Bash

And wasn't there a 'Smart Slate' which I believe a pal of mine might have one of? Also - I think that Joe Bugner was mostly british, before he moved to Australia to retire and then do his comebacks. That said I think he was born in Hungary!! Kindest regards, Simon B

Hi Philip - I'd guess that the slate is about 12"x8"x2" - approx. Quite heavy also, but it was cutting edge stuff at the time I am sure!! Kindest, Simon B

I did a LOT of concerts here in the UK in the 80s. On my very early ones we used to take a feed of the TC from the multitrack truck, and then point a video camera at a TC reader. We would then distribute the video signal to loads of TV sets, carefully placed such that the cameras could take a peep at the TV (the TC) at the start of each roll. Somehow it generally worked, and not a moment too soon Denecke invented TC slates. Kindest regards, Simon B

I was recently given this - an original, British, MacMarker!! It worked by radio, and as I understand it when you pushed the button on top (there were, in fact, two, front slate and end slate) it would show the slate number and some kind of flash, whilst sending by radio to a receiver, a voice that read out the slate number and then some kind of sync sound. I am currently trying to get it all to work, as there is some damage (ageing) to a ribbon connector that makes the buttons work to set the numbers. I will let you know if I can get one working. They were invented by Sandy MacRae, a British recordist, in the 70s I believe. They never really caught on, as TC came just after them, and somewhat negated them. Kindest regards, Simon B

HUGE Congratulations to Resul, and all of the sound team (I believe it was posted at Pinewood, where I am currently working) for their Slumdog BAFTA. Well done guys and girls. Kindest regards, Simon B

Ski bum!! Though I did get to do sound on a few ski movies about 20 years ago - I got to ski, and I got paid to do it!! Good thread, Simon B

I would not cite the fact that SADiE LRX has a lack of US experience as a valid reason NOT to look at the SADiE route. The LRX is well and truely proven here in the UK now, and lots of other places elsewhere also. I totally understand that many folks are more Mac friendly than PC friendly, and that that fact alone might well present a little 'resistance'. That said, it is a solid and reliable system (it actually bypasses quite a lot of Windows 'stuff', in order to make it more solid) - if you see a waveform being drawn, then it got recorded!! Two external (i.e. deliverable) drives simultaneously, and you dont have to feed it at line level from a mixer - you can plug 48 x mic IPs into it directly should you wish to. Kindest regards, Simon B

Hi Aaron, and hats off to you for persevering through what must seem like a fairly major voyage of discovery. I looked at doing a similar rig about 4 months ago, when I had to sort out a 20+ track recording for a reality show based around 17 people travelling around Europe on the back of a coach. In the end I decided that the data handling, amongst other things, was going to be the killer, in as much as I could see a pretty much full time job in copying and compiling the files in such a way as to make them make sense. Might I suggest that you steer down the 16bit file width route, as this will significantly reduce the amount of data to copy. I expect you are wondering what we used on the bus in the end. . . I did it with a Yamaha LS9-32 desk, connected by MADI to a SADiE LRX2 recorder (which works fine on 12v, though we in fact had mains on the bus (The Yamaha is mains only to my knowledge). One of the advantages of this (for our shoot) was that the SADiE records to a day folder on 2 x ext HDDs simultaneously. This meant no file copying at all - just deliver one drive weekly, and keep the other as a backup. It worked pretty well in the end, though there were a few minor hiccups, mostly to do with an operator who knew macs well, but was pretty green on PCs. SADiE software of course only works in a windows environment!! Kindest regards, and good luck, Simon B

I recall doing a very swift 'world tour' on a corporate about 10 years ago. We had already shot in Japan and Mexico, and now had a couple of days in NYC. We did the IVs and the shots in the factory, and had a couple of quick pieces to camera to do and then collect a few things from the hotel and off to the airport. So - we jumped in our truck and took off across one of the bridges to get one of those classic shots of the NYC skyline, then of course including the twin towers. We set the camera up and got a shot framed with the presenter, and then waited around a bit for the light to improve. As we were rolling on the PTC and everyone else was watching him do his stuff, I looked along the river and saw the most spectacular weather heading our way fast. Dark clouds, an ominous grey, and clearly an awful lot of snow. When we cut I mentioned this to the assembled crewq, and we decided that the last take was clearly going to be the best one, and that we should get outta there asap and start our journey. By the time we had the kit stowed in the truck the snow had arrived, and it was brutal. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get back to the hotel (a drive that should have taken about half an hour) and by the time we had fetched our luggage the message hgad arrived that the airport was closed and there was no point even attempting the journey there. Suffice to say that we has a fantastic two days, sitting in the hotel bar, mulling over old adventures and swopping some excellent (if sometimes rather drunk) stories and tales. Every now and again the client would pop her head around the door and ask 'do you need anything?', to which our chorus of reply was, wothout fail, 'Perhaps a little more float money!'. It was one of the nicest sessions I can remember, and all paid for, if I remember rightly, by Glaxo!! Happy days! Kindest regards, Simon B

Many thanks Jeff for that. It is good to know that the ship is being steered by such a good master!! A thousand thankyous also for simply being there and doing what you do. This is by far the best of all the audio forums (should that be 'fora'?). Kindest regards, Simon B

Hi Jeff, I assume that you have seen the spam mails for viagara etc n the group? Has some kind of Bot managed to join perhaps? It'd be a great shame to clutter things up with that junk? Is there anything I or we could do to help out? Kindest regards, Simon B

Anyone remember the old advert for Harley D woolen hats 'Perfect Ear Warmers' - must have been about that era Jeff also!!! Kindest regards, Simon B

Zaxcom Deva, notch filter!! Kindest regards, Simon B

Huge apologies Brent - I most certainly didnt mean to put you Fusion only Trailer Trash down in any way!! And yes, it is great news for Fusion owners. Now. . . . Has anyone had time to try it yet? Kindest regards, Simon B

I picked up a note on the Deva User's group last night that told me that Zax have now upgraded the Fusion (via new Software, v5.50u) such that users can now run the machine as a 10 track recorder. The upgrade is FREE, and as a Deva 5.8 AND Fusion owner I can say it will be most welcome. This means that I can have the 5.8 bolted into the trolley, for the big grown up stuff, but that I can also have the Fusion in a bag ready to go for the runaround shots. No more pulling the cart apart for me when they need a quick up and past!! Nice one Glenn, Howy, and Zaxcom. Kindest regards to all, Simon B

I had a particularly sticky, and similar sounding, bug quite recently. It resisted many attempts to get rid of it. I eventuaslly resorted to typing the exact error and spurious messages that popped up into Google. The answers from Google led to to run a combination of Avast AntiVirus ATF-Cleaner and ComboFix The latter two are pretty serious tools, though all are free. The bug has now been cleansed!! Good luck. Kindest regards, Simon B

Hi Larry, I was intrigued when Zax came up with the original Mix 12 idea, and was lucky enough that they asked me to help them yto Beta test it. I too wondered about all those useful features of the analogue (and digital) stand alone desks and how I would get those features on the Mix 12. Monitoring is easy - I monitor though the Deva, and with a combination of the Deva HP page and the solo buttons on the Mix 12 I am able to monitor whatever I want. As regards to the comms facilities, the Mix 12 unlocks an extra page of routing within the Deva software. This allows the slate mic on the Deva to be routed (through 3 different hard buttons on the Mix 12) to a slate destination, a Comms 1 destination, or a Comms 2 destination. All three destinations can be separately programmed, so it is very flexible. The Mix 12 also unlocks the ability to easily control EQ and Comp/Limiters within the Deva soft. I kept my Beta tester, and use it almost every day that I have worked since. I hope that this helps. Kindest regards, Simon B

Please take it elsewhere - I think we can safely say that there are now only two people left who are interested in this thread - keep it amongst yourselves ay chaps?? Kindest regards, Simon B

I have one - its called a SoundField!! With their software plugin I believe you can matrix out as many points as you wish!! Kindest regards, Simon B

I am now rather less cavalier than I used to be with respect to software upgrades!! I had a couple of really bad experiences, so now I usually wait until the machine is unlikley to be used in anger for a day or two after the upgrade - in order to give me time to look for little surprise 'features'. Kindest regards to all, Simon B

I believe that the current, most recent, software, supports 8 digit filenames. I dont, however, have a machine or the version number near me. I think it is in 5.43u. In fact - I just checked some notes - 8 digit filenames were introduced in v5.36u. Kindest regards, Simon B

I tried one out about 5 years ago for a big UK dealer who were thinking of stocking it. I genuinely cant remember what the problem was - but our conclusion was that it was not very good, bordering on quite bad. Also it didnt sound that great. Qolle are quite big in China, they make SSL type mixers if I remember rightly. Kindest regards, Simon B

I am a bit gobsmacked to hear that Courtney. It must be about 10 or more years ago that I bought my first Deva. It was a Deva 1 but on the day that I received it (first in the UK) Zax announced the Deva 2 (a largely cosmetic upgrade). Not long after that Jon Coffey came to London on vacation. He came to visit me on set, and we spoke then of starting a Deva users group. He beat me to it and set it up on his return to the USA. I have never ever heard or been told that one had to be a Deva 'owner' to be on the group. Some years ago JC decided to back off from administering the group, and Colleen became more involved. I believe that she does most of the administration now. I will ask if she might confirm quite what the current 'criteria' are for being a member of the group. It would seem crazy to me to exclude interested parties - what about folks that dont own a Deva, but may well want to hire one. If I am out of date then apologies, but my understanding was that one did not have to be an owner to be on the group. Kindest regards, Simon B

I dont remember any such restriction being made as regards to membership of the Deva users group. I have never seen anything that states that you have to have registered as a Deva owner or similar. Most members of the Deva users group are Zaxcom customers, but that is to be expected. James - I think that if you email colleen@zaxcom.com, she will get you on to the group. Kindest regards, Simon B

When I started doing my first TV dramas in Wales (some of them in Welsh - interesting for my English booerator) I worked with a very mad Welsh director. He was a regular talker through the scenes and takes. I had a chat with my boomerator and asked that he would swing to the director if he talked during the take. About 2 days later (2 lots of rushes) he simply stopped. Not a word was ever spoken... Same director at some point on a big passionate love scene. The two actors are going at it hammer and tongs, and part way through he whispers 'grab a bit of tit'. Well it was the actress that went first, then the actor, followed by me, and then the operator, and so it went on until we cut amongst raucous laughter. We never did get that shot. Kindest regards, Simon B