How to Monitor 4 Cameras on a Single iPad - Featuring the Upcoming “DJI Ronin 2 Pro Class with Dave Anglin”


DJI has a new advanced workshop created for professionals in the industry to master their skills in gimbal operation, and they’re packing some serious equipment for their students! The class is led by veteran gimbal op Dave Anglin who just came off the upcoming television show Yellowstone starring Kevin Costner (check out his work at daveanglin.com). This class is designed for people who have some experience in gimbals, but want to sharpen their techniques to bring it to the next level or even cinematographers who might be interested in learning how to use the tool on upcoming projects.

“Our mission is to teach gimbal ops the most efficient ways to operate, control, maneuver and capture using the DJI Ronin 2 as our focus. We want people who attend our class - which is essentially a MasterClass for gimbal operators - to leave with the confidence that they can work on the next Avengers movie,” said Anglin.

Gimbal and Gear

But there was a challenge in teaching this course: how do you actively check the video of each student? Originally the plan was to have a wireless monitor for each camera rig, with monitors sitting side by side and wireless transmitters on each camera. Of course, this wouldn’t only be very expensive, but also restricts Anglin to the video village and not with the students. So they came up with a different solution.

“This is a very hands-on course so I didn’t want to be sitting behind a wall of monitors all day. I wanted to work closely with the students and guide them throughout the course. So Patrick from DJI proposed that we use the Serv Pros instead. That way I could see every camera feed on my iPad and have a view wherever I went.”

RED with Teradek Serv Pro.

The class consisted of 8 students with 4 cameras. Here’s what the setup looked like:

  • 4x DJI Ronin 2
  • 2x RED Heliums
  • 1x RED Monstro
  • 1x RED Scarlet
  • 2x SmallHD 503
  • 2x SmallHD 703
  • 4x Serv Pro
  • 1x Link
  • 1x iPad Pro
  • 4x iPad Mini

Each camera was mounted to a DJI Ronin 2, pushing video out via SDI to SmallHD 503’s. Mounted to each monitor was the Teradek Serv Pro, pulling a video source and sending it to the Link router.

Connected to the same router, every iPad (with the VUER app) in the classroom picked up the 4x Serv Pro camera feeds, displaying it on a 2x2 grid to see every camera simultaneously. Each team of 2 students carried an iPad Mini to monitor their gimbal operating, and instructor Anglin used an iPad Pro.

A Mobile Monitoring Tool

VUER allows you to monitor up to 4 camera feeds on a 2x2 grid.

“It was really important to me, as the instructor, to have that ability to work closely with my students and see if they were getting the movements down. The class is meant to be small, personal and hands-on, so being stuck behind a workstation and shouting like a lecture wasn’t an option.”

Serv Pro is designed for situations where zero-delay wireless video is not essential. It allows iOS/Android devices with the VUER app to pick up its video feed via WiFi, allowing for a max of 4 screens to be viewed at the same time. This comes with only 2 frames of delay, and is as easy as connecting every mobile device to the same WiFi network as the Serv Pro(s). This is made easier with the Link, our long-range WiFi router designed for production sets.

Serv Pro broadcasts to up to 10 iOS/Android devices on set.

The Serv Pro isn’t typically intended for gimbal use (zero-delay systems are better for monitoring & pulling focus in real-time), but for a class where Anglin wanted to see every student’s work side-by-side, it allowed him to monitor with the freedom of being anywhere in class.

“We wouldn’t have been able to offer the level of service that we did without the Serv Pro. Depending on which group of students I was working with, I could choose their screen on my iPad and enlarge it to get a full size display of their camera. The touch screen makes monitoring much easier than hardware monitors. It was the perfect tool for our needs.”

Want to find out more about the class?

Email to enquire about the next class or to sign up at: info@r2proclass.com

Next class will be on July 14th, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.

0 comments

  • There are no comments yet. Be the first one to post a comment on this article!

Leave a comment

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published

Capture.Share.

*Manufactured under licence
Our Brands