Matt Mayer Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 No. No popping. Which I was worried about, but it was the night before the shoot when this was requested, so it was what it was. I was lucky I had the parts to do it with no notice. This was using an IFB T2 with an R1 as receiver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergio Sanmiguel Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 This was using an IFB T2 with an R1 as receiver. So did you really hand out $600 receivers every day to camera dept. guys & a T2 to the Director and no had NO incidents whatsoever? You know, some people here wouldn't trust their valuable equipment to crew members just like that since apparently is considered a "grand scale equipment addition". How come you don't think the same way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 So did you really hand out $600 receivers every day to camera dept. guys & a T2 to the Director and no had NO incidents whatsoever? You know, some people here wouldn't trust their valuable equipment to crew members just like that since apparently is considered a "grand scale equipment addition". How come you don't think the same way? This is why I got out of the walkie rental business. Philip Perkins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Barto Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 I also use the Lectrosonics R-1a's for camera operators and a M400 TX for the director. I offer the choice of either the Telex coiled earpieces or ear buds...virtually everyone goes with ear buds. For the director, I go with a really nice little customized headset I got from Remote Audio that brings the PL mic together with the program audio feed into one very nice solution: a pair of Sony 7506's modified with a shorter straight cable and a Shure dynamic boom mic attached to the right earpiece. The headphone cable terminates in a stereo min-plug that goes into the receiver so the director can hear my program feed, along with a second 4" loop of cable that terminates in a miniature multi-pin connector that mates to the Lectrosonics M400 TX mic input. It's all very rugged and compact and easy to frequency coordinate...and it sounds great. Mishaps? In the year that I have been using it, none that I am aware of...except for trashed earpuds. With the added 4" loop of cable for the mic connector, the director can either keep the TX and RX velcro-ed togehter, or clip one to the belt and slide the other down into the pocket. Yes, having the director's transmitter and receiver very close together does require some care and "research" into frequency selection for the two channels. And yes, this gear can all be used for other things when I don't need a wireless PL line. Prior to using this rig, I went with a PortaCom Pro wireless headset system...which was a horrible piece of junk that has since been discontinued. Stay away from that one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSBELLA Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 I also use the Lectrosonics R-1a's for camera operators and a M400 TX for the director. I offer the choice of either the Telex coiled earpieces or ear buds...virtually everyone goes with ear buds. For the director, I go with a really nice little customized headset I got from Remote Audio that brings the PL mic together with the program audio feed into one very nice solution: a pair of Sony 7506's modified with a shorter straight cable and a Shure dynamic boom mic attached to the right earpiece. The headphone cable terminates in a stereo min-plug that goes into the receiver so the director can hear my program feed, along with a second 4" loop of cable that terminates in a miniature multi-pin connector that mates to the Lectrosonics M400 TX mic input. It's all very rugged and compact and easy to frequency coordinate...and it sounds great. Mishaps? In the year that I have been using it, none that I am aware of...except for trashed earpuds. With the added 4" loop of cable for the mic connector, the director can either keep the TX and RX velcro-ed togehter, or clip one to the belt and slide the other down into the pocket. Yes, having the director's transmitter and receiver very close together does require some care and "research" into frequency selection for the two channels. And yes, this gear can all be used for other things when I don't need a wireless PL line. Prior to using this rig, I went with a PortaCom Pro wireless headset system...which was a horrible piece of junk that has since been discontinued. Stay away from that one! Don, you must have been on a tv show? the set up I referred was for features, because the director or dp did not and will not wear all that and the headset mic. ( I know the one you are talking about, and it is really nice) I did rent the psc headset mic along with a tram, and the guys ended up using the lav, clip to the shirt "forget about it" hassle free. later, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikefilosa Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Mike, Walkies CAN be used, but often arrive fairly hammered - and there is always the possiblity that someone will step on the important channel... perhaps a PA? Then you have other vagaries to consider - batts and batt warnings, occasional two-way feedback (more painful via earpiece), and BTW, have all the two-ways all been re-set of any individually programmed features? , etc etc... If you are able to use a wired PL system, they are pretty much the way to go for a cabled multi-camera show. Worrying about PLs is the last thing I need on a complex shoot. Camera guys are usually very comfortable with the provided (and necessary) one-sided headset, and don't need to have a custom-molded telex earpieces for the hours and hours of shooting.... Even directors, generally, can understand the clearly labelled buttons on the base-station, and they also have a nice gooseneck mic to jerk on if they need to administer discipline! Plus you have multi-channel capabilities that enable you to wow your client by actually giving a stage manager or other individual their very own private link to his/her needs. Work arounds are often more trouble then they are worth, especially if you can rent what you need locally, say at Atlanta Field Production, Inc. 404-636-9888 Give me a holler... Mike Filosa, CAS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Mayer Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 So did you really hand out $600 receivers every day to camera dept. guys & a T2 to the Director and no had NO incidents whatsoever? You know, some people here wouldn't trust their valuable equipment to crew members just like that since apparently is considered a "grand scale equipment addition". How come you don't think the same way? Cause they paid me for it? And since every day consisted of two whole recording days and the person wearing the receiver was actually an on-the-street interviewer, I wasn't too worried about it. I was more worried about the lav the director was wearing than the transmitter or receiver. Used the same set of gear for a B camera feed for a 5 week reality shoot. I was paid a daily rental and if it had been damaged I would have charged them for the replacement. Why wouldn't I rent out my equipment in these situations? --Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPSharman Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 Matt - Sergio was being sarcastic, making fun of a previous comment I made. I believe the very first question asked was how this could be solved with equipment already on the production, and I thought that since production would not pay any extra rental for a solution, it didn't make sense to purchase or rent extra gear or to hand out expensive items that could potentially be damaged on a production with obviously limited resources. Obviously there are many ways to solve the problem, and with extra rental all of them are viable and sensible. Robert A job needs to have the director capable of talking to the camera people, but does not need the camera people the ability to talk back. I immediately thought of a proper PL, but it was suggested to see if I am able to "pull" something together with what I have. So I started to think of a Comtek situation with a 302 and a dynamic mic on a small stand in front feeding the Comtek. But I was also thinking of an inline ON/OFF switch. So the camera people won't have an open mic in their ears. I found one on Ebay, but was wondering if anyone has their favorites. I am looking for something that won't blow the camera peoples ears off when switched. I could just have him ride the fader, and forget the switch, but I foresee issues with not opening the channel up consistently and driving the camera people crazy. This is my first stab at the situation, so I am open to any other suggestions. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergio Sanmiguel Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 Matt - Sergio was being sarcastic, making fun of a previous comment I made. Sorry Robert, I Couldn't help it; hehehe... Actually my PL system I use for my boom Op is a Comtek 216 conected to one of this: I use a cheap dynamic mic with an on/off switch on channel two, mono line level signal from my mixer on channel 3 and feed the 216 off the RCA line output on the Playmate. It runs on a 9 volt battery for 10 hrs or so. As Robert said, there's many ways to solve a problem and probably the best way is to keep it simple... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Steigerwald Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 Telex 325 box with a lightweight headset for the director. Talk button can be set for momentary or latching. Plug it into the back of an HME DX200 and hand out the packs to the cam dept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael P Clark Posted August 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2008 I ended up using my Boom Op headset(w/mic) into my 302(Panned Right), program mix(Panned Left). Let the director listen to program through the left channel, and outputted the Right channel into a Comtek. The Camera folks, didn't really care too have the directors mic open all the time. But they were a good crew and they didn't complain about it, until I asked how the system was working for them. Also, I got some single ear ear buds, and they didn't like those too much. They all said it pinched their ears. I offered up some small headsets and mp3 player ear buds, one guy changed. FBI style IFB would've been better. But pricey. Thanks for the suggestions, it got the job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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