Adam Douglass

I've been having issues with both. Sound Report Writer isn't storing timecode when I enter it manually, and MovieSlate isn't working for me at all right now (although I've used it successfully in the past). In MovieSlate, when I press the 'Roll Sound' button to start a new take, it refuses to let me, saying I haven't entered any Production, Scene, or Take info, even though I have. So for now, it's completely useless.

Strange. They just got a brand new Preston yesterday (they were having some other issues with the old one), and the new one was even louder. They said they'd try switching out the motor, but since we're shooting exteriors today, it's hard to tell if that made a difference. We're shooting on the Alexa, by the way, so fan noise isn't really an issue.

On a related topic, the camera department on my current movie is using a Preston unit that is producing an audible scraping sound. Audible as in you can hear it with naked ears, so it's not an RF thing. It's loud enough to ruin quiet takes. Has anyone encountered this before?

What's the best way to do that? Q-tips and alcohol?

Sennheiser wireless is fine, especially if you're just starting out. Eventually you might feel the need to upgrade, but G3s are really pretty spectacular in terms of bang-for-your-buck. If you only have $6k to work with, I'd highly recommend going with Sennheiser wireless instead of, say, used Lectros.

I have a Matthews Preemie Baby stand that I use for most sit-down interviews. Very compact, yet very sturdy. The only downside is that it's pretty short. If the subject is sitting in a director's chair, or on a bar stool or something, I have to borrow a c-stand from grip department.

Are these just repackaged condoms, or is there something special about them?

Timecode's not what concerns me. I'm looking more for features like the ability to set cue points on the fly and jump to them instantaneously, rather than having to eyeball it like you would with the built-in audio player.

So, my laptop (an ancient iBook G3) is on its last legs. I mostly use it for web and email, so I was thinking about replacing it with an iPad. However, I've also been using the laptop for playback gigs (using Audacity), and the iPad's built-in music player app doesn't really seem like an adequate replacement. Does anyone know of a third-party app that would do the trick? My Google-fu seems to be failing me here.

I'm very surprised to hear that people are having problems with the NTG-3. I bought one last year, and I couldn't be happier with it. As others have noted, it sounds very similar to a 416. It doesn't sound noticeably thinner to me, despite others' complaints. And the sweet spot is definitely wider, which is a big plus in my book. I've never had any problems with RFI or handling noise. In fact, with a Rycote Invision-7 shock mount, it barely picks up any handling noise at all. I've even been able to get away with adjusting the pole length during takes a few times.

I'm assuming that's sarcasm. I guess it was kind of a stupid question. I'm well aware that it's pointless to set hard-and-fast rules about that sort of thing; I was just looking for general guidelines, but I guess it's more of a gut thing for the most part.

I get job offers via text fairly often. They're almost always from repeat clients, which doesn't bother me at all. Sometimes, it's even preferable to a phone call, since I generally can't answer the phone while I'm on set. If I were to get a text from someone I'd never met before, I might be mildly annoyed, especially if they didn't identify themselves. It wouldn't stop me from considering their offer, though, assuming that the offer was reasonable.

It's true, I was really just asking about the Schoeps, rather than about people's favorite exterior mics. Still, I'm always interested to hear what mics people like to use for various situations, even if it is off-topic. I find this very interesting. It seems counter-intuitive, but I know from experience that 'counter-intuitive' is not the same as 'wrong'. Has anyone else found that short mics work better than long mics in this scenario? Another question: for those of you who use short mics (Schoeps/MKH-50/whatever) most of the time, at what point will you switch to a shotgun (i.e., how many feet of headroom, what level of background noise, etc.)?

I've seen a few people here mention that they use a Schoeps MK 41 for exteriors as well as interiors. I have a couple of questions about that: 1. What do you use for wind protection? 2. Do you only use the Schoeps for *quiet* exterior locations, or do you use it everywhere?

Wow. That's... that's really bad. I mean, I knew the Zoom was crap, but... wow.

Yes, yes, I know. Wishful thinking.

Yeah, I thought of that, too. There's probably some sort of heavy-duty case you can get for it, but it still wouldn't be nearly as durable as a real smart slate. On the other hand, camera folks are used to handling lenses and such, so it's not like they're incapable of treating gear with respect. Anyway, I don't think the iPad-slate is for me. If, like Ralf, I already had an iPad and/or TC tranceivers, it might be a different story, but I don't.

I was thinking about this myself. GPS time is synced to an atomic clock, right? I wonder...

I looked those up; looks like they go for around $250 per tranceiver. You'd need two, of course, so that's $500, plus another $500 for the iPad. I think at that point I'd rather just spend $300 more and get a TS-3.

Really? How does it hold sync so well without a crystal? I had thought about buying an iPad to use as a smart slate, but I rejected that idea because I assumed it wouldn't hold sync for more than a couple hours or so. If I'm wrong, I'd love to hear about it.

OK, that's what I thought. Glenn's wording just had me a bit confused.

I'm not 100% clear on what this means. Can the QRX-100 receive signals from 4 separate mono transmitters, or do you need stereo transmitters to get 3 or 4 channels?

I have a 12' Wilcox pole which I like just fine, and I've never had a need for anything shorter.

Congratulations! The situation you've described is basically how I got my first boom gig, and I'd imagine the same is true of many other production sound folks as well. Like Crew suggests, boom experience will make you a better mixer, so I'm glad you enjoy it. Of course, we always shoot for zero booms in the shot, but as Bob says, dipping in once in a while is nothing to be ashamed of; it just means you're riding the frame like you should be. Be careful, though; dipping in too often will get you fired. A lot of it depends on the camera operator. Some of them have a tendency to tilt up unexpectedly, and as Bob suggests, they sometimes do it to cover their own asses at your expense. Unfortunate, but true. If you're working with one of these guys, I'd suggest booming a few inches higher than you normally would for any given shot. If you're working with one of the *real* asshole camera operators, and that advice doesn't help, here's what you do: discuss it with the mixer, do your job to the best of your ability, accept that you're probably going to get screwed over anyway, and realize that it's not the end of the world. Even if you end up getting fired for the camera operator's mistakes, you'll work again, and probably soon. Sorry, I went off on a tangent there. I don't mean to scare you, I just wish someone had told me all that when I was starting out. My first asshole-camera-operator experience was far more stressful than it should have been. And don't get paranoid; the assholes are few and far between. Most camera operators I've worked with have been pretty decent folks. Anyway, welcome to the club, and good luck! You have the best job in the world, and don't ever forget it!

Or, I suppose, I could hang on to the K-Tek (which is 16' 10", internal coiled cable) for now. If Loon proves to be stable, I could buy one of their 21' poles later on for those (rare) situations when a 16' 10" pole is too short. Decisions, decisions.