The 63rd Grammy Awards marked the premiere for the RTS MagCam. A new model of remote-controlled camera that does not need tracks and uses a magnetic tape line as a guide. RailCam Robotic Systems used the Rail & Tracking Systems model with a NEWTON stabilized camera head during the performance of artists like Dua Lipa.

The MagCam is a wheeled dolly with a telescopic tower, operated by a remote control. It follows a magnetic tape on the floor, instead of tracks. This skill allows the camera controllers to change the path of the camera quickly by moving the thin magnetic tape in seconds. Also, it is possible to switch free-running mode and steer away from the magnetic path. 

This versatility was very useful during the broadcast of the awards as they were four different stages. Brian Sheid at RailCam explains: “There were a lot of cameras in a small room that needed to keep up with very quick stage changes. A dolly on rail tracks would have been too cumbersome and would have required many timely rebuilds, but with the MagCam, we just needed to tape a new strip on the floor in the path the director wanted.“

For the awards, the MagCam was equipped with a Sony HCD-P50 camera and Canon HJ14x4.3 lens with a NEWTON stabilized camera system and operated by foot pedals. The MagCam remote dolly system is developed by RTS upon a chassis of the Agito by Motion Impossible.

The Grammy Awards were not the first major broadcast this year for RailCam Robotic Systems and RTS, as they provided moving camera systems for the Superbowl halftime.