So it’s been an amazingly fun week to see the community at large react similarly to the way I did when I first saw the MōVI in action: Amazement.
The MōVI will be shown for the first time to the public tomorrow at NAB at booth #C9848 and Freefly will start to take orders tomorrow as well with specific details.

I’d like to answer some of the most common questions I’ve seen on the forums and the Vimeo comments in one place – I’ve been trying to keep up for a few days, but with more than a million views in under 3 days, as you can imaging it’s been a tall order. If you don’t know what the MōVI is at this point – you can always read the introduction post here as well as see the original videos:

A few notes about the MōVIShort:

There was ZERO post stabilization applied of any kind – you’re seeing the original untouched clips. We did shoot at 4K and had we post stabilized one can imagine how much more smooth they might have looked.

The final film was graded by Andrew Francis at C03 in NYC and he added a film grain emulation – ergo the noise. The short was shot at 3200-4000 ISO at T 1.3 and I don’t remember seeing a hint of noise on the original – you can see for yourself by downloading the original files here.

Here are some basics:

The MōVI M10 is meant to support up to 10 lbs of weight total. Therefore, you’ll have absolutely no problem running with a DSLR, C300, F5/55 etc and a stabdard Cine Lens.

Tabb Firchau (one of the MōVI creators) and I shot a commercial together last week and we shot the entire spot with a RED Epic (without a side handle,) a somewhat heavy Canon Cine 24mm T 1.3 Prime, Circular ND filtration, follow focus and wireless video. Basically it was a dream. The included batteries will operate the MōVI for 4 hours and a RED Epic for 30-45 minutes at a time.

The MōVI M10 will retails for $15,000 and includes the MōVI, a remote control (joystick similar to what you use for piloting RC Helicopters) and enough batteries to work for a full day.

The MōVI M10 will support two modes: Solo operator mode or “Majestic” (Patent Pending) mode where the MōVI is able to distinguish between erratic movements and user input – i.e. you can pan and tilt your camera SOLO.

The MōVI M10 will also support the use of the included Remote control of course so that you can do the same fancy moves we did on “MōVI.” This is a highly reliable remote that they use to control their RC Choppers at relatively long distances.

There are plans to integrate a focus/zoom/iris within the system as well, as well as joysticks on the handles. Remember the owners of the MōVI are cinema people too – one of them (Hugh Bell) is one of the best Steadicam operators I’ve had the pleasure of working with. So the point is that these guys know what we need…

The second model is the MōVI M5 – which as its name suggests will support 5 pounds that will retail for $7,500 and include the remote and batteries as well. It will operate in SOLO “Majestic” mode and with dual operator mode just as with the unit above.

The third model: the MōVI M20 is intended for the Alexa M camera and for Epics and other heavier cameras with zooms. Freefly is going to ramp up production on the first two models and then offer the M20 thereafter.