William Demeritt

Brandon, Congratulations on your first gig, brother! I actually just joined that club too as of Friday. I think everyone would tell you sore hips means everything was right, and a sore back is a giveaway something was wrong. If you don't mind getting personal, what kind of pants/shorts were you wearing? At my workshop, I noticed wearing jeans or anything requiring a belt dug into my waist too hard and bugged me. I wear gym shorts with a draw string and it worked well for me. Congrats again, you going to upload your footage and face the critique firing squad? :lol:

Well, the checklist begins: - Have you checked the camera plate? Is it securely attached to the camera? - Is the screw underneath the plate clearing the top of the stage? Are the screws into the camera grabbing properly? Do you sense any play between the plate and the camera? - Top stage securely attached to the post? All the screws good at tight? Any play in the top stage? Lighter cameras create less stress on the camera plate and screw(s) than heavier cameras, so any play would be avoided because less force is exerted. The rig could be "almost" doing it with the lighter cameras, but since it's lighter and flown on the rig, it becomes negligible. Heavier cameras become the big best, and action transferred to heavy weight exaggerates the play or points out the flaw in a big way. Is that explaining it properly? I don't think I am, but I have it in my head what might be causing the issue.

I was pretty excited when I saw HD support, but then confirmed it's only HD playback. DVR still only captures at 640x480. Lots of other bells and whistles for people to use as a solid Personal Media Player. They're clearly making this an iPhone competitor.

I too am a steadicam newbie. Thank you all for this information, I expect to start trying for student films this Fall and will use this information for direction when talking money.

The copyright outrage is huge, but second to that does seem to be the price. Seems the person reprinting these shirts not only has no regard for Ted Churchill's memory, but also seems bent on charging through the nose.

Herve, I'm inclined to think the soundtrack was the best option, because I know I'd be muttering obscenities with every tree branch.

Greetings, all. Steadicam newbie, as one would guess. I took the 6-day workshop back in March, 2008 with Jerry, Peter, Ruben, Patrick et al, and have since done what I can to start investigating the proper path to becoming a steadicam operator. While I am doing my research and still working, one thing I'd like to set up in the mean time is a way to practice until I get my own rig. I had some possible opportunities, but I'd like to get something set up to borrow a steadicam rig and just practice. Borrow, rent (at a reasonable price? :D ), something just so I don't get rusty while things come together. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Even a friendly nudge in the right direction. I live in Los Angeles, have a car, can pick up and drop off gear, anything! Much appreciated, thank you all!

R Stone, I sent you a PM. Just a heads up.

Andy, The Litepanels are pretty fantastic, have some decent punch and are very portable (low enough weight that you could rig them on camera and still fly I think). More ideas might come from more info regarding the job. Facility with lots of hallways, so how are the hallways currently lit? Fluorescents? Sconces? Any windows mixing color temps? Walked through with a light meter?

Now that is a pretty little beast. Quite a nice design, very sexy. Time to count the change in my spare bags.

The recording quality on this unit doesn't seem too fantastic: Video Recording File Format: ASF Resolution: Max 720x480, 3Mbps The design of the unit is quite elegant, and seems to have lots of options for input and output. However, recording in a fairly ignored Microsoft streaming format doesn't seem like a wise move, unless you strictly want playback (and don't have an interest in using this footage for your reel).

Bit of a stale topic, but figured a post here couldn't hurt. Aside from the internal benefits of SOA membership, does listing in the database provide any other positive rewards? On the really naive side, do people sometimes find jobs based off some producer searching the locations for a steadicam op's phone number? Has SOA membership enhanced your exposure and somehow resulted in more contacts? Steadi-newb is curious...

I'm attending this workshop and I'm really excited, I've heard nothing but fantastic things from previous attendees and steadicam ops. See everyone there!