Philip Perkins

I found the learning curve for Reaper very easy, having used several DAWs incl PT for many years prior to starting. I find it much more intuitive, at least for my brain, than PT. In m,y case I had to learn Reaper under fire, so to speak, and found that the online community and tutorials were very helpful.

When I was talking about back up I meant rolling 2 recorders at once, which I think was the original notion of this thread. Having a backup recorder with you in case your #1 has an issue IS what professionals do, and always has been, 1/4", DAT and file-based machines. Re cameras: most if not all of the film features I worked on DID have a backup body on the camera truck, even if it was mostly a 1-camera shoot. This has been less true with video cameras, but it isn't unheard of (esp if they are using REDs).

At my age the weight of my 82 is a factor, I'm sort of done with it on Hollywood style long-pole walking shots. But if you have a boomist with the muscle and the chops this kind of mic is a great tool. Like some folks I use the CS3e a lot these days, as it is more or less as directional without the weight or the length as my 82, and no proximity effect (helpful on docs). But I do like that "Neumann sound". The 816 still can bring something extra to the party if you can put up with it's very old-school size and weight: the mic does something in the upper-mids that gives the impression of somewhat greater directionality (while having all the traditional shotgun drawbacks as well). But I will admit to hating the overall sound of the thing so I sold mine a very long time ago.

I once had a boom op whose main axe was the Neumann KMR82i, more or less Neumann's version of the 70. He was very very good at his job, and pretty much wanted that mic on the pole no matter what we were doing, including multi-actor indoors scenes--he was that good. Since he got results I went along, mostly. My other boomists, as well as my own efforts on the pole, were less successful with that directional (and large and heavy) mic for the bulk of our work, besides "beach scene" type shots, so it doesn't get used much these days. But a nice thing to have just in case!

All but maybe a couple of issues I've ever had since we moved to file based recording have been due to human error, like a mistake I made, an A2 made, the DIT made or an assistant editor made. The recorders I mostly use record to 2 media, I make sure they are A: approved types with CURRENT firmware, B: are in good shape and don't have lots of miles on them and have been formatted in the recorder that is recording to them, C : I am very careful about doing things like renaming files while rolling, D : don't get too many eggs in any one basket--if you are recording a lot of hours/tracks then use multiple cards and E: NO CARDS SUPPLIED BY CLIENTS WILL BE USED! Only media whose provenance is completely known! Beyond this the problems have been human error, most often someone formatting a card that hasn't been copied off yet. I used to think of the camera audio as a backup, but so many of the cameras I end up around aren't any good for that these days (DSLRs, Alexa Mini).

"Phase" vs. "Polarity".

I'd take your data over what any manufacturer might present, you have a lot of real-world info there. Since your gear works many hours a day day in and out in a somewhat hostile environment, is your question whether the production owes you something for the maintenance of your gear in addition to the rental fees? In a fair world that would be true, but I've never been compensated for that, only for actual damage.

That was a very hi-tech set for that time period: Steadicam, video assist with playback all the time, wireless mics pretty much all the time. One very charming difference between how a big movie was made then vs today: only ONE camera rolling usually....!

All the major makers of equipment we use did some sort of testing before they released a given device, maybe ask them in person or on the phone what their expectations were (I doubt they will put them in writing). Are you talking about non-hubristic sorts of use, just lots and lots of operating hours under varying (but not bad all the time) conditions? I'm sure that the sound gear on "The Deadliest Catch" mostly got pitched at the end of each season, while many of us who do less-intense sorts of work have things last for a very long time. I guess this last sort of wear is what the rental fee is supposedly paying for, as opposed to loss+damage where a piece of gear becomes instantly unusable, possibly unfixably?

Let's see them try that argument out on a rental house. Camera equipment gets somewhat abused, gets visible wear etc, but if you seriously damage it there will be a claim. Normal wear and tear with a wireless TX or a Comtek/IFB RX is gradual loss of finish through wear, connectors wearing, maybe even a little sweat damage to the finish. Dropping (or throwing) one, even if by accident, is NOT normal wear and tear. That is carelessness or hubris, and they get charged for it. Ditto the classic "client drops Comtek where they are and departs" syndrome or my personal fave: "left in the limo": full price, no BS. Lav mics take a beating it is true, but again there is wear that happens over time, esp if used outside and with a lot of tape, and what can happen when an impatient talent quickly un-wires themselves. That too, my friends, is carelessness and hubris, and gets charged for appropriately. Oh, and if you do a "drop-the-mic" with my handheld that mic is now YOUR handheld.

Cool. And that little foam thing is enough windscreen to allow recording in all weather conditions?

For me the right way was the way whoever was handling the pole wanted. When it was me (working alone usually) I mostly used internals, since I was usually wearing a recorder in a harness at the same time. My long-time boom ops (who were not wearing any gear beyond a little monitor box) mostly (but not always) went with external cables--they felt they were quieter and developed fewer issues with repeated extension and retraction of a long pole. But it really is a personal thing, what that boomist is used to etc. (so I had both types with us).

Over the years my boom ops went back and forth about this, esp on long poles. Have you tried them out yourself, esp with a long mic + zep+dog on the end, on a walking shot in a good wind? I generally went with what the boomist wanted unless they were having trouble with it.

I wish she had finished her FMJ film. Her Shining film is one of the best BTS docs ever, partly because she is a talented filmmaker but also because of who she is, both as a family member and as a person. She is in close to what she shoots, the subjects trust her (and like her) completely and so she gets very unforced, real-feeling commentary and action. They could have sent in a professional doco crew to do this and the results would have been good but not as intimate and revealing. In addition to a record of the interaction of a group of extremely talented people, this is also an interesting window into Kubrick's process at the time. Huge sets with tremendous art direction, tiny shooting crew. And yes--all current one-person-doco-makers should see this, how she worked was very unusual for the time, and the technical limitations she had to work under were far far more onerous than what current filmmakers deal with. (That rig of hers was HEAVY....)

They COULD make silent camera fans if they wanted to already! There are quite high-flow silent fans avail for computers etc, but they aren't cheap.....