Foton Accessories Varanus User manual

Contents
Introduction 3
Basic functions 4
Drives assembly 5
Basic functions of driver buttons 8
Detailed description of work modes 10
Detailed description of current
settings Menu 11
Available options of advanced
settings Settings 13
Technical specification 14
Available sets 14
Recommended accessories 16
Work safety 18
Maintenance and cleaning 19
Warranty 19
Thank you for choosing the electronically operated drive set Varanus.
We are certain that you are holding a unique product in your hands. Innova-
tive functions will open a new set of possibilities in registering video.
Advanced software will allow you to obtain a remarkable movie
material without the assistance of another operator. Automatically operated
camera will register a path which you create, either in cycles or just once.
The magical world of time-lapse will become more accessible to you.
Owing to advanced algorithms, registration of dynamic time-lapse photos will
be possible without complex calculations.
We believe that your work with Varanus will give you unforgettable ex-
periences,
Foton Accessories Team
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Introduction
The presented multifunctional device is employed to make very smooth shots in motion,
in all planes, in a constant mode (Video) or step mode (Time-lapse). The set is mounted
on the Kameleon sliders (64, 94, 130 or 200 cm long). The driver precisely regulates the
work of one or two motors, with the possibility of developing pictures. The product is
mainly aimed at professional users. This device is one of the most technologically ad-
vanced pieces of equipment on the market. In order to benefit from all its
developments and improvements requires practical exercise. Therefore, this
user manual should be studied carefully before starting wor .
The trolley and rotating head are driven by motors connected to the controller. The heart
of the device is a microprocessor with unique software, based on complex algorithms and
computational tables. Movement in both axes can be synchronized and allows the camera
to accurately track the filmed subject. Applied electronics responsible for the perfect
replication of the route, regardless of the mode, engine speed and other parameters.
In some modes the software automatically sets the parameters, greatly facilitating
the operator's work.
The whole set, apart from the mains power supply, has the ability to use Li-ion batteries
Sony NP-Fxxx series or a substitute. This solution gives many hours of comfortable work
in the field (up to 70 hours Time-lapse mode, up to 8 h Video mode). The trolley may
work in all planes - horizontal, slant or vertical. Permissible weight of a recording device
installed in a horizontal plane is 6 kg, in a vertical plane 3 kg.
The set is manufactured mainly from durable and hard aluminum alloys. The housing
of the controller is resistant to splash, physical impact and allows to work in difficult
weather conditions (-10 to + 40 ° C). Unlike the joysticks used in similar devices, which,
under the influence of time and contamination have frequent mechanical defects, inten-
tionally used hermetic navigation buttons were installed, ensuring long-term and reliable
operation of our product.
First-class motors with gear transmission were used for trolley and head drives. Their rigid
openwork housing protects them from mechanical damage. The motors are additionally
secured with soundproof material, which substantially eliminates sounds coming from
the gearbox.
Short preparation time of the set is possible thanks to modular design power units
equipped with quick connectors. There is a possibility of mounting the rotary head in the
horizontal PAN plane with the TILT engine on a mount with external thread 3/8" (SV-3
Set). Each set includes a bracket for mounting the controller on the slider and a handle for
battery power unit.
The trolley is coupled to a toothed belt, which should be the extended gently
after installing it with the adjusting wheel (1-2 turns). Too much tension can
overload the drive motor.
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Stronger belt tension can only be used when wor ing vertically. In that position
you should increase the power to the value of 50 in Power Motor settings and
possibly increase engine speed with the Speed nob.
DC voltage supply must not be higher than 12 V. Exceeding this parameter will cause
damage to the controller.
Basic functions of the device
A unique feature of this device is the ability to synchronize operation of the drive engine
with the turning engine. When the start and end points of both engines are entered into
the memory of the controller, the motion performed during the recording device au-
tomatically maintains the subject in the center of the frame!
The enhanced driver also has many regulations in order to select the most optimal pa-
rameters necessary for the implementation of the planned tasks.
Basic settings of the controller – MENU:
•(Distance A) the length of the trolley drive manually set with the navigation
buttons or by editing values in the control program.
•(Rotation B) rotation of the head set manually or using the navigation keys or by
editing values in the control program.
•(Video) continuous drive mode selection.
•(Time-lapse) stop-motion driving mode selection.
•(Photo) frame rate of 5 4500.
•(Pause) triggered interval between frames 1 - 3600 s (1 s - 1 h).
•(Shutter) shutter time 0,100 60 s.
•(Interval) intermittent driving mode (On) or continuous (Off) triggering time-
lapse.
•(Auto Speed) automatically set engine speed in the Time-lapse / Interval-On in
order to avoid jerking the trolley sliders.
•(Loop Video) looped drive.
•(Delay Start) delay starting the program from 0 - 240 s, a useful feature when
creating animated films.
•(Ramp) level of soft-start and brake motors in Video mode, adjustable with
a knob.
•(Speed) variable motors speed, adjustable with a knob.
•(Settings) advanced settings.
•(New track) to start a new path and cancel the previous path.
Advanced settings of the controller – SETTINGS:
•(Load menu) loading settings from individual memory banks.
•(Motor PAN) disconnecting the motor B. Important! The disconnection is re-
quired when using only the motor A.
•(Power motor) motor power adjustment 1-50, selected depending on the load of
the trolley for example: angled or vertical drive - maximum values should be set.
The optimum level is 20.
•(Sel Batt) to select the power source to properly display information about the
current voltage and warning about its low level (Low Battery).
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•(Reset Menu) resetting the menu.
•(Save menu) save individual settings in 10 memory banks (0-9).
Messages depending on the chosen function:
•(Go back?) when engines are running, click [OK], then [M] it gives the ability to
quickly withdraw the trolley to the beginning of the route with the possibility
of restarting the program.
•(Low Battery) low battery voltage indicator. It will appear around 30 min. before
complete battery depletion.
•(Overload) a 2 seconds warning message of total motor overload and conse-
quently - its disconnection for couple of seconds. Also indicates the absence of
motor wire communication with the controller.
•(Reset Settings) indicating the reset advanced settings of the controller Settings .
The activity is performed by simultaneously holding down the [M] and [OK] button
while turning on the control unit.
The value of memory banks will be retained.
Drives assembly
5
2. Place the toothed belt between the trolley and the
slider rail.
3. Tighten the belt at the end of the rail on the side
unregulated by its tension.
4. Place the belt on the running rollers and the wheel
gear.
1. Start the assembly by turning out the brake knob
and mounting the trolley drive.

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5. Tighten the belt at the side regulated by its tension and do 1-2 turns with the knob so that the belt is not too tight.
6. In order to mount the panoramic drive, first mount the adapter with the distance case on the trolley plate with the
inner 3/8’’ thread. Use the Allen wrench to tightly secure the counter screw so that the quick connector socket is
perpendicular to the slider rail. Instead, use the photographic head SGF1F optional accessory.
7. For the SV2 set, secure the turning drive in the quick connector of a) the case or b) the SGF1F head and tighten the
knob blocking the plate. Now, ADAP V adapter socket may be mounted on the turning drive or directly mount the reg-
istering device. In the case of a) an SGF1F head may be used additionally.
a b

When the device is ready to use, press the On/Off button on the controller.
Depending on your needs, motors may be connected to controller interchange-
ably. You should remember that wor of motor connected to soc et B always
depends on wor of motor connected to soc et A.
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8. If necessary, a controller holder or a monitor may be mounted:
a) under the slider foot,
b) by attaching to the plate with an internal ¼’’ or 3/8’’ thread under the slider.
9. Next, place the battery in the adapter with the power
supply cable, and with the elastic Velcro straps mount it
on the battery holder. Place the power supply cable in
the socket, place the drives A and B operating cables in
the socket, and optionally place the shutter controlling
cable in the Shutter socket (for Time-lapse mode).
10. Optionally, the panorama PAN drive (motor A), or
the panning TILT drive (motor B) may be mounted on
the tripod with the external 3/8’’ thread SV-3 Set.
ba

Basic functions of controller buttons
All device functions are controlled by two knobs and four buttons: [M], [OK], [+], [ ].
•Long press (hold) - change the motor A to B. Motor A (trolley slider) is the primary
motor.
•Short press (click) go into/out of Menu (you can only go into the Menu when
there is no program operating and the trolley is not moving).
•Move to the left when entering numerical values in the controlling program.
•Short press - exit from the Settings.
•Long press memorizes the target way point (“END accepted” flashes on the
screen).
•Short press starts the program if the route is set (Go!).
•Move to the right when entering numerical values.
•During the program, a short press immediately interrupts its operation, short press
again to restart the program.
•A short press in the Settings allows you to enter to the advanced settings.
•Short press in some commands alters their functions.
,
•Movement of the selected motor to the right or left.
•Move between functions in the Menu and Settings.
•Increase/decrease numeric values in the control program.
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Manual track programming (for Video mode and Time-lapse)
The easiest way to set the drive path is manually in the setting (see navigation
scheme on the cover of this manual). When the route is not a programmed route
“OK” and “+” or “-” will flash on the screen. It is a suggestion to move the trolley or mem-
orize the current position as final. After selecting the final point on the slider by pressing
[M] long, we can choose between motors and set a way point position. View “Slide =>
Pan” suggests editing the slide motor and vice versa “Pan => Slide” suggests
editing the pan motor. The destination point of motors is memorized by pressing [OK]
long. The status will be confirmed with the “End accepted” message. Then “OK” stops
blinking, telling us about memorizing the destination position of the trolley. To drive auto-
matically, you should return to the starting point of the route. We set trolley with the di-
rection keys [+] or [-], then change the motors holding down [M]. Again, we use the [+]
or [-] keys to program the determined angle of rotation of the head. When the message
“GO!” appears, the pre-programmed path is ready to start. Flashing “OK” suggests clicking
this button and starting the program.
Numerical track programming
The route can also be set directly in the menu by editing entry values of drive (Distance)
and rotation (Rotation). Before, however, you should give direction to motor A all
the time bearing in mind that the trolley will go in the opposite direction than
the last one made with the [+] or [-] eys.
After the first run of trolley “GO!” appears again indicating a completely set route and
readiness to return. Pressing [OK] will make a movement in exactly the opposite direction
to the point where the trolley previously started. If [OK] is pressed quickly during
the drive, it will be terminated immediately. Re-clicking the key continues to execute
the program.
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HOLD ≥ 1 sec.

A detailed description of wor modes
Video Mode
This mode is used to drive a camera in two directions and rotate the head in the
panorama plane, with the function of smooth acceleration and deceleration of the motors.
Driving can be automatic - the manually programmed memorized path between two
points, or manual by entering the values in “Distance A” and “Rotation B”. Also available
is a function of looping route. You can freely use the directional buttons [+] and [-]
to move the trolley. The speed of the movement is set using a potentiometer.
Notice! In Video mode when driving the trolley vertically and with a heavy
registering device it is recommended to set higher speeds and increased motor
power in [Settings / Power Motor] to a value of 50 (nominally 20).
Time-lapse Mode
This mode is to create a very impressive movies with serial time-lapse images taken
in a large period of time and combined in a smooth animation with the effect of time
compression. For Time-lapse mode, two options are available:
–[Interval:On] step drive with electronic cyclical shutter release,
–[Interval:Off] continuous drive with electronic cyclical shutter release.
The routes are programmed in the same way as in Video mode. Controller has very useful
function (Estimated) for automatic calculation of values for time-lapse movie Time-lapse /
Interval On.
For example, we are planning to make a time-lapse movie (Time-lapse) of the movement
of the moon in the night scenery during 120 min., of which:
a) the constant value is founded upon the duration of the film after editing,
which is expected to be 10 seconds. At 25 frames/s we should make 250 shots (10 s x 25
frames/s = 250 frames). This is the value we enter in the controller option - Photo: 250.
b) the constant value is the shutter speed that will be read from the camera settings
for example. 2 s. This is the value enter in the controller option - Shutter: 2 s.
c) by entering experimentally a variable value of the pause between the individual frames,
here Pause (s): 27, after calculating, the display will read “Mode: Time-lapse / Estimated”:
121 minutes that is earlier estimated recording time. In this way, a built-in calculator
helps to compose Time-lapse instantly without additional tables and other unnecessary
tools, just by adjusting “Pause” value.
The length of the shutter (Shutter) is set in the range of 0,100 s. to 60 s. The default val-
ue is 0,100 s. The controller allows the execution of the animation on the set route with
a maximum (Photo) 4500 images triggered at intervals (Pause) from 1 to 3600 s.
(1 s. to 1 h), making the longest possible period of recorded images up to 187 days!
In “Time-lapse / Interval: Off” the controller alone calculates an estimate number of
photos you will make for the programmed route. It depends on the speed, length of the
drive, the time interval between frames and the shutter speed. In the menu after you turn
the Photo mode option instead of photo values a "Not used" message will appear.
In [Time-lapse / Interval: On] the cycle begins from the trolley’s passage to a way point,
then deducting the timeout, taking the photo, and re-starting the trolley’s movement.
Thanks to this cycle photograph is taken before driving of the trolley. This process
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