Hi-5 - Arri Alexa 35 Communication issues
I’m having trouble with the communication between the Hi-5 and the camera.
I’m using the following equipment:
Alexa 35
Cooke Panchro Classic/i with LDS
Arri Hi-5 with RF-900 module
1 c-force mini motor for focus
RIA-1 with RF-900 module
*All equipment is up to date.
I have the Hi-5 connected wirelessly to the RIA-1. The RIA-1 is connected with an RS to CAM cable and the motor is connected to the RIA via LBUS to LBUS. The RIA-1 also has an LBUS to LBUS cable to connect it with the Alexa 35 so I can see the camera settings on the Hi-5.
The Lens Mount in enabled on camera so the LDS can be read and displayed on screen.
All the lenses were mapped with the Hi-5.
I understand that if I want to control the camera with the Hi-5, I need to connect the RIA-1 with the LBUS to CAM cable so they can communicate properly. However, if I do this, my lens files created with the Hi-5 come into conflict with the LDS readout from the Mount.
Disabling the Mount means I cannot give LDS readout to my DIT and lose metadata for post.
If I use just the LDS data with the Mount and disable the lens data files on the Hi-5, the scales between the smart ring, the Hi-5 and the lens don’t match.
Is there something I am missing in my setup or configuration in order to have full LDS readout and full control of the camera with the Hi-5?
Right. For camera control, like you mentioned, you need the CAM>LBUS cable from RIA to one of the A35’s LBUS ports. It’s my understanding that you need to come out of the RIA CAM port specifically, directly into the camera’s LBUS in order to gain camera control.
The focus scale is unfortunately not useable from the Cooke /i LDS because the /i data protocol doesn’t include the focus scale, only the current focus position. So it’s unfortunately not possible to use the lens’s /i data if you want to use the pre-marked rings on your Hi5. (This is why I always make lens files for Cooke lenses and put a motor on for iris to inject the metadata back into the system.)
So you can either use the LDS from the lens for metadata, and skip using pre-marked rings (this way the DIT has iris data). Or you can disable the lens mount & use your own lens files to inject metadata (and for iris metadata, you’ll need to add a motor to the ARRI system).
Unfortunately you can’t do half one and half the other.