P1059577-Edit-5

RIA-1 FAQ

Questions and answers on RIA‑1

Connectivity

  • In short: CAM for Cameras and LBUS for LBUS devices (motors, LCubes, OCU‑1s, Master Grips etc).

    The RIA‑1 is a little different to previous devices with LBUS ports, where you may have used an LBUS cable to connect that device with a camera. If you are using the RIA‑1 as a motor controller on a camera it is vitally important that you use the CAM port on the RIA‑1 to interface with your camera, and the LBUS ports on the RIA‑1 to connect to motors.

    When used as a motor controller, the RIA‑1 will not function as intended if it is connected at any point in a single LBUS daisy chain with an ARRI camera and lens motors, due to the lens motors being able to detect two motor controllers at the same time (RIA‑1 and camera e.g. ALEXA Mini LF). Instead, the RIA‑1 should communicate to the camera through the CAM port, and communicate to the lens motors separately through an LBUS port. 

  • There is currently one exception to this rule, which is for this specific setup:

    • ALEXA Mini or Mini LF with LBUS on the lens mount
    • Non-LDS or /i lens
    • Lens file in RIA‑1 for lens metadata, wirelessly sent from Hi‑5 or WCU‑4

    If you specifically need to also send lens data into the camera to be recorded for post-production or so that it may be viewed on your monitor, you must close the loop between the last LBUS port on the motor and the camera, with an LBUS to LBUS cable. The camera will still communicate to the RIA‑1 through the CAM to EXT cable, but lens data information will flow from the LBUS chain into the camera. As it is not possible to inject lens metadata into the camera through the EXT port on an ALEXA Mini, Mini LF, only cameras with lens mounts featuring an LBUS connector support the recording of lens metadata within the image file.

  • The RIA‑1 works with all existing CAM cables from the cforce mini RF motor, and all existing LBUS cables. We have also introduced a couple of new CAM cables that will also be compatible with the cforce mini RF motor, such as the new 8p Hirose cable for the Sony Venice 2. The serial port for connecting distance measuring devices such as the ARRI UDM‑1 or Focusbug CineRT is the same as found on the ALEXA 35, but newer and smaller than the one found on the LCube CUB-1 and UMC-4. 

  • The RIA‑1 operates slightly different to other LBUS devices. Because it is primarily a motor controller, the RIA‑1 should always be the devices where your LBUS chain starts: CAM is connected to your camera, and then LBUS runs from your RIA‑1 to your first motor, from which you can continue to daisy chain to other motors. External power, if required, can be connected to either the end of your motor chain or to the second LBUS port on the RIA‑1. The second LBUS port on the RIA‑1 can also be used to connect to a second motor if you prefer, or to a hand unit such as the OCU‑1, Master Grip or cmotion pan bar zoom.

  • No! The new 4p serial connector, also found on the ALEXA 35, replaces the need for an LCube CUB-1. Existing devices supported by the LCube CUB-1 are supported by the RIA‑1 and the RIA‑1 also supports the new Focusbug High-Speed protocol on this connector.

  • Yes, or two Master Grips, if the RIA‑1 is in host mode. However, at the moment the RIA‑1 will only support one LBUS controller device in client mode.

  • In one network of RF-EMIP modules, it’s possible to have four RIA‑1s working simultaneously on one radio channel: one in host mode and three in client mode. With RF-EMIP modules it’s possible to have fourteen systems operating simultaneously, one on each radio channel, but we would suggest that in a real-world environment that this would most likely

  • As most wireless video systems operate on the 5.8 Ghz band and the radio modules for the RIA‑1 operate on either the 2.4G hz or 900 Mhz band, it’s highly unlikely that any interference would occur. We recommend placing the RIA‑1 at least 6” away from other radio modules for best performance. 

  • The radio modules for the RIA‑1 use a standard SMA connector, however certification is only valid with the provided antenna. 

Wireless expansion

Camera control

Metadata

  • Yes, the RIA‑1 supports existing LDA files which can be wirelessly transferred from the Hi‑5 and WCU‑4. It is not possible to load LDA files into the RIA‑1 through the USB-C connector.

  • Yes, the RIA‑1 will see data provided by LDS, LDS-2 and /i lenses when connected to ARRI cameras via either the CAM to LCS, CAM to EXT or CAM to LBUS. Please see the RIA‑1 Sample Setups webpage for info on the correct cable to use for each camera.

  • The RIA‑1 cannot record lens metadata internally, however lens metadata can be sent from the RIA‑1 into various ARRI cameras to be recorded within the image data and streamed to virtual production systems. Please see the RIA‑1 Sample Setups webpage for more info. If external recording of lens and camera metadata is required, then the Universal Motor Controller UMC-4 supports this.