Tom Conen

What specs matter the most? - In the end: ROI (Return Of Investment). :-)

I only worked on 33.33fps projects being shot on Alexas and Alexa Plus'. But to my knowledge almost every professional camera is able to record at that frame rate.

I did some research and the exact term I was looking for is "unit fractions". Your reply pointed me in the right direction. Thanks!

I think it's only used in PAL-World. At 33.33fps the camera records 100 frames in 3 seconds. When played back at 25fps it will take 4 seconds to reach 100 frames. I honestly don't know about the benefits in editing, but the numbers look nice. :-)

Lost in Translation! So what do you call 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, etc.? Thanks for your correction.

33.33 fps is used for slow motion effects. Usually recorded at 33.33 fps and played back at 25 fps. (both integer dividers* of 100) There is no matching frame rate on our side. Sound is recorded to have the option to use the material in real time. (Or the other way round.) Better be careful to think they are fools. *Is "integer dividers" the right expression?

Hi Constantin! A timecode signal is a complex signal that is hard for wireless systems to reproduce. Here you can see a waveform of a proper timecode signal (generated by an Ambient ACL203, Lockit): And after being send by a 1000 USD wireless system: Some cameras (and other timecode reader) do have problems to read such a signal (2nd picture). The Ambient TC-TRX is designed to reproduce a proper square signal (1st picture) to minimize reading errors. Other benefits of the TC-TRX over "cheap wireless systems": - cheaper than "cheap wireless systems" (less than 350 USD for 2 transceivers) - low power consumption (+100 hours with 2 AA batteries) - transceiver system (to change master/slave without swapping TX/RX-units) Best, Tom

Hi David! It's an online resource and not what you were asking for, but maybe it's of help to you: http://www.audiotranskription.de/zoom-h2n Unfortunately the site is in german. But you can easily find some recordings done with a Zoom H2n and a LS-5 by Olympus. Look for "download" in the lower 1/3 of the page in the section "Vergleichsaufnahmen" (written in orange letters). Best, Tom PS.: Ohh I just saw that you're from Austria. Deutsch sollte also kein Problem für dich sein. :-)

John, I'm glad I could help you! @Jeff: Thank you for your fast reply. I've found some typos in the clip and corrected them. Should stop switching between languages. :-) Could you please change the link to the new clip? Thanks in advance.

Hi John! Made a short clip that may help you: Best, Tom

A small team from Germany is looking for a sound mixer to join them. Shoot will be in Smithville, Texas in the upcoming week. Simple setup: They want one radio mic to be recorded onto a Canon 5D including a backup recording. Please PM me for their contact details. (I don't want them to drown in spam.) Further details and any negotiations will be up to them. Thanks in advance, Tom Conen PS: I don't know about their budget but I've worked for them on commercials and they always paid a fair rate. So this is not a "100-bucks-including-kit-deal".

Hi Marc! Could you please name a few books you would recommend? Thanks in advance. Best, Tom

I did two short videos on how two use catalogs in Pro Tools.

Hi Olle! Pro Tools does have a powerful media management including folders. They are called catalogs and can be found in the workspace window. Best, Tom

+3dB SNR :-)

On their German site (http://www.ambient.d...kit-tc-app.html) Ambient mentions: "Due to display latency of the iPad/iPhone the Clockit Timecode App is not to be used for synchronization." I'm pretty sure that other manufactures deal with the same problem.

As Timo Klinge's underwater recording invention has already been discussed in this forum, I thought I share this with you: The Cannon Crackers of the Pistol Shrimp http://www.ambient.de/en/produkte/ambient-recording/underwater/bonaire_expedition.html It's in 5.1! :-)

Feel free to change the automation on your aux tracks and re-record (bounce) that change to your mix. Whenever a summing is involved it is the only way to go. But it is still automation. Best, Tom

Hi Stu! Save your money for a new board. Take a look into the manual of your Deva. You need to change your wordclock reference. Look for words like clock, reference and aes. You can start, to understand this issue, by searching the web for information about these words: wordclock, aes3 (aes/ebu) Best, Tom

That also occurred to me, as soon as I pressed the send button, so I added a workaround to my post. This way you can preserve the recording. It is possible to route the output of the aux track to a mix track. Input -> record track -> aux track (automation) -> mix track -> output Best, Tom

Hi Tom! Bring an aux track in front of your record track and automate the aux track. 1. Set your hardware input as aux track input. 2. Send your aux output to a bus of your choice. 3. Take this bus as your record track input. 4. Arm automation on aux track 5. Arm record track. 6. Record and write automation. If you don't want the recording track be affected by your automation rides, set it up the other way round: Input -> record track -> aux track -> output Best, Tom

Normally I'd let it go when someone disagrees with me. Everybody is entitled to his/her opinion. But Jeff, I think your post is disrespectful. I don't think my "whole post is [...] pointless". Please think it through. We are a part of the market and a thorough calculation of our rates is essential. From an economical point of view, there are a lot of mistakes been made in our part of the industry. Starting sound engineers learn the craft of doing sound, but when it comes to economics the lack of knowledge is immense. Since years our rates are declining. The producers are not the one to blame. It is their job to get as much out of their budget as they can. It's because of mis-calculation or (most of the time) non-calculation of our product by us. Every businessman, who learned his craft would do the following: 1. Analyze the market. (Who are my competitors?, What are the common rates?, ...) 2. Do his math and calculate costs and profit. 3. Make decisions about how to enter the market. (Maybe the decision is not to enter the market) What he would not do: - Buy products he don't need. - Buy products he might need some day. - Give the customer something he is not paying for. - Bring expensive equipment to a gig, when cheaper equipment could do the job. (Because the costs for maintenance are disproportional higher. Maybe higher than the income!) We sound guys should start to act like businessmen! - Properly calculate our rates. - Stick to our rates. - Don't try to get the job by beating down the price of our competitors. (What BTW is the dumbest thing we all can do. Price leader marketing is only possible in mass marketing.) - Instead find our unique selling point. - Give the client what he pays for. No more, no less! The art of business has to be learned. And I allow myself to quote a member of this forum: "It would take a book." (Glen Trew) Best, Tom, who BTW studied economics.

I have the feeling that I will regret this posting, but after reading many of these threats about rates I have to say this! Before buying any product and getting involved in the sound production process everybody should take a course in Economics 101: Equipment rate = Costs for - storage, - setup, - maintenance, (incl. cleaning!) - purchase price, - reserves, - transport, - packaging - employees - education (yes, getting to know the product is part of the costs) -... And of course profit. Using an over-priced and over-complex product than needed is highly inefficient (in economical terms)! Example: Taking a Nomad 4 to a 302-job: Nomad vs 302 - purchase price = $3900 (Nomad 12: $7100) vs $1295 - setup time = 5-15min vs 1min - "education time" = 40h vs 0,5h - maintenance factor = at least 5:1 - reserves = at least 4:1 (8:1 with Nomad 12) etc. As everyone can see a Nomad 4 is not just 3 times as expensive as a 302 like the purchase price may suggest. My humble guess is, that it is at least 5-6 times as expensive. Rule of thumb: Use a (small) mixer when doing ENG style gigs. Use a multitrack recorder when doing features and movies. And BTW I'm sorry for everyone who listened to advice to buy a product they might need sooooome day in the future. Before the day arrives on which they will need their fancy big-style-equipment, there will be newer and cheaper equipment out there. And until that day they would have earned enough to buy that new stuff. Best, Tom

Hello Andrew! A customized lemo5pin/TA3F cable is all you need. It's a cheap solution for in-the-bag-use. Don't use the Transceiver Kit! - Especially not in a in-the-car-out-of-the-car-environment. It is too likely that you will loose your timecode signal. If you want timecode when both units are separated, I would suggest to use an Ambient Lockit (ACL201-ACL204) or an Ambient LancLogger (ALL601). Workflow: - Synchronize the 744T and the Lockit/LancLogger at the beginning of your shooting day. - Connect the Lockit/LancLogger to the 552. - Keep the Lockit/LancLogger connected to the 552 during the shot. So both units are synchronized frame-accurate for at least 24 hours. You don't have to worry about timecode. And you don't have to pull/connect any cables when taking your 552 out of the bag into the car. The LancLogger (ALL601) is the smarter solution. It is smaller, lighter, cheaper and more versatile regarding timecode. Best, Tom

Now I would love to see all the Nomad topics "broken or deleted", in which the manufacturer and his friends bring one marketing statement after another - since more than one year. If they are given the chance to advertise their product, others should be given the chance to throw in their real world experiences.