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Xbox Gamepad + Cartesian View + Focus Follows Target for Live Broadcast / Events

Summary

For live broadcast and event production — where the camera must track a moving subject and operators need real-time manual control without pre-programmed moves — the recommended workflow is: Xbox gamepad for joystick-style robot control, Cartesian view in Flair to give intuitive XYZ/pan/tilt response rather than axis-by-axis response, and Target Tracking with Focus Follows Target (FFO or FFT mode) so focus adjusts automatically as the subject moves in and out. This combination makes the Bolt behave like a high-end remote head — the operator steers in physical space (not robot joint space) and focus tracks the subject without a separate focus operator. Ben Myers' CES installation (1,180 riders over 4 days with no crashes) demonstrated this workflow at scale.

Community Guidance

[RESOLVED] Cartesian Mode for Intuitive Live Control

Community consensus

In axis (non-Cartesian) mode, each gamepad axis moves one robot joint — pan, tilt, track, etc. In Cartesian mode, the robot's coordinate system is remapped so that stick inputs correspond to real-world directions (X = left/right in space, Y = forward/back, Z = up/down). This is much more intuitive for live-following applications because the operator thinks in terms of "move the camera left" rather than "pan left while compensating with arm."

In Flair: enable Carts (Cartesian) mode via the Carts button in the main toolbar. Ensure Kinematics is set to TT (Target Tracking) mode to get the full benefit.

confidence_score: 0.88

[RESOLVED] Focus Follows Target in TT Mode

Community consensus — see also TT-ffo-vs-fft.md

In Target Tracking mode with FFO (Focus Follow Object) or FFT (Focus Follow Target), Flair automatically adjusts focus as the camera-to-subject distance changes. The operator sets a target point and Flair solves focus from the measured distance. This eliminates the need for a separate focus puller during live-tracking situations.

  • FFT: Focus follows the tracked target point; operates in millimetres
  • FFO: Focus follows an independent object position; operates in metres (Independent Focus mode)

Use FFT for most live broadcast applications unless you need focus at a fixed physical object independent of pan/tilt.

confidence_score: 0.88

[INFORMATIONAL] Production Validation — CES 2024 (Ben Myers, 1,180 Riders)

2024-01-21 — Ben Myers

Ben Myers operated a Bolt at CES 2024 in a live-experience ride installation for 4 continuous days with 1,180 riders — running Flair 7.4 beta 15 with TouchDesigner and TouchOSC on the same Flair PC. Zero crashes, no resets required. The system ran overnight between sessions.

Ben Myers: "7.4 beta 15 lasted 4 days in a row with 1,180 riders at CES on the show floor. Left everything running over night. Not a single crash or reset. Was running TouchDesigner and TouchOSC on the Flair PC as well."

confidence_score: 0.88