Equipment for $45K Historical Society Grant

B

Blit

Well-known member
Hi
I am applying for a grant totaling $45K.
The grant will fund equipment purchase for a small historical society. The society has been videoing its own lectures for ten years as well as some public events and interviews. The society has been using myself and other volunteers and mostly my equipment. We are moving to make a large web presence and document a lot of events as they happen and capture interviews with seniors before they leave us. I hope that I can attract students and hobyists and maybe even some pros to help if we have some nice toys to play with.
Stimulating documentary work is one goal.Interviews and events are other goals. Playback is mostly for web, but docs will be shown in theatre. Society produces four theatre shows per year. These are currently Power Point Speaker presentations but could be docs.

I see the following catagories of equipment:
Sound
Lights
Cameras
Grip
Video Editing computer
Software
HD Projector
The grant will fund equipment but no recurring expenses.

I am posting variations of this question in various forums - Lights, Sound etc
The society has a nice small office. Holds about 15 people for a meeting. Office has only some cabinets for storage. The euipment purchased needs to be easily transported and robust.

My initial thoughts are:
Sound - SD 702 and a Zoom H2n. AT4053B. AT4071A. pole. Couple of lavs. wireless setup.
Lights: Interview setup.
Cameras: A good run and gun (AC 160?) with manual controls and maybe a Black Magic to lure more serious types?
Grip: Need list and budget
Video Editing Computer - PC workstation with Quattro card and Adobe Master Collection. Microsoft Office.
HD Projector for our office. We paint screen on one wall?

My proposal is due July 19, 2012. I believe it likely we will get the grant from past experience. Thanks in advance for your advice. If you need more details just ask. I will check in as often as work and kids allow. Please comment on the part that pertains to the forum it's posted in. The rest is just for overview.
 
Hi
Thanks for your reply. I have read all the stickies. I feel the equipment I mentioned above reflects much learned there. It is also a list of what I already own.
For outside shotgun AT shows the AT4071A as no longer available. Did they replace it? Opinions on substitute. Obviously I like AT stuff. I can call the rep and find out what's up. But this is a discussion forum. I would think someone would suggest at least a blimp! For a Sound forum, pretty quiet... But the night is young and hope springs eternal. Reading the Stickies is great advice and I think the Stickies in this section are especially well done.
 
At makes great mics, but I think right now best bang for the buck on the shotgun is the Rode NTG-3
For wind/ shock protection Rode makes a package and Rycote is also considered probably the better option,
for the Hyper you want to get a Rycote Baby Ball Gag as they are known, all of these can be found on the B&H web site.
dont forget cables, a nice carbon boom pole, headphones, a bag for the SD702, a bag for the cabling and all the accessories.
microphone stand, as well as allot a couple of hundred for various adapters and misc cables to get you out of a jam.
perhaps a harness for the boom op to carry the mixer bag.

and its probably a good idea to supplement the wireless units with decent mics like Sennheiser MKE-2 or Sanken COS-11 or Countrymans or Rode Lav package.

its realy easy to find all of these things on the B&H site and some of it even in packages.

Good luck, hope this helps a little
 
The AT4071 is the LONG shotgun, a 4073 (short shotgun) would be more versatile. (I had a Senn. 815 and still have a 4071. I rarely used/use either of them)
If recording lectures and such? Podium/mic, table/mics & accesories, mixer ect. I always favored an SM57 with the VIP series shock mount and windscreen for both podium and panel.
FWIW, in my experience, unsupervised volunteers, students and other non-experienced personnel, will trash the gear in no time at all.
 
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Hi
I will look into Rode NTG-3. I own a Rode NT4 and am very happy with the brand. Thanks for the opinion on the Rycote Baby Ball Gag.
I aggree the 4073 would be a better choice for most uses. Volunteers, students and other non-experienced personnel is a HUGE concern.
What can be done equipment wise to deal with that issue?
I appreciate the advice.
 
only thing you can do with volunteer/student concerns is to do some training and ensure they know they are working with very expensive gear. other than that there are no guarantees.
Perhaps create a 'Check the gear out with your license' as collateral so the users feel more responsible since they know they will have to answer for any damage when they return the gear.

Good luck
 
How big will your film crew be?

How many film crews are you trying to equip?

How portable will your production gear need to be?
 
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