codyman

I did this a while back and it was worth it. Believe it was $7xx something but it's nice to have the flexibility of more blocks, being able to use the software, and I already had a channel's XLR poop out on me anyways which would have necessitated major repairs so this solved that issue as well.

It's amazing how much the prices have dropped on timecode boxes (while adding more features to boot) these last few years. I love my Betso boxes but competition is always good!

We live in interesting times. On one hand, we have a lot of amazing technologies that are developing at an astounding rate (in the sound world AND outside of it), yet a lot of times I'm starting find myself being somewhat bothered by the fact that as the years go on, we are either expected by production or via ourselves to show up with more and more gear to set to do the same job done as always (I swear some productions act like if not every single person in a scene isn't wearing a lav, you're not going to hear them even though you have a boom in a quiet room a foot from their face). Don't get me wrong, a lot of great things have been developed that have made our lives easier, but for some reason it seems that you always have to have your bag/cart evolving rather than making a researched purchase and then sticking with it for a decade or whatnot. Between the expense, anxiety (FCC auctions anyone?) of what's next, more gear for less kit fee, etc etc. it can be quite unnerving!

We didn't do any ambiances / ambisonic recordings. Post told me that they were going to "spatialize" all the voices / effects and that the most important thing to get was just clean dialogue on isolated tracks for each character so that the software they use could literally say "character 1 is currently 5 feet from camera" and then as he walks to ten feet left of camera, they can automate that so that it sounds as though the character really is moving across the frame (the software can place a character / effect in an X,Y, and Z plane kind of like Dolby's Atmos). I haven't heard/seen any of it yet but I'm really curious as to how well that actually sounds because it definitely sounds interesting!

It seems that most of the "mixing" is done spatially in post (aka 3D audio). Hell, Facebook even bought a company (they own Oculus but also bought an audio company that now has a free 3D audio Pro Tools HD plugin. I recently did a short narrative VR shoot that had stunts and everything else you'd expect from an action film, but because of the environment (a big sailing boat that was at sea while shooting), we had to get creative due to the elements AND since you can't just boom things. I lav'ed everyone up like usual, and then creatively hid wireless plant mics. I also got a ton of wild lines once I got back on shore. It should be premiering online on the 15th I'm told so I'm curious myself to see how it turned out since this was my first rodeo doing a VR shoot!

Hopefully a dual channel slot receiver with ZHD will be coming soon too. Once they have that all figured out, it's going to be hard to beat!

I originally thought that all these wideband transmitters/receivers were going to be our savior in crowded RF markets like Los Angeles, but now with the news of not only the 600mhz going bye bye but also parts of the 500, I'm not sure what everyone is going to be able to do. It's just going to be a huge pray and scan.

So the FCC rakes in $25+ billion and then we all get forced to spend tens of thousands in new gear with less bandwidth to work with... Sounds wonderful.

Nice write up. Should be interesting to see how these guard bands work out. I have a decent amount of gear in the 600mhz range and I'm getting anxious...

Well that's a throwback... Funny thing is though, a mint kit like that still would have a surprising amount of value on the used market!

Trew here in Los Angeles is great. Every time I have expressed interest in a product, they always are very helpful and have offered me demo units.

That's the great thing about these new L-Series Lectros. The LR receiver has a hot shoe adapter (I don't know if it comes standalone with the receiver but there are two transmitter/receiver kits for the L Series that I know for a fact it does come with) that you can easily mount it to the hot shoe of anything ranging from a DSLR or any other camera used out in the field these days. Before buying any gear, make sure to do some research about the areas you mostly will be filming in because battling RF interference is an unfortunate aspect of our lives even more so these days. I'd stay away from anything in the 600mhz range because that's being mulled by the FCC right now as being put onto the auction block and phased out much like the 700mhz range was a few years back.

From my experiences here in Los Angeles doing production sound, it seems to me that Lectrosonics and Zaxcom are the most prevalent "pro" mics used around here, with Sennheiser G3's being used for low budget kits. I don't have experience with Audio LTD nor Wisycom (although I know both are very good) but it seems to me for the documentary films you're working on, maybe you should look into Lectrosonic's L Series wireless mics? They are three blocks each so you'll have some flexibility with available frequencies, solid build quality, and the more affordable entrance into the Lectrsonics world. They also offer the new Lectrosonics SRc dual channel receiver which could be used as well with a whole variety of transmitters (both three block ones like the L series as well as older single block mics). I've been using my Lectrosonics SMQV transmitters with SRb (previous generation) receivers for years now and they sound great and have never let me down!

I don't think they mentioned it but they do have a new "HR" version the their UWP-D Transmitters which uses a hirose 4 pin connection as well a dual slot in receiver...

This almost reads like the usual industry April 1st posts! Sounds pretty amazing!

I'm sure it will just make Crosley turntables throughout the land just sing.

I found in school that my best papers / research came via things that I genuinely was curious about. One top that popped up on set the other day was my boom op (who mixes on shoots too) was telling me how he was going to be on a shoot involving VR filming (which involves 3D spacial sound). Other than using wireless mics and a camera mounted binaural mic, we both were wondering about what else could be done in this new field as it seems like people are starting to make interesting progress with it. Might be an interesting, cutting edge topic?

Oh boy.... I'm rather surprised that these YouTube / "internet video" folks haven't just resorted to pretending they are on a spaghetti western by rolling MOS and dubbing later. Then again, you at least need a good story and acting to pull that off and let's face it, that is rarely the case with these kind of "content creators".

The HS-P82 has been a workhorse for me but it's been around for quite some time now...

Good thing he's rocking a Zeppelin indoors.

I'm really conflicted. On one hand, I love my SMQV's although when the RF gets tough / traveling, I wish I had more flexibility with frequencies. I'm almost tempted more to pickup the SSM's instead because at least they would be handy with tricky wardrobe yet also still be multiblock / good for bag work since 50mw would probably be fine for that most of the time.

Very sharp. I call mine "Cartman" from Southpark but I kind of took the easy route on that one.

Would be fantastic if an SRb could be upgraded to an SRc like how SRa's could be upgraded...

I know I'm preaching to the choir here but is it just me or are available frequencies just getting harder and harder to come by these days in Los Angeles? I know it's a very "luck of the draw" situation sometimes in that it can change on a city block by block basis but I'm filming in Rancho Palos Verdes for 5 days at this beautiful mid century modern that overlooks the harbor / port and no matter what block I try, it's just hell. I did an RF scan from 470-700mhz on my RF Buddy around the property thinking that maybe something was wrong with my gear but nope, all blocks had congestion. I noticed the "470" had a little bit of scooch room and my block 24 had about 2 frequencies I could use, but it just got to the point where I had to step away from my cart and just bag it with my SRb's to get closer to the action. Speaking of block 470, does anyone use this block in LA? I've noticed that it's consistently rather "open" throughout LA for the most part yet I don't think I've encountered anyone with block 470 gear...

Our crew had a problem with V-Locks last year in Rwanda of all places. We took 10+ of them into Rwanda no problem, but when we were taking a KLM flight from Kigali --> Amsterdam, the CAPTAIN of the plane refused to fly with our batteries (even though there were 10 of us on the crew so we were below the 2 per person rule). After some back and forth arguing (they were all in pelican cases carried on), they agreed to let us take them if we individually wrapped them all in newspaper? and put each battery into a separate carry on overhead bin. By the end of the flight, it looked like we were going down the plane collecting little bricks of cocaine or something to which funny enough, Amsterdam's customs didn't even look at twice come to think of it...