RTMOTION MK3 User Manual

RTMOTION MK3

Lens Control System

User Guide

(Updated: Aug 15th, 2012)

www.rtmotion.com/support

M K 3 L E N S C O N T R O L S Y S T E M

QUICK-START GUIDE

• Plug 10-17V into the RECEIVER's “PWR” port.

(Plug: Hirose HR10, 1=GND, 4=VOLTAGE)

• Affix one or more motors to the rods/lens

• Plug the motors into the RECEIVER unit.

The motor port that the motors attach to isn't important.

• Put a Canon LP-E6 battery in the Hand Unit and

hold down the PWR button

IN CASE OF CONGESTED WIRELESS SPACE

• Connect the HAND UNIT with a Motor/Wired cable

to one of the RECEIVER's “Motor” ports.

• To change Wireless Channel, go to the WIRELESS

section of the Hand Unit's Menu.

M K 3 L E N S C O N T R O L S Y S T E M

QUICK TROUBLESHOOTING

THE WIRELESS WON'T CONNECT

What is the STATUS LED colour?

GREEN

The wireless link is good, make sure your motor is assigned to the
correct class (Focus, Iris), see below.

ORANGE

• Go to MENU... WIRELESS... FIND RECV. To do a scan.

• Attach the CONTROLLER to the RECEIVER via a Wired/Motor cable. They

will synch wireless channels

PURPLE

Please wait. If there is no change after 30 seconds, power-cycle the
Controller (remove battery).

MY MOTOR CALIBRATES BUT THEN WON'T MOVE

Perhaps the motor is not set to the correct CLASS. Go to MENU... MOTORS...
CHANGE CLASS

THE MOTOR ROTATES IN THE WRONG DIRECTION

Rotation Flip is set by the CONTROLLER. Enter the Menu … INPUTS … FLIP …
and then flip the Input Axis (such as Main Knob, or Slider) that you wish to
reverse.

THE MOTOR IS IN A STRANGE MODE, IT IS SLOW

Each motor is given a RESPONSE, and the motor remembers its response even
through a power cycle. To change it, Enter the Menu … MOTORS … SET
RESPONSE.

THE ZOOM MOTOR CALIBRATES BUT THEN DOESN'T RESPOND

ZOOM SPEED might be set to minimum. This is usually set by SIDE KNOB A.

M K 3 CO NT RO L L E R

MK3 CONTROLLER

The MK3 CONTROLLER gives from
3 to 6 axis control.

CONFIGURATIONS

Any INPUT (Large knob, Side Knob
A, etc.) can be assigned to any
LENS AXIS.

For example, an MK3/B “Basic”
controller can be configured so
that the MAIN KNOB controls
Focus, SIDE KNOB A controls Iris,
and SIDE KNOB B controls
Convergence.

All variants are capable of
simultaneously controlling at least
3 axis, so are effectively “FIZ” and
“3D” capable. There are however
significant ergonomic advantages
to industry standard controls, so
for fine control it is recommended that the Force Joystick is used for Zoom,
and the Slider is used for IRIS.

VARIANTS

MK3/B, “BASIC”. 3 AXIS CONTROL

Large Focus Knob, 2x Side Knobs (A and B).

MK3/S, “STEREO”. 4 AXIS CONTROL

Large Focus Knob, Slider, 2x Side Knobs (A and B).

MK3/Z, “FIZ”. 6 AXIS CONTROL

Large Focus Knob, Slider, Force Joystick (X/Y), 2x Side Knobs (A and B).

MK3/Z Variant

M K 3 CO N T RO L L E R

OPERATION

POWER ON

Hold down the POWER button for 2 seconds to turn the unit ON / OFF.

CAMERA RUN/ STOP

Press button once to start recording. Press again to stop recording. Please
note, you must use the correct Run/Stop cable for your camera, and select the
correct option in MENU … CAMERA.

STATUS LED

OFF – Unit is OFF ORANGE – No Connection GREEN – Unit is Connected

BLUE – Wired Mode RED – Camera Recording PURPLE – Please Wait

PC MODE / BOOTLOADER

Turn off the Controller. Hold down the SET button. Keep SET held, and also
hold down the POWER button. The will go Orange, and the screen
display: “PC MODE”. You can now connect the controller to a PC and it will
show as a USB device.

BATTERY / POWER

The Controller takes a CANON TYPE LP-E6 BATTERY, as used in the Canon 5D,
7D, etc.

It can also run from the MICRO USB connector (5V). Please note, minimum is
approx 4.65V.

FACTORY RESET

Enter the MENU ... ADVANCED ... FAC RESET.

Short-cut: You can also hold POWER and press MENU.

M K 3 CO NT RO L L E R

CONTROLLER MENU

RECALIB

Force one or more motors to re-calibrate the lens.

CAMERA

Set the Run “Trigger” signal produced by the Receiver.

MOTORS

Change the CLASS or RESPONSE of attached Motors.

SCREEN

Change OLED brightness/ behaviour.

FLIP KNOB

Short-cut to quickly flip the MAIN KNOB rotation direction.

WIRELESS

Change channel. Or, Find a receiver on a different channel.

INPUTS

Which input knob controls which Axis. Also, Flipping, etc.

BUTTONS

Configure the three short-cut buttons (OLED screen bottom).

ADVANCED

Factory Reset. Engineer debug tools.

DEFAULT CONFIGURATIONS

MK3/B “BASIC” MK3/S “STEREO” MK3/Z “FIZ”

Large Knob

→

FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS

Slider

→ (not present)

IRIS IRIS

Force Joystick Y

→ (not present) (not present)

ZOOM

Force Joystick X

→ (not present) (not present) (Inactive)

Side Knob A

→

IRIS ZOOM ZOOM SPEED

Side Knob B

→

ZOOM INTER-OCULAR INTER-OCULAR

M K 3 CO N T RO L L E R

LOW BATTERY INDICATION

The Controller will give a warning and automatically shut down when the
battery voltage falls to approx 6.1V. This is to protect the Battery from being
over-drained and reducing its life.

If your battery is fully drained and you wish to continue on USB power, you
must remove the LP-E6 battery from the unit.

WIRING INFORMATION

4-pin Lemo 0B

Pin 1 GND
Pin 2 Signal A
Pin 3 Signal B
Pin 4 (Not Connected)

SPECIFICATIONS

Approx Dimensions 140 x 70 x 30 mm (excluding knob)

140 x 115 x 85 mm (including knob)

Approx Weight 560g excluding battery

Power Requirements Canon LP-E6 battery: 6.2V to 8.4V.

USB Socket: approx 4.75V to 9V max.

M K 3 R E C E I VE R

MK3 RECEIVER

The MK3 Receiver is a unique,
ultra-compact design.

SUPPORTED MOTORS

3x RTMOTION motors are supported. An optional “1-7 Breakout” box enables
control of 8 simultaneous motors + wired mode.

The Receiver does not natively support motors from other manufacturers. It is
planned to release a “dongle” adapter to support 3rd party motors (Heden,
Preston, etc.) soon.

OPERATION

STATUS LIGHT

SOLID GREEN – CONNECTED PURPLE – Please Wait

ORANGE – No Connection (or PC Mode) RED (Pulse) – Run/Stop Trigger

CONNECTIONS

MOTORS

Lemo 0B 4-pin Any motor can connect to any port

Attach Controller here for Wired-mode

PWR

Hirose HR10 4-pin Power Input, 1=GND, 4= Voltage

CAM

Hirose HR10 4-pin Trigger (Output) for CAMERA

USB

Micro USB For connection to a PC

M K 3 R EC EI VE R

SPECIFICATIONS

Approx Dimensions 85 x 30 x 21mm

Approx Weight 90g

Power Requirements 5 – 14V DC (17V absolute max)

(e.g. 13.8V broadcast battery fresh off a charger)

WIRING INFORMATION

MOTOR PORTS

Lemo 4-pin 0B

Pin 1 GND
Pin 2 Signal A
Pin 3 Signal B
Pin 4 Power OUT

POWER

Hirose HR10 4-pin

Pin 1 GND
Pin 2 (nc)
Pin 3 (nc)
Pin 4 Power IN, 5-14V DC (17V absolute max)

CAMERA

Hirose HR10 4-pin

Pin 1 GND
Pin 2 CAM TRIG (Output)
Pin 3 (currently un-used)
Pin 4 (nc)

(nc) = Not Connected

M K 3 MO T O R

MK3 BRUSHLESS MOTOR

A powerful and quiet lens motor with smooth
performance. The brush-less vector-drive gives
unparalleled smoothness during high-torque /
slow-speed moves.

WARNINGS

The motor is a powerful device which is capable of
causing injury or damage.

• Never touch the drive gear when the device

is powered on.

• The motor is not to be used on extremely

stiff or damaged lenses.

OPERATION

Affix the motor to the rods, but don't yet mesh the drive gear to the lens gear.
Rotate the focus ring so that it is not too close to either end stop. Now mesh
the gears, and plug the Digital Motor into the Receiver. The Digital Motor will
begin its Auto-Calibration Routine.

ACCURACY & ELECTRONIC BACKLASH COMP

The MK3 motor features a high-precision encoder that will never lose steps. If
you see evidence of backlash affecting accuracy, please make sure that your
mount, rails and camera are extremely rigid, as mounting flex is the main
cause of inaccuracy. Unique electronic backlash compensation is calibrated at
the factory and will be tweak-able via future firmware update.

FOCUS/ IRIS/ ZOOM ASSIGNMENT

The Digital Motor is internally assigned a “Motor Class”, which is saved to non­volatile memory. The motor will identify itself to the CONTROLLER via its
SERIAL NUMBER (lasered onto the motor back, example: 0500). To change the
class of a Digital Motor, or other performance parameters (performance mode,
direction of rotation, etc.) please refer to the manual for the Controller.

M K 3 MO T O R

MAINTENANCE

The motor requires no user maintenance. Please note that opening the motor
can affect its internal calibration and voids the warranty.

MOTOR WIRING INFORMATION

Lemo 4-pin 0B

Pin 1 GND
Pin 2 Signal A
Pin 3 Signal B
Pin 4 Power In, 5-17V DC

(n.b., motor amplifier shuts off at <7V, but electronics remain active).

SPECIFICATIONS

Approx Dimensions 106 x 43 x 24mm (excluding gear)
Weight 235g (including gear and 15mm clamp)
Max Allowable Torque 2.2Nm
Standard Gear 0.8 mod, 50 Teeth
Nominal Current Approx 0.6A loaded
Power Requirement 5-17V

UPDATING FIRMWARE

You can use your ORDER HASH to access the latest Manual and Firmware
updates by visiting … www.rtmotion.com/page/support . Your order hash
can be find in your original Order Confirmation email, and looks something
like:- Fgj4VLdbYWeDy4hsQwZzjIme. It will be saved for future visits.

M K 3 L E N S C O N T R O L S Y S T E M

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

USAGE & ENVIRONMENT

The system should not be opened, doing so can cause damage on closure, and
voids the warranty. The MK3 system is not water proof- do not expose the
system to any type of water, or condensation-prone situations.

12/24 MONTH WARRANTY

RT Motion Systems products are guaranteed for a period of 12 months with
effect from the date of delivery (or date-of-purchase, if purchased from a 3

rd

party) and applies to defects arising from defective materials and or faulty
workmanship that become evident during the guarantee period only and
does not include consumable items. This guarantee is extended to 24 months
if purchased direct from the manufacturer, or registered with the
manufacturer within 3 months of purchase from a 3 rd party. The manufacturer
will repair or replace the product at their discretion subject to the following.
That the product has been used in accordance with the guidelines as detailed
in the product manual and that it has not been subjected to misuse, abuse or
used for a purpose for which it was not intended. That is has not been
tampered with or has been serviced by unauthorised persons. It shall be the
customer's responsibility to return the product at their cost ensuring that the
product is adequately packed to prevent transit damage. If the product was
purchased from a 3rd party such as a distributor, proof of date-of-purchase
must be included. The manufacturer shall not be liable for any consequential
loss or damage arising from faults that occur either within, or outwith the
guarantee period. This guarantee is in addition to and does not affect any
rights which the consumer may have by virtue of UK or EU law.

CONTACT INFORMATION

RT Motion Systems, Mid Cottage, Auldgirth, Dumfries, DG2 0UA, UK.
Tel: [phone]. Email: [e-mail]
Please check www.rtmotion.com for up-to-date contact details
before sending any material by mail / courier.