Darren

I do run a back up machine. I just don't burn any discs from it, or use its material for anything else. The audio simply remains on its hard drive. It is there for worse case scenarios only to be used in the hopefully never occurring situation where the the audio from the primary recorder cannot be used due to a total failure.

Ditto Jeff!

The newer versions will run just fine on your PPC too.

Hi there, Mine came with 2 batteries and between them I have no difficulties making it through a 12 hr work day. The vest is meant to be worn snugly so that for the most part it is making physical contact with your body. I've actually found that I rarely use the highest heat setting as the medium one is plenty hot enough. This is one of those item that completely changes your life on a cold day. Cheers, Darren

Why does Boom recorder = Inverters?

Metacorder is fine on both Intel Macs and Snow Leopard. Versions prior to 1.5 are PPC only. 1.5 is quite old now. I believe the current version is 1.75

I think I may have posted this before at some point, so apologies in advance if I have. I originally bought one of these 12v [shadow=red,left]rechargeable[/shadow] heated vests for motorcycling, but it has become my favourite piece of winter work clothing, and is great for skiing/boarding as well: http://www.jett.us.com/heat_vest_complete.htm

http://jwsound.net/SMF/index.php?topic=4322.msg32386#msg32386

FYI, I'm easily getting *at least* 4 to 4.5 hours to a rechargeable battery in my MM's. I used to use Maha's. But I switched to the "Titanium" brand about a year ago. They last at least as long as the Maha's, but are standard sized so there are no issues with them fitting too tightly in your equipment. Titanium Power Enduro NIMH AA 2700mAh Rechargeable

To the best of my recollection, which may not be perfect, I believe that 608-614 is reserved for radio astronomy. Not sure if that is a U.S. or global requirement.

Some blocks (23 comes to mind as an example) skip frequencies that are expressly prohibited for wireless mic use.

When I was last in Rome, the local contract stipulated that the max hours per day was to be 10 hours, *including* a 1 hour lunch. Disney managed to negotiate a longer work day, which was to be 11 hours per day, still including the 1 hour lunch. Even with the extra hour, it seemed awfully civilized (and real easy to get used to). What really struck me is that all of my Italian co-workers were keeping a financial standard of living at least as good the one as I was keeping with my career of "North American" hours. And of course their standard of living with regards to their lifestyle was far higher than ours in that they actually had a life, even when they were working. It really made me wonder why it has come to be that we have to bang our heads against the wall to make a living, while they don't. Strangely enough, even while working what most North American technicians would consider to be "short"hours, we still got our days and the movie was completed on schedule. Imagine that.

Thanks for posting that Richard. There are so many different approaches that one can take with this mixer. Its quite interesting to see what other users are doing. Here's a brief run down on how my board is configured: I don't use busses 1 through 8 at all for the most part. My direct outs for each input strip are routed directly to the ADAT optical outs, which are used for my "ISO" tracks. If I used a recording device that didn't accept optical, I would likely route the direct outs to the slot out where cards are available for your choice of analog, digital, more ADAT outs, etc. My main mix goes through the Stereo Bus and is routed to both the analog XLR outputs and the spdif. I mix in mono, so the "Right" XLR connector of the Stereo out is used to feed my CAT5 video assist cable. Much like Richard, I route Aux 1 and Aux 2 for my two IFB feeds, Aux's 3 and 4 are used for anything from earwigs, to music playback to whatever is necessary. All four of my Aux's are routed to the four "Omni Out" physical outputs, in sequence. Returns from Metacorder are monitored at one of the 01v96's 4 stereo returns. The 744, which is my backup, has its return routed to another of the mixer's stereo returns. Keeping in mind that all physical input connections can be routed to any, and all, input strips: Physical Inputs 1-8 are mostly permanently fed from my RF 1-8. Input strips 1-8 are mostly used for my RF 1-8 as well. Occasionally, I may route something else to them. Inputs 9 -11 are for booms etc. Physical Input 12 is my slate mic, which is actually routed to input strips 14, 15, & 16. 14 is set up as Private line only, 15 is set up as Private and Public lines. 16 is direct to the stereo bus. Physical inputs 15 and 16 are used for playback inputs and routed to wherever I want them at the time. This mixer is so flexible that on the last production I was able to use Input Strip 13 for music (with its direct out going to an iso recording track and its post fader output going to the mix bus) while simultaneously routing the same music input to input strips 11 and 12 where the faders on 11 and 12 were used to control the output levels of the music on its way to Omni Outs 3 and 4, where the music was being routed to earwigs and speakers respectively. The output levels show up on the "master" layer anyways, but this gave me very quick access to the speaker and earwig outputs for cues and instant level changes. Hope I'm describing things in a way that make them somewhat possible to visualize. As Richard put so perfectly, "The options are multiple, it is totally open to your imagination. Have fun.". Darren

If you need any assistance or have any questions at all, feel free to contact me any time. Darren

Love it. Been using one for several years now. Wouldn't trade it for anything. A couple hours fooling around with it at home and you'll have most of it mastered. By the end of your first week of using it at work, it'll be pretty intuitive. If you've ever used *any* other digital mixer before, you'll already have a huge head start, so it won't be that big of a transition.

Working on movies that my kids love is my fav!

FROM CANON USA http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=PgComSmModDisplayAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=19356&keycode=2112&id=60427 Service Notice: EOS 7D: Residual Image in Picture Thank you for using Canon products. We have confirmed that in certain camera settings and shooting conditions, the phenomenon described below may occur in images captured by the EOS 7D Digital SLR camera. Canon is currently investigating and analyzing the cause of this phenomenon, and we are planning to release a firmware update to address this issue. Once the support measures have been established, we will post the relevant information on our Web site. We offer our most sincere apologies to customers using this product who have been inconvenienced by this issue. Going forward, we will spare no effort in our quality management to make sure our customers can use our products with confidence. We hope our efforts will earn your understanding. Phenomenon In images captured by continuous shooting, and under certain conditions, barely noticeable traces of the immediately preceding frame may be visible. This phenomenon is not noticeable in an image with optimal exposure. The phenomenon may become more noticeable if a retouching process such as level compensation is applied to emphasize the image. Affected Product EOS 7D Digital SLR Support This contact information is for residents of the United States and Puerto Rico only. If you do not reside in the USA or Puerto Rico, please contact the Canon Customer Support Center in your region. Thank you, Customer Support Operations Canon U.S.A., Inc. Contact Information for Inquiries Canon Customer Support Center Hours: Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 midnight. ET, Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m., excluding holidays Phone: 1-800-OK-CANON (toll free) 1-800-652-2666 TTD: 1-866-251-3752 (toll free) Email: carecenter@cits.canon.com For additional support options: www.usa.canon.com/support

Uh.. ya... sure it is...

A heavy, inelegant solution compared to a couple of rack ears...

I wish everyone would make a rack mount option for everything. 788T, Comtek transmitters, Denecke timecode generators... everything. Did I say 788T!

This is not uncommon at all. Isn't it great to be so appreciated?

This is a very good question and a really nice change from all of the "technical" questions that usually come up. I would like to add to this thread that being able to interpret and understand the actor and director dynamics on any set, and then finding a way to not only work within those parameters but to make them work for you, is a huge part of what makes a successful Production Sound Mixer. I suppose my advice, at least at the beginning of production, would be to begin by dealing with the director. The director will usually let you know if he/she wants to mention it to the cast and in many cases will let you know that is ok for you to do so, allowing him/her to deal with the many other things on their plate. If the director is frequently on board with you mentioning it yourself, you are probably in a good position to begin taking some "liberties". Obviously, if you have made the effort to establish a good rapport with the director and the cast, you will be in a better position to accomplish your goals. But, as Richard has stated, some directors just don't want *anyone* else speaking to their cast on the set. You have to feel it out. Regarding the 1st AD, my personal opinion on this is that the 1st AD has a lot of other things to do and its both advantageous and more efficient to try not to use them as our message delivery system, in most cases. Dealing with other issues like lockups and keeping the extras quiet are examples of the many exceptions to that rule. This is only my opinion, and is the way that "I" work. Every Sound Mixer is entitled to work in a way that works for them, and that they are comfortable with, as long as the end results are working for you. Your boom operator, on the other hand, is in an excellent position to communicate your needs as, more often than not, he/she have a very good rapport with the director/cast as a result of working so physically close to them all the time. Being able to "work the set" is one of a good boom op's most important skills. The good ones are *very* good at it. Of course *everything* changes from film to film, and that often depends on the "level", for lack of a better word, of the director/cast, you are working with. Many method actors do not want to be disturbed by anyone *including* the director, if they can avoid it. The "importance", also for lack of a better word, of the actor can also have a lot to do with how approachable you can be. i.e. Are they a $15M/movie method actor with a finicky reputation, or is it a day player with one line in the whole movie? That being said, I'm sure anyone with more than a few movies behind them can probably think of at least a couple where the cast was MUCH easier to communicate with than the director! As you can see, there may be no "real" answer to your question. My best advice, for the *long* term, is to work hard to hone your set dynamics instincts so that you will be in a position to be able to rely on your own best judgement for each situation you find yourself in. As has been mentioned so many times on this board before, learning how to operate the equipment successfully is the absolute most basic part of what we do. The most important skills we have is our knowledge base and the decisions that we make with regards to everything that happens before the cameras roll, be those our interpersonal skills, approaches to the scene with regards to perspective, making a decision with regards to lav usage, microphone selections, dealing with costume/prop issues, being on the tech scouts to try to deal with locations problems before they occur, and even working with the electrics dept on generator parking plans well before they ever show up on set. Detailed attention to all of the above will make a much larger contribution to a successful sound track than having the absolute latest greatest piece of gear. Best, dB

I use this: http://www.mgchemicals.com/products/406b.html VERY fast dry time. ZERO residue. I also use it clean XLR connectors and anything else that you need to be throughly cleaned with no residues or lubricants left behind. Cheers, Darren

The difference between Cat5 and Cat5e is a very good point that was well worth bringing to everyone's attention. Note that *all* of the Muxlabs baluns are spec'd for use with Cat5e/Cat6, not Cat5.