Our Flowcine Black Arm rental provides professional vehicle-mounted camera stabilization for film, television, commercials, automotive productions, live broadcast, and specialty camera work.
Designed specifically for moving camera vehicles, the Flowcine Black Arm isolates the camera and stabilized remote head from vehicle movement, road vibration, suspension travel, acceleration, braking, and uneven terrain.
Whether you’re chasing a performance car down a closed road, tracking athletes, filming on rough terrain, or creating low-angle car-to-car shots, our Black Arm system provides a stable professional platform for dynamic moving-camera cinematography.
We can provide the Black Arm as a standalone system or as part of a complete camera car rental package including the camera vehicle, stabilized remote head, camera package, wireless video, wireless focus, rigging, and experienced technicians.
Our Black Arm rental packages are designed for professional productions requiring smooth camera movement from a moving vehicle.
The Flowcine Black Arm is a 3-axis mechanical dampening and isolation system designed to carry professional stabilized camera heads and gimbals. Instead of mounting the camera system directly to a vehicle, the Black Arm creates a mechanical isolation layer between the vehicle and the camera.
This allows the Black Arm to absorb much of the vehicle movement before it reaches the stabilized head.
The system helps isolate:
Vertical movement from bumps, dips, and suspension travel
Roll movement created during cornering and uneven terrain
Tilt movement caused by acceleration, braking, and vehicle pitch
Road and vehicle vibration
Sudden movement caused by changing road conditions
Combining the mechanical stabilization of the Black Arm with an electronic stabilized camera head creates an extremely effective vehicle camera stabilization system.
The Flowcine Black Arm uses adjustable hydraulic dampers on all three axes.
Each damper provides 22 levels of adjustment, allowing our technicians to tune the Black Arm for the specific camera package, vehicle, road conditions, speed, and type of shot.
The system can be configured differently for:
Smooth pavement
Rough roads
Off-road terrain
High-speed tracking
Low-speed precision shots
Lightweight camera packages
Heavy cinema camera packages
Because the Black Arm is a mechanical stabilization system, it works together with the electronic stabilization of the remote head rather than replacing it.
Depending on configuration, the Black Arm can accommodate professional camera and stabilized head packages from approximately 11 lbs to 70 lbs / 5 kg to 32 kg.
This allows us to configure the system with professional cinema cameras, lenses, wireless video, focus systems, and stabilized remote heads.
Compatible systems can include:
DJI Ronin 2
Freefly MōVI Pro
Freefly MōVI XL
Shotover G1
Motocrane LT
Professional remote heads
Camera packages can include:
ARRI Alexa 35
ARRI Alexa Mini LF
Sony Venice
Sony Burano
RED V-Raptor
RED Komodo
Sony FX Series
Other professional cinema cameras
Final payload capacity depends on the complete weight and configuration of the camera, lens, stabilized head, batteries, wireless equipment, and accessories.
Our camera car rental packages combine professional camera vehicles with the Flowcine Black Arm, stabilized remote heads, camera systems, rigging, wireless video, and experienced specialty camera technicians.
A properly configured camera car provides production with a mobile shooting platform capable of capturing dynamic shots that would be difficult or impossible with conventional camera equipment.
Our camera car systems can be configured for:
Front tracking shots
Rear tracking shots
Side profile shots
Front three-quarter shots
Rear three-quarter shots
Low-angle vehicle shots
Wheel and tire shots
Lead vehicle shots
Chase vehicle shots
Passing shots
Parallel tracking
Long-lens tracking shots
High-speed pursuit shots
Interior-to-exterior transitions
The Black Arm can be repositioned around the camera vehicle to create multiple camera positions during the shooting day.
This makes a complete camera car and Black Arm package an extremely versatile solution for automotive productions.
For automotive commercials, feature films, television, branded content, and action sequences, we can configure a complete pursuit vehicle camera system around the requirements of the production.
Depending on the project, the package can include:
Flowcine Black Arm
Camera car or pursuit vehicle
Stabilized remote head
Cinema camera
Cinema lenses
Wireless focus
Wireless video
Remote camera control
Speed rail
Vehicle rigging
Mounting hardware
Power distribution
Video monitoring
Two-way communications
Camera operator
Black Arm technician
Rigging technician
Providing the system as a complete package allows our crew to handle the technical setup while the DP and director concentrate on the shot.
Professional car-to-car filming equipment allows the camera to travel with the subject vehicle while maintaining precise control over camera position and movement.
This creates shots that cannot easily be duplicated with stationary cameras or conventional vehicle mounts.
Car-to-car filming is particularly effective for:
Automotive commercials
Feature films
Television
Branded content
Vehicle launches
Driving sequences
Chase scenes
Stunt sequences
VFX plates
Second-unit photography
The camera can operate extremely close to the road or subject vehicle while the operator controls the stabilized head remotely from the camera car.
While the Black Arm is widely used for automotive cinematography, it can be used anywhere a stabilized camera needs to move across uneven terrain.
Track runners, cyclists, motorcycles, race vehicles, skiers, and other moving subjects while maintaining a smooth mobile camera platform.
Capture chase sequences, dialogue scenes, establishing shots, stunt photography, second-unit work, action sequences, and moving master shots.
Create controlled tracking shots for vehicles, products, lifestyle campaigns, branded content, and other commercial productions.
Vehicle-mounted stabilized cameras can provide dynamic tracking shots for races, sporting events, live broadcasts, and special events.
Mounted to an appropriate vehicle, the Black Arm can provide stabilized camera movement across dirt roads, trails, fields, and other uneven terrain.
Every camera vehicle and production is different.
Our crew can configure the Black Arm using professional mounting and rigging solutions based on the vehicle, camera package, required camera position, and shooting conditions.
Possible configurations include:
Front mounting
Rear mounting
Side mounting
Speed rail systems
Vehicle rack systems
Tow-point mounting
Custom production rigging
The Flowcine Black Arm is designed around standard 48–52 mm speed rail, making it adaptable to a wide range of professional camera vehicle configurations.
Before the shoot, we can review the vehicle, camera package, desired lens height, expected speeds, terrain, and shot list to determine the appropriate configuration.
The Black Arm is normally paired with a remotely operated stabilized camera head or gimbal.
This allows the camera operator to remotely control:
Pan
Tilt
Roll
Framing
Camera settings
The focus puller can independently control:
Focus
Iris
Zoom when supported
Wireless video allows the camera operator, focus puller, director, DP, and other production personnel to monitor the camera without riding directly beside the camera system.
Complete wireless video, camera control, and communications packages are available.
System Type:
3-axis mechanical camera stabilization and dampening system
Axes:
Vertical, roll, and tilt
Damping:
Adjustable hydraulic damping
Damper Adjustment:
22-step adjustment
Payload Range:
Approximately 11–70 lbs / 5–32 kg depending on configuration
Mounting:
48–52 mm speed rail and specialty vehicle mounting systems
System Weight:
Approximately 88 lbs / 40 kg
Typical Applications:
Automotive cinematography, camera cars, pursuit vehicles, tracking vehicles, off-road filming, commercials, television, feature films, sports, live production, and VFX photography
A successful Black Arm setup involves much more than attaching the arm to a vehicle.
Spring tension, hydraulic damper settings, vibration isolation, payload weight, center of gravity, camera position, vehicle suspension, tire pressure, road conditions, lens choice, and vehicle speed can all affect the final image.
Our technicians configure and tune the system for the specific camera package and shooting conditions.
This allows production to spend less time troubleshooting equipment and more time shooting.