Hey all,
Just came off of two days on a project where I got to use much of my new equipment. First, let me say it was a pleasure to meet in person Scott Koue (AKA Noiz2). He dropped by the set to check out my setup and watch me fumble a bit using the new equipment.
So, here's a basic brain dump (I just got home, so this may not be entirely coherent - I'll amend later as needed).
1. Not sure if someone here recommended them, but the Xantrax battery backup systems basically suck for cart work. The one I tried has a very loud fan, and for some reason started alarming after only a couple of hours of use. I'm going to hang on to it for power failures here at home, but that's about all it is worth.
2. I have a new love: Lectrosonics. My first two R400a/LM sets arrived and OMG, what a joy. They were shipped on Friday, so I had them Fedex'd directly to the location - a bit nervous trying them out for the first time on the set. I need not have worried. Select auto tune, get out the little Lectro screw driver, turn the nobs and away you go. They work beautifully, sound great (I was using B6's on both of them) and now I'm ready to order more. Be advised that these puppies took over a month to be delivered by Lectro, so know that before you need them.
3. Countryman is still my favorite company ever. They made me two adapters for my B6's to go G2-Lectro. This way I can still use my B6's and EMW's on the G2's for bag work, and still go with them on my Lectros. Very cool. Rosa at Countryman (their head techie, she's been there for 15 years or so...) originally told me she couldn't do locking female plugs for the G2 side - and when I go to pick them up, low and behold, locking G2 females. They did this in a day for me.
4. Boom Recorder is a great tool. Most of the weekend I was running 6 mics - boom + 5 wireless. BR handled everything very well. I also tried writing the files out to two drives - the internal drive on the Mac and an external as a backup. I'm not sure if it was the double disk setup or the fact that overall I was recording 8 tracks, but there was a bit of a slow down in the writing of each take at the end of the take. I also have a workflow question I'm going to check with Take Vos on (and any other BR users, please chime in): Once you set your basic set, do you add or subtract tracks when they're unused, or just record blank tracks to keep the number of tracks the same all the time? In the past I'm usually just recording 4 tracks, so I've always just kept it at 4 no matter what. But, keeping 8 going all the time leads to lots of data - over 8GB for just one day.
5. I'm still running the HD-P2 as a backup, and it really isn't a big deal. I can Firewire the files off the chip and then just keep them with the rest of the days files. And, it gives me a bit of extra piece of mind. Here's a new tip for those using this setup - in the notes field in BR, I started each note with the corresponding file number from the Tascam, so I don't have to keep any special backup notes seperately. Of course, if the BR files completely fail, then we're screwed, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Oh well.
6. I'm also using a new cart - the Rock N Roller with two shelf kits. I really like it - except that my Mac won't quite fit on the bottom shelf, so now I am having to stand to mix - but this turns out to be not that bad a thing. Once I get to work tomorrow I will post pics of the new cart all decked out.
7. Another trick for G2 users when your cart is away from the set - move the Rx's closer via XLR. Yesterday and today, I had them taped to the wall just outside the conference room we were shooting in (my cart was about 30' away). Made the reception much better on the G2's (of course the Lectros did not have any problems at all.
8. I've said this before and will say it again, Hypafix tape, while expensive, is great for taping lavalieres under clothes. It is pourous, so you can put it right over the mic head, and sticks well, yet doesn't hurt the actors too much when it comes off (except for those with hairy chests).
9. Another thing I've found that helps with wiring lavs under the clothes: Put it mid-chest (cleavage or between the pecs) and bring the wire directly under the pecs/breasts around to the back. This seems to solve wire rub problems (as opposed to mic head rubbing problems) with clothes. Especially if your talent has a larger stomach, where their stomach will force more rub.
10. Before my next project, I am getting those velcro strap/pouch combos that Trew is selling for mounting mic packs on talent. Today we had to fumble way too many times with wardrobe that was not designed to have a mic pack hidden inside it. One poor actress today had to stick the pack into her panties because there was no other way to secure it, other than to tape it to her thigh, and that would have taken too long. And, to make matters worse, she stood up at one point and down came her panties because of the weight of the mic pack. Oops. Made for a good laugh on the set.
11. Another must for me moving forward is anti-bacterial wipes. The set was fairly hot (massively over-lit) and mic packs were coming out a bit sweaty. Eewww. Purell is also going on my cart from now on.
That's about it for now. I'll post more tomorrow when I'm not falling asleep.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks!
(And thanks to Scott for your help yesterday! And for the coffee, I can't wait to roast some up!!!!)
Phil
Just came off of two days on a project where I got to use much of my new equipment. First, let me say it was a pleasure to meet in person Scott Koue (AKA Noiz2). He dropped by the set to check out my setup and watch me fumble a bit using the new equipment.
So, here's a basic brain dump (I just got home, so this may not be entirely coherent - I'll amend later as needed).
1. Not sure if someone here recommended them, but the Xantrax battery backup systems basically suck for cart work. The one I tried has a very loud fan, and for some reason started alarming after only a couple of hours of use. I'm going to hang on to it for power failures here at home, but that's about all it is worth.
2. I have a new love: Lectrosonics. My first two R400a/LM sets arrived and OMG, what a joy. They were shipped on Friday, so I had them Fedex'd directly to the location - a bit nervous trying them out for the first time on the set. I need not have worried. Select auto tune, get out the little Lectro screw driver, turn the nobs and away you go. They work beautifully, sound great (I was using B6's on both of them) and now I'm ready to order more. Be advised that these puppies took over a month to be delivered by Lectro, so know that before you need them.
3. Countryman is still my favorite company ever. They made me two adapters for my B6's to go G2-Lectro. This way I can still use my B6's and EMW's on the G2's for bag work, and still go with them on my Lectros. Very cool. Rosa at Countryman (their head techie, she's been there for 15 years or so...) originally told me she couldn't do locking female plugs for the G2 side - and when I go to pick them up, low and behold, locking G2 females. They did this in a day for me.
4. Boom Recorder is a great tool. Most of the weekend I was running 6 mics - boom + 5 wireless. BR handled everything very well. I also tried writing the files out to two drives - the internal drive on the Mac and an external as a backup. I'm not sure if it was the double disk setup or the fact that overall I was recording 8 tracks, but there was a bit of a slow down in the writing of each take at the end of the take. I also have a workflow question I'm going to check with Take Vos on (and any other BR users, please chime in): Once you set your basic set, do you add or subtract tracks when they're unused, or just record blank tracks to keep the number of tracks the same all the time? In the past I'm usually just recording 4 tracks, so I've always just kept it at 4 no matter what. But, keeping 8 going all the time leads to lots of data - over 8GB for just one day.
5. I'm still running the HD-P2 as a backup, and it really isn't a big deal. I can Firewire the files off the chip and then just keep them with the rest of the days files. And, it gives me a bit of extra piece of mind. Here's a new tip for those using this setup - in the notes field in BR, I started each note with the corresponding file number from the Tascam, so I don't have to keep any special backup notes seperately. Of course, if the BR files completely fail, then we're screwed, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Oh well.
6. I'm also using a new cart - the Rock N Roller with two shelf kits. I really like it - except that my Mac won't quite fit on the bottom shelf, so now I am having to stand to mix - but this turns out to be not that bad a thing. Once I get to work tomorrow I will post pics of the new cart all decked out.
7. Another trick for G2 users when your cart is away from the set - move the Rx's closer via XLR. Yesterday and today, I had them taped to the wall just outside the conference room we were shooting in (my cart was about 30' away). Made the reception much better on the G2's (of course the Lectros did not have any problems at all.
8. I've said this before and will say it again, Hypafix tape, while expensive, is great for taping lavalieres under clothes. It is pourous, so you can put it right over the mic head, and sticks well, yet doesn't hurt the actors too much when it comes off (except for those with hairy chests).
9. Another thing I've found that helps with wiring lavs under the clothes: Put it mid-chest (cleavage or between the pecs) and bring the wire directly under the pecs/breasts around to the back. This seems to solve wire rub problems (as opposed to mic head rubbing problems) with clothes. Especially if your talent has a larger stomach, where their stomach will force more rub.
10. Before my next project, I am getting those velcro strap/pouch combos that Trew is selling for mounting mic packs on talent. Today we had to fumble way too many times with wardrobe that was not designed to have a mic pack hidden inside it. One poor actress today had to stick the pack into her panties because there was no other way to secure it, other than to tape it to her thigh, and that would have taken too long. And, to make matters worse, she stood up at one point and down came her panties because of the weight of the mic pack. Oops. Made for a good laugh on the set.
11. Another must for me moving forward is anti-bacterial wipes. The set was fairly hot (massively over-lit) and mic packs were coming out a bit sweaty. Eewww. Purell is also going on my cart from now on.
That's about it for now. I'll post more tomorrow when I'm not falling asleep.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks!
(And thanks to Scott for your help yesterday! And for the coffee, I can't wait to roast some up!!!!)
Phil
