William Demeritt

I may go up early and tailgate. Anyone have a portable BBQ?

Some have an older chip in them that limit the range compared to the newer ones. The Brite-View AirSync HD has the new chip.

Good information to know and read, thanks for looking this up for everyone.

I've actually become quite militant about going beyond just receiving a COI, but also getting a signed Deal Memo, Rental Agreement and equipment list back from productions. I always interpreted the COI as proof their production had insurance (read: deep enough pockets) to cover the loss or damage of my equipment that they couldn't claim "Oh, we rain out of money, so we can't afford to replace your whole kit that burned up on the truck on the last day!"

The insurance proves they have the additional resources so as to not leave you without livelihood in a catastrophic event.

I think we all want to believe that productions will do "the right thing", but the rest falls on us to do our due diligence in creating a paper trail that assures us we don't gamble with that instance where they try to worm out of it.

Someone once told me the COI just proves they have insurance, but could be fraudulent, so you can call the insurance agency to be certain you're added to the policy. Does this explicitly link your equipment? No, but it does prove they didn't just forge an ACORD form to include your information.

Hence why I try to go with a Deal Memo and Rental Agreement with equipment list to accompany my hiring. Deal memo proves I was explicitly hired with my equipment for whichever shoot dates, the terms, and requests a COI be provided. Rental agreement has this opening paragraph (I did "borrow" this from another operator, hope he doesn't mind if/when he notices):

Renter(s) assumes full responsibility (see insurance requirements) for all rented items in their care and custody, whether William B. Demeritt III is operating said equipment or not, and agrees to compensate William B. Demeritt III for full replacement value should said equipment be lost, stolen, broken or damaged by any cause whatsoever. Renter further agrees to compensate William B. Demeritt III for costs incurred in the cleaning and maintenance of the equipment necessarily caused by use of the renter in inclement weather. William B. Demeritt III maintains the right to cancel the rental arrangement with renter on the basis of any safety or risk concerns with respect to the operator and/or the operation of the equipment, or any location that places the safety of the operator and/or equipment at risk.

Right up front, they sign a document that says they (and their production by agent by estoppel) assume full responsibility for all rented items (as indicated by the equipment list) whether I'm operating the gear at the time or not. Full compensation is in the contract, which means they have the option to pay me out of their pockets (lost an Anton Bauer battery, etc) or through insurance (my whole cart accidentally rolled off the edge of a cliff).

Someone sounds JEALOUS!!

Second!

Lots of forums help avoid the first-post blues by pinning a simple "Before you post, read this" with all of the "Welcome to the EXCITING WORLD of STEADICAM" type of warnings like:

- Use the search function. Your question has probably already been answered before.

- Lurk first, read the content, take it all in, and ask questions only if you cannot find the answer on your own.

- A small community of working professionals contribute here, so try to show a level of professionalism you would when making a first impression anywhere work related.

- Please don't get your panties in a bunch when the gear you were eyeballing is torn apart by the working professionals here.

I'd be happy to contribute a Newbie Warning thread, but I would imagine the moderators could put something up more reflective of what they want new members to read.

You're probably working on it already, but in case you're not: the photos didn't post properly. Eager to see them.

Chris has been great in trying to help me by switching out many of the monitor components with new ones, but the issue still persists. I'm just hoping the new housing and software solve the issue when they come out..

 

When functioning properly, it's a fantastic monitor.

I'll report back once I've tested my reclocking distribution amplifier on my next shoot, maybe that'll solve the problem?

Alex, do you have the 4:3 or the 16:9 monitor?

I too have very high hopes for the upgrade.

I don't know, with all these posts about the Tiffen arms, stiction, heuristics, iso-elasticity... I'd hate to get wobble when trying to drink from my holy pint while taking slow steps. :lol:

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure HD-SDI requires crimping BNC connectors and bulkheads, not solder BNC. However, yea, stranded is easier to work with, but you require a lower AWG to match the transmission capability of a higher AWG solid copper core.

Just put in my order! Looking forward to receiving and taming Miss Alexa's back-heaviness.

I believe the universal characteristic of all HD-SDI cables is 75 ohm resistance. The other characteristics give varied results. I prefer Belden 1505 and Belden 1694a for HD-SDI, although 1694 is solid copper (not stranded), so not ideal if it's in a post that collapses and expands. VERY STIFF. 1505 might be your best bet?

Unless some work suddenly takes over, I'll be there for Operator's Night, the PRO open house, and NAB April 16-18. In the mean time, I will be trying to find work... and a life.

Andrew: my problem has persisted for a long time, and has followed me from the SD sled to my current HD sled, different batteries, different power cables, etc. I haven't flown a RED MX lately, I'll report back once I do. I've got an Epic job next weekend.

Will, It's a GH2 on the Merlin, cleverly hidden in the title.

Your mother is cleverly hidden in the title.

1.5 second drop time, or any drop time really, will result in pendulum effect. Only completely neutral static balancing will reduce pendulum effect to nil. Even still, you may get some depending on the existing forces, such as a tilt down and a sudden push forward, because if the tilt down is still accelerating at the moment of the forward movement, the bottom sections acceleration backwards is increased, and turns into an upward force (pendulum up).

As far as parts moving, I think that cables shifting can be a culprit of small changes that result in big balance shifts.

What rig do you have?

What camera?

How is everything configured top and bottom?

Pictures of the setup?

If there are things rattling around inside the camera, it depends on the camera and the setup. Something as small as a tiny rock rattling around inside of a BL or ST might not make any difference, but the same rock inside of a Sony F3 on a Flyer might change it. More often, I find it's the cables improperly secured (not rubber-banded down, not velcroed in place, etc). Cables, even pigtails, may not weigh much, but they're often in unique positions that they are pretty far from the CG of the camera and the "pivot" of the sled. Torque = mass x distance from pivot.

Sorry Will, I was vague. I meant why would powering 12v affect the accessory outputs? The camera is a 24v camera, the accessory ports never change. Supply the camera 12v and it converts to 24v, which is why Arri recommends supplying 24v.

On the PRO sled, using the 12v power block disables the second battery from running to the AUX power port on the upper junction box. Likewise, all remaining ports up top become 12v, so you have nowhere to power 24v only accessories unless coming off the camera accessory ports that give out 24v.

Thanks Guys,

GPI-PRO is not making this jumper anymore,also I think I don't need it but Thanks.

Thanks gosh my Sled is a Ultimate 2!!!!!...but the rest of my company is running PRO.

Hey, in the event of an EMP blast or explosion, my PRO sled will still work. ;)

To hot swap in 24 Volt mode, just slap a battery on the back of the camera, change your batteries out, and then remove the onboard.

That works too. It's kind of 6 of one, half dozen of the other.

Why Will? The Alexa is a 24v camera, it converts on-board when fed 12v. Arri recommends feeding 24v though so that the power is more efficient

They likely recommend you use 24v configuration because of efficiency since a 12v load at XX watts on a single battery yes is more efficient (higher amps on a single load battery yields less watt hours). 12v load on 2 supplies is just as efficient as a 24v load, considering 24v is made by two batteries, but isn't hot swappable. 12v parallel is hot swappable, and the amps per battery in 12v porallel are the same as the amps per battery in 24v.

The watts is the same, and if the camera doesn't care either way, why not go with the speedier configuration? Like I said, the biggest letdown is buying/building a 12v Arri power cable.

12v only block puts you in parallel power mode, which allows you to hot swap batteries, while 24v keeps you to cold swaps. As far as watts are concerned, the consumption remains the same, so the hot swap makes it nice over 24v, but you need a 12v Arri power cable. Also any accessories that draw 24v will have more trouble powering.

I just had a Red One MX on my sled today, no flicker/sync issues what so ever with my Cinetronic. Do you have the most up to date firmware on your monitors (Jens & Will)?

I had it updated a few months ago. What software version are you running?

RE: reclocking, here's the solution:

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/809837-REG/Matrix_Switch_MSC_HDDA4_HD_SDI_Distribution.html

 

(3G version is available for extra $50, MSC-HDDA4 G3)

 

and to power it:

 

http://www.nebtek.com/products.php?product=NEBTEK-LIBA%3A-Lithium%252dion-Battery-Adapter

 

the plug size is 2.5mm and 5v !!!

Bought that exact amplifier. I'm going to make a d-tap cable to run off my sled base and one for the camera port on my PRO sled to rig it up top. Low power draw is nice, but it's a hefty little bastard.

Many of the cheap HD transmitter options require HDMI, so the Deci 2's hdsdi to HDMI scaling will be very useful to you.

Kettlebells at home are fantastic. Great for muscle confusion. Otherwise just stay active: biking, hiking, Slayer concerts...

Sorry Jess, but Williams TX/RX is really interesting but it definitely needs its own thread.

Thomas: when I get the device and verify it can do all the things I want it to do, I'll post all the information in it's own thread so everyone can exploit the consumer technology out there for our own means.