henrimic

25 minutes ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

I'm intrigued by the idea of using a separate folder for wild tracks.  I can't see it being practical to move them to a separate folder at the end of the day (generally, the DIT just wants a card straight from the recorder, and I don't want to be responsible for the offload and an additional sorting step myself)

Just to be more specific   

At the end of the day, I give my card 1 to DIT or who’s in charge. 

When I'm back home or at the hotel, I make a back-up copy of card 2, and that's when I sort out and rename the wild tracks.

I only send the folder with all the wild tracks at the end of the project, in one go.

My way of handling wild tracks….

I tag files on the recorder, while recording directly in the metadata.
Easy as a simple shortcut on my recorder.
After copying the card, I isolate these files in a « Wild » folder, and rename each sound like this: ProjectName_Location_Description_MS ( or Mono, ORTF, whatever).

I send then this folder to editorial with a sound report in pdf. 
Simple and easier for everyone.

It takes me a few minutes but I am certain that the sounds will be used. 

MS is the de facto standard for documentaries here in Switzerland. 
 

I use a MK41 + CCM8 with a Cinela Leo indoor and a DPA4017B + CCM8 in a Pianissimo  outdoor.

I also work on post on documentaries and I have to say that I barely use the S on dialogs, except for situations with many people at the same time (around a table for example) or when there is a nice background outdoor.
 

But the main advantage of a MS boom always ready, is that you can quickly record wild tracks on the fly, without changing your cables and setup. And collecting ambiance is very valuable for post. 

Here is the message posted on LinkedIn by the team of Aaton Digital:

We are sad to announce that the Aaton-Digital adventure ended on February 15, 2024 by a court judgment.
Three years of covid-19 followed by a long strike by cinema professionals have profoundly affected our sales. Faced with no prospects, the company was liquidated.
We thank all our users and partners for their commitment and passion during the ten years we have gone through together

2 hours ago, Dan Savio said:

 

sound devices service is very expensite they tell me:

The labor rate for the 633 is $795 plus shipping, parts, and tax duties. i think is just too much.

 

any another advice please

 

Before sending your recorder in for repair, try opening it and taking a look inside.

I lost the TC input on mine years ago. It was just a disconnected ribbon cable. 

I've never had another problem since.

If you're not afraid to open your device, it may be as simple as that.

But it could also be a fault in the power stage, less obvious to repair yourself. 

Each frame of LTC is coded by 80 bits.

In 24 fps, that's 24 x 80 = 1920 Hz of a square wave.

That's a perfect signal to record on a audio track, wether the center track of the Nagra IV-S or any specific track of an analog VCR (1", 2", U-Matic and Betacam were all analog recorders).

Even the Betacam Digital used 3 analog tracks to record the CTL (Control signal for linear editing), LTC and a scratch audio track for fast forward and rewind.

I use the Laavu bag that is made for the 833 + SL2.

Fits perfectly and very lightweight.

https://www.audiosense.be/en/laavu-833-sl-2-kor-833sl2

I just finished a movie where the actors were whispering and then suddenly screaming in the same scene.

I used the A20 mini's with the A20RX plugged in AES3 to my Sonosax R4+. The mikes were DPA6061.

The Gain forward principle worked perfectly for these tricky situations.

With my old Wisycom systems, I should have set the gain very low at the transmitter to avoid clipping in the loud parts, and thus would amplify the noise in the quiet parts.

I don't know how SD achieve this, but it was a life saver in this situation.

I have to mention that I used the older A10 for the booms. In these scenes, I set 20 dB of gain at the transmitter, and amplify the quite parts at the recorder, and it worked very well too.

Exactly. The idea is also to get rid of the PA system. You can always create a sense of spaciousness by panning the different mics. 

I recorded a lot of these kind of shows years ago. Instead of stereo pairs, I did use a lot of spot mics  at different places around the audience. The more mics, the best results you obtain.
The thing is that if you just have a main pair and someone talks or make noise just under it, you are screwed. Also, with more mikes at different distances, you can spot some laughs and have a variety of width and options. 

Raycom has produced two new videos about the Wisycom MTP61. 

A walkthrough and a walk test, pretty impressive.

16 hours ago, SwooshSound said:

@henrimic -  If I use the IFB. I would have the IFB range. But wouldn't I still suffer from the range of the multimedia hub to the Phonak Roger? Unless the talent is walking with both the IFB and Phonak Roger on them?

That’s correct. Or you could give the IFB and the the multimedia hub to your boom operator, or hide it on the set. The range is not bad, there can be a few meters between the hub and the earpiece. 

I might be able to sell you mine. Please contact me by direct message.

Since I started, I have used several types and brands of headphones. Beyer DT48, Sennheiser HD25, Sony MDR7506, HD26 Pro and currently the Beyer DT250. 

I found some too bright, some too uncomfortable, well I never found The Ones ! 
At home I have Neumann KH monitors and find it trustful.
 

I was wondering if some of you guys use the Neumann NDH20 headphones on location. I’ve read reviews but all are related to music. 
 

If some of you have tried it or use it on set, I would be very interested to know your thoughts about it, especially  for the kind of job we do. 
 

Many thanks. 

16 minutes ago, Rick Reineke said:

btw, metadata can be maintained if the media files are not embedded in the OMF file, which has the inherent size limit anyway.

 
Good to know, I always received embedded audio files. Thx for the tip.

A big advantage for post, the AAF keep the original metadata of the sound files, so it’s easier to conform multitracks in Protools Ultimate via the field recorder workflow. 

You guys never experienced a refusal from security to bring the boom in the cabin ?

I was told a few years ago that it was forbidden like golf sticks on carry on. 
 

Since then, I always have two booms with me, one in the luggage and a smaller one with me in case the bags are delayed or missing. 

Thé A20 mini is made to work with lavs only. 

I tried to use it with the UMP3, but it’s not working.

The only way I found to make it work is to ad a transformer between the UMP3 and the A20 mini. 

Not really practical. 

Bravo et merci Philippe ! 

Thank you for your answer Paul,

it is to this kind of attention and listening to the feedback of users that we recognise the great companies. 
I try to follow the releases of the different firmwares and be up to date, and I must say that the addition of functions like long range modulation are real assets.

I will contact the support if this problem occurs again. 
Thanks for your help.

2 hours ago, Martin Lonek said:

is this happening all the time with A20-mini or was it just a one-time-unique situation ?

 

I had this happening once. Generally, I try to first switch off the transmitters before replacing the battery. When I have a bit of time, I'll try to make some tests. 

I own two A20 mini TX and a A20 RX alongside Wisycom systems. It's worth noting I mainly work on documentaries.

I have to say that the batterie life is not really an "issue". In documentary too, people have to eat and rest, so I just swap at lunch time, like I do anyway with the Wisy's too.

BUT, sometimes one have to change batteries on the field. Last time, in the speed of action,  I did swap the batteries in a hurry just before a take, without properly switching it off with the app first. . 
When powered up the A20 mini TX back, all the settings were gone. I had to set the frequency and power with the app which is not always very responsive (on an iPhone 12) while the talent, a musher with his 6 dogs and the team were waiting for me. Quite stressfull.

Other misadventure: on a previous shooting, I had installed the A20 mini on the neck of a salsa dancer. Great shape and weight, impossible to see it on camera with her long hair and she was vey happy to wear it..
After a couple of hours, the temperature in the venue went quite high with all these dancers. And the sound began to "fade away" and get distorted. I thought it was the transmitter overheating and installed another one.... same issue. The problem came from the receiver. It was so hot I couldn't really touch it. When I came back home I changed the way the receiver was installed in my bag to allow an air flow and the heat to dissipate. I wasn't able to reproduce the problem since and the system is working flawlessly now.

So, these two stories illustrate some of the challenges that we could be facing with the A20 in fast paced documentary.  On the other hand, I also had great success on a skier with the integrated recorder ( I am based  in Europe). To conclude, I'd say that these little transmitters are great tools to have, but you can not rely on it in each situation. For me, the weakest part of the system is the control only via the app. I have no doubt that the Nexus link is far more reliable and straightforward, but unfortunately, I is definitively too expensive for the kind of "bag" gigs I mainly work on. 

On the other hand, many colleagues working on the theatre / live field use their iPads to adjust the mix in different places in the venue or to control the monitors next to the musicians on stage. 

And this seems a viable solution for them... so maybe in a few years we'll see new ways of mixing too, for example in very tight spaces like cars.  

Like everyone I guess, I use an iPad to control metadata, levels, etc....

But as Philip said, when it comes to mixing, I couldn't imagine switching completely to a virtual interface, especially if I have multiple sources, a boom and several lavs, even with Dungan engaged.

I am quite sure the system is less responsive than physical faders. And if I need to look at the screen to find where to place my fingers, I'll certainly be less focused on the action and could put my boom in the frame.

Years ahead, Sound devices had the CL-2, Sonosax the SX-BD1 and Filmtech also their model, all discontinued. Never tried it but maybe it was a false good idea ?

Dubbing Brothers is a French company specialised in dubbing with locations in Paris, Rome, Brussels and Burbank. 

https://www.dubbing-brothers.com/contact/?lang=en

I don’t know them personally but they are among the leaders in this field. 

1 hour ago, codyman said:

Slightly off topic but with the RX4+ in a bag, do you use the knobs for each channels as faders and then is it push it to solo/change the trim?  Just curious

I use the RC8+ in « fader mode » for my receivers  (via the AES inputs) and I set the analog inputs in « gain mode » so I can control the recorded level of the boom from the knobs on the R4+.