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BAB414

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Everything posted by BAB414

  1. I'm not a fan of how much you have to rely on phone/tablet devices and their apps to configure these.
  2. Anyone know if it records and transmits at the same time?
  3. Just last night, we're doing a "big" scene with 100+ background actors and setting up and shooting all these little montage pieces for over three hours before they even bring the actual actors to set. The AD is super nervous. They don't even let me wire them for the camera rehearsal (which was the first time any one of us saw the action - it was a walk and talk) and then they finally permitted me to wire them on last looks. Anyone who works in film knows this is absolutely not how a set is supposed to be run. And this is not a little indie movie mind you. After the camera rehearsal, I run over to wire the two actors and the AD quietly tells me "the wires make us ready." Oh, great. I'm good and fast at wiring but I don't like the pressure of 200+ cast and crew combined waiting on me to wire actors in the wet street at midnight. I can do my job better if I'm not rushing and not feeling that pressure, let alone the fact that I could have wired them 30 minutes prior at my leisure if they would just let me. Had they been wired before the camera rehearsal, the first take would not have been MY rehearsal and the sound would have been better. By the way, this example was only the beginning of an agonizing night. The bottom line is: it takes as long as it takes. That's my canned answer when a green AD asks me how long something will take. It's important not to feel that pressure that causes us to make poor choices or little mistakes which snowball into sound issues. If you are not provided with an environment that allows you to succeed, then there is only so much you can do. In these cases, open communication with the people in charge is what will protect you, if anything. Keep a report so there is a record. What allows me to sleep at night is knowing that I tried my best and stayed cool under pressure. I often think of it like: anyone else could have been hired to be in this situation right now. It just happens to be me, so I might as well do my best here. Because you mention the heart arrhythmia - it's just a job. It's just a commercial. We are not saving lives. Try to take a step back and laugh at the absurdity of it all. My last line of defense when I'm so beaten down and everything is a disaster is this (and it's cynical but it works): the check will clear. The day will end in a few hours and you will be paid. I work mostly in film and TV and with film especially, I have a very high level of respect for the medium and the process (which is why I'm in this business) and when I go to work, I usually see that process completely trampled over and sometimes I take it personally. I try to remember that they are not spending all this money and effort for my benefit. I am just one of many foot soldiers on the ground trying to make their vision come to life. Lastly, on the clothing noise - again, take your time wiring and do it right. Some outfits just will not sound good. Then, if they won't let you clip it to the outside (if it's that kind of job), let them know that the lavs are not going to sound good and be upfront and vocal about it. Hopefully you can still boom in those situations and all is well. I almost always think of the boom as my primary source even if lavs sound good.
  4. I happen to agree with Jon. If this had a battery eliminator, I'd buy it in a heartbeat for my cart. Will one of lectrosonics AA eliminators work from an electrical standpoint?
  5. Interesting. Is there a reason there doesn't seem to be as much coverage near the higher notes?
  6. Good call. Yes he does. He didn't seem to be aware of that or how an interface works. It's quite the interesting job.
  7. He's got some 2 input Focusrite interface (which should be all he needs audio-wise). I didn't really look into his cart to be honest. He now tells me he's getting a Black Magic SDI to analog audio converter which I'm hoping will do the trick. Once we solve that, we'll have to address people being too close to set who experience the live sound and then the delayed sound.
  8. They were really hoping that the lead actor would somehow master the piano in a month's time. We shot the scene yesterday and I'm really happy with it. Live singing to playback with earwigs and a hand double for the piano. I was disappointed not to have the opportunity to record live piano with it but everything still came out great.
  9. I'm down for this except the VTR guy doesn't have any analog audio outs...his cart is like all SDI. But as Mungo mentions below, maybe the headphone jack out of his computer is a viable option. I agree but for whatever reason (I'll ask), his system introduces delay even when in "live" mode. I think because it's so stripped down, he doesn't have all the routing abilities to give them a direct return (bypassing his software). I am feeding him a line but he is unable to give me a return as of now. The camera hop solution is not a bad idea as long as I can get a return from him to feed the comteks. I'll see if that's possible and if camera department is open to having a hop (not something I really feel like doing but might be the easiest solution right now). You're all right, it's not really my problem and I don't want to spend extra money to fix it.
  10. I'm honestly not sure. I couldn't see it for myself but the AD, who thought I was causing the problem, said it was "a lot". I know that doesn't mean much. I'm guessing it probably is just a few frames. No one could tell me if they thought it was more than a second or not. I'll try to see for myself and maybe pick up the Sescom or AV toolbox.
  11. It would be nice to be able to do at least 2-3 seconds, I'm thinking. 300ms is about 8 frames, which might be enough for most applications?
  12. Reviving this thread for 2021. On my current feature, the VTR guy is using someone else's barebones cart and he has extremely limited flexibility. The DIT sends him the live feed and he outputs to the monitors, but whatever processing/compression is going on on his end in Qtake (and there's no VFX or anything like that) will SOMETIMES introduce a delay that the director finds completely unusable. If we take him out of the signal path, no issues. I have been unable to see for myself how bad the delay is but I want the ability to help delay my comtek feed on the fly if necessary. My 744T can do 30ms but they say it's way more than that. I've looked around online and there are some cheap options for little boxes, but they're either RCA, AC powered, or can't do more than 300ms. Is there anything nowadays that fits a more modern workflow (DC powered, XLR or 1/8" jacks) that can feed my base station? Not looking for a rackmount solution (smaller is better). And cheap! Thanks!
  13. BAB414

    Lav Mics

    Now you've done it.
  14. Well thanks for all the advice. Super helpful. I picked up a second cardioid so I could do ORTF but now it looks like the actor isn't having much success learning the piece and he will probably be faking it on the day. Then for inserts they are going to have a pianist play-sync to a prerecord. Don't ask me why.
  15. Can this be done with an ipad as well? And just with usb if you're only using a Venue2?
  16. Thanks all. Post got back to me. The Sup and the AE didn't really know what I was talking about. I explained it and sent them the article so they checked with Netflix who said there will be no pulldown and so 24.000 and 48kHz is good to go.
  17. That all makes perfect sense, thank you. Did they end up finishing at 23.976 by the way?
  18. Good to know, thanks! Just reached out to Post. I'll let you guys know what they say. We're doing all sorts of interesting things like shooting 2:1 but protecting 16x9 and screwing sound in the process! They even skipped the whole sound page in the meeting which I had to remind them about. Good times.
  19. Thank you all for all the insight. I'll probably hide 2 cos-11's inside and try an ORTF from the outside. Benefits of ORTF vs XY here?
  20. Thanks, I checked it out. I guess because it's an older article, I'm wondering if current workflows still employ the pulldown or if they would just finish in 24.000. The math makes sense though.
  21. Raising this from the dead. Here's the article that has been posted here before, from 2013 (?): https://www.trewaudio.com/articles/48048-khz/ I'm mixing a Netflix movie next week. Just had the Dailies call and they want to shoot true 24.000 fps on Alexa Mini LF's but they have 48kHz listed as the audio sample rate, which was probably just a holdover from their template. I don't believe they have any post-sound positions hired yet. I will not be sending audio to the camera. I have never shot true 24 or 48048 before. I will reach out to the post supervisor but before I open that can of worms: My questions are: -Do I need to record at 48.048kHz if we're rolling at 24.000? -Is the article above still relevant or is it outdated? Thanks!
  22. Slightly unrelated but does the higher sample rate automatically coincide with 24.000 FPS (in general, not specific to 8 series)?
  23. Thanks Dalton. How would you arrange them pattern-wise, and why not wireless? I also think the "somewhere" is very important as different parts of the piano resonate differently, no? The only DPAs I have are the larger 4098s. I know DPA is generally preferred for music applications in film. If I did lavs, it would be cos-11's or B6's.
  24. Hello friends, I have a project coming up involving one or more scenes where a character will be playing piano. Music recording is not my specialty and while I have casually recorded some piano in the past on a few smaller projects and have been happy with the results, this project is bigger and the music is an important plot element so I want to give it extra special care. There's plenty of material online for how to mic a piano, but not so much for film. It'll be a baby grand with the top open, so that makes hiding the mics the challenge. I'll boom it of course, but any tips on mic placement and which mics to use? Right now I'm thinking of trying to sneak two MK41's inside for an XY pair (if it's even possible - I got the new short ones) or maybe something like a CUB or 2 stuck to the bottom of the piano. Would love to hear your insight. Thanks, Ben
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