JonG

All conversations are worth having so that the information may live on

That’s amazing. I’ve been listening to some podcasts where people are having to go back and remaster DATs and are really having a hard time of it! On a side note, I just did some vinyl transfers and the cleanup and remastering was a breeze thanks to recent technological advances. I remember cleaning up M&E stems that came from tape about ten years ago and that was rough!

I recently worked on a German documentary that sort of focused on the integration of analog and digital things in society, and the folks were big analog buffs, so I brought out a Nagra III for them to play with. They loved it, hopefully it made it into the doc!

When the Zaxcom ERX system came out, no one else on set was using wireless devices outside the Sound Dept other than the occasional Follow Focus, but those were usually VHF. It was never a problem to hard wire video monitors or focus by hand. Now everyone has a device in 2.4 or 5 gHz, and even with a 100mW amp on my IFB100, I often times need to be within 10 feet of the receivers in order to cut through the mess without having to use external amps and special antennae. The other thing is that cameras have gotten so small that an ERX takes an exceptionally large amount of real estate, whereas before, the camera folks were stoked that it was a hop and a lockit all in one. I certainly see the potential benefit to this new stereo transmitter system, but given the headaches of the spectrum it uses, I think for my own personal workflow I’d rather stick to alternate systems.

Yawn. Another 2.4gHz device. I don’t know about you folks but the majority of sets I work, there are so many things using these frequencies from camera, video village, etc. That anything I bring on set gets blasted out of the air. Which is why I’m looking for a different camera hop system to move away from the Zaxcom ERX system.

Yup. The stuff dreams are made with

Anyone else on here find the ambiant female yelling that is consistent and constant throughout this show misplaced, cliché, and highly distracting? I thought it was kind of a cool design element in Gladiator, but nearly every “epic” period piece since then has had this and it’s become a bit of a “paint by numbers” sound design choice IMHO.

Hehehe

It always brings a smile to my face when I hear dear old Wilhelm!

Their tape machines sound really good tho

I’ve had a number of green posties come at me for this sort of thing, and often times it is someone pointing the finger so people don’t notice their own lack of experience. There often isn’t anything you can do about that. But for the benefit of the doubt, a short technical letter with references may be a good course of action.

I saw him at some sound event a few months back but not recently.

While it is not a *super* cardioid, I have seen that a few notable mixers use mkh8040, Neumann 184, and Schoeps mk5 capsules, all of which are cardioid (the mk5 being switchable with a cardioid option), however those mixers are often using some of the best boom ops in the biz. In my earlier years I would carry the older se1a cardioid mic in my kit to use as a plant (and on one occasion as a spare/backup boom) and found it to work/sound quite well. Give it a try and share what you think!

If you have seen the film Tora! Tora! Tora!, they used all period planes while filming. Maybe that could give you a sense of what the sound may have been like.

Avid is having Black Friday specials

Good. Those calls are getting to be out of hand!

Hey @Jordan Levie, it would be cool if these were available at “the usual suspects” for people to see and demo (as well as purchase). There are probably more sound folks that do not read this forum that could be reached by having these in store. I think I know more people who do not read these threads than do, unfortunately. Just a thought.

When shooting a movie I make sure that the director and AD understand that it is what is best for the project and to allot a minute or two for wild recordings before we change scenes. This includes room tone, IR, wild lines, and sounds that I think are important to the scene. It usually only takes a couple of minutes, and every time I do it, post gets back to me and raves about my work. They also go out of their way to tell the director how great the audio was, and this happens every time without fail. I’ve also killed the need for ADR in the process a lot of the time. Now, when the show is unreasonably run by people who schedule too much in a day, and I am fighting to do the bare minimum, then all bets are off. But most of the time I am able to override the AD and get them to help instead of hinder.

What are some of your favorite plugins for post production, and are any free? I’m getting back into post but since my absence a lot has changed. There are obvious ones like izotope but I’d like to see what the consensus is on others.

I use Wasabi. I’ve had them ever since the 633 was released sans issue. Very affordable.

My #1 rule is to not take gigs that provide gear (especially from VER!) unless there is a good reason for it (other than getting a free sound package with the camera rental) such as an Audio Sup that is providing MULTIPLE SOUND PACKAGES for a shoot with MULTIPLE MIXERS for continuity purposes. If the reason a sound package being provided is because production was just trying to be cheap, you will ALWAYS have a lot bigger problems coming from the sh*t storm above the line. And you will be waiting downstairs and that ceiling separating you from them is going to leak on your head, and you will catch the blame for the problems that they create. Don’t fall for their bs and pass on these garbage gigs. Honestly, you’d be lucky if their provided sound package even functioned 100% and included all necessary cables and parts. I’ve seen missing faders on a CL-8, wireless that were completely out of commission, batteries that don’t hold a charge, wrong gender cables, you name it. VER is a crap company and anyone who rents from them should be put on a red flag list.

Cats sometimes do terribly bizarre things, until you figure out why. I recently learned that cats are afraid of cucumbers. If you don’t know about this, search YouTube. I almost died laughing. Until I learned why they behave this way, I was just blown away at their crazy reactions!

I don’t have a link but the recent episode of NCIS (16x05) used a couple of my Nagra IIIs as a prop. Two different ones playing the same machine, see if you can spot the differences!

‘Murca!