Who brings the slate?

[John Blankenship]

Soon, sync boxes will be expected to be provided at no extra charge. Mixers are already not charging for them so they can get the job.It was a mistake to provide them---remember, it attaches to cam. and should be provided by cam.----It.s too late now.

  

I don't agree that it's too late for those of us who charge proper rates.  There will always be productions that want a top notch crew, and there will always be those whose first consideration is paying as little as possible.  I just turned down another shoot for one of the latter and feel fine for doing so.  I referred this "non-profit documentary" to a nearby college.

 

There is more than one approach to fielding producers with preconceived notions of rates.  I've run into some who wouldn't budge on labor but were willing to go higher for gear.  I've also encountered the opposite: productions with a reticence to pay past a certain point for gear, but who were willing to pay more to hire experience.  Sometimes, it's the bottom line that matters, not necessarily how you get there.

[Marc Wielage]

This meant that if you had a short preroll--the bane of this whole system from telecine's point of view, the telecine operator could back up into the tail fo the previous take and use that as the pre-roll for the short-rolled new take.  This worked most of the time by the end of the run of this technology, but it meant that I often had to explain why I was working with the Comtek RX instead of an onboard TC gen on the slate, and why the TC numbers were not turning when I wasn't rolling.  

 

The "timecode blip" problem was huge enough that Nagra eventually came up with a software update for the Nagra T studio machine which would sail right through timecode errors and not glitch and go crazy. RecRun then and now was an evil blight descended upon mankind.

 

This last was useful in some situations, everyone would know that sound was not rolling if the numbers on the slate weren't updating.  The Comtek-on-slate thing is still the best way I know of to display playback TC for music video type shoots.   One advantage to the TS1+ SB1/2/2a setup was that you could pull the TC box off and use it for other setups if need be.

 

That is true -- the Comtek TX/RX system for music video playback still works and is pretty rock solid provided you can get the transmitter close to the receiver. One thing I've never tried is using a linear amp to (illegally) boost the signal, which I've considered doing but never have done. It works about 99% of the time provided I can get within easy line-of-sight to the slate.

 

I appreciated the fact that Denecke has made their slates lighter and more durable with each generation. I've rolled my eyes at people who are looking at more high-tech solutions like the iPad, but the truth is Denecke's design is pretty rock-solid and readable even from 50 feet away. In my telecine days, I sometimes had to sync up timecode numbers with slates the size of postage stamps, and as long as the lens was in focus, we could electronically zoom in and still read the numbers. One hopes nowadays that the picture will have the same timecode... but ya never know.

[Allen Green]

Hey good question. This is how we learn. I always find out on the phone when they ask you for your a ability and rate. I ask what camera and work flow are they working with. Then if they are going with a double recording system if they are going to need a time code slate because it effects the price of the sound package rental. Also do they need comtek's and how many. All of this will reflect the rate they pay. Then we do an email confirming what we talked about This way there are no surprises when on the shoot day they ask for something not in the email so you can cover yourself. Cause some jobs are simple 1 person mic'ed direct to camera and others are double system Timecode to several cams and they want 10 Comteks for video village. So ask these questions when they call and ask if you are available. Good luck.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chris_bollard]

Tc slate is becoming more the usual thing - even on single camera shoots - think producers feel more professional when one is on set. That said I can go months without needing one (or being asked to supply one) and then have three requests in a week.

[Philip Perkins]

We continued to do the Comtek on slate rec-run TC thing even into the DAT era for the same reason--the ability to back the telecine play deck back into the previous take to get adequate preroll.  It was great that Nagra fixed the T Audio re the rec-start TC blip, but many telecine houses used the Otari MTR12 instead which never had such an upgrade.  The place I worked mostly had the Otari, but we made the rec run pre roll thing work pretty well with it.  I agree that nowadays rec run should never be used if at all possible.

 

philp

[enginufuk]

I always charge for my syncbox and "Almost" all the time for my TC slate. I have lost few gigs for my "extra charge" rule but I use my own common sense. I'm still alive, paying my bills just fine and like to believe that those few gigs that I lost saved me and helped others in the long term. 

 

I would suggest you to get one and charge for it if you can.

 

Good luck.

Engin 

[Bigphotog]

On 8/30/2014 at 7:23 AM, Billy W said:

I was on set of a commercial shoot doing run and gun production sound mixing this past week and I hit quite a snarl. As soon as I arrived I was asked if I had slate. There was no mention of bringing slate on our prepro call and this marked my first experience of being expected to have one without previously talking about it.

 

The producer, DP, and AC all looked at me in agreement and said, "sound always brings slate."

 

I felt bad beside I couldn't refute on the spot, but now that I've researched I can't find anything on the subject. I would assume either the AC or whoever is renting gear would bring it.

 

So does anyone here know who brings the slate?

 

New poster here, done lurking in the shadows. Hello!

As a DP/Camera person I always carry a dumb insert slate 

in my kit and  if DSLR’s are involved a small  T/C display.

My display/gen is really old runs on silver oxide batteries 

was hand built by a engineer that worked for the company that developed for nasa what was to become timecode.

You can find compact displays  now days from a few hundred on up.

Of your a sound person I’d recommend investing in a smart slate…they pay for themselves really fast. 

 

[RadoStefanov]

I have a slate in the car but if I have to I use tentacle app. 

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

AI thread necrosis?

[RadoStefanov]

1 hour ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

AI thread necrosis?

Possible…

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

What's a display/gen?  And why would a slate ever use silver oxide (i.e. coin) batteries?

Was NASA really involved in designing timecode?  I kind of doubt it.  someone here must know that history though.

Half the answer isn't relevant, and he's responding to the first post of an 11 year old thread that has already been answered, apropos of nothing.

This garbage needs to be blocked.