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stevegrider

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About stevegrider

  • Birthday January 1

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  • Location
    Nashville, TN
  • About
    I work on spots, documentaries, features and yes...reality shows.

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  1. I bought one of these and even though it doesn't fold as small as a Rock-n-roller, I like it very much! https://rhinotufftools.com/
  2. Sometimes I use Walgreens' 3 inch Grip Wrap rather than a Neopax type strap. It's just good for one use, but it's great for thigh and ankle wraps.
  3. I sit while rolling because I designed my cart with specific sight lines. I stand between setups and usually around hour 5 or 6, I try really hard to keep the blood flowing by stretching or even walking in place. I look like a goof, but I feel better at the end of the day.
  4. Professional male actors have reported to set with a 3"×3" patch of hair shaved away on their sternum for both their and our convenience. I really liked working with those actors!
  5. I know I don't use this unit to the fullest extent of its capabilities in the field. You could say that I use it more for a "digital EQ" to roll out things like bad HVAC and traffic on my boom channel.
  6. Signal cames out of my Lectro RX (wireless boom) into an XLR Y cable. The two males go into each channel of the DNS2. Channel 1 of the DNS2 (the channel I dial up the FX on) then goes into the boom channel my Cooper 308, then sent pre-fader to channel 2 of my Deva and labeled "BOOM DNS2". The signal in channel 2 of the DNS2 is run through unaffected, and is sent directly to channel 3 of the Deva, and simply labeled "Boom". I have the Deva on channel 3 set so I can control the level on the machine knob rather than the console, it frees me a fader on my 6-strip board. This way I can dial in the FX of the boom signal I am sending through the console to the mix on Deva channel 1 and have it iso'd on channel 2. I am also sending a clean boom on channel 3 should edit rather use it instead. Does that make sense the way I wrote it? Sometimes I'm not the best at this.
  7. I bought a DNS 2 shortly after it's release. I never have used it for the entire mix, what I have used it for is to turn my Sanken CS3e into a "Super Sanken CS3e". I guess I treat it more like an EQ knob for a boom channel than I do a final mix solution. I must admit that I have come to use a light touch, and I don't really push the limits of it's capabilities. Not every set is problematic, and location tracks shouldn't be sterile. I give post Deva files with two boom tracks (a processed and then a clean track), and they can use what they prefer. The processed boom track goes into the mix track. I have used this box this way on several projects including two lower budget features, and it's use in this way has met the approval of post so far. There have been times where it "saved the day", I once was hired to do an stand up interview on a factory floor, and the Cedar made an unusable situation usable. The client was willing to pay an extra $100 to me as not go to audio post for one shot. It small enough live in my bag, but it doesn't, it lives on my cart. My cart kit fee went up $50/ day after it's purchase, and my "cart clients" didn't seem to mind. My "bag clients" are a little more thrifty, and sometimes they need a Cedar too, but are less willing to pay for it, or have access to post plug-ins themselves. It is one more tool in the toolbox, my ledger book says it hasn't paid for itself just yet, but I am glad I have it.
  8. I was on a shoot a month ago in Indiana and the cicadas were there and ready to party. I activated my brand new CEDAR DNS2 and gave it a try. As nice as it is, it cannot remove cicadas like a post production program like Izotope can. What I have been able to use it for thus far is reducing outdoor traffic low end rumble and indoor ac noise. I don't really think of it as a noise reducer per se, more like a really sophisticated digital EQ. I set it up on my cart so it only processes the boom channel, and I provide the boom clean as an iso and the boom effected as an iso. I used the unaffected boom track for the mono mix. I know it is expensive, and there are many that say I shouldn't be monkeying around with noise reduction in the field, but if I have the extra track and post doesn't mind, why not? It is another nice tool to have in the tool kit.
  9. I am a big fan of Westones as well. You have to spend the money and buy at minimum the two driver model. I have the UM 3 model but have yet to try their models with more than three drivers. They have to sound true, that is mission #1. Mission #2 is they have to be comfortable. The way Westones are designed, you can put tips of different sizes on them and find the best fit. There are aftermarket custom molds available, too. I like that I can wear them with any kind of hat, and they are a space saver when I am traveling light. I still have Ultrasones in my kit, but I really prefer the Westones.
  10. My van is a wheelchair van with a ramp out of the back. It looks unusual so it fits in with other odd production vehicles. I try to inform whoever is parking vehicles that I keep lots of extras in the van that I might have to get to during the production day. That usually gets me classified as a "production vehicle".
  11. I keep a one page PDF to send to potential clients. I often day play for cable shows that travel into my market (Nashville, TN). So the first section of my resume lists the networks I have worked for and it looks like alphabet soup. I think it is more effective than listing specific shows. The next section lists specific spots, then the next section lists features. I try to update it often and keep it to one page, eliminating spots that are no longer running.
  12. "We still had one actor who refused, from time to time. She was the one who whispered and was distracted if the boom got too close." I have run into this every now and then and it mystifies me. In 2015, wireless mics are just as much part of the process as lights and cameras. If you want to be an actor, there are things you have to do to get your performance recorded. Hit your mark, speak up, wear a mic, etc. Before you sign up, read the job description.
  13. One lesson I learned from my time in post is that if you use lavs regularly , dropping them for one or two scenes may make it difficult for post to match the sound scene-to-scene. This isn't always the case, but it should bet kept in mind.
  14. In many doc situations that were pre-metadata, I just used the slate mic feature on my DAT and spoke volumes of helpful info onto the tape. I still to this day use the slate mic to relay info to edit even though I label scene, take, notes and track name metadata. I can never really be sure if edit will hear any or all of it, but it is a simple way to relay information.
  15. I have invested in a recorder that I can enter scene, take, track names, incremental file numbers and any random note I want to type in. I have also invested in Denecke slates and timecode boxes that I program and jam so todays half-assed cameras can actually sync to my code. Somewhere in there I get to mix..... If they want it to get more fancy and complicated, they need to think about a metadata manager position so I can concentrate on what I was initially hired to do with the kit they pay for.
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