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and sometimes both the camera and the subject simultaneously. Motion control is a technique and a method, not a particular device.
Sometimes motion control rigs are small, like a tabletop graphics "down-shooter", and sometimes they are huge--big enough to throw around the heaviest of cameras, full-size small boats, and large model helicopters. A good example of the former is Ken Burns' masterpiece for PBS, "The Civil War". A good example of the latter is the Tom Clancy Techno-Thriller, "The Hunt For Red October"---and many others of similiar style.
Probably no two large systems are exactly alike, and no two have the same complement of software features, fixtures, gadgets and accessories, specialized lighting, space to shoot, and so forth. Making a good fit between the capabilities of the specific machine and its people to your visual idea will save you money and make better visuals.
Motion Control Trade Secret Number One
Sometimes you don't need it.
Examine what you're trying to do. If it's a simple "flyover" of a dinner table setting, to reveal the product at the end of the flight, there's no need for that move to be highly matematically precise and computer-repeatable.
That's a jib-arm shot. Muscles will power a jib just fine, and in a few takes you'll have the keeper. Jibs don't need re-programming or editing of the move if you want to change it, you simply move the jib differently. In contrast, it can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes to re-program or edit a motion control computerized move.
In that same dinner table example, suppose you make two passes, one with no product placed in, and a pefectly identical move with the product in its honored spot at the end of the move. Making a dissolve in post later will allow you to fade in the product while the flight is still underway. This is a delightful motion control shot. Very eye-catching. You'd never get it in a hundred takes manually while moving.
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