MOTION CONTROL.
BOLT CINEBOT /// STING /// HIGH-SPEED
A ROBOT GUIDES THE CAMERA.
In motion control, a robot arm moves the camera. The move is planned once and saved. After that, the robot repeats it exactly as often as needed – even fast and just centimetres from the product.
This creates images that are impossible by hand: the camera follows a splash, a pour without a cut, the same move for ten flavours of one brand.
RED V-Raptor 8K VV on the Bolt
3D data of the move for VFX or planning
High-speed shot · SeltersWHAT YOU GET FROM IT.
The same move with product, without product, with effect or with a different flavour. The shots line up exactly afterwards – variants for markets and channels from one set-up.
The arm moves the camera faster than any hand, the high-speed camera shows it in slow motion. The camera travels through the moment instead of watching it from outside.
Camera, lighting, effects and product robot run on one shared timeline. The drop falls in the same frame on every pass.
The move is developed and tested in the studio before the shoot day. On set it is fine-tuned. Schedule and costs are fixed in advance.
WHAT THE ROBOT CAN ACTUALLY DO.
FREE MOVES WITHOUT RE-RIGGING
The arm moves the camera freely in space. Tracks, cranes and re-rigging between set-ups are no longer needed.
MULTIPLE PASSES, ONE IMAGE
Product, effect and background are shot one after another with the same move and combined into one image in post-production (multipass).
KEEP THE OBJECT IN VIEW
The robot automatically keeps a defined object centred and in focus, regardless of the speed and path of the move (target tracking).
SWAP THE SUBJECT, KEEP THE CAMERA
Same move, different product: flavours, colours or packaging change, the camera movement stays. In the edit it becomes one scene.
FAST MOVE, SLOW IMAGE
The robot moves fast, the high-speed camera records in slow motion. A fraction of a second becomes several seconds in the film – with a moving camera.
TRIGGER EFFECTS TO THE FRAME
The robot sends the signal to pneumatics, lighting, turntable and product robot – to the millisecond, identical on every pass.
TWO SPEEDS IN ONE IMAGE
The same move run once fast, once slow: foreground in slow motion, background in real time (speed matching).
THE SPACE SHIFTS
Camera moves in, lens zooms out. The product stays the same size, the background contracts or expands (dolly zoom).
COMBINE LARGE AND SMALL
A move around a large subject is repeated, scaled down, around a small one. Model and original match exactly afterwards.
MOTION DATA FOR 3D
The move is exported as a file. 3D elements fit the real footage without rework – or a move planned on the computer is run for real.
Bolt with RED V-Raptor 8K
Bolt on pedestal
Bolt and pneumatics · Selters packshotBOLT CINEBOT.
The Bolt by Mark Roberts Motion Control is the standard for high-speed motion control in advertising. We have the large version on pedestal – not Junior, not Mini – permanently in the studio, mobile on request.
On the arm: RED V-Raptor 8K, Freefly Ember for high-speed or your own camera up to 20 kg. The Bolt is always booked with an operator – in our production or as a unit for yours.
Classified · Coming SoonComing SoonFrom November 2026STING.
STING is our own development: an industrial robot by KUKA, converted into a product robot with integrated pneumatics. It moves bottles, packaging, props and liquids repeatably in frame – in sync with the Bolt's camera move.
Product and camera move at the same time, every take matches the last. Throws, turns and pours are repeated until light, timing and effect are right.
Stage 1 as a product robot from November 2026. Stage 2 turns STING into a second camera arm next to the Bolt in 2027: two synchronised camera moves around a moving product.
TITAN with BullheadTITAN SLIDER.
The TITAN by MRMC Slidekamera is a motorised camera slider with pan-tilt head. It runs on the same control system as the Bolt, moves repeatably and is set up on location in minutes.
Use: calm, slow product moves, motion control outside the studio without a 600 kg robot, or as a second camera alongside the Bolt.
WHAT HAPPENS IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA, WE BUILD OURSELVES.
Splash, drops, pouring, flying parts: these effects come from compressed air, motors and mechanics, built in our own workshop. They are triggered by the robot – in the same frame on every pass.
PNEUMATIC CYLINDERS
Compressed-air pistons in several sizes shoot, push, lift or throw products and liquids – repeatably.
DROPPER
Drop mechanisms release drops, ice cubes, fruit or products at the defined moment – from the same height, in the same position.
POURING RIGS
Motorised pouring and tilting rigs for beverages, oil, sauces or cosmetics: same stream, same angle, same amount.
TRIGGER-BOX
All effects are connected to the trigger box of the Bolt control. The robot triggers them in sync with the move, no hand signals.
CUSTOM BUILDS PER PROJECT
What the inventory does not provide gets engineered: aquarium rigs, mounts, special mechanisms. Tested in the studio before the shoot day.
THREE FILMS, THREE TASKS.
ONE POUR, ONE TAKE
Pouring a beer without a cut, from the bottleneck to the standing head of foam. Camera and glass travel the distance together; the Bolt ran the move until foam, light and timing were right in a single pass. Barley and bubbles at 800 fps. Rehearsed with water, shot with six bottles of beer.
THIRTEEN SHOTS, ALL REAL
Water forming a spiral, a diamond plunging in, drops releasing in the right frame. Each of the thirteen shots had its own rig – aquarium, pneumatics, special optics –, triggered in sync by the Bolt and recorded at 800 fps. None of it is rendered. Two AVA Platinum Awards 2025.
30 SECONDS WITHOUT A WORD
A spot for Japanese knives that shows sharpness and water-repellent coating instead of claiming it. The Bolt guides a macro lens millimetres along the edge, pneumatics place water drops exactly where the camera is, high-speed at 1,000 fps. Entirely in-house, in one and a half shoot days.
QUESTIONS ABOUT SHOOTING WITH THE BOLT.
A simple move is ready in a few minutes. Complex moves with effect synchronisation we develop and test in the studio before the shoot day. On set it is fine-tuned.
Our standard: RED V-Raptor 8K and Freefly Ember for high-speed. The arm carries up to 20 kg, so practically any cinema camera fits, including your own. Focus, zoom and iris are controlled by the Bolt as well.
In our experience to about ±2 millimetres, pass after pass, even at high speed. That is enough to layer shots in post-production without offset.
Up to 7 m/s at the camera. This is needed for slow motion: the camera follows a splash or a falling product in real time while the high-speed camera records at 800 or 1,000 fps. In the film the camera then moves through a scene that lasted fractions of a second.
As soon as a movement has to be repeated: effects in the right frame, variants of the same subject, high-speed moves or moves that cannot be done cleanly by hand. For a single calm shot without effects, a slider or a tripod is often the better choice.
Yes. Bolt and base weigh around 600 kg and need a level floor, space and power; we clarify this with your set in advance. For smaller set-ups on location, the TITAN slider is the lighter alternative. Operator and set-up come from us in both cases.
Yes. We provide the motion data of the move for post-production so that 3D elements match the real camera movement exactly. Conversely, a move planned in 3D can be run for real by the Bolt.
The Bolt always comes with an operator. With us, that is the same person who directs and builds the effects. Food styling, lighting and set construction are added per project.
Yes. Production companies and photographers book Bolt, operator and, on request, the studio for their own production. Directing and client contact stay with you, we deliver robot, programming and effects. The Bolt is not rented without an operator.
Yes. At a Cinebot demo in our studio in Frankfurt you bring your product or your board, we run a move. About 30 minutes, no obligation.
SEE THE BOLT LIVE.
Cinebot demo at our studio in Frankfurt: you bring your product or your board, we run a move. About 30 minutes, no obligation.
