BR Remote Camball4 XM Owner's manual

- 1 -
Camball4
XM & VR
Instructions & Information
Ver. 1018.3

- 2 -
Contents
Introduction…………………………………3
Control Priorities…………………………...4
Joystick Control…………………………….4
DMX Control………………………………..4
DMX Settings……………………………….5
Free-D & Mstar Control…………………....5
Connections……………………….……..…6
LED Indicators……………………….……..7
LCD Display…………………………….…..7
Pre-Set Positions & Profile Moves….……8
Movement Specifications………………..10
CCU commands ………………………….11

- 3 -
Introduction
The Camball4 range of cameras is designed to accommodate the latest requirements for
additional control protocols, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) applications and
also for Studio Automation applications.
The control protocol options currently include, DMX, Free-D, Mstar and Dstar.
The DMX Control’ of the Camball4 has been developed in response to the requirement
integrate cameras into master show computers.
Free-D, Mstar, are intended for use with VR and AR applications.
Dstar is our standard ‘live action’ protocol which has been controlling remote cameras for over
20 years.
There are 2 versions of the Camaball4, XM (extended motion) and VR (Virtual Reality). Both
versions can have the iBase fitted to allow internal Fibre and IP connectivity.
The units are rugged and weatherproof and can be used externally without further protection.
It can be rigged normally or inverted and there are a number of options which can be specified
including internal lens heaters and wide-angle converters.
Camball4 with iBase

- 4 -
Control Priorities
No changes have been made to the normal joystick operation and the system is rigged in the
normal way, with a joystick controller. Positional commands are automatically recognised
and it moves as commanded. However the operator can take control with the joystick panel
at any time.
On a position-based application this allows for the operator to correct for artists being out of
position, or for live action following. Control will revert to position control when there is no
operator input AND a new position is received.
This also allows for the iris to be operated by a vision engineer, rather than the positional
controller. If the Iris position remains constant the unit will not revert to Iris (DMX, Free-D or
Mstar) control and the vison engineer will continue to have control. The same applies to
Focus and all the controlled axes.
Joystick Control
When using the joystick to control the camera there are a number of settings that can be
used.
Pan & Tilt Directions –These can be changed using
the PT Reverse command in the Setup menu. This
command will cycle between the 4 combinations of
Pan/Tilt directions.
Zoom & Focus Reverse –These can also be
changed from this menu.
Pan & Tilt Speeds –When adjusting the Speed
knobs the display will show the speed settings.
Speeds 1, 2& 3–In any of these 3 speeds the pan & tilt speeds are proportional to the zoom
angle. ie. If the zoom is wide the speed is higher. When you zoom in the pan & tilt speeds
reduce to help with smooth camera control.
Speeds 4 –10 –These are fixed ‘gears’ and do not change with the zoom angle.
DMX control
DMX Control of the Camball4 is input via the Dsub connector. A DMX input cable is supplied
with the unit.
When used as an ‘Auto Tracking’ camera it can follow the designated artist extremely
smoothly, including zoom & focus. This has been made possible with the Predictive Move
Smoothing (PMS) algorithm, which smooths the moves and also copes with missing data
packets.
During a move, the PMS routine does not wait for a new position before initiating a move to
that new position. Rather, it predicts the next position, based on the trajectory of the previous

- 5 -
movement, and continues to move along that trajectory. When the position is confirmed, or
changed, the camera makes the appropriate adjustment to the trajectory and then predicts the
next position.
The PMS routine also predicts when to expect a position update, based on the previous
frequency of positional data packets. If a new position does not arrive within the predicted
window the PMS predicts further ahead to continue a smooth move even if the data packet is
missing or corrupted.
The PMS routine achieves a far more natural movement of the camera as it tends to follow the
artist’s actual move in real time, not wait at the artist’s previous position until moving to the
next position, when it would always be behind the action.
DMX Settings
The camera uses 8 DMX channels for full DMX control;
•Ch1 (Base) - Pan position coarse (8bits)
•Ch2 - Pan position fine (8bits)
•Ch3 - Tilt position coarse (8bits)
•Ch4 - Tilt position fine (8bits)
•Ch5 - Zoom position coarse (8bits)
•Ch6 - Zoom position fine (8bits)
•Ch7 - Focus (8bits)
•Ch8 - Iris (8bits)
The factory HOME position is camera forwards and horizontal.
HOME position is not required for Camball4 VR because absolute encoders are fitted to the
shafts.
The DMX Base address can be cycled Up or Down to set the Base Address. When the desired
Base Address is shown –push the ‘Set’ button.
Free-D & Mstar control
When in Free-D or Mstar mode, the CamBall4 outputs continuous metadata in Free-D (D1
format) or Mstar format. A Free-D cable is supplied with the camera. The metadata contains
24bit position data for Cam ID, Pan, Tilt, Zoom & Focus, plus genlock status. (Internally the
camera only uses 16bits). The same Free-D data format is used as a control input. Free-D
output can be in Angular or RAW format. The RAW format is the absolute 16bit position.
The angular output is calculated from this so is slightly less accurate. For more information
about Free-D protocols see separate documents.
The type of Free-D metadata can be changed from the Multi Function Controller.This can
be Angular or RAW.
When no genlock input is present the camera sends the metadata at either 50Hz or 60Hz,
depending on the selected camera output standard. It is timed with the video frames.