David W. Jones
Veteran
Very nice!
Transporting Your Gear
- Thread starter David W. Jones
- Start date
Bern Caughey
Veteran
Matt Gottshalk
Resident Preditor
Noice!
rob norton
Veteran
Looking good Mark!
Although, your bottom shelves at the back seem a little unnecessary because the ground is its own shelf in a way too. Does the right shelf come out so far that you can get that second box-like pelican case out without moving the first one?
Is it too late to change the bottom shelves? Could the space you gain by using the floor instead mean that there could be a thin shelf, big enough for long/thin objects i.e. 4x4 frames, poly, frame lengths etc.?
It still looks like an awesome set up, just trying to help having gone through similar! I'll share some photos soon.
Although, your bottom shelves at the back seem a little unnecessary because the ground is its own shelf in a way too. Does the right shelf come out so far that you can get that second box-like pelican case out without moving the first one?
Is it too late to change the bottom shelves? Could the space you gain by using the floor instead mean that there could be a thin shelf, big enough for long/thin objects i.e. 4x4 frames, poly, frame lengths etc.?
It still looks like an awesome set up, just trying to help having gone through similar! I'll share some photos soon.
Grug
Veteran
The sliding trays are the key to the whole thing really. They take all of the heaviest cases and make them accessible without having to remove everything in front of them in order to do so. It's why leaving the floor as a simple open shelf wouldn't have achieved what I was after.
The second big pelican case on the right-hand shelf, can't be pulled clear instantly, but if the other case wasn't needed first, it can simply be pulled upright (without being taken off the shelf), which creates enough room for the rear case to be extracted.
The slides can't extend the whole way out (there'd be nothing to hold them up if they did), but they do get about 70% of the way, which makes getting to everything very easy. And obviously the least frequently used of the heavy cases live at the rear of the slides, so they're far less likely to be pulled out without other cases that live in front of them having already been pulled first.
My next step, will be to build some smaller partitions within the shelves themselves, so that certain key items can travel safely, and won’t roll around when other items (that would otherwise hold them in place) are missing. The aluminium frames for my 12x12s will live in the space to the side of the rear right-hand slide (just above the wheel arch). And a solid partition behind the Innovativ cart, will stop my combos and c-stands from being able to slide forward and impale me when my cart is travelling in an AC’s van. I’ll combine these couple of partitions with a series of tie-down rings, so that (regardless of the particular combination of gear I’m carrying), everything can be safely secured in place.
Looking forward to seeing how you’ve set yours up!
Grug
Veteran
Well I've had the van out on it's first week on-set these past five days, and I really couldn't be much happier. It just makes life SO much easier. My crew can work faster, and pack down faster because of it, and that adds valuable minutes to each and every shooting day.
The sunset was rather spectacular at wrap the other day, so I grabbed a few more photos. My AC has all of the camera gear in her van, so I haven't had to fill the whole vehicle yet, just the lighting gear. But it really works a treat.
The sunset was rather spectacular at wrap the other day, so I grabbed a few more photos. My AC has all of the camera gear in her van, so I haven't had to fill the whole vehicle yet, just the lighting gear. But it really works a treat.
robmneilson
Veteran
That looks great. What's your typical lighting package in that vehicle? I've got a Ford Transit LWB that my package has seem to outgrown...tempted to look into shelving like yours (only problem is where does my mag liner cart fit), or buy a 5x8 trailer to tow along.
Grug
Veteran
The typical package I'm travelling with at the moment (which takes up the bottom two sections of the van, camera gear gets the top shelf) is:
- 1x Arri M18 HMI
- 1x Profoto 1.2kw HMI
- 2x Arrilite 2000w Blondes
- 4x BBS Area48 Soft Lights
- 1x Fomex FL1200 2x1 Flex Light
- 2x Dedolight 650w
- 2x Dedolight 150w
- 6x Triple Riser Combos
- 3x Baby Combos
- 6x C-Stands
- 1x Boom Stand
- 2x 12x12 Frames (with Lite Grid, Half Soft Frost and Ultrabounce)
- 1x Lastolite Skylite Rapid 6.6x6.6 Frame
- 2x 4x4 Floppies
- 3x 4x4 Diffusion Frames (with Lite Grid and Half Soft Frost)
- 3x Westcott 7' Umbrellas (shoot-through, white bounce, silver bounce)
- 2x3 Flag Kit
- Assorted Grip: Clamps, Arms, Triple Headers, Caster Wheels etc.
You could take the same basic idea as mine, and simply adjust it to allow space for your magliner either just behind the seats, or to one side of the rear.
I had my shelves done at Pole Position Automotive in Geelong, and went with them after having seen one of their earlier fitouts for a TV crew's van, which had some similar elements to what I wanted for myself:
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robmneilson
Veteran
Thanks for the pictures! I may try and pull off a similar build in my van.
David W. Jones
Veteran
For those that may be interested, I will be placing my Sprinter Van up for sale soon.
I can configure it a number of different ways, with different pieces of gear to directly fit your particular needs and budget.
It would be a great way for someone to take the next step in their career, at a substantial savings over purchasing new.
All the best!
Dave
I can configure it a number of different ways, with different pieces of gear to directly fit your particular needs and budget.
It would be a great way for someone to take the next step in their career, at a substantial savings over purchasing new.
All the best!
Dave
rob norton
Veteran
My goal is to completely max out the abilities of the vehicle, in this case taking advantage of space allowed on top of the van.
I added PVC pipe to roof racks, which can now hold 3 sets of 12x frames. They feature locks on each pipe to outsmart any stoner thieves.
If using traditional speedrail I would've only needed 2x long PVC pipes. Instead, we had some custom made frames with welded rigid couplers, where you don't need to carry separate corners because they're built into the frame ends. The frame lengths with couplers are more chunky though, so an extra PVC pipe was needed.
It's a great time to own a grip/electrics van and by great I mean the worst time in filmmaking history.
I added PVC pipe to roof racks, which can now hold 3 sets of 12x frames. They feature locks on each pipe to outsmart any stoner thieves.
If using traditional speedrail I would've only needed 2x long PVC pipes. Instead, we had some custom made frames with welded rigid couplers, where you don't need to carry separate corners because they're built into the frame ends. The frame lengths with couplers are more chunky though, so an extra PVC pipe was needed.
It's a great time to own a grip/electrics van and by great I mean the worst time in filmmaking history.
David W. Jones
Veteran
Great job!
puredrifting
Major Contributor
Nice handywork. But your steering wheel is on the wrong side! ;-)
rob norton
Veteran
Thanks. Haha yeah steering wheel on the other side can be the next mod.
Run&Gun
Veteran
Nice. I wish I could fully get on-board with the "Sprinter type" vans. I have several friends with Sprinters that are tricked out for our work and they're awesome.
Yeah... I spent about $4K on a new set of Astera AX5's in the middle/end of February. Awesome lights(basically super sized AX3's), but haven't used a single one on a shoot, yet. Who knows when they'll see any real action...
Run&Gun
Veteran
rob norton
Veteran
Damn, hopefully you can use the AX5s soon. It doesn’t happen much but I love it when you buy a piece of equipment then it get used extensively on the following shoot, sort of like you changed fate by buying it.
I think it’s too big as a personal DP’s vehicle, although I’m sure there are stories of people with huge vans just for their video equipment. The van regularly goes out with a Gaffer on TVCs, high end corporates, short films, music videos (avoid if possible).
My plan is to get a smaller van to use as the main vehicle for camera, support and only basic lighting. The idea being to add the lighting package plus Gaffer as often as possible.
Larger pickup trucks aren’t very popular here, nearly everyone does the white van thing.
I think it’s too big as a personal DP’s vehicle, although I’m sure there are stories of people with huge vans just for their video equipment. The van regularly goes out with a Gaffer on TVCs, high end corporates, short films, music videos (avoid if possible).
My plan is to get a smaller van to use as the main vehicle for camera, support and only basic lighting. The idea being to add the lighting package plus Gaffer as often as possible.
Larger pickup trucks aren’t very popular here, nearly everyone does the white van thing.