Table of Contents
1. Should I/Can I Upgrade My Firmware?
2. How Do I Save My Profiles?
3. What Is My Gimbal's Payload?
4. How Do I Balance My Camera On A Gimbal?
5. How Do I Switch Profiles?
6. How Do I Take Care And Charge My Battery?
7. What If I Have More Questions Or Need Further Help?
1. DO NOT UPGRADE FIRMWARE OR MAKE UNGUIDED SOFTWARE MODIFICATIONS
Just to get this out of the way... if you choose to connect to the SimpleBGC GUI software, DO NOT UPGRADE YOUR FIRMWARE, no matter what the software itself tells you. Doing so will completely wipe out your gimbal's control board and can potentially cause irreversible malfunction to your product. And even worse, this course of events runs you the risk of you having to send your gimbal into one of our support facilities for repair (at your own cost), as long as you are still under warranty.
With that said, all of our gimbals have been pre-programmed to stabilize and function correctly right out of the box. However, if for any reason, the gimbal is either not performing to your liking, or you would simply like to make some minor customizations to its settings, we first ask that you check our FAQ section for tips on some of the most commonly requested tuning techniques. If you do not find any articles in our FAQ section for your specific request, then feel free to contact us. We must again reiterate that you do not make any software adjustments without our guidance and NEVER upgrade your firmware!!!
More SimpleBGC tips can be found here.
2. SAVE YOUR PROFILES
As stated prior, all CAME-TV gimbals have been pre-programmed and quality-tested to function right out of the box. No additional software tuning or firmware upgrades should be necessary. However, if you would like to make minor tuning adjustments with the SimpleBGC software at your own accord- such as changing joystick speeds, decreasing motor power, etc. - we suggest that you first SAVE the gimbal's default, factory-programmed settings before making such changes.
Should something go wrong as you're making the changes, you can always revert back and load the original default profiles. And please note that the profiles that you save contain settings that are unique to your gimbal. Sharing these profiles with other gimbal owners is not advised and can make their gimbal inoperable.
And one last time, under no circumstances do we advise upgrading your firmware. Doing so will wipe your settings and make your gimbal inoperable. The only way to potentially make it functional again would be to send it back to a CAME-TV support facility for repair (potentially at your own cost).
[IMPORTANT NOTE:] Your saved Default Profile is configured to the default Firmware installed on your Gimbal. If you attempt to upgrade your firmware, the saved Default Profile will no longer be valid.
3. WHAT IS MY GIMBAL'S PAYLOAD?
CAME-TV has a wide variety of gimbals that are capable of supporting a diverse range of cameras. Whether you want to provide stabilization to your Go-Pro, or your Blackmagic URSA Mini, CAME-TV has a gimbal for you.
When we say payload, we are referring to the most basic essentials required for shooting. This includes the camera body, lens, as well as its internal components such as the battery and memory card. The weight of these elements make up the primary basic payload of your camera. Each gimbal has been pre-programmed to support a very specific weight limit to provide optimal stability and performance. For a detailed listing on all of our gimbals and their respective maximum payloads, click HERE.
4. HOW TO BALANCE A CAMERA ON YOUR GIMBAL
Once you have a camera setup that is within the specific weight & size parameters compatible with your gimbal, you are ready for the balancing process. Balancing your camera properly is perhaps the most important thing you can do in order to achieve the smoothest, most stable shots in your productions. Though all gimbals have their own unique physical characteristics, the balancing process is generally the same. You want to make sure that the camera is able to stay stable along all 3 of the gimbal's axis points, including the Pitch, Roll, and Yaw.
Below we've compiled a playlist showing how to balance your camera on several of our most popular gimbals.
5. HOW TO SWITCH PROFILES
Although all CAME-TV gimbals contain unique designs and physical characteristics, they all have been pre-programmed with 3 principle profiles that provide a wide variety of gimbal movements and techniques.
Profile 1 will enable Follow Modes for both Pan and Tilt (Yaw and Pitch).
Profile 2 will enable Follow Mode ONLY for Pan (Yaw) and will Disable Tilt (Pitch).
Profile 3 will disable All Follow Modes. The Camera heading will stay constant.
As shown in the videos below, each profile can be accessed by a quick (sequential) click on the gimbal's main action button.
6. BATTERY CARE & CHARGING
To get the best and longest running performance of your gimbal, we suggest that you fully charge your batteries before use. Some gimbals, such as the CAME-Single, have a built-in (non-replaceable) battery that simply requires you to plug the adapter into the port and let it charge for a few hours. However, like with most electronics, we suggest that you do not leave the charge unsupervised and do not overcharge it.
Unlike the CAME-Single, however, a majority of our other gimbals contain removable and rechargeable batteries. Newer gimbals such as the CAME-Mini 3, CAME-Argo,etc. now come with an external battery casing that allows you to take out the drained batteries, and replace them with charged batteries that you may have on standby. This allows you to keep cycling through numerous sets of batteries for an extended gimbal run time.
As with all LiPo batteries it is never good to over-discharge the battery. Over-discharge is when a battery cell voltage drops below the level of circuit protection limit. Once a LiPo battery is over-discharged, it is more than likely that it cannot be recharged and new one would have to be purchased.
We strongly recommend that when the gimbal is not in use or is in storage, to remove the LiPo batteries from the battery case, or externally disconnect it from the gimbal. Failure to do so can result in over-discharge of the battery/batteries.
7. DON'T HESITATE TO CONTACT OUR CAME-TV SUPPORT STAFF
Should you have any questions regarding the delivery status, or functionality of your CAME-TV product, please do not hesitate to contact us directly for assistance.
SALES INQUIRIES
If you recently purchased a CAME-TV product and have a general question/request, such as changing delivery address, checking on shipping status, etc., please contact our sales department directly. Depending on where you are located, you can email one of the addresses below:
North America: [email protected]
Rest of the World: [email protected]
TECHNICAL SUPPORT INQUIRIES
If you currently own a CAME-TV product and have a technical issue and/or question regarding its use or functionality, please first visit our FAQ section. We receive many inquiries daily and have articles providing solutions for some of the most commonly asked questions. However, if you do not see your inquiry addressed in our FAQ section, then feel free to contact us. Our technical support staff will do their best to respond to you in a timely manner.
If you wish to send a video to provide our technician with a visual of your problem, then please see this article for a list of our preferred methods of video sharing.
To expedite your the support process, it would also be helpful if you provided the following information regarding your order in your initial e-mail.
PURCHASER’S NAME:
ORDER # (4-5 DIGITS):
RETAILER (IF NOT CAME-TV):
DATE OF PURCHASE:
SHIPPING ADDRESS:
