light weight prompter

E

ethan cooper

Well-known member
Have to do a walk & talk with an on camera talent & I'd like to use a prompter since we're trying to get in and out of the location fairly quickly so I'd like to avoid 10,000 takes.

I was thinking some type of iPad based system would work well since it would keep us from having to feed a monitor from a laptop & would keep the size & weight down, but I'm worried the ipad might reflect too much cause we'll be in full sun.

With all that in mind what would you suggest?
 
I work with a guy who shoots a lot of corporate stuff which include ALOT of interviews, he has a system called the EyeDirect (http://www.eyedirect.tv/), which basically allows the talent to look directly at the camera while looking at the person talking and not a lens.

Although you can stick an ipad on it which I saw him do and work it like a teleprompter. The whole thing is a whole lot smaller than a prompter so it would help doing handheld stuff.
 
you can find ultra flat lcd on ebay for cheap.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-Inch-TFT-..._w_o_Player&hash=item257d2dbf48#ht_3549wt_934
add a semi-transparent glass and a black fabric to cover lens.
You can use a very cheap wireless composite video transmitter to send the text from a laptop with a VGA-composite converter.

Personally i use a 10" lcd monitor with VGA input (not the one listed , thin and sleek)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LCD4Video-1...ultDomain_0&hash=item1e7a946d7f#ht_4196wt_934
, i think it is more like this one (cheaper but thicker and lower resolution)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-4-inch-T...ts_Monitors&hash=item3cb3049b91#ht_2934wt_934
and a wireless vga transmitter.
http://www.iogear.com/product/GUW2015VKIT/

The text is controlled from a laptop with a cheap prompter software.
Take care that either the monitor or the software is able to mirror the text.
Since most software allow to use cursor or mouse, you can also take a programmable remote to allow the speaker
to control start, stop and speed himself.
 
Last edited:
for nosys70 and all who may come after:

THE OP SAID "walk & talk" and "since it would keep us from having to feed a monitor from a laptop & would keep the size & weight down..."
 
well , you can use ipod, but frankly, if you expect to have a prompter with no screen (to heavy), no computer (too complex), i do not really see what you get as option out of a tablet (android or ipad) or posterboard cue cards.
 
thanks guys. old fashioned posterboard might win out on this one.

Nosys70 - why wouldn't a tablet take the place of both monitor and pc? Maybe I'm misunderstanding you.
 
Nosys70 - why wouldn't a tablet take the place of both monitor and pc?
Click to expand...
if the tablet is what they're reading from - how do you control it? you need something to control prompter speed. as andrew said, there are some ipad+iphone combos. but most ive seen had some degree of latency
 
if you already used a prompter with people, you know that they at best they send you the text few days before the shooting.
Then they start to edit, cut a sentence here, change a word here etc...when not totally changing everything (swapped for another speaker or topic).
With iphone and tablets, editing text is painful. If they come with two page of text on paper or a word document, there is no way to input that easily
on a tablet. with a laptop, it is a matter of seconds, and a small laptop is not bigger than an ipad.
 
Then they start to edit, cut a sentence here, change a word here etc...when not totally changing everything (swapped for another speaker or topic).
With iphone and tablets, editing text is painful.
Click to expand...

totally agreed. PAINFUL!
i have NEVER been on a prompter shoot where there werent countless changes to the text. for a variety of reasons.
 
wgzn said:
ikan makes a variety of ipad prompter stuff you could probably manage hand-held.
http://ikancorp.com/productlisting.php?id=90
Click to expand...

I have and regularly use the iKan PT-Elite-UGK on rods underneath my AF100, both on sticks and handheld. We run Teleprompt+ on the iPad. Extremely easy to use, and speed/scrolling can be controlled by a second iPad/Pod/Phone via Bluetooth or WiFi. Who says you need to be limited to editing text on the iPad? In the event we need to make big changes to a script, just fire up a laptop, make the changes, and email (or bluetooth xfer) the new script to the device. Copy paste go.

At the risk of name dropping, it's been good enough for Howie Long, FWIW.
 
"just fire up a laptop", all is said, you need a laptop, you need a wireless connection or bluetooth equipped laptop, you need to fiddle with configuration, and
then you are in the middle of the street spending half an hour to figure how to transfer you text to the ipad.
If you go directly with a laptop and a wireless VGA, it does not change anything to the deal (you still need somebody to control the prompter) but it makes all dead easy for everybody.
 
nosys70 said:
"just fire up a laptop", all is said, you need a laptop, you need a wireless connection or bluetooth equipped laptop, you need to fiddle with configuration, and
then you are in the middle of the street spending half an hour to figure how to transfer you text to the ipad.
Click to expand...

I suppose it would work like that if I didn't bother to verify that everything worked properly together prior to the shoot, but since that's SOP, technical fumbling is kept to a complete minimum
 
i love people who live by the manual, because my job usually start when they have throwed it by the windows...
 
Pro Prompter highly recc it costs around $10 from app store works great it's the best one out there I found for I pad I have original iPad with original case and it has a flap which I tape some card to to make a sun visor works good you can slow and speed up the delivery change font and background colors
 
A tablet would be fine, you can get software that scrolls the words - I've done it on a number of occasions - you are better off having 3 or less workds on each line so that the eyes flicking left to right is minimised. If it's actually a WALK and talk, thats a bit more difficult - perhaps the talent could actually learn the lines.....
 
I have a proper prompter, but to be honest I have not used it in a couple of years. I now use an iPad as most of my shots are close enough for the talent to read it OK. Outdoors a little blackwrap or black foamcore cut to fit.
 
Hey you iPad guys, where are you putting the thing? To the side of the lens? Above? Below?
Any particular mount you like?
 
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