The Bubba’s team is very excited to announce the latest addition to our team, (drum roll, please) a Camera Robot Arm! If you are unfamiliar with camera robotics, the arm portion of the bot is similar to something you would see on a car assembly line. The difference being, instead of a hand like-clamp used to install car parts or other assembly line tasks, our camera robot arm is outfitted with a specially designed mount to house a variety of high-end, high frame rate cameras such as RED or Phantom Flex4K. Our first exploration into Camera Robot Arms began early in 2019. Our team was scrolling social media and came across a video showing off the camera work capabilities of the camera robot arms. We were immediately blown away. Preliminary research informed us of three high-level takeaways:
1. Camera Robotics is complex. Masters of the craft are highly skilled in the technical camera work, on-set lighting, and engineering a variety of specially designed rigs.
2. The community surrounding these bots is somewhat niche, but as of late has gained a lot of traction both in commercial work and in presence across social media.
3. Robots are expensive!
The Bubba’s team’s interest in camera robot arms really peaked when we learned of the intersection of super-macro shots combined with visual effects. Bubba’s LA began as a post-production company specializing in motion graphics and VFX. Our team of artists is experts in a variety of software such as Nuke, Maya and After Effects. Mapping out our path to camera robotics, we have the post-skills to push the visuals over the top. We have the on-set technical experience with lighting and cameras. But we still need to learn how to operate the camera robot arm.
Then came our ‘ah-ha’ moment. The robot we were most interested in is controlled through Maya which we have hours upon hours of experience. Combining our Maya knowledge with other honed skills like key-frames, pre-vis layouts and composting, our learning curve is somewhat shortened so we decided to dive in headfirst.
Our camera robot arm is due to arrive at our studio in early 2020. The Bubba’s office has been buzzing in anticipation since we put in our purchase. On top of the incredible visuals we hope to produce with our bot, there are many on-set features that make these camera robot arms an attractive option for any camera team. Contact us directly via our website to schedule an on-site demo.
The Bubba’s Team
