Clacker

Thanks for all the sage advice! This helps a lot:)

Thanks, guys! Much appreciated!

I was on a commercial shoot the last couple days. Cameras were 2 x Canon C300's that I had synced using Zaxcom ERXT's. I checked them periodically throughout the days for sync. On the last shot series of the second day I noticed one of the camera's timecode was off by a few seconds! I soon discovered that the timecode BNC cable (a locking connection) was now magically plugged into the genlock BNC connection. I plugged it back into the correct connector, timecode instantly synced and we finished the day. As I was driving a PA home from the out-of-town shoot, I asked him if he had any clue what might have happened. It turned out that he had been instructed to unplug the video VTR cable (also BNC) when the camera was moved and had accidentally unplugged my timecode connection and obviously plugged it back into the wrong connector. My question is how exactly would you proceed from here in terms of alerting/explaining to production what happened? We also were using a smart slate, and thanks to the wizardry of Zaxcom, we also had a mono scratch track of audio going to each camera. I get no pleasure in "ratting" anyone out (and this PA had been otherwise helpful throughout the production), but obviously at times out professional reputation is on the line. Clearly production must be alerted, but the question is how and in what words? Thanks in advance for any level-headed input, as things like this are apt to make my head a bit un-level:) Best, Steve

You're all wrong. It's the new ZaxSnax human power supply (with EverCrunch:)

ahh.. gotcha. Well I'm definitely not into pennies.

Michael, Thank you so much! That's great news. Geordi, It's sports-related, though I don't really know too much about it yet... I'm "just the sound guy" ..which almost could be a fun topic for another thread! Best, Steve

I have a shoot coming up in a few days in the Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina area. My Lectrosonics talent wireless are in block 21 and I was wondering if that works well there. If not, what blocks are good? Thanks in advance for any input! Best, Steve

Thanks for the input everybody!

I'd like to bump P-Did's question: Can removing the foil (from rechargeable AA batteries) cause shorting problems? Any real world experience/advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Steve

And thank you, John B., for your added perspective!

Thanks, Jon! I appreciate your clarity and positivity!

I recently have found myself in a particularly confusing situation where one client had a multi-day project coming up in a couple weeks and wanted me to hold the dates. Then a second client called for a multi-day project with nearly the same dates and also wanted me to hold them. How do you handle this situation? Obviously we can't be in two places working at the same time, but so often it seems jobs dematerialize, shrink, or reschedule as fast as they seem to appear.. and none of us want to be left with no work for that week. Both clients are good folks and I don't want to leave either in the lurch or "play games" with them. But many producers seem to want to just keep us on hold until the last minute before conceding an actual booking. Please advise. Thanks in advance, Steve

I used to use my 302 with an Eargonizer 1 bag and would secure the mixer in place using those plastic Rip-Ties on either side through the second D-ring on each side of the bag. Worked decently well and I also liked how cable connections were then protected inside the bag. This should work with the Petrol 614 too. You'll have to figure out what to do with the space underneath the mixer though as my setup at least left it sort of suspended and in need of some support or cushioning from underneath.. maybe the perfect spot for a Subway tuna? Hope this helps. Steve

Thanks, Toy Robot! Much appreciated!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! (And may tuna stock plummet as our wisened numbers grow!

I was wondering if anyone could comment on how "protected" the cable connections are on the right and left side of their mixer/recorder using this new bag. I'm currently using an Eargonizer 1 and like how there is a buffer of space to prevent stress on the connections (including the all important power connector). Would definitely appreciate the reduction in weight though of the 614. Thanks in advance! Steve

+1 to the BodyGlove Smartphone cases from Walmart.

Just curious how many of us power down our gear (mixers, recorders, wireless hops, etc) often throughout the day to save power, and who leaves their stuff on in order to quickly catch those run-n-gun moments? I know not having something on when we need it (due to dead batteries or forgetting to turn it back on) can be a big problem! What things do you toggle off and on throughout the day.. and what do you prefer to just leave on?

For those of us doing doc work, run and gun with long takes, I'm super happy for the latter mirror fix! (And I'm assuming mix-8's are about to be backordered for months?

I use padded B6's on extremely loud actors (usually ones with more background in stage acting who are used to PROJECTING!!!) because they will literally overload an unpadded B6 pre-transmitter. For most folks who project at normal levels, I find using padded lavs forces me to increase the transmitter gain and system noise floor too much.

Mine has a heavily "receding coating line" too. I just figure it makes it look distinguished! great mic.

Great image! These touch screens, at least the smaller ones, have already found their way into many of our tool belts. Sometimes it's hard to believe (especially when you think of how much we just sunk into all our "less high tech" gear!

Just read this post after being "blind-sided" by a relatively good client offering a half-day rate for a gig tomorrow. I had been holding it since last Friday, knew it was going to be a short day, but there had been no indication that they were looking for reduced rates. I accepted it with conditions, but still felt dirty afterwards. Feel a bit better and a lot more in-the-know after reading these posts. Thanks guys! Half-day rates can be demoralizing, but information is power;) My only question is do we need to ask clients every time now if they are planning to surprise us with half days? Ha! Happy Monday, Steve

Jack, I was having a similar issue with my Nomad not mirroring even though I had the "after power cycle" mirroring option turned ON too. In my case I discovered that my Nomad would default back to the lowest alphabetical folder for the MIRROR folder after each power cycle. So if I had PRIMARY folder and MIRROR folder set to folder z003, after a power cycle the MIRROR folder would reset to z001. Thus my machine would not mirror since the two folders no longer matched! As long as my primary and mirror folders were both set to the lowest alphabetical folder, mirroring worked flawlessly after cycling power. Admittedly this is not a comprehensive experiment, but wondering if others have had similar experiences. Definitely a little buggy... definitely loving my Nomad. I'm sure they'll have this sorted soon or soonish! Steve Clack

Well I just got back from a visit at Zaxcom to check out the Nomad (I know not the most original thing to do these days;) and must say I was as highly impressed with the graciousness of my hosts there as I was with the device itself. It really is as compact and powerful as I had hoped... and then some. It was lighter than I expected. It felt sturdy. And it seems to have even more flexibility in routing than I was previously aware of... even by diligently reading this post! One cool new feature I wasn't aware of is that you can also output any combination of things through the mono and tape outputs. If for instance you're feeding your Comtek via the mono out and the director/producer just wants to hear one character... you can dial that right in. Neat. And this won't effect your 6 main output buses Regarding other questions I had had, the "deeper" menu functions seem like you can navigate to and through them quickly enough, and the items like panning and trim control that were modified to become more easily accessible are... easily accessible. So my basic questions and worries about the device have been answered and vanquished respectively. I definitely recommend folks arrange to get a hands on look at one if you're at all interested. The real test obviously will be in the field once these babies are out. And I'm glad I had already pre-ordered one. My next favorite toy... err I mean serious piece of work equipment... coming soon! Steve Clack