Nettmann Systems International

Nettmann and the Dark Knight break world record

2008-07-21T11:01:00.001-07:00

Nettmann Systems' Stabilized Helicopter Mount was used so extensively on Batman: The Dark Knight that a world record was broken. The Super-G outfitted with the latest IMAX camera, was used for 53 consecutive days filming all the aerials for this feature.

This is longer than any other stabilized aerial system outfitted with a large-format camera for a feature film. We congratulate the IMAX Corporation, pilot Craig Hoskins and aerial D.P. Hans Bjerno on their contribution to the success of The Dark Knight.

Nettmann Systems, Not Exhibiting at CineGear 2008

2008-06-19T23:36:00.000-07:00

Nettmann Systems would like to formally thank all of the producers, cinematographers directors, and camera assistants, who through referrals and word of mouth have made the first half of 2008 extremely busy for us.

When we exhibit at an industry convention like CineGear we feel that is of the utmost importance to have the attendees, the industry veterans whose jobs rely on the performance of our gear, to get hands on demos of our latest camera support systems.

Unfortunately we don’t have equipment in inventory for this 2008 CineGear, as all the systems are being utilized on productions throughout the world.

Some of our latest gyro-stabilized systems the Super-G and the Stab-C COMPACT are currently working on car commercials and features in South Africa, Bond Movies in Europe, Olympics prep for Beijing, and track systems for T.V. Shows.

We decided that it was best to not disrupt these various productions in order to exhibit at Cine-Gear.

Please look for us in 2009 with a new booth, new equipment, and lots of important hands on demos.

The COMPACT Russian Inauguration

2008-06-11T08:01:00.001-07:00

Our new Stab-C COMPACT was selected to capture the inauguration of the new Russian president Dmitri Medvedev. One of our European agents, ACS France, mounted the wireless COMPACT on a 2300 foot long 2D Cablecam rig filming the procession of the motorcade to the Kremlin.

Our Mini-C, our smallest fully stabilized head, was also utilized. It was mounted on a motorcycle to also capture shots of the president's arriving entourage. The job was extremely successful and we look forward to being part of the next Russian inauguration in eight years time. Please view the first thirteen minutes of the hour long video of the recent event to see some of the footage.

Nettmann Systems goes SEADEEP

2008-06-10T22:06:00.001-07:00

Nettmann Systems has just completed a multi-axis stabilized gimbal for the Submarine-Enabling Airborne Data Exchange and Enhancement Program (S.E.A.D.E.E.P).

This DA.R.P.A. funded program, and a partnership between the U.S. Navy and Apogen is to enhance communication bandwidth and security utilizing Blue-Green lasers for communication with submerged submarines. Current communication is handled via radio waves which cannot travel underwater; hence the submarine must raise a metallic mast above the water inadvertently revealing its position. The SEADEEP program will allow submarines to receive massive data streams while remaining covertly submerged as lasers travel through water.

Apogen selected N.S.I. over all other competition due to our, reliability, controllability, quality of stabilization and because of our track record with government and security agency gimbal programs. Please read more about the SEADEEP program that Nettmann Systems is proud to be a part of.

COMPACT-Flawless Hollywood Debut

2008-03-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

Our newest gyro-stabilized head the Stab-C COMPACT has just completed a number of productions for its Hollywood debut. Producers, Directors and Cinematographers are thankful that a lightweight camera stabilizing tool has finally hit Hollywood that combines supreme stability, reliability and the ease of control and operation for which Nettmann Systems is world renowned.

The COMPACT is designed to stabilize most available camera packages and be lightweight enough for almost any application. Uses range from camera cars, to cable systems, to Technocranes, to helicopters-yes, even helicopters. The COMPACT’s design and engineering is based on its larger brother the Stab-C and can be used also as an aerial cinematography helicopter mount.

The systems has already completed/worked on various productions, including "Eagle-Eye" with D.P. Dariousz Wolski, Lexus commercials, The Moment of Truth and others and is ready for rental.

The Evolution of Street Dancing, and the Revolution of the Mini-C

2008-03-25T19:34:00.000-07:00

Through an innovative partnership between Atlantic Cine Equipment and Rail &Tracking Systems our gyro stabilized head the Mini-C is wrapping up a multi-month contract providing revolutionary shots of high energy hip-hop crews on MTV's Americas Best Dance Crew.

The Mini-C, mounted on the high speed curved Trackrunner system from RTS, revolves the stage capturing all the close up, highly detailed shots of the dance crews in action. Everyone involved has praised the stability and reliability of the Mini-C and they are extremely impressed with its performance.

Guinea Pig Commando Soldiers & The Snorkel

2008-03-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

The Kenworthy/Nettmann Snorkel was selected out of all other optical systems on the market to complete numerous VFX plate and P.O.V. shots for the new Jerry Bruckheimer movie G-Force.

The Snorkel, a periscopic camera system, won the hearts of director Hoyt Yeatman and cinematographer Bojan Bazelli because of its inherent special optical principles and the ability to get within millimeters of the ground for P.O.V. shots of the cute little armed and dangerous, "licensed to kill", guinea pigs.

Stab-C and The 2008 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider

2008-03-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

The finished commercial for the 2008 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider shot with the Stab-C from both a helicopter and camera cars.

Giving Bowl fans the 'wow' shot

2008-02-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

Nettmann Systems Intl congratulates Cablecam on their article in the L.A. Times. NSI is proud to supply Jim Rodnunsky and his team with one of the finest Gyro Stabilized Heads-The Nettmann Pinpoint. Pictured in the article
Reprinted from the L.A. Times Feb 2, 2008
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Jim Rodnunsky's Cablecam puts TV viewers over the field and into the action.

By Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 2, 2008

GLENDALE, ARIZ. -- When New York Giants center Shaun O'Hara and New England Patriots noseguard Vince Wilfork launch their combined 628 pounds at each other in Sunday's Super Bowl, more than 90 million viewers will be able to almost feel the collision.

And for that they can thank Jim Rodnunsky, a filmmaker from Granada Hills who while working to make his skiing simulator more realistic stumbled upon what experts say is the most significant innovation in sports television of the last 20 years: the Cablecam.

The Cablecam moves on a cat's cradle of synthetic ropes attached to the light standards atop a stadium, suspending a 65-pound remote-controlled high-definition camera to within 12 feet over the players and 10 yards behind the quarterback.

With it, controllers have the ability to tilt and pan in all directions, snooping in on huddles, gliding along with an injured player as he limps off the field or focusing straight down on a scrum for a loose football -- all from angles previously available only in video games.

"Let's get right over that goal-line stand and see that guy over the goal line looking up at the camera -- not looking at it, but looking at it -- when he's just scored a touchdown and he's on his back with the ball," said Artie Kempner, the Fox network director who will be calling the shots in Sunday's broadcast.

"It's a wow shot. Cablecam gives you the wow."

Networks still use their sideline cameras for play-by-play action but augment that with Cablecam shots for the more important NFL games. The system isn't used all the time because of its expense -- use of the camera and the technicians who run it costs about $60,000 a game.

The Super Bowl is well worth that investment, Fox Sports President Ed Goren says.

"The challenge in any sport is to make it more intimate and take the viewer where he hasn't been before," he said.

Rodnunsky took some scary risks to get the first overhead shots with his Cablecam prototype. In 1989, he created a version of the cable camera by stringing 1,400 feet of steel cable above Sudan Couloir at Blackcomb Mountain in Canada, one of North America's most harrowing ski runs.

"It's a serious piece of real estate," he said. "It makes Cornice at Mammoth look like a beginner run."

Rodnunsky, who said he was living on a friend's couch at the time and subsisting on macaroni-and-cheese dinners, saved $75,000 to build the contraption. He wanted to capture footage for his simulator, which he used to teach people how to ski and snowboard.

Modern Cablecams are gyro-stabilized and controlled by an operator using joysticks in a stadium booth. But Rodnunsky's rudimentary version required him to take a toe-tingling backward ride.

He built an aluminum basket and would zip face down and feet first down the cable -- attached to rocks at the top and bottom -- reaching speeds of 50 mph and a height of 80 feet, using motorcycle hand brakes to slow his descent.

All while peering through a camera lens.

"Maybe the luge should have been my sport," joked Rodnunsky, who grew up in Edmonton, Canada, before his family moved to the San Fernando Valley when he was in his teens.

Two years after Rodnunsky's experiment on the ski slope, Hollywood came calling. Director Steven Spielberg used the Cablecam in 1991 to make "Hook," and Rodnunsky's device was later used in commercials, music videos and dozens of movies, among them "Happy Gilmore," "Miracle," "True Lies," "Van Helsing," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Dreamgirls."

Rodnunsky's invention has won two Academy Awards for technical achievement in feature films and six Emmy Awards for sports broadcasting. Chatsworth-based Cablecam International now has six cameras, 12 full-time employees and about 75 freelance crew members.

There are competing companies -- filmmaker Garrett Brown is inventor of the Skycam and Steadicam systems; ESPN contracts with Skycam -- but Rodnunsky has contracts with CBS, NBC and the NFL Network in addition to Fox.

Cablecam's big sports break came in 1994, when it was hired to work the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.

That version of the system required two people to ride it, one driving and the other shooting footage. At the end of each day, Rodnunsky recalls local residents gathering at the top of the skiing course to take Cablecam rides at speeds of 60 to 70 mph.

"That was an E-ticket ride, let me tell you," he said. "They were always disappointed at the end of the day when we had to pack up and go. We were disappointed too."

Later that year, Rodnunsky's company used a remote-controlled Cablecam for the Kentucky Derby and Preakness telecasts, although that camera didn't have the ability to move around in three dimensions as does the modern version.

Rodnunsky's system was first used in football broadcasts in several college bowl games in 2000. The NFL agreed to the use of overhead cameras in 2003, and it was one of his Cablecams peering at Janet Jackson in 2004 during her infamous "wardrobe malfunction" Super Bowl halftime show. [sic]

NSI Wraps Up Busiest Year Ever

2007-12-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

NSI is happy to announce that 2007 was the busiest year in the history of the company. Record rental days were realized for our gyrostabilized equipment on the feature films: “Batman 3 –The Dark Night” (in IMAX format); “The Incredible Hulk”; “The Golden Compass”; and “Death Race.”

Victoria's Secret and the Nettmann Mini-C excite millions

2007-12-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

Last month at the Kodak theater in Hollywood, the Mini-C, gyrostabilized camera mount and the RTS track system flawlessly shot the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

The Mini-C and the RTS track system gave director Hamish Hamilton that unique tracking camera angle that has been his favorite shot for the last three years of production.

The camera was able track the models, move smoothly along the Runway and quickly reposition itself for the next entrance.

See more of the RTS Track System and Mini-C combo at Atlantic Cine Equipment

Super-G and The Golden Compass

2007-12-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year Nettmann's Super-G Gyrostabilized Aerial Camera System shot the opening credits and other FX laden shots for the movie The Golden Compass, with D.P.Henry Braham. The Super-G paired with Panavision's Genesis digital camera performed flawlessly while flying at 12,500ft above the Eiger and Jungfrau peaks of Switzerland. The Super-G was suspended from the belly of the helicopter, piloted by Fred North, so the camera could fly between the crevices. Nettmann Systems would like to wish New Line Cinema good luck on this opening weekend.

NSI Completes Large Format World Record

2007-09-08T10:54:00.001-07:00

Nettmann Systems International is proud to announce a world record in the history of Large Format Helicopter Photography. Our Super-G aerial camera system has just completed 47 days filming a major studio feature film, using the latest in Large Format cameras from Canada. More details on this production and the Super G aerial sequences prior to the release date which is slated for mid 2008.

NSI presence now in Hong Kong

2007-09-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

Nettmann Systems International is proud to announce that we have just received approval from the Hong Kong government for complete utilization of the Super-G (Super Gyron) for continued aerial sequences on the above Large Format feature film. Hollywood and European productions will now be able to utilize this approval when using the Super-G in Hong Kong.

Mini-C does the Miss Universe

2007-06-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

Our 5 axis stabilized head the "Mini-C" just completed the Miss Universe contest. Traveling alongside the Catwalk on the RTS Track system from Atlantic Cine Equipment, it performed flawlessly, giving camera operators complete control over all their shots. We pride ourselves on making stabilized equipment that allows operators to express their creativity in every way-unhampered from the bounds of competitive stabilization systems..

Nettmann's PinPoint and CableCam WOW the Indy 500

2007-05-27T18:19:00.001-07:00

Nettmann Systems and CableCam wowed television viewers of the Indy 500, as CableCam mounted our brand new 3 Axis stabilized head- The PinPoint - on its 2000 ft cable rig for the race. Both systems provided viewers an unprecedented 80 MPH birds-eye-view of the Race at Turn 1, the Pits and the Stands.

The Nettmann PinPoint is becoming the Number One stabilized system in the CableCam arsenal as it is used on every high profile event, the Oscars, the De La Hoya fight, and now the Indy 500.

Please contact us for further information regarding the PinPoint.

PinPoint on the De La Hoya / Mayweather Fight

2007-05-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

The PinPoint was the premiere choice of stabilizing heads for the highly anticipated Oscar De La Hoya Fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. CableCam utilized our new head over the ring giving never before seen boxing shots that were a complete Knock-Out.

Nettmann Goes to the Oscars Again

2007-03-22T04:53:00.000-07:00

Our new PinPoint 3 axis gyro stabilized head was selected as the main remote control camera at the recent Academy Awards show in Los Angeles.

The PinPoint was connected to Cablecam's 3 D aerial rig suspended above the audience and was maneuvered in three dimensional space to give never before seen shots at the Oscars. Acadamy Award winning Nettmann's new head was selected amongst many other competitors to stabilize the shots for this premier use of a cable system on the Oscars show.

NSI is now in full manufacturing mode for this proven state-of-the art system, please call for further details.

The Nettmann PinPoint

2007-03-22T04:50:00.000-07:00

The PinPoint is a 3 axis gyro stabilized remote head that was specifically designed to be used for cable rigs. CableCam has used our system with great sucess (pictures courtesy of CableCam Inc). Please call Nettmann Systems for more information.

Fiesta & Cotton Bowls Courtesy of Nettmann Systems, and Cablecam.

2007-01-14T11:39:00.001-08:00

The amazing "behind the quarterback's shoulder" camera shots of the Fiesta Bowl and other football broadcasts during the last few weeks were provided by our new PinPoint stabilized camera system. This thrity pound, three axis stabilized camera system is bringing Cablecam closer to the action with more control, better stabilization and high reliability. Please call N.S.I. for more information and sales.

N.S.I. Workforce Grows

2007-01-14T11:36:00.001-08:00

The continued growth of N.S.I. as a result of its propriety gimbal designs, stabilization control systems and sales orders has lead to hiring onto its staff an aerospace proven analog design engineer, an SME certified manufacturing engineer, and three outside control systems experts to handle the current demand for Nettmann Systems line of stabilized gimbals and turrets. N.S.I. looks forward to 2007 as continued worldwide sales of our camera systems increase.

2nd Super-G to Serve the North American Film Market

2006-11-02T11:20:00.000-08:00

Nettmann Systems has just finished dynamic acceptance testing on a third Super-G Helicopter Camera Mount.

This latest Aerial Camera System will be the second Super-G based out of Nettmann Systems in Los Angeles.

The demand for this system in the North American market has dramatically increased as word of mouth spreads about the abilities and features of this aerial camera system. It will serve all film, television and commercial productions in North America.

Introducing N.S.I.'s Vertical Gyro, the VG-720

2006-09-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

Nettmann Systems International is proud to announce the VG-720, a custom engineered Vertical Gyro (VG) which provides VG functionality with several advantages over competing Vertical Gyros. These advantages include
higher performance sensors, adaptive filtering, auto-recovery from gyro
clipping situations, fully customizable configuration, and configuration
presets. It also contains a real-time data capture system for analysis
of flight/gyro data. This provides a way to optimize the configuration
and performance for specific stabilized gimbal applications, ranging
from the slow swaying of an ocean vessel, to the quick sharp multi-G
turns of a helicopter. This amazing gyro sensor will be installed stock
on all our gyro stabilized systems. For further inquires about this new
product line please contact us.

FLYBOYS Aerial Shots, and the Super-G Camera Mount

2006-08-31T08:59:00.000-07:00

Nettmann Systems would like to congratulate director Tony Bill and MGM Studios on the completion of the movie FLYBOYS, opening on September 22nd. Tony Bill wanted the aerials to be unlike any movie ever shot before, so he teamed up the most advanced aerial camera mount, our Super-G, with the Panavision Genesis Digital Camera. This was the first time that a digital film camera had ever been used on a helicopter, resulting in amazing aerial sequences. These were shot exclusively using our Super-G Aerial Camera Mount from a helicopter piloted by Fred North. The steerable roll capability, and precision control offered by our Super-G produced mind-blowing shots, some of which can be seen in this five minute FLYBOYS battle sequence video or the Flyboys Trailer.

Fiber-Optic Slip Rings in all NSI Gimbals

2006-08-21T20:57:00.000-07:00

Nettmann Systems International has just completed engineering acceptance
testing on an NSI propriety designed fiber-optic/gold conductor
slip-ring unit. This new slip-ring device, unique to our brand new
product line of NSI gimbals, will pass perfect HD/SDI signals without
corruption. This fiber-optic rotary joint will allow the HI-DEF camera
block to be set to maximum gain without the picture suffering from
“noise and patterning in the blacks" in the video. Look for this
advancement in our Stab-C Lite, the Pin-Point, and our future line of
ENG stabilized camera gimbals.