the forum ... now we're talkin'
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426
climber
☬
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Feb 16, 2011 - 08:01am PT
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Very cool
It amazes me how "life imitates art" in this case, the classic Tecmo Bowl ® ® ® "view" has been rigged in "reality"
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Captain...or Skully
climber
The Seas of Stone.
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Feb 16, 2011 - 08:29am PT
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Weird, wild stuff. Congratulations to Ol' Chappy, NeeBee.
That's awesome.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Feb 16, 2011 - 10:03am PT
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Here's to dirtbags done good and sibling solidarity! Congratulations to you both!
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Feb 16, 2011 - 10:29am PT
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Unreal!!!! Mark was always my favorite climber of the younger wave that came to the Valley in 71. He and I did Leanie Meanie and Anticipation together and simul soloed (dumb) Midterm. Got to do a little with him in the Valley last Oct. Did you know that his daughter received a PHD from Harvard.
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