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Stroller Cart


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I was impressed with photos I saw of George Flores' stroller sound cart (seen here) and I decided to go with the same stroller for my cart.

 

BKStrollerCart.jpg

 

The Petrol bag is sitting on a PSC Pelican LiFE battery connected to a Remote Audio Hot Strip, which routes power to the BDS on the bag. The Hot Strip also trickle-charges the battery when connected to external power. The Nomad is recording an eight-channel backup through AES using a standard VGA monitor cable connected to the Fusion. The antenna mast is a cheap light stand with the base removed and attached using Mafer clamps. I had a Lectrosonics rack mount multi-coupler modified by Victor at Location Sound so it could be used in the bag as well. The left iPad is running music playback using the Auria DAW app and the right iPad is receiving the Teradek Cube wireless feeds using the TeraView app.

 

-Brian

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I'll try not to make it look too easy and thank you for the inspiration, George.  It already made my life easier when I was loading the gear since I live on the third floor and there is no elevator.  Before I had a rack case with a 25 lb battery system and there was just too much unnecessary weight in the case.

 

-Brian

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

Here are a few photos of my updated stroller cart.

 

BKBTStroller1.jpg

The Fusion is the master recorder with the Nomad now recording a 6-track backup through AES as well as operating as a Zaxnet controller for the transmitters. A small 2.4GHz one watt booster is connected between the Nomad's Zaxnet RF connector and a 9dBi directional antenna. A fanless 175 watt DC to AC modified sine wave power inverter (yellow box) was added which is connected to the Remote Audio Hot Strip with the PSC Pelican LiFE battery underneath the sound bag. The inverter allows the 2.4GHz booster to receive power from the battery when external power is not available. With a cube tap attached, the inverter can provide battery power to my laptop computer as well. I also added a keyboard for the Fusion and a flexible LED light connected to the Nomad's USB port.

 

BKBTStroller2.jpg

I added a five-port 8A/40W USB hub for crew phone charging and an organizer basket to hold the phones in. Each port has an on/off button so I can stop the charging if needed when operating on battery power. The USB hub and power inverter are connected to the Hot Strip with 4-pin XLR adapter cables.  

 

BKBTStroller4.jpg

To quote a Key Grip I recently worked with, “A sound mixer with his own umbrella...true professional.”  The base for the umbrella was taken from the light stand that is now the antenna mast on the front of the stroller.

 

BKBTStroller5.jpg

During a setup I noticed on my iPad “monitor” that I was looking at myself on one of the cameras. I took this screenshot with the iPad running the Teradek TeraView app.

 

BKBTStroller6.jpg

When I need to record in a vehicle or a very small space, the sound bag comes off the stroller and the Pelican LiFE battery gets disconnected from the Hot Strip and connected directly to the BDS on the bag.

 

BKBTStroller7.jpg

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As much as I applaud the ingenuity of this, it looks so chaotic.

Are you not worried about the visual impression you make on the producers?

Well, at least he left the baby out of the stroller to make room for all that equipment! It does look a little jumbled up all stuffed in there but I guess if you know where everything is and you can get to it, who cares how it looks. 

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What's the advantage of this set up? It looks just as big and cumbersome as a real cart so why go with this? @Brian; I noticed that you had a full size follow cart in the ipad selfie which leads me to believe that you must have a big enough truck to haul around a regular cart.

 

Maybe a beach location but other than that I don't get it.  Also, it looks like with all those wires (george f.) and no mixer with sliding faders that you are not mixing but tracking - field venue and 2 srbs = 10 channels.

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The advantages, for me, are too many to list and I prefer to work this way. What works for me probably won't work for most. I also prefer to have two boom operators at all times, which the producers make room in the budget for, but again, that is just how I prefer to work and it's not for everyone.

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's another tool in the arsenal.  Whatever works for you, unorthodox or not, I think is the main objective.  It's in our nature as audio engineers that we evolve in our world,  that we experiment, tweak, and embellish our recording packages.  @Mirror:  When I first put together/copied this system ( I had to, I was not going to carry a bag for 10 episodes of a police drama), I had deep reservations about it--I have no faders!  But the audio architecture these days with Nomad/Maxx, 664/633 allow tremendous mixing and routing capabilities with independent tracking;  you can do a great mix and have ISOs as a safety.  And you do adapt to your technical surroundings.  All of this and the development of lighter batteries, enhanced RF systems and more ambitious/idiotic film-making behavior have certainly pushed us Sound Folks to think "Outside The Cart".

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here are some current photos of my always-evolving stroller sound cart. I listened to the comments about the chaotic appearance and made some changes to clean it up.

 

strollercurrent01.jpg

I have added a Zaxcom Mix-8 attached to an adjustable arm and the Fusion keyboard was moved to a much more convenient spot on the stroller.

 

strollercurrent02.jpg

I removed most of the Lectrosonics wireless from the setup but a Lectro SRb receiver is still available on the bag if needed.

 

strollercurrent03.jpg

I moved the phone-charging USB hub to inside the organizer basket. No more cable mess.

 

strollercurrent06.jpg

I was very impressed with the Sound Guys Solutions new quick-release system so I bought some for the antennas as well as the booms.

 

strollercurrent04.jpg

For travel, the Mix-8 quickly comes off the arm and the keyboard is adjusted to a safe spot.

 

strollercurrent05.jpg

When it needs to be taken off the arm, the Mix-8 sits safely in the stroller next to the bag.

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