Technology in Performance: Speedy Rail Linear Guides by Rollon

In the filming of a soccer match, details are fundamental: the images must ensure that the spectator can see every moment of the game, the players must be followed in their fast movements, in good and bad weather, even in the rain, so that those watching from home do not miss a single emotion.

To achieve this, you need a camera mounted on a self-supporting, silent linear motion solution that can provide a potentially unlimited number of strokes and is capable of working even in unfavorable environmental conditions. That's exactly what Rollon has accomplished together with broadcast camera system manufacturer and supplier Movikom.

Since the first experience with a film crew, who asked to create a remote control system to shoot complicated acrobatic scenes without the help of stuntmen, Movikom has specialized in these areas, both for cinema and TV, and has developed its own Robycam, a winch-based camera platform with advanced 3D motion control.

Robycam is currently used for sporting and cultural events around the world and all Movikom products are designed to be easily integrated into production systems that are already structured or to be developed, or even into the infrastructure of a stadium. An advantage that is much appreciated by producers and companies in the entertainment industry.

Quality shooting on the go

For this specific application, Movikom needed to develop a handling system based on linear rails and therefore contacted Rollon. The requirement was for a long single rail, strong enough to reliably carry a camera. Robustness was also a fundamental requirement related to safety, since - during filming - the speed of movement of the camera could reach 10 m/s.

The system to be built was intended for permanent installation in a stadium in the city of Minsk, Republic of Belarus. It was a matter of quickly mounting the rails all along the soccer field achieving an unobtrusive and unobtrusive presence.

The system had to be silent, so as not to interfere with the audio of the shoot, and optimal in all weather conditions. There was no time to ensure accurate alignment management or even tight maintenance cycles, reliability had to be maximum and immediate: Speedy Rail responded perfectly to all these needs.

Rollon applications in film production

The first consideration when Movikom chose Rollon as a partner was that only a few suppliers could offer linear rails comparable to Speedy Rail.

For the camera movement system on the Robyrail single-track application, it was necessary to ensure that the gyro-stabilized camera head remained as stable as possible. Good stability of the camera head on the rail, in effect, means smooth camera movement and quality footage, which in turn is crucial to achieving a stable image.

Since the RobyHead R3 camera head used in the Minsk stadium project was equipped with new drive motors capable of moving it at a very high speed, high quality footage would have been impossible without functional camera stabilization: Rollon's Speedy Rail made this stabilization possible and contributed to the realization of a system that fears neither weather nor wear. Learn more about Rollon's solutions and how they can provide an effective application response even in challenging environmental conditions.

Download the Speedy rail catalog and choose the model that best suits your application needs