LiDAR Autofocus Made EASY! PDMOVIE Live Air 3 Smart
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- Опубликовано: 24 сен 2023
- DISCLAIMER - I am not affiliated or sponsored by PDMovie. I purchased the device myself and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Are you a solo filmmaker or content creator looking to take your craft to the next level? Join me today as I introduce you to the game-changing PDMovie Live Air 3 Smart LiDAR Focus Device!
In this video, I'll share my personal experience with this incredible tool and how it has become an indispensable asset in my solo filmmaking journey. Filming yourself has never been this effortless and precise!
Key Features:
Precision LiDAR Focusing: Discover how the Live Air 3 Smart uses LiDAR technology to maintain spot-on focus. Say goodbye to out-of-focus shots and hello to professional-grade content, especially when filming yourself!
Seamless Solo Filmmaking: Learn how this device empowers solo filmmakers like me by allowing us to concentrate on our performance, storytelling, and cinematography without worrying about focus adjustments.
Intelligent Autofocus: Explore the device's intelligent autofocus capabilities, ensuring that your shots remain sharp and cinematic, even in dynamic shooting scenarios. Learn how to change focus speeds to best suit your needs.
Whether you're a vlogger, independent filmmaker, or content creator, the PDMovie Live Air 3 Smart LiDAR Focus Device can revolutionize the way you capture your visuals. 
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I have one and agree that it's great value for the things it does, which are unique. I look back at my 15 takes at every push-in shot for a tabletop shoot the other day and I I value this as a sole camera operator! The annoying thing is that you can't easily stop and re-start the autofocus mode when something comes into view - this surely isn't a limitation of the Lidar technology but a programming issue, so I hope PDMovie or someone rectifies this in the near future.
I wonder if software updates could be done - I’d like to turn off the manual close focus turning the autofocus back on. I’d much rather it be a button command to swap between them
Has its quirks, more positive than negative for me :)
@@GimbleProductionshey great video! What’s the main difference between the smart mini and the smart?
torque of the motor
Best RUclips video i've seen on showing and explaining what came in the box and how to use this product, thanks for sharing the info (new sub)
Great review! I've been looking for someone to thoroughly test it and find the limitations.
Thanks for doing this test. I love how the PD system is fully self contained with its own rechargeable battery... The new Tilta Nano looks great, but you still need to have cables hanging off it, and then another battery just to power the motor.
Just came across this review, and I wanted to say thanks for taking the time to explore the Live Air 3 smart so thoroughly. It looks pretty good, of course, does have the caveats you mention. Could be real good for many situations. I wish there was a way to INSTANTLY override autofocus with manual focus though. In the meantime... I think I am going to have to try and stick to camera's with good autofocus OR really work on my manual focus skills (which aren't bad, but I always seem to jolt the camera every time I focus manually).
Great review! Nice job putting this together. Super informative :)
I like the slow focus speed cause it looks more natural and creates a smoother transition
Much more cinematic, I feel. High speed works best for perhaps sports content.
Awesome video thanks
Great review, i have the same feeling about this product 😁
I bought it in early bird price , I can just it is just impressive , works for anamorphic lens as well as normal photography lens is totally enough.
Glad to hear it! I don’t have any high end lenses to test it out on but I’m glad you’re enjoying it!
Just spent half a g on this, thanks man
Excellent video bro! Really enjoyed it!
Thanks - I really appreciate the comment, still getting the hang of making review content! :)
Wow, a very nice and complete review.
Thanks! Let me know if you’d like me to review any of your products in the future!
The perfect tutorial, just with your video I understood: the 3rd por is 1.5 meters from the second point and not from the origin, I was doing all the points measuring for the first point
The organic quality of the BMCC 2.5k is unmatched by many current cameras when uprez to 4k.
¡Gracias!
Wow - you are too kind. I really appreciate that gesture, I hope you come to enjoy many more of my videos to come!
Just a coffee invitation. Hope a lot of people does the same, and you get the money you deserve for the effort you put in your videos.
Cheers
Thank you for this great tutorial. How often do you need to calibrate focus with the Focus Chart? Just once, or any time you use a new lens?
Once per profile - so if you swap lenses, you just have to do it again for it to be accurate
However, you can always do the focus calibration without the chart - it’s just the chart has many sharp corners and shapes that makes it easiest for the focus peaking to pick it up! You can calibrate anytime anywhere if you’re ever needing to do so - just have something static to focus on
Does it really work reliably with lenses without hardstops?
Im curious how the set up time/how convenient it is to do so as I want to make sure I can work as smoothly as possible on shoots. like what happens if you accidentally bump the motors posistion? does that screw with your calibration?
Hey! So, let’s just say you’ve calibrated the lens’ autofocus:
As long as you’re on the right colour channel, the lens data is saved in memory. Accidentally switching into a different lens profile would be a bit unlikely as you need to press the button twice in succession quickly
Let’s say you bump the motor and the gears slip, it’s possible the motor might not understand where the start and end stops were. Since the lens is still saved into memory, just press the top button 4 times, then perform the lens calibration (either automatically or manually) and you’re sweet in under 10 seconds. Your motor will remember your lens, and then use the new start and end calibration
Since the motor has to be positioned over the focus ring of your lens, you’ll obviously know if you motor is misaligned. The focus ring of your lens doesn’t move spots so there shouldn’t be a problem there!
Set up is really easy! For manual focus, all lenses can be set up in under 10 seconds.
For autofocus, you’d best obviously have to do it ahead of time. However, you can always calibrate it on the run sticking to the same distance points as you see in the video. That process could take around 1 minute
Are you able to zoom with this or does it have to calibrate for each focal length? I assume it does but just making sure. Thanks for making this video. It’s pretty much exactly what I was trying to find on this piece of gear.
It has a zoom function :) you change can the motor movement type
Can’t seem to do focus AND zoom at the same time though from the same unit though - one at a time
Only if your zoom lens is parfocal can you use is for all focal lengths of the zoom
@@LarsSteenhoff Correct - if you want to zoom but use autofocus, ensure your lens is parafocal. You can use the motor to control the zoom of the lens however :)
Thanks for this video. I just purchased this system. Where can I find that hardstop gear ring that you are using?
Hey! It can be found here www.3dfocus.org/product-page/sigma-18-35-f-1-8 - this one is for just the sigma 18-35 though there are other rings for other lenses too. When doing the auto calibration with the ring though, I find it best just to keep some slight pressure on the motor so the cogs don't slip. Works a treat though!
@@GimbleProductions Great! Thanks!!!
I'm wondering if one can set up the maximum range of a lens profile to function as AB focus points so that the lidar would avoid trying to focus on objects to close too it?
Are you saying, set the A point as being the closest point and the B point as the furthest point to get around the autofocus reenabling? Sadly, in my tests, it looks like autofocus will reenable even when A and B focus modes are set up if you try this.
Or are you saying, have the lidar only operate within an A/B range of your lens? That would be pretty nifty
@@GimbleProductions The second. I was wondering if instead of using the full range of the lens and then setting up and AB points temporarily, use a second lens profile and set its entire lens range to the desired AB focus range. If this could work then the lens would be restricted to only focusing on objects within the limited range of the second profile, and an object closer than the near focus point might get ignored by the lidar. If this worked then the issue with it focusing on a thin branch or wire would be naturally eliminated because the object lies outside of the the range of the lens profile.
I would be very curious to hear your results if you did some tests to try this, because this lidar system has been on my radar ever since I first heard about it.
How it goes with zooming the lens? I have the same sigma lens. Thanks for the nice video and the information in it👍👌
Since the sigma is not parfocal, zooming will lead to autofocus that will remain blurry. To get around this, you could set 5 different calibration points that correlate to different focal lengths.
IE Red for 18mm, Green for 20mm, White for 25mm etc etc
@@GimbleProductions oh okay that's bad. That is my thought. Thanks
I'm interested at this because my eos m with magic lantern raw doesn't have continues AF at raw video recordings.
Does the subject in focus always need to be centered in the frame?
Depends on the lens, the wider the lens somewhat yes - but perhaps from 40mm onwards you should get full coverage around the image
can you disable the autofocus and just use this as a regular follow focus?
Yes. As a suggestion, you could go to a channel that does not have autofocus set up and switch to manual mode - this way autofocus won’t automatically turn back on
Can these be used with electronic focus lenses?
Manual mode would work well, but electronic focus lenses often don’t have consistent focus throws, so autofocus would never be consistent
Awesome video bro! Where did you get yours from?
Aliexpress!
@@GimbleProductions thanks man, prices have gone up!
Can you explain the difference in the motors, 1 is 0.7 Nm Smart LiDAR Motor and the base with 1Nm Motor whats the difference?
I am not too sure if I’m honest - they have released a few different versions. Another model is designed in a way that would mean it has to be mounted on the opposite side of the lens compared to the one in my video - kind of like a mirror image of itself. I think a new model is also in the works
If this has a 5 meter limit then does it still go to infinite when autofocusing?
It does have a limit of five meter, but even when people or objects move beyond the 5 meters is still does a good job of keeping them in focus I’ve found. Obviously the device recognizes there is nothing close to the lens and focuses further away. If something steps inside the 5 meter range, the focus change is subtle as they approach camera
you seen the dji focus pro? looks crazy
It looks great! I like the addition of the handle with the AI tracking features. Still a bit bulky for my liking, but at least since this video was released, better and more refined versions of LiDAR focusing systems are gaining traction.
I miss my 4k original blackmagic.
Will this work on electronic lenses that can be switched between auto and manual focus ?
Yep! Though, the type of motor inside the lens will matter here, some lenses basically just power the lens to focus further or closer when the ring is turned, meaning each focus throw is not consistent. These lenses would work best with manual focus but autofocus modes may not be reliable as the focus throw may always differ
@@GimbleProductionsthank you !!
Hey. Where did you purchase this from?
Hey mate! I got it on AliExpress
a.aliexpress.com/_m03ipNC
I’d suggest searching for PDmovie live air 3 smart on AliExpress though as there are many listings, sometimes other listings have it for better prices!
does it work with focus by wie lenses at all?
For manual focus, shouldn’t be an issue! But, for the autofocus function, probably not. The wire focus is a bit too unpredictable and doesn’t always have the same focus throw
especially when turning the cam off all the info goes out the window. Means I need to get manual lenses @@GimbleProductions
Is this as good as the new DJI LiDAR?
I specify it in the video - the DJI LiDAR system does have numerous benefits, further range and when paired with the gimbal can be used with activetrack. BUT mounted onto the camera directly is a different story.
The LiDAR system would require calibrating on the gimbal first, but can then be used on the camera by itself after that. When the DJI device is by itself, I don’t believe it can perform any active track function.
As you can see in the video, this system is very small and compact, I did not have an issue of tracking and keeping subjects in focus as they went past the advertised 5 meters
@@GimbleProductions thank you for the quick answer! I already got the rs3 pro and the focus motor. With the LiDAR, the focus motor and raveneye attached to the gimbal, how long would the battery last? Should I get an extra battery grip for the gimbal or a v mount battery?
@@zttrrtjjrrjzrujrtjtrtjrjrt7980 I see! If you’re already using that system, it might be better for you - I would suggest a vlock for powering the rig :)
better then DJI?
Yes, because you don’t need to buy an Rs3
@@furkonige Tilta released a standalone system so this isn’t a valid point
@@xaviermichel9452if you’re talking about the Lidar Cable Hub, you still need to use rs3 pro or DJI Transmission combo to create the profile for your lens. THEN, you can mount it on a rig without the Gimbal or Transmission Combo.
You have the mini ? The 299$
The mini wasnt shown in the title of the device when I purchased, but you are correct - I have the MINI version. There is a new version I believe, that is a similar size without the ‘MINI’ title
Why not Smart, namely Smart mini?
I saw they have a different version called the Smart. The Smart Mini works on the side of the camera I needed it to for the rig. The Smart version LiDAR requires the motor to be on the other side of the rig
@@GimbleProductions, Thanks for the answer! As I understand it, they can be placed on the same side, but there are more significant differences. Did you not take them into account? I want to buy one for fp, sometimes I need this trick, but I can’t decide on the version. I really liked your video!
The biggest difference is the scanning speed, 30 on the mini and 60 on the normal@@UriRa I think the mini is fine for most users
@@LarsSteenhoff , You're probably right.
Although there are a couple more significant differences - the maximum angle of rotation of the focusing ring, which may limit the choice of optics.
The second is engine torque. I don’t know how it will affect it in a specific case and with what optics.
Tilta nano, which works in some builds with DJI lidar, has problems that require additions... but this is a completely different manufacturer.
Start blender course from zero to hero
Where do I start? What a nightmare of a god awful product. If you want to flush about $300 down the toilet, do that instead of buying this piece of trash. Think about it. If you flush the money down the toilet, you can film it with your phone (which will actually focus) and you'll have that video for life. If you spend the money on this garbage, you'll have a paper weight with some decent packaging. I followed these steps in the video with my device and everything was fine except upon completion, it doesn't work. The video says to recalibrate it again if there is an issue. So I did, following the steps exactly as listed in this video. Nothing. When I can get something in focus, the motor does make a feeble attempt to keep it in focus I guess, but it fails pathetically. It doesn't matter if I move fast or slow, or if the subject moves fast or slow. It can't keep the focus assist card in focus which is stationary, taped on the wall, even if I step back at a snails pace. I mean what's the point? Just a useless piece of equipment. If you're looking to spend almost $300 to get pissed off and smash your head into a wall, consider this. Pay me $150 and I'll come smash your head into a wall for you and you can save about $150. Long story short is you get what you pay for. In this case, I paid $300 for a trash product. Don't make the same mistake as me.
What lens are you using? Sorry to hear that your experience is like that, mine definitely does not have any issues. Might be worth looking to get it either refunded or swapped for a replacement unit
So I’ve been trying to film a doc/movie and I have no friends just my wife I need help!!!! Do you have any interest it’s about drug addiction