Mike McGowan SOC

Or if not, can anybody who has done it tell me about the virtues of using an XCS super post with a PRO sled?

Getting ready to do a film and the DP have asked about multiple ground scraping shots. I sold my first super post with my first PRO and never bought a new on when I got my second PRO. Just called GPI and they no longer have them. Anybody want to sell me theirs or rent it to me????? Tnx,

No but it looks cool. 2500 bucks and it's a back up hd monitor and recorder (and sd monitor as well?)......... if you get one, let me know how it works.

You doing the 3D job? My friend Gabe is your assistant??? I don't have a rickshaw but James Baldanza has a golfcart with vehicle mount rig? Or, you could rent the 'red dolly' from CineVideoTech..... 305-754-2611 (http://www.filmtools.com/matthews-red-dolly-12081.html)

I just made a deal for Step Up 4 and they started super low. I had another offer for another job so Russ and I were able to 'just say no' to the rate until it was respectable. It's much easier to say no when you know you have another job backing you up. I guess the trick is to treat every negotiation as if you had another good offer on the table and stick to your guns.

^^ I agree. If your doing a favor for another operator your stuck with their rate. On your own unit you make your own deal. That being said, your not going to get a commercial rate on a tv show.

I've been flying the 8.4 since 2007. I've never once thought it was too big. In fact, i wouldn't be scared to try flying a 12" if the mounting bracket and cable worked. I had the guys at Boland put a gold mount plate on the back of my 8.4 and I've actually flown with an HC on the back of the monitor as well as one in each of the 3 PRO spots when I needed more bottom weight for a heavy camera. Apparently the new 8.4 is much improved over mine but I still think that my 8.4 is a million times better than flying my old PRO sd Greenie.

Anybody flow a gyro on a 3d rig? I know level becomes even more important in the 3d world but I also know that extra weight is a big deal. The gyro would be on the bottom of the sled so maybe it replaces a shark fin gold mount doubler??? Any thoughts?

Was looking at the 3 transmitters on line and I got the impression that the Box Meridian also serves as a down converter? Also didn't see a price on their website, anybody know how much it costs?

I woln't talk about the safety issue, I'll just say that steadicam is not the right tool for the job. For a car commercial, the best tool is pretty much a Russian arm. Next would be a Libra or some other stabilized head hard mounted. Third would be a camera car with a crane on it without a stabilized head, then a camera car with a hard mounted camera (on a fluid head). Then a mini van with a hard mounted camera and then it's a toss up between hand held and steadicam. I've been doing steadicam since 1998 and making about 1/3 of my living shooting cars for the last 4 or 5 years. None of the car stuff is done with a steadicam. I have a car/action reel here: miamidp.com (go to recent work then 'HyperCam') I use mostly my HyperCam rig that is purpose built for car stuff and then I go down the list that I gave above. If you do decide to use steadicam, definitely go hard mounted. If Possible go low mode with the smallest possible post and if possible build a 'V' shaped wind barrier behind you with 4x double nets or something like that. Good luck.

I also heard from one of the red guys (working with epics 2 weeks ago) that the final pin config set up for the epic may yet change....

^^ I see.... But regardless, it would seem like fixing the problem (or at least acknowledging) the problem would be the way to go. Arguing with or ignoring the customer can't be the smart response. I would imagine that at the very least there has been one person who was going to buy an MK-V rig that decided not to based solely on the poor customer service reviews. Would seem like fixing the problem would be the cheap way out.

It seems to me that if the solution was as simple as using different cable, the company that just sold him a 20k+ rig might just send him the correct cable? More over if (as it seems it is) the problem is with every rig and can be fixed so easily, wouldn't they just fix it? I mean from a business stand point if Thomas is not the first customer to have this problem wouldn't the company want to avoid it in the future?

Wow. First, I want to say that I have no first hand experience with any MK-V product so I have no first hand information about this issue..... But I have now heard from a few owner operators that have had similar issues with MK-V's customer service. I also do not know the exact circumstances that prompted the phone conversation you put on YouTube but I can say that based on what I have heard, they really do need to work on their customer service. I can see how she would be frustrated having to 'deal' with your persistence but what she seems to miss is that her job is to service you and to see that your are satisfied, regardless of the situation. I have owned 2 complete PRO rigs including vests and arms since 1998. I have had a hand full of technical issues caused by me, other faulty equipment (not made by GPI) or things that just stopped working for whatever reason. BUT, in every case, GPI and their staff went out of their way to make sure whatever problem I was having was resolved. They have even gone so far as to give me the home number of George so I could call him on a weekend to have him help me solve an issue I was having. I happen to think that the PRO equipment is totally kick ass but even if I didn't their customer service alone would be reason to continue to buy their products. Based on what I have seen and heard, I don't think I would buy an MK-V sled if it was made of solid gold and only cost ten bucks. My PRO equipment has made me a lot of money over the past 14 years and a big part of my success is due to their customer service. My 1.5 cents.

I've had similar experiences with her, she's one of the good ones! Too bad we can't get all the little 20 year olds that do all the episotic to take a lesson.

I started doing that on an SR3 years ago and now I use a dovetail on almost every camera and configuration. Just easier to get balance when you switch from a short zoom to a smaller prime or add a ring light or whatever... And yes, super fast to switch from steadicam to studio. The light Arri dovetail weighs almost nothing and if you attach it to a PRO plate instead of the XCS plate it doesn't raise the camera much at all. Back before HD was the thing and we would properly flip the film cameras over for low mode, I would put a small iris rod support bracket on top of the SR3 when I went to low mode and just flop the camera over on the dovetail.

I've owned both the old PRO and the new PRO and I've used (on shoots) the Tiffen and played around with the XCS (but never on a shoot). I love my PRO 2 but quite frequently I wish I had my old PRO 1 as it was smaller and simpler and just as smooth. I do however like the ergo handle on the XCS and will probably pick one up when I have an extra few grand laying around... It's a nice feature to not need a 'J' bracket when in low mode.

A short thought from my POV is that V mounts suck because they do not stay attached as well as they should. I can hang a gold mount upside down and smack it into a brick wall and it keeps working, with a v it would fall off just from being flipped upside down. I've been really happy with the HC's so far but I've only had them for about 6 months.

It's funny but my 12v block is almost the only block I ever use any more. Love the ability to hot swap!

buy one of the great used rigs being sold right here on this forum.

^^^lol, Bob Ulland had a pair of platform shoes made (I think they were 6 or 8 inches tall) as he was a shorter operator and he wanted to level the playing field so to speak.

One more thought (for sort of a quick and easy fix) is to move a bit further away on a slightly longer lens and the amount of tilt required to get that head room is much less.

At the time, the PRO was the only rig all the big dog's used, that was 1998. The two I've bought since were because they make me a lot of money and I didn't see any reason to mess with success.

I personally havn't seen anything exactly like that (sort of a steadicam chariot) but it looks cool. I could see an opportunity to use one. The three things that come to mind at a quick glance are: How much, does it break down and fit in my SUV and how do I do a following shot (shooting off the front). Cool idea.

Yea, the steadicam and the helicopter don't work together. Just go hand held but make sure you are strapped in to at least 2 points and one of the points is behind you.