Damien Looney

Many thanks Jan and Jacob. It's good to be back

Thank you very much Crew. Much appreciated!

Hello to you all, I just wanted to re-intorduce my self to the group and say hello to everyone again. I was an active member here a few years back but left location sound to work in the photographic industry. I made the move back to sound a few months back and have been quite on the forum as I'm reacquainting myself with the sound experience (and loving it even more that I did when I started!!!). I still spilt my time between sound and photography, but try to tip the balance more towards sound work these day. Anyway, this was just a way to say hello to you all, and I hope to become more active here again as time goes on. Best, Damien

Saw this on-line a few minutes ago http://www.rodemic.com/vmhd Comparing it with the NTG3 and offering internal recording. Possible new player in the on-camera recorder/microphone market? RØDE Videomics seems to pop up a lot anyway so this seems like a very handy way of having a small double system recording solution for DSLR shoots. Rent it to production when they ask for a track for camera.

Work would appear to have gotten in the way of those plans;) Not asking for a job that I'm doing; just trying to help out someone working there with UK purchased equipment. Cheers for the feedback.

Hello to you all, A question about using UK radio Mics in France and Switzerland. Could anybody give me the information about the current and future legal frequency blocks in France and Switzerland and if anyone has used UK radio Mics on block 38 or 69 with any positive or negative results? Thanks for any information you can provide. Damien

Hi David, Probably best to re-post that in the "Want To Buy/Want To Sell" section of the site and say that you're looking to buy in the title of the post. Saying where you're located will help too. All the best, Damien

Balls to the Audio IR software so then! Rado; thanks for the information and advice. I'm going with a big company so I think we should be ok with our transport, but you never know with these things!

Thanks for that Tim. I was actually on the phone to RFS when I saw this so I was happy to pass on the info to them about the use-ability of 38 in those places. Never used that Audio software but will give it a go anyway (here's hoping that it works on Android and with Micron radios)! Cheers!

Last minute job in Bulgaria and no time to rent specifics, so I'm travelling with UK channel 69 and 38 radios. Anyone used them there with any success or trouble? Thank you. Damien

Hi Martjin, I'm heading to the Canon Pro Solutions show in London next week and I'm hoping to get my hands on this camera if they have it at the show. If I get the chance, are there any questions that I could ask the Canon people about audio and time code? Damien

Sorry if this is widely known, but I've only just learned about this. Waterproof VT500 lav. This could have been a good mic to have when I was working outdoors in Ireland. To say that conditions there were "slighty damp" at times is a huge understatement! http://www.voicetechnologies.net/pdf/vt500water.pdf

I just hope that Lion will run on the Mactini and the Mactini Nano

How are you travelling? One of the issues you may face is having to check your luggage if you're flying. The soft skinned bags will keep your gear dry but the padding may not offer much protection in the luggage hold of an airplane. If you're arriving and departing from the same location then how about transporting it in a storm case and breaking it down to a soft bag when you get there. Just leave the hard case there for your return? I have one of these http://www.mountain-equipment.co.uk/the_gear/luggage/wet_and_dry_kit_bag_100l---367/ I picked up one here in the UK for £50. The 100L capacity will certainly take a few zeps and stand-by gear and will keep it dry. I had all my equipment in a Peli and everything else I needed in that. It holds up amazingly well as it was thrown into helicopters and other things and dragged all over the place with no issues only the amount of dust it got covered in. The big issue you'll find with it will be the lack of padding, but you should be able to figure something out with the space that you'll have. If it's too big then there are 70L and 40L versions available.

Hi Mick, Some photographer friends of mine swear by 'Rescue Pro' for file recovery from corrupt discs http://www.lc-tech.com/software/rprodetail.html It's normally supplied free with some of their pro CF cards or you may have to buy a copy. Alternatively, get friendly with people in a photo studio very quickly! I've used this before when I had some troublesome cards. I got everything back but was told that there was a chance that some files may not be recoverable. I was quite lucky I think! Please don't try and re-format the card again or record anything else onto it until after you're run any recovery software as I think that information becomes permanently deleted once new information has been recorded onto the card. Fingers crossed for you! Damien

Ok, not really a sound issue but when the director of the Oscar nominated doco 'Restrepo' is killed in a war I think it's a fair enough thing to cover here. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/20/us-libya-misrata-journalists-idUSTRE73J5YX20110420?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&ca=rssvzw

I've found that it tends to be at the discretion of the producer or director. It really just depends on the shooting style. You could go about it like they do on 'Mythbusters' where the lavs, boom and entire crew are in the shots quite a lot or hide the everything and approach it like a drama. Depends on your choice or lav too I guess as something like B6 can be sitting right in view of the camera and still go unseen.

What I should have started my reply with was that it could have been a monitoring issue versus an issue with your cable so give that a go first before you take your cable apart and start re-soldering. Sorry if it came across as being a bit blunt! Damien

Howdy Hugh, If you're decoding the M/S in the mixer then you monitor as L/R but if you're recording for post to decode then unlink the channels, put your mid in channel 1 and centre the channel and your side in channel 2 and pan hard left, then monitor as M/S. Damien

Thank you both for the information. I'll shoot an email off to Sound Devices. That link is great. I wish every manufacturer would make things as easy for us all!

Anyone after running their battery to exhaustion? I'm just wondering how often users replace the internal battery that drives the time code unit. I have no issues with mine but I'd hate for it to go wrong on location so I've been thinking about when it would be best to replace it. Cheers, Damien

That dude in the video reminds me of some of the directors I've worked for! I wasn't expecting so much feedback from people, and didn't figure on other soundies being cyclists too! I haven't spoken to the team since I first posted my questions so I don't know any more about the race details. I've been looking into it myself and it's still up in the air as some cyclists use a CamelBak during the race and other go with nothing but themselves on the bike. The weather conditions are also another factor on what they wear, and has been pointed out here, they change bikes in seconds when things go wrong. I miced myself and the bike a few days ago and headed out on a 50 mile ride. I placed one radio in the saddlepack under my seat, taped the cable along the top tube and taped the mic just behind the head tube. I put a 744 and another radio in a back pack and ran the cable into my helmet. As I live in London, I was guaranteed to have some horrible weather conditions and would be travelling with some heavy traffic. My bike is steel framed and is nowhere near as advanced as a pro-road bike would be so it wasn't the most ideal thing to use (and I don't think many pro-riders head out with a few extra kilos of audio equipment on their back). The mic on the frame picked up more vibrations and noise than I was happy with but the helmet mounted mic worked well enough but even on a short ride like this, I found the cable running across my scalp getting me irritated when it came loose. To be fair-I wanted to get out on the road and just wanted to test this out so I can experiment some more with mic placements when I get the chance. It was raining, but not torrential, but even under these conditions I was worried about the mics exposure to the elements. I had Rycote overcovers on the frame mic and a hush lav on the helmet mic so the mic heads were relatively protected but the cables had dirt and moisture on them so I'd like to work on a way to keep the cables protected too.

I have bags from Petrol, Porta Brace and Kortwich and just swap out gear depending on the job. Depending on the kind of work you do, you could find yourself re-configuring at times. Is the 702 your only piece of equipment that will be in the bag? Will you also have radios and a mixer or is it just a boom and the recorder? At the most basic of level, something like the protective case for the FR2-LE could do http://www.mixexperience.co.uk/print/product-description/fostex-fr-2-le-bag.html This is good enough to keep daily dirt and grime off of your equipment but offers nothing else. I don't know how well it could work with your 702 as the battery being on the base of recorder throws the shape out. Here's an Edirol r-4 case housing a 702 and some other bits and pieces http://audiofieldrecordings.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/a-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing/ The reason people will invest a little more money in a bag by Petrol or Porta Brace is the protection that it offers your equipment. When you're jumping in and out of vehicles in a filthy environment and your bag is taking a beating, there's a certain peace of mind knowing that the £12,000 of equipment that's sitting in the bag is being looked after. The cordura material is amazing in the field and very hard wearing. Your 702 will appreciate being pampered! Are you in the States? If you are then this may be of interest as B&H have a good deal on Petrol 607 bag right now http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/686799-REG/Petrol_PS607_PS607_Deca_Mixer_Bag.html (you may never use the free poncho but it retails for almost $50 so it's not a bad thing to have for free if you're getting the bag anyway.) I was picking up another Petrol bag from a supplier in London yesterday and had a look at the 607 while I was there. It felt like a very well layed out bag that would house the 702 quite comfortably and would allow you to add something like a 302 mixer and radios in the future. Happy shopping.

http://www.mandy.com/1/jobs3.cfm?v=42914064

Jim has clocked this one right on the head actually as it's for a British competitor in the RAAM. A road race averaging 20 hours per day in the saddle and taking about 10 straight days to complete. It is a seriously hardcore road race! I haven't had the opportunity to meet with the rider or team yet, but the reason I had thought about booming instead of radio micing is for weight and aerodynamics reasons. I'll have absolutely no control over the mics once the race gets underway. Before I make any decisions about how to work this or what equipment I need, I think it's best to talk to the rider and his team before and see how they want to work. Thanks for the information the mics and the work around. I'll try to use them in my day to day work. Regards, Damien