RobVanGelder

Is it true that those green screen tubes are of the kind they use(d) in aircrafts? So they are very well build to withstand the vibrations and g-forces? Often, it´s the circuitboard that will wiggle itself out of it´s connector, or maybe some heavy items like the HV-transformer that can tear out of the solder. In both cases, reparable without too much costs <_< Rob van Gelder

As I was the first one to warn that a monitor-focus set like this could distract from the actual scene, I also want to say that I agree with the things Larry and others have said: there is definately use for such a monitor, for certain shots that have to be well timed. That´s why I said in my last line: "Be carefull how you use it." Luckely, Will provided several important reasons why a monitor should be an aid but not much more: " It is so much more to do with anticipation, intuition, and above all experience." "The operator is now back-panning unexpectedly, or having to spin the wheel to catch up, and the focus puller is sweating it trying to see where this new timing is going to effect their marks." "and when she pulled for me she had a cool trick she would do, just for those times when she was utterly blocked from sight. She would get specific frame size references. ie (assuming head room is always correct) she would look at where the frame cut across the chest ( close-up 4ft), belt buckle (medium 6ft), thighs no knees (cowboy 8ft) etc and get distances for each of those sizes." This is what focus pulling is about, the constant adaptation to the actual scene, the ballet of actors and operator. That´s why the monitor in my opinion should only be used for quick reference and frame check, but I know how easily( from experience) the eye will get GLUED to the screen, thus forgetting what´s really happening. Rob van Gelder

I don´t know if it was the same but on a shoot (not steadicam but DoP) I had this kinoflo, it was about 20-25cm in diameter, very easy to set up in the lens with the bars attached to the camera (435) but I think is has a clip-on possibility too. Again, the light output was very low, compared to the ambient light and it didn´t work on anything further away than 80-90 cms from the lens. Also, I didn´t like that you can see where the socket from the tube is; a black part in an otherwise perfect white circle. Basically, the light output of any of these lights is not enough, if you have to work that close to your actor/actress you will have problems with shadows, distortions and your monitor is almost touching him/her. :( Rob van Gelder

Hi Jorge, a nice looking set, there. I have the same monitor and transmitter system, only on a different frequency. However, I would prefer to have my focus puller looking at me and the actor(s) instead of a screen. The main reasons are that 1) these LCD screens are low performance in light conditions (outside) and 2) by the time you can see it out of focus on these screens it is REALLY out of focus. That´s why I give my LCD to a director or assistant director or somone who thinks he need it, but not my Focus puller! I do not mean to look down on this very nicely made handset, you have put a lot of work and good design in it, but in my experience (and I was a focuspuller for more than 8 years), a screen was merely distracting me from the action and I was sometimes too late to correct. Be carefull how you use it. Rob van Gelder

I´ve seen this baby on the rig of Mark de Blok, maybe he can give us some user information? I think it is very small, it might be a bit heavier than the smallest DV, but not much. I requested some info on prices from this company so if they reply I will let you know. Rob van Gelder

I looked at the specs of the Clipmaker (see page 2 of this topic) and it seems that it is the only recording module that can handle almost all video systems: pal/ntsc, 50/60Hz, analog and S-video. And in a very small package without the annoying dongles sticking out! It has the recording resolution of DV, but less compression, I think. Must be a good alternative for Larry? But the price..... Clipmaker-specs Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

Freedisc, I don´t know how much experience you have in this "Film or Video-business", you don´t state that in your question. First of all, read the forum, there are many similar question like this being asked about every month, the answers are there, take some time and search on topic, like "Glidecam" or "newby", etc. Also the 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 forems give you a wealth of info! Second, most of us prefer real names instead of aliasses. Makes things more clear...... (We don´t see this forum as an anonimous chatbox) Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

Michael, I hope you noticed that this was meant to be ironic............. We do agree, that´s for sure! :) Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

Hi Trike, nice interior you have..... who´s your designer? :D And what´s the telescope for...... looking at the neigbours daughter......? B) just kidding. I have the impression that the only gimbal that could work with your rig might be the one from the Mini or perhaps the flyer ( though I never saw that one)- if the diameter of the post is the same all other gimbals will need a bigger post . You might be able to put a spacer ring between a bigger gimbal and your post but I´m not sure it you can balance it then. Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

Maybe Aspen (or now Aspect) has similar batteries as they are now part of Anton Bauer? Rob van Gelder

Michael, I totally agree with you. However, nowadays it seems that there are more and more people jumping in on a higher level then before, experience or not. And there are others that allow them, producers that give 22 year olds director status, fresh graduates that hardly made the exams from the film academy are torpedoed into DoP status, I´ve seen that happening a lot. Does the work and result get any better with that? Not at all I am sure. Such DoP´s have no real outside experience, have not seen solutions and lighting from (international) DoP´s and as such are not able to get much better. They will stay in the same routines as they learned (themselves) at school. (of course there are always exceptions, natural talents) With Steadicam it is basically the same. When you´ve got the money, or a family that supports you in that, you buy a rig and voilá, you are an operator. I´ve said it before when another guy had a similar question, but then I got the impression that some other people defended this way of getting into the trade. I still stand by my point of view: it will take years of looking at others, in all kinds of lower qualified jobs, to be able to become a valuable member of the camera-crew and as a operator/DoP. Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

So I get this call from a producer, he wants Steadicam and I ask him to describe the shot. " Oh, you have to follow two people up the stairs" - favorite no.1 Then I ask, what kind of camera? He says: " Bl3 evolution or Arri 3". I ask for the Arri 3 of course and he agrees. But some hours later he calls me and it is the BL3 now, there is a lot of dialog on the stairs.... - favorite no.2 Shooting: I am asked to be there at 10 in the morning, but I can only start at 3 in the afternoon. Oh well, it´s their schedule! Then suddenly everybody is rushing outside and "Steadicam!" is called. I could not touch that BL all morning and afternoon because they were shooting with it. Now they ask me if I can be ready NOW! - favorite no.3 The stairs are in front of a big cathedral like university building, with a big golden sign on the front " ASSUMPTION UNIVERSITY", while this building is supposed to be a bank in the story. I am kindly asked to frame that huge sign out of the picture, though my actors are walking in front of it. - favorite no.4 Director asks me to follow the 2 actors up the stairs in a diagonal move and overtake them during their - still climbing- conversation and precede them, thus forcing me in Don Juan halfway the stairs. - Favorite no. 5 It all works, in 3 takes, but the only flaw every time again are those f#$%&ing EXTRA´s that don´t do what they were told to do, sometimes even stare in the lens. - Favorite no.6 Oh, I didn´t mention the temperature of that day: 37 degrees Celsius in the shade, I looked like I just came out of the swimmingpool. But that´s my own decision, to work in this incredible hot country. And I like it, really! So that´s the most important Favorite!! :lol: At the end, everybody was very satisfied and that is all what counts! Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

It´s a nice small light, but the light output is also low, according to the charts, usable but low. It gives you approx. f 1.8 on 100 ASA at 1 meter/4 ft distance. That means some pretty close focussing all the time! I pity the focus puller. <_< The light falls off rather fast, if your talent moves between 1 and 2 meters you need to shoot 400 ASA or more. I would not really want to use it in a moving shot, it is primarily for static close-up (make-up) beauty shots. Not sure what the big ringlight will give but I think it is a bit more. Not a major difference though. Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

Hi Yecid, Welcome to the forum ( although you are looking since januari) and I must congratulate you on your first post. It is clear and to the point and we don´t see that so often from first posters! So you tried those glasses for days and give them a thumbs down. The same reaction as Garreth had in the first stages of Steadicam. But there might be a use for it, now that I think of it. It´s the setup with the RollVision ball, where the operator of the rig and the one of the camera are separated. We can put the glasses on the man with the joystick! He won´t be moving anywhere :D Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

I just had the chance to quote for a movie and in the schedule there were many standby/off days. It´s all on location, remote so travel is difficult. At the end it turned out that the standby days would take almost as much as the shooting days, even when the rate is lowered to 1/3 of a normal day rate.. Now this is for any producer not acceptable. What to do..... I figured, I don´t charge the standby days, but leave my operating days and the rental to the normal height because this is what they will remember and relate to for future projects. As long as they take care of me for accomodation and per diem I would be fine. The amount of working days would still make me a nice month! But I was surpassed by a guy with an EFP that wanted to work for half my quote! (I have a master, preston,etc) Sometimes you cannot win......... :( Mentioning the great difference in equipment and experience didn´t do anything for me in this case and it was clear that the money must have been very tight! ( or the producer puts the difference between the 2 quotes in his own pocket?) But I can and will not sell my stuff for the same price as an EFP-set, that´s just not going to work on the long run! Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

Hi gnespolo, Just a tip: for people with slow modems you might want to reduce the size of your pictures to 400x600 pixels max. That saves a lot of time downloading and you can see it on one screen! Rob van Gelder

You can buy via a rental house the stainless steel flange that normally sits on the eyepiece from a 2c or sr2, arri 3, bl 1,2,3,4. In the service manual you will find the part-number. But it is expensive too! I bought a few about 15 years ago, when I decided to make an universal video assist. It worked at the end, but not after spending a lot of money on tools, optics, metal, electronics, lath, etc. It was fun, didn´t make any money with it but I learned a lot about optics and metalworks and that it is not easy to make a good or even acceptable picture! At the end I had a rotateble, universal eyepiece, similar as the original Arri eyepiece ( the big one from the BL3 and the Arri3) but with a beamsplitter inside and a camera next to it. So no need to use in-camera beamsplitters and when you don´t need video you use the original eyepiece and have all the light to your eye. Sadly, it was surpassed at the same time by clever designs inside the camera, less fragile and better quality. Oh well, it was a good lesson for me. :unsure: Good luck if you decide to make one yourself! Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

Who has experienced similar starting problems as George with SR3/435,535/Arricam when powered by 2 fresh 14,4 volts batteries ? I never heard of this before but it is not impossible that some safetycircuit kicks in! Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

I just got the catalog from Aspen/Aspekt/AB and I find NiMH bricks rated at 60Wh/14.4V and they look like a good option. Besides that, they can be charged on another brands charger (my PAG for instance) with an oppropriate plate. Does anyone has an opinion on these "Bantam Bricks"? Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

Thanks for your info Erwin. You have at the same time addressed the problem more properly: I have heard many good things about those Proformer batteries, but this is exactly the one batterie that is discontinued so it´s not an option anymore. As I understand (I never had one in my hand) this batterie has a good size/weight to power ratio. What is comparable to them, nowadays. My work is, until now, mostly film on 24 volts, so I have to be able to do 150fps stuff, though I might add that curiously enough that never happened. But it should be possible. I have the feeling, and the poll already shows that, that a 14,4 volts system is the new way to go, now the 2 other major choices: NiMH or Li-ion? Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

My batteries are slowly giving up now, after 3 years. They are the NiMH (NP1-style) from Pag, 13,2 volts and did very well until now. The high temperatures here in Thailand don´t help much (self discharge) so I am looking for a new system or replacement. My first question is: did anyone experience problems with 14.4 volts batteries when combined to make 28+ for the 435 and such? I heard rumours that there was a chance to burn electronics in certain equipment because of the high initial voltage when just off the charger. I have looked at the other posts about dionics and such but those are very expensive and also difficult to get here. What are you all using? 12, 13.2, 14.4 volts?, 2/3 batteries? I guess I can create a poll for that. Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

Not for the XSC arm but dual monitor for sure. Sometimes very helpful! Rob van Gelder

Hi Rich, congratulations! What are you going to do with them BTW?. Use them for Steadicam shoots?. I think the one that you would like the most is the VP-1, which is something like 16-29 and a very useful lens. the VP-2 is the middle range, the biggest as I remember. That´s something you do not really want on a Compact, 535B or BL3/4. I tried it on a Compact once and it bottomed out not only my arm but my knees too :( But I´m sure you are a strong man....... :lol: Rob van Gelder

I saw the site with this laser glasses. Although it´s very interesting, I have the feeling that the basic problem that people have with this kind of vision is still the same, and it does not really matter how these pictures come to us. It´s allright if you sit in a chair, or stand relatively in one place (surgion, car-mechanic) but the moment you start walking and this picture, which could be a view from a distant place relatively to your own eye, (low-mode, high-mode, DonJuan) superimposed on your frontal view, while avoiding curbstones, stairs, extra´s, doorways, etc, I doubt if (m)any people can work with it. It´s probably too much information for one eye/brain in the setup that we want to use. Just my thought though, I really want to try it out once! Rob van Gelder

So far, I have not seen much "trash" that had to be removed. Little multiple postings and no flaming. The few times there was something at hand, there was enough attention from Tim. Looks to me that more moderators would be overkill, but if more people want to put some time in it.... Rob van Gelder