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Bash

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Posts posted by Bash

  1. On 8/4/2022 at 5:40 AM, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

    Ok, thanks for confirming.  I'll consider my options with a DAW setup, I think you're right, jamming together two recorders of different brands and quality is asking for trouble.

    Since I clearly don't own any recorders that support word-clock sync, it probably makes sense to rent a recorder with enough tracks (I think I'm at 23 at the latest count).  But, failing that, what recorders are out there that *do* support word-clock sync?  Sound Devices?  I'm guessing the 788.  Any others?

    Jamming two recorders of different brands and quality is not asking for trouble at all..... so long as you are able to send word clock from one machine to the other, or from a generator to both recorders. Some portable TC generators can make TC and wordclock or sync pulses. Good luck, sb

  2. There are no SMPTE 'standards' for TC for camera/sound frame rates greater than 30fps.

     

    Cameras can run at frame rates greater than 30fps, but because there are no standards it all gets a bit freestyle with regards to TC and sync.

     

    I think what needs to be asked here is why the camera is running at 50fps. If the camera is running at 50fps because they want to play the video back at 50fps, ie the 'motion' will be real time, like 25fps video, but with twice the amount of frames in the same second, so perhaps a different video quality, or....... is the camera running at 50fps but the video will be played back at 25fps, so the motion will be at half real time, ie slow motion. If the former then the motion is real time so the sound will also be expected to be in realtime (ie 1second = 1 second), whereas the latter will be at half speed so maybe the sound will be played in at half speed, either pitch corrected, or an octave lower than usual because of the 'varispeed', ie 1 sec of action = 2 secs of screentime.

  3. On 12/15/2022 at 5:30 PM, Paul F said:

    I expected the same news to come from Sound Devices by now since it was sold off to a holding company much like Vitec. Shut the place down. Move it somewhere else to consolidate. Find cost savings in every corner.  But, it has been just over a year. Maybe they will get lucky.

     

    I've been involved in acquisitions. After evaluation of the company, the VP asked me "How much staff can we get rid of?".  It's a cold, cruel world.

    Audiotonix are nothing at all like Vitec/Videndum. I am told that James Gordon, the guy that runs the company, is a bit of an audio nut. Apparently he regularly visits all of the companies owned by the main Audiotonix Group. Their brands include A&H, DigiCo, Calrec, Sound Devices, Klang, SSL, and more - I see a bit of a theme there. Apparently he actively encourages the R&D people from the various group owned companies to work together and share stuff, to the benefit of all the companies. I for one would very much love to see more integration between eg radio mic manufacturers and mix desk manufacturers, and blow me down, AudioTonix now own a radio mic manufacturer and a bunch of mixer manufacturers.... It is an obvious, but potentially very interesting path for them all to take.....

     

    As to Videndum and Rycote..... I would guess that the manufacture of the Rycote mics will probably get moved to Audix in Oregon. I believe the windshield manufacturing will be moved about 90 miles from Stroud. I hear that none of the existing staff are likely to be moved to the new factory. I have to say i feel the future is looking a bit grim for Rycote so far.......

     

    HNY to all, sb

  4. On 3/24/2022 at 2:03 PM, ycainjo said:

    Hi all

     

    I am reading Jay's book "Producing Great Sound for Film and Video", and would like to listen audio example files, but the companion site doesn't work anymore (http://www.greatsound.info).

     

    Does anyone previously downloaded all the audio files and pdf from the companion site and could share them to me ?

     

    I, too, would love to be able to access these files. I have my copy of the book, so I have the passwords, but... even using wayback machine and entering the password, the site is now defunct.

     

    Is anyone able to share them with me, please??

     

    Happy New Year to all BTW..... Simon B

  5. Best practice would be a system where you have a timecode device for each recorder, be they audio or video recorders. Choose one device as a master, set it, and jam the other two devices from the 'master'.

     

    Ideally you would have a system where the 'master' is continually or regularly updating the jammed 'followers'. Ambient Nano Lockits are very good, Betso are simpler, Tentacle are cheap and cheerful, but many people work well with them.

     

    I would plug master into your audio recorder, and the jammed followers into the cameras.

     

    Do tests. Check TC at regular intervals throughout the day.

     

    Enjoy..... sb

  6. Puts on pedants hat.......

     

    As I understand it - the v1 Mix Pre does not 'clock itsself to the field rate of the incoming TC' at all. Remember that we are talking about a digital recorder, that makes a .bwav file, and that a .bwav file has a TC sync value in the file header.

     

    As I think we are all aware... the TC sync value is calculated as the amount of 'samples after midnight' (00:00:00:00) counted at whatever your sample rate is (probably 44,1k or 48k in this case). This value then gets calculated back to a TC value (using the TC rate of the shoot) when the file is played back, or used in post production.

     

    So - in the case of a v1 MixPre6, it will look at the incoming TC, and at the moment that the new record file starts, it will take the TC number, calculate what that value is in frames since midnight, and record that value in the file header. At no point in all of the above is the recorder clocking itsself to the incoming TC.

     

    The recorder is clocked to an internal clock, from which it derives its own 44.1 or 48k sampling rate. In post production the DAW or video edit software will be deriving its own clock from somewhere. It will, say, 48k of audio samples into a similar 48k of timeline space.

     

    So - in practice.... the clock on the mix pre will easily be 'accurate enough' that over even a long take (2hrs or more) any 'drift' will be entirely irrelevant. 

     

    In truth the cameras are not locked to some sort of clock then they are more likely to drift with respect to each other than with respect to the sound. So long as the TC shows on the display then you are in business. I seem to remember that you might have to tell the mix pre what the TC rate is, simply so that it puts that value in the file header, and things work out best then in post.

     

    You can send analogue TC into the Aux5/6 3.5mm jack socket on the mix pre. You will have to tell it that the aux in is going to be the source of the TC and it will look for it and show it on the display.

     

    Agree that there is absolutely no need whatsoever to have a better or posher or more grand machine. 

     

    Hope that this helps.

     

    Simon B

     

     

  7. Could you do something like to send them a USB mic, like a Rode NT USB-Mini. Have them plug it into eg Zoom, and have them record the Zoom meeting/call??? If the director mutes their own mic when they are 'listening' then audio quality coud/might be quite good??? Might need a proper test though.....

     

    sb

  8. Stop it immediately. If it has set you off this quickly then whatever it is, it is bad. Get rid of it.

     

    If you have a spare input to your recorder/mixer then maybe use that. Depending on your recorder/mixer you might be able to send it to the other ear, or to both, and yet not record it. If you have to record it then send it to the highest track number, and see if you can mirror only the track numbers that you need, not the walkie feed.

     

    If you cant do the above then get a stand alone small mixer like an SD302, and mix your headphone feeds and the comms on that.

     

    Be in control of it, and keep it low level. Protect your hearing - it is your greatest asset, and if you damage your hearing you are fucked.

     

    Look after yourself, Simon B

  9. 23 hours ago, drpro said:

    Thanks Simon.  Did you have to buy the whole bed or were you able to buy a replacement lift from a manufacture?

    David

    We just bought the column - the manufacturer make them as a thing, and the bed manufacturers buy them in. sb

    20 hours ago, indiefilm said:

    How much does it weigh without gear, approximately?

     

    Obviously it isnt light.... but by the same token, it is not heavy by cart standards. I cant tell you the weight, but the next time I have the cart stripped of kit (could be in the New Year, I am due a big tidy up) - I'll weight the naked cart for you 😉 sb

    18 hours ago, Olle Sjostrom said:

    And how much power does it draw?

    Very little - a low few amps when raising or lowering, and it is a rare day that we go up and down all day. sb

  10. The lift mechanism is in fact the vertical column you can see at the back of the cart, in the centre between the base part and the moving pod. It is the mechanism used in a hospital bed to raise and lower the pillow end of the bed. On a hospital bed it would be horizontal, and hid under the mattress. In our case it is vertical. Within that column there is a vertical screw thread, with a motor at the bottom. The motor turns the thread, and as the thread turns a metal lug rides up and down the thread. The top pod is attached to the metal lug with a couple of aircraft type metal pins. It really is quite simple.

     

    Not in the video, but I am able to do a pretty quick wheel change to large balloon wheels, for off road or sandy situations. It works really well, and gives the crew plenty of laughing opportunities.....

     

    Now.... someone build a better version 😉

     

    Enjoy, Simon B

     

     

  11. I would like to suggest that if making oinly one size then let it be a 12 bay. The difference in size between an 8 bay and a 12 bay will be minimal. To have the ability to charge a day's worth of 6 channels of RM batts in one hit would be just brilliant.

     

    The slot/storage/charge solution would be brilliant if simple. I worry that if the holder gets into hinges etc... it will become too much of a pain. The beauty of the AA/AAA holders is in part their simplicity.

     

    Joppe -= your chargers are absolutely the best.

     

    Simon B

  12. Hi ClassicalTenor,

     

    I work as a location sound recordist, but my Ma is a composer, and was a singer and vocal coach for 60 or more years. I have done a lot of classical recording over the years.

     

    I am really not sure that you need reverb, either naturally from the room, or added in the recording chain. In many genres of music it is a standard practice to add reverb in order to 'hide' some of the singer's 'approximations' at pitch etc.... Surely both you and your teacher would be better off hearing things 'clean' and uncomplicated by reverb etc... When my mum was teaching back in the day - she would sit at the piano, and her student would normally stand in the crook of the piano or closer, facing her. It was a regular (medium sized) living room used as a music room. The student would have been 4-6ft away from Mum, and as we all know the human ear/brain can 'filter' out some stuff that it doesnt need, like reverb, so Mum would have been hearing the student pretty damned clean.

     

    I think Tourtelot might have cracked it - I think the problem is not your kit, but something in the link/connection, that is letting things down.

     

    Hoping that this helps, Simon B

     

    p.s. Ma is Betty Roe, MBE, see www.bettyroe.com - check out 'The Silver Hound' 😉

     

     

     

  13. I was going to start another thread, but others have already noticed and mentioned about the frugal amount of AES IPs on the 8 series.

     

    First off to say that I think SD have done a great job with the 8 series - they have put a lot of very clever technology into some very small boxes, including TC and auto mix, and also amazing to have communication that allows fader panels from either third parties or from SD to be used with them. To have managed to do this in almost complete secrecy, 

     

    I think the 8 series is really interesting, in that it pretty much ignores AES digital IPs (notwithstanding ch 1 (and ch 6 AES only on the Scorpio) which can work as an AES or an AES 42). So if you were trying to go for eg 8 x RMs and an AES 42 Boom on an 888 you’d be a bit stumped, without doing a bit of fiddling. 

     

    It occurs that DANTE in a bag might be a bit ‘interesting’ - but I guess this remains to be seen by those who choose to be pioneers. Interesting times.

     

    I feel that SD/AL really do need to work out some sort of SL6/SL8 style of bolt on RM rack, to include whatever is needed to make the RM to 888/Scorpio connection by DANTE, whilst keeping analogue OPs of some description (probably TA5 or a D connector) albeit something small. I shall be really interested to see how some of the larger bag rigs work things out (circa 10+ radios etc....).

     

    I guess the other side of the debate could be the Zaxcom Nova, which has plenty of AES IPs, but no DANTE. The encoders on the Nova have the ability to flip to different banks, which is a relatively new way to work for bag work. Nova does not have DANTE, so maybe the comparison is not entirely fair. 

     

    Interesting times indeed, I cant wait to try out some of these machines/systems/rigs etc.......

     

    Happy days. sb

     

     

    OK - by the time I had posted the above, I see the reply that says 4 x AES channel add on IP box to come...... I wonder if that would do 8 x RM IPs - I cant remember if the Audio Ltd AES OP can do 2 x Rx channels on one x stereo AES stream? sb

  14. Apologies - late arrival to the party and my name has already been mentioned. I should explain my motives and experiences with digital microphones......

     

    I was a Zaxcom recorder and mixer user since the Deva 1. I upgraded the Deva 1 to a Deva 2, then had a Deva 5, then a 5.8. I had one of the standalone Zaxcom mixers (sorry - it’s been a long day and I am suffering from brain fade), not the fader panel...... Anyway - the early Deva recorders, and the stand alone mixer, in my experience, picked up a lot of hums and buzzes from other electrical cables around the set. If the wire to my analogue boom mics went anywhere near an HMI lighting head lead, or a dimmed tungsten light power lead, I would be in a world of yummy buzzy awfulness. I had to find a solution. At the time I was using Schoeps CMITs as my main boom mics. Schoeps announced the Super CMIT and I had an idea...... if I could use a digital mic, then the hums and buzzes would presumably be gone forever. I tried a Super CMIT with the Schoeps AES 42 powering box (which outputted AES 3 iirc) and it was an instant solution...... I have never had a single buzz or hum on set since then.....

     

    After some time I got bothered by the Super CMITs - I could often hear the algorithm, and also in quiet situations, when I thought the noise cancelling would be useful, the self noise of the mic (or the processor) was, for me, unacceptable. I thin tried the Neumann KM81D mics, through a DMI2 box.  This was my revelation - a really warm and lovely sounding mic, through a box that gave me IP gain control, which is brilliant for the whisper and shout scenes. I have stuck with the Neumann for probably 5 years or more now - I love them.

     

    Currently I use the KM81Ds most often through Zaxcom 743 plug on transmitters. No need for the DMI2 anymore, though it is still on the trolley.

     

    Another major plus for digital mics.... I do a few shoot every year on big live shows - arenas etc... We have to do good sounding audience rigs. Previously we have had to rig more mics than we will need, knowing that some will be really buzzy once they get winched up into the lighting rig, or once the lighting cables go in over our rig. Often you only ever find out once the show lighting gets turned on. NOT ANY MORE - no lighting induced hums or buzzes ever. Digital mics wipe this out, and for this they are brilliant.

     

    John tipped me off for the cheap KM184Ds - they sound gorgeous, and make a brilliant crossed cardioid pair. I love them - such a lovely warm sound!!!!

     

    Must dash - it is late and I need sleep.

     

    Kindest regards,

     

    Simon B

     

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