What would you do (Reality TV question)

probably the cos-11 for sound quality. the B6 makes up for everything in its size, which is no real advantage to you for visible lavs.
 
congratulations on the gig
sorry i dont do reality at all so cant help you with what is the best , probably multichannel recorder system will be the best but if not 442 with 302 at least will give you 7 channels and not allot of weight .
.remember that kind of show is only money and not something you will probably like to bring as braking point mark in your carrier:-)- so make approach that you will do as much as possible -


me other hand start 20 days of sitcom (Larry David show stile(HBO)) shooting and will sit and mix .
we have a new director that doesnt quit understand the sound but fer enouth to accept what i suggest , so not as you, i am going to have much easier life .
about the gear - if you need something , email me privately might be able to help with
best and allot of success
Oleg
 
Last edited:
thank you Oleg, I might be in touch soon about gear once I know final budget.

Good luck on your new job, that sounds brilliant. I understand this will probably be a really hectic experience, but thats the point. Ive never done a job that tested the cr@p out of me, and I think this will be the. plus its going to pay well, and I may just get some nice new stuff out of it :)
 
Yeah I can understand how the zaxcoms might be a bit too pricey. As regards the PSC mixer. We have it's predecessor the PSC4 in our shop as well as the 442. The 442 casing and switch gear are higher quality, but I really don't think its got better audio quality. For what you are planning to do, IMHO, the PSC has the advantages: built in filtered power, twin 10 pin outs, and possibly useful for you it accepts a remote boom volume control so you can be somewhat hands off. The other big advantage it has in my mind for reality shows is the expansion unit to add another 4 channels without adding a whole other mixer's weight:

http://www.professionalsound.com/Catalog/alphamix module.htm

Let the board know what you end up doing!
 
Im still a bit dubious of that PSC mixer, and wouldnt throw it at a big show to test it out, but I will say again, I REALLY like some of the features they have put into that sucker!!! Its impressive, but I would have to hear the 442 against it to decide. At the end of the day, preamps and limiters are what I care about, and the PSC could be lacking in both unless anyone can second the recommendation?

Thanks for the interesting links though Ronin.

Im also considering the CS-1 as a low cost plan B if the CS-3e is impossible on budget....
 
Actually, Im very curious about PSC. The Miranda looks like a good enough high budget system, and the AlphaMix seems to be AGGRESIVELY targeting both Wendt and Sound Devices in their comparisons - check out the links from Ronin - they are naming names and everything.

But the product just DOES NOT look as well made or solid. Plus I cant find any good, high res pictures.

Opinions?? This is kind of off topic, but PSC have sparked my imagination with some of the things they are offering...
 
Ok, so a bit more clarification:

We will be running SD442 mixers (4 of them) on all four cameras. Cameras will be Sony Z1 (not my choice, but I have no say - they already have the cams).

We will be using (PUKE PUKE PUKE PUKE PUKE) Sony UWP Radio mics, as it seems the company already has quite a few of them. They will upgrade the lavs to Sony ECM77b's.

We will not be mic'ing every person in sight. Each sound man will have 3 wireless kits, plus a boom (I still dont know which boom mics, and I'm trying to find out what the options are).

Im pushing to gang together a 302 and 442 on my kit, and get in a few extra channels in case we need them. Ive got the 302 and the extra Sony wireless systems, so I might get clearance for this.

Unfortunately, NO chance of any recorder based system. NO chance of using Lectro or even Sennheiser wireless.

So this is how things are sitting at the moment. I'll update as I get new info for anyone following this thread... Shoot dates have been confirmed as July 10 - August 18.

Tim
 
Why 3 radio mics per boom man? That is 12 radios when you have 16 contestants (for the math challenged :) ). Because they only have 4 channel mixers?

If channels are the problem, gang a Mixpre with the boom mic onto the 442 with the wireless and really give the boom guys a fun day. You really need a couple of guys dedicated to mixing to do this right.

I would get the names of sound mixers that have worked on reality shows similar to yours and start making some phone calls. In addition to helping you write a proposal for a better equipment and crew list, they will likely have good stories of pitfalls to look out for.

Don't let the producers forget; fast, cheap, good...

Continued good luck and fight the good fight!
 
Four channel mixers only, thats the reason. Retarded I know.

BUT contestants will be voted off quite rapidly, so we may only be looking at a problem in the short term (ugh, still) - so the idea is to try and place lavs strategically on contestants we are shooting, and limit each camera's coverage to 3 principal characters at a time.

This is what production has decreed, uh, I mean told me. But screw them Im going to gang my 302 onto the 442 when it becomes pretty obvious to production that its needed, and bill the buggers. Ha!

Yeah, fast cheap good will be the mantra for this production, but Im looking forward to it.

Have already sent out a few emails to some big reality mixers, and will hopefully get a couple replies...
 
the pd-150 is one of worst audio cameras sound wise
but you record the self noise in full resolution :-)

for production tv reality sound compressed hdv audio is more then enouth .
the only bad thing if you have drop out- you loose the sound for half a second
double system if they only pay for :-)
 
ExileOnTheMainStreet said:
you record the self noise in full resolution :-)
Click to expand...
ah yes, the PD150's best known trick! :laugh:


The compressed audio should be ok quality-wise for speech and atmos. the compression will hardly be noticable, if at all. not a chance for music though.
 
why does it matter what mod he use for tv
even it goes for sd broadcasting the hdv is better for frame adjusting during the editing , much important then some compression :-)
 
yes I know oleg, but was just pointing out that the audio won't be compressed. either way it would be fine for speech and atmos though. Whoa..DejaVu. :)
 
OK, sorry to dredge up this thread again, but I thought an update was neccesary:

We start shooting tomorrow, and both sound and camera have taken some knocks in terms of studio beurocracy (sp?) and producers trying to wring miracles from cheap gear to save a few bucks... in short, its an African production :)

Anyhow, Im not too phased, Im familiar with the gear and have some aces up my sleeve. Each two camera team will be recording master sound to one camera (not my first choice), with the sound crew consisting of a mixer and a boom op (thats quite nice). Gear:

4 x Sony UWP-C1 Radio Lavs with ECM77b upgrades
1 x 416 with full blimp (for exterior and interior! Idiots! Im still bringing my oktava to show them something)
1 x SD442
all the usual extra's.

Most often the mixer will run 3 radio's and the boom, and I'm going to use the last radio to send com to the boom op, and let him monitor his work.

We are also confirmed shooting Z1 on DVCam, as I said one cam carrying master audio, and one cam using camera mic as a sync guide/atmos (we will also be using clappers).


One bit of advice I'd like to ask is whether anyone has any advice on the issue of phasing when booming and using radios at the same time? I've experienced it in the past, but cant always catch it with my ears when on a busy set - any tips on avoiding it, precautions, what not to do etc?


I'll try keep this thread posted with interesting day to day occurances for all the other low budgeters out there, meanwhile here is a the mother of all 302/G2 rigs that I've been running on a kids tv show here in SA - we've run a max of 5 G2 systems on it so far - great little system that.



Tim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top