Nate C

Once in the middle of the CBD, during peak hour rush, the small front wheels hit something and the cart abruptly stopped. Alas the top of the cart and I had too much motion and we both went over. Thankfully the only damage was to my ego. If the ground is even slightly rough, the cart gets tilted back onto the large rear wheels. 

It's back up as of today.

13 hours ago, Philip Perkins said:

Those are both great recorders, but if you are looking for a good deal on an older file-based audio recorder I'd suggest finding an SD 788T.  I would guess that there are WAY more of them around, there are way more techs who know how to work on them and they are still supported by SD.  There may be a few tricks that the Deva V and the Cantar X can do that the 788T can't but not many...

I can't speak for the Deva V or Cantar other they were top of the line machines. I do have to agree with Philip that maybe a slightly newer old machine would be a better bet. The 788 is a great recorder and there are still plenty out in the field. I'd also look at the Zaxcom Nomad.

I just rebuilt my Nomad and Maxx kits whilst my Nova is away for service. They may not be the latest but they are fine machines and got the job done for many a year. They still have more in them.

Cheers Nate.

I don't have my laptop mounted to the cart for the same concerns as you have stated. Instead I went with what I see a lot of photographers assistants use here. A laptop hard case with a cheese plate attached. This then screws on top of a small lighting stand. Was meant to be a temporary solution but so far its worked well for me. That said I'm not sitting behind the cart as much as I'd like these days.

On 11/24/2022 at 2:16 PM, Tim Norris said:

You will buy what you wish you had on your last gig.

Eventually you will have a package you like.

Until the next gig.

No wiser words have been uttered. 

On 11/16/2022 at 9:20 AM, JonG said:

I find that the popular bags today with rigid frames are a big culprit in bag weight. Which is why for a long time I chose to use the PortaBrace bag that came with my 633. However, it was really annoying because the left side of the mixer would always sag down into the bag, making mixing difficult with the small faders. Then I saw another mixer using a Condor bag that he had modified, and that ended up being my preferred bag until this day. Its weighs virtually nothing and is less than $30:

 

Condor Deployment Bag (Black, 12... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003W96GG8?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

You’ll have to cut off the top zipper, and cut through the main compartment to the side compartments but it works out quite nicely. I keep a comtek tx on one side, a Lectro tx on the other, and an eSmart battery in the front. I used a 633 with two rx and an Audioroot power distro in a dashboard in the main area which fit quite snug. 
 

Moving to the 833, I have the same setup but with two rx in the SL-2, and the power distro has been moved to the front pouch with the battery. The whole thing is light and compact, and I don’t need to struggle with a harness anymore, a strap is just fine. 
 

 

Jon. Great to see a non Nova user using the Condor bag. I made up mine as a stop gap until something better came on the market. Almost 3 years later and I'm still perfectly happy with it.

17 hours ago, John Dombroski said:

Nate, Just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge how satisfyingly utilitarian your drawer design is! Dreaming about doing something similar over here (from across the years)! Cheers: and well done! I'm currently rockin' a rocknroller and thinking about ways to optimize / other options...

 

Question for Nate/other peli-cart folks: Are you still on the same design/cart? Is/was it a pain to lug around and pack in/out?

 

Thanks y'all! Wonderful ingenuity here!

Thanks for the kind words John.

I haven't used that cart in years, though I still have it. 

At the time I lived in a fourth floor walk up and it was a bit big and heavy to carry up and yet not big enough to comfortably wheel up and down the stairs. The other main issue was it needed to lay down in my car and the tubs often fell out of place and would get jammed, making it hard to open the drawers. There is probably a better way to hold the tubs in place but I never bothered investigating further due to the stair issue. 

May revisit and tweak the design when I have some down time. Like the concept, just didn't get it to the desired level. 

Side note: Thanks for sharing the photo's. Thought I had lost my Lav Rod but I see it velcroed to the inside of the lid. Bet it's still there.

Cheers Nate.

Thanks Brother. Once again your hard work is appreciated.

Cheers Nate.

For me it was 7 or 8 heavy dialogue pages with 9 speaking parts shot on a 360 dolly track. In the edit they ended up cutting it up between takes as they never quite nailed it all in one shot. These things need to be choreographed meticulously. 

I can't talk about about what is happening in the US but here in Sydney Australia, since we recently come out of lock down, every job I have done has required to see a copy of my Vaccine passport before I can come on set. No passport no play. It isn't mandated but that is the way productions are choosing to do operate. As for being tested, some require to be tested before hand, others do a rapid test on arrival, many don't do anything. I mainly day play for reference.

18 hours ago, Conor said:

Did a short film with one a month ago and it was quiet. One of the more friendly Red cameras - watch out for the new 9-pin Lemo input for TC though.

Shooting on a Komodo next week and the owner/operator doesn't have a TC breakout cable. Oh well no TC for production. Have offered to put TC on one of the audio tracks via an ERX but waiting on the editor to get back to us on that. 

Have to say the Komodo manual is less than helpful. 

On 6/12/2021 at 6:02 AM, Jeff Wexler said:

-from Schoeps website: " Amplifier for pocket transmitters without phantom power
ATTENTION: there are a limited number of compatible transmitters, including Sennheiser, Wisycom and others, see Downloads.

Use with digital transmitters is not intended, as interference may occur."

I couldn't find the warning that the use with digital TX is not intended on DPA's website and it seems strange when one of the versions is specifically for the Zaxcom ZMT (with PH).

• No. 132302 CMC 1 SO für Zaxcom ZMT (P12/P48)

Cheers Nate.

8 hours ago, hobbiesodd said:

 

That being said, if you’re considering cutting the cord on your boom for docu/bag work, the most important caveat I’ve discovered is: Don’t forget it on location.

 

The most common phrase you will hear from me on set these days is 'where the hell did I just put my boom" Constantly forgetting where I just placed it.

Nice work.

Thanks for sharing. Been meaning to do some this for a while.

Cheers Nate.

8 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Having the "IFB Finder" using the built in speaker is a genius idea for at the end of the day when you need to play "hide & seek" to discover where folks have secretly hidden their IFBs on set. 

But then I'd lose out on OT searching for them. To be honest the built in speaker can utilised for a number of reasons. It's not something I would of considered but I like the thinking. 

I really hope they can make the GUI work with a TRX900CL and not just the CL3. For that matter other stereo TX. I am assuming it works something like using a Nomad/RX12/CL or IFB200 for IFB200 where one channel is for audio and the other for commands. 

Power wise with the Nova, I've never used more then 1.5 Hi-Q batteries a day. Thats with everything up minus PH. 

If you are going to be hiking and recording while doing so, being able to see your feet is amazing. It gives you so much more confidence to move freely. This can probably be achieved with other gear but the Nova is small and has so much fire power.

My Nova rig fits in a cheap 25L backpack with room to spare.

I use the Nova with all built in receivers, plus a camera tx and IFB tx and I've never gone past two Esmart batteries. Most days days one battery is more then sufficient. 

I wear my glasses a little lower down on my nose, over the mask to stop the fogging issue.

This way I get to look at the world all toffee nosed.

40 minutes ago, DanieldH said:

Just a humble question.

When seeking custom, why would one seek ppl who know soundcarts rather than local casebuilders, bicycle nerds, carpenters, orthopedic and rehab ppl? 

 

 

Sound cart builders know what our particular needs are and have usually gone through the trial and error process in design and building and should have a better idea of what's going to or more importantly not going to work

I have both the Cosi and the Pianossimo for the Mini CMIT. Only needed to use the Pianissimo a couple of times since getting the Cossi. Don't think of the Cosi like a the rycote slip over fur thingy (sorry model name eludes me). The Cosi holds up surprisingly well to wind.  

HAHA Just noticed your shirt says 'NO BODY IS MIKED'.

Lost count how many times I've said that straight after the 1st calls Turn Over/Roll Sound.

Nice work with the folding top.

Will second the recommendation of getting a Rivnut tool. 

Some Ripstop kite materials are waterproof and would be more acoustically transparent then a more solid option. I use it for cart covers etc. It needs to be pulled taunt to avoid flapping noise. If you want to record in the rain Constantin's suggestions of some sort of filter material to reduce droplet sounds, sounds sound. It doesn't snow in my part of the world so I'm not sure how that material would behave in such conditions.

Besides the shelter, a foam won't be enough in those conditions. I'd strongly recommend a blimp of some sort with a fur and possibly a layer material between the two coated in Nikwax. The Nikwax will make any water bead and run off quicker. 

Interesting challenge.

On 5/13/2020 at 3:46 PM, skagroovy said:

wise upgrade. 

Ken, first off congratulations on what looks like a really well thought out idea to product. 
 

While I’m not in the market for one of your cages at the moment, I can see so many ways how this can work or be customised to work on the cart or insert mode. Really like the rods approach, that I imagine allows adjustment of the size of the sections and pivoting of panels. It kind of reminds of a Well built up camera. This is something I’ve tried to work into my cart but not as eloquently as you sir. 
 

All the best and cheers Nate.