Alfeo Dixon SOC

remember that Old Spice commercial "Look at me!" was over two days, it's just the nature of the agency people that they want or have to change something until THEY feel it is exactly what THEY envisioned. Thats my take on it (LOL...pun). It seems a bit odd that they pre-recorded all the audio, But I guess they felt with the stampede of feet around steadi would b¥make most of the recorded dialogue useless or they needed it to be exactly on mark for the oner to work. 55... nice!

Robert Starling is a huge advocate of telling you this is (which it is) a business. Aaron, you should do the business plan anyway. You can always write into your business plan an option for equipment leasing. But you will have a better understanding of what you need to do to become a successful running business. I've seen a lot of "barely used" rigs on the market lately... the whole "buy it and they will come" is for the dreamers and dreaming doesn't pay the bills. To tell you the truth, you gonna be looking at a min investment of $50K upwards to $150K. Now would you just drop that kind of cash on faith? No, but a good business plain may show you that within 2 years, you could be on your way to being in the black on the books. I did the lease route and believe me, thats one huge check I write every month. Bank loan is your best bet and there are companies that specialize in film equipment out there. Even check with a few elder ops you may know to see if they have a personal relationship with a bank/banker. That bank/banker will know how profitable this business can be and may even know how much equity can be squeezed out of film gear. They will want to do business with you if they knew. Good luck -Alfeo

I think Tiffen now sells those to put on the bottom of their rigs for counter-weight and inertial augmentation! Wasn't the first generation Fracolizer made from cinderblocks...? Possibly! But it's a hidden trade secret that Garrett cleverly designed it into the model 2... oh god... someone very slim and tall is knocking on my door!?!?

The 7D has a special analog cable that will send out a NTSC video signal via RCA connector, just plug that into the back of the top stage of the Pilot. -Alfeo

I just bought the docking collars for the Gorelock 2 and just as I figured, they don't properly fit our rig. They DO fit, but down on the post and flush bellow the top post clamp. If you noticed how the Tiffen docking collar fits over the bottom of the top post clamp, this allows for about another 1/3" clearance for the gimbal. It might not seem like much, but if your switching to the Gorelock, you will already lose close to 3/4" between the collar and the gimbal in order to dock your rig. I love the dock, but the collar needs to be reworked. I had a friend do up a CAD of the modified dock and wanted to see if anyone was interested in going in on a batch order. That would help bring down the cost close to nothing. So if you have the Gorelock 2 for an Ultra 2 or Ultra 2c (Clipper 3 and Phantom), then you should have this collar. So a batch order of 20 would cost less than $50... who's in Alfeo_dockingRing.pdf tiffen docking ring.pdf

Elfeo is the bad ass second cuz to El Niño!

When you say 14mm, I'm assuming you mean a Canon Prime EOS mount. Yes, is the short answer. You can even fly that on the Merlin. But focus is going to be the killer, I suggest you do a search on the forums for 5D, HDSLR, DSLR

still looking before I buy new this week.

KEEP THE CAMERA ON THE MONEY!!!! Ooh Ehm Ghee !!! I think I ripped an ab... [be warned, I guess all our bts is subject to a gut busting sequel]

I'd say just about the same as Thomas, build the camera for studio mode w/ preston or bartech (rods, mattebox, motors, wireless, battery plate, battery, cross converter, transmitter, etc) and then slap that onto your rig. That should do the trick, not to mention a faster change over back to sticks/dolly. -Alfeo "self proclaimed HDSLR Guru" Dixon

So I got an email that CNN is looking for a fill in op for 4 weeks. But they are only paying $400 a day for 7 hours! Hand held guys in reality out of NYC are getting upwards of $600 ~ $650... COME ON GUYS!!! That's ridiculous... I make that on a dolly all day plus the overtime kicks in on an episodic, which I'm sure they are skating you right out the door at 7, so no overtime money. The other thing the sucks about it is that they own the gear, so not even a kit rental to makeup for the sucky rate. Believe me guys, your gonna work a lot harder doing those slow moves that should be on a dolly and fighting the heavy fiberline tethered to you. Good luck with that!

looks like he's sporting a Porsche hat also...

Its a list that has all of your items inventoried for customs. btw, on the way to Dubai, I saw a docu called "War Dance" which blew me away... I think it was filmed in Uganda. Highly recommended.

So I don't have to put down my coffee [sub beer here] and can use the mouse that's already in the other hand. I wouldn't be asking for it if it wasn't already on the last version... funny thing is, that I didn't start using it until about a month before it changed over, but addiction is a bitch!

Erik, You have no photos on your website. care to post a few in this thread along with the owner/ops to see what the rave is about. -Alfeo

Monopods are great too! a few other things I learned while in Nairobi... baby wipes (GOLD to arse) Malaria shoots Yellow Fever tabs in congested traffic areas (i.e. grid locked), do not hold your cellphone nor camera near an open window, you may become a snatch and run victim... defiantly take expensive stuff like iPhones and iPad that you want to sell off with an unbelievable markup

Is there a way that the [Top] button can be implemented into this skin? It was a feature that allowed one to be at the bottom of a long thread and quickly return to the top of the page without the use of key strokes.

Not to mention you may not have to pay fees to change the flight on a first class (use to). Once, I even saved money by upgrading a ticket to first to change the return flight... I just happened to ask the agent on the phone how much a first class seat would cost jokingly... and then they responded "minus the fees because of first class ticket, the flight will actually cost you $50 less to change your flight."

Farewell Erwin, Hope to see you somewhere around the bend... and if not I'll just have to come to Switzerland! -Alfeo

Wow, couldn't they use some standard sizes? It is... theres Standard [uS/Imperial], Metric and Steadicam®

I loved the C-Motion system when I first saw it a few years back. They weren't in the states yet with support and sales so the pricing was higher than the Preston. I can see dropping the CamWave (other than putting weight on the bottom of sled), I was thinking of just transmitting the eye I would operate from in HD... but Modulus and Decimator are way lighter up top. In terms of HD 3D transmitted signal... I have not tried it, but would be interested if its possible. I remember when I used the Transvideo 3D view monitor there was a RCLK SDI out. I'm wondering if that will send the locked signal on screen to another HDSDI monitor? rear of monitor PowerCubes are only 1.65lbs each what would be lighter and supply that much power? RED Batts... LOL!!! Cant see losing the motors on the topstage, they are only a few ounces. Nose can be turned around backwards instead of removing to keep your electronics working (remote balance & electronic bubble level) Archos... first thing to go Its been a while, but I can't remember with the REDs if you had to leave the sync box attached for genlock, thought they were fixing that issue.

just doing the numbers with the Freestyle, 2-MDR2, 4-DM2, 2-PowerCubes, 3rd Batt Assembly, CamWave, Archos 5... the Ultra2 weights in at 41lbs. This only leaves 14.5lbs for each camera and with a "around 10lbs" RED with Ultra Primes Your looking at Maximum payload of 88.8 without brackets for motors and cables

Hey Richie, Good to finally see you on the forums... how was the Masters this year? Anyway, this is actually a topic that I was about to revisit and that would be has anyone found any HD quality solutions that would work for us... under $3K? -Alfeo

FedEx and UPS limits for standard shipments to 70lbs. Beyond that it becomes freight. Reasoning is that most injuries occurred above the 70lb threshold. I hate to say it, but if it's not regulated then it is up to you to say no to the camera(s) and most likely to the job. Should we be compensated more for above 70lbs, at some point it becomes also an issue of our gear failing... do you really want your arm to snap with not one, but two cameras and a $20K mirror attached to it? We have to fly with responsibility as professionals

Ooops... I need the [upper post] 1.58" AND [lower post] 1.685" Rings for the 2" Gorelock 2