Robert Starling SOC

Aye Sir! Beers, Brats and Babes for everyone!!!

Hi Janice, we've never met but I always appreciate your posts; particularly those on business practices and I admire your work as well, thanks. I just want to understand what you are saying: "Out of your care and control" as it's related to our own insurance of our equipment as it pertains to covering a scheduled loss during a rental. It would make sense that if you are not covered as a "rental house" persea, then your Inland Marine policy/equipment floater would not cover your gear while out on rental; thus the importance of getting a Certificate of Insurance from Production. There is a different level of risk for something out of our own care and control right? It's defining what exactly that term means. So, if the above scenario is accurate it would sound like the choices are: 1.) Have a policy that covers your scheduled equipment in rental scenarios a/k/a "out of your care and control" 2.) Obtain and verify a valid Certificate of Insurance from Production, who in this case is the Rentor 3.) Do not separate out your equipment as a rental item so that it is covered under your own policy as it would be if you were using it personally (which I assume in most cases we are). You'd have to sort out how to roll it into some other category or into your fee to avoid calling it a rental as we all traditionally do. On the second issue; "if you get a Cert. from a renter and they skip with your gear the company will not pay off" This is one where I'd like to have more clarification because my understanding is that as long as the Rentor has Rented Equipment Coverage and their Cert lists "Miscellaneous Rented Equipment" in a sufficient amount in the "Other" section of "Coverages" you are covered by THEIR policy against Theft, Loss or Damage. Certainly we're all responsible to some degree to do our Due Deligence; that is to say take reasonable measures (whatever that would be) to make sure we know who we're renting to. I have rentors insurance to cover outbound rentals on the camera packages and other equipment I own but I also require the Rentor to issue a certificate showing my company as not just the Additionally Insured but also the Loss Payee so if there is a loss the check is cut to us not the Rentor. For instances where I'm the one renting equipment that is where my Miscellaneous Rented Equipment coverage covers the other company/person. Just trying encapsulate this into a thought is tricky; no wonder insurance companies wiggle out of so much. Is this how you understand it? All the best,

This is way off topic but Fred I want to ask is your new avatar the "2007 NAB Vegas Commerative Issue" to get you psyched for the show? Sorry to stray Mr. Moderators so delete this if you want. I couldn't help myself.

My first call would be to Terry West (310) 374-5711 - He has closets full of new connectors and will know the wiring configurations as well.

Hofbrauhaus is fine if you're okay with a loud noisy tourist spot but it fits the "power drink" requirement. The beer and brats are excellent and there's plenty to look at. It's always tough transporting people around though and parking is a bear. With you there Jim we'd likely have enough testosterone to be safe at Peppermill and it would be easier/less confusing for everyone just to walk across the street from the show. Keepin' it super simple...

Hey Jim, here's the latest scoop on the Peppermill: <<The swankiest old-school lounge in Vegas was named one of "America's 10 Best Make-Out Bars" by Nerve Magazine, for reasons that will be abundantly clear as soon as you walk in. So strong is the Fireside Lounge's juju, you can practically feel the requited lust in the parking lot.>> Is this just coincidence Jim or will this be the Jim "Uh...I don't know what happened in Vegas" Bartell trip?

FYI, you might want to edit down some of the qoutes so the post doesn't get too long. Operating principles are the same between a Flyer and Ultra 2; technique, practice and good form. You could always rent a larger rig if you have a bigger camera/job but it's not like there are lots of rentals out there I don't think. It became very clear to me within two months the Flyer would not allow me to be competitive in the marketplace but it was a great place to learn, practice and get started. Rigs hold their value pretty well and I got a good trade from Tiffen when I bought the Clipper. Actually, I think Peter Abraham has two demo Flyers he's selling personally and the price is right. You could start there, move up in a few months and easily get your investment back out of it. Search Peter's name here on the Forum and send him a PM or email.

Hi Mark, welcome to the Forum. It would likely be hard to top any advice an experienced operator like Steve Fracol has given you. In my own experience just being about nine months ahead of you, I'm a believer in education and you'd find it very time consuming to get started without attending a workshop or two or three. I started with a Flyer and two-day Flyer workshop, then within two months upgraded to a Clipper 2 and took the week-long SOA workshop and just completed the week-long Tiffen Lake Arrowhead workshop. I wrote a fairly long opinion on this in the following post: http://www.steadicamforum.com/forums/index...amp;#entry24094 Hope this helps!

Shhhh.... not so loud! It's supposed to be a secret. :rolleyes: Please tell me my government has so many more important things to do and places to spend our resources on than tracking down a few dozen or even a few hundred dozen 1 watt VHF / UHF video transmitters.

Hi John! I've had my Clipper 2, G-50 arm and Ultra Vest since October. My thoughts are: 1. Very glad I upgraded to the Ultra vest... very glad. 2. I've flown fairly maxed out Varicams and F900 rigs with the G-50 arm; no problem. My daily workout/practice rig including sled weighs about 50 lbs and the arm is very close to max but everything else I fly feels really light! Another note on the G-50 is Tiffen doesn't offer or seem to want to offer an upgrade to interchangeable / longer arm posts for it or the cool beveled socket pin plate like on the G-70. 3. I don't know about the C24 but the C2 does NOT come with a video DA built in, so add a transmitter or DVR and your monitor dims progressively with each device. The only output with a DA is from the framelines output off the monitor. I just had Terry West add a DA to the sled so now all my outputs (4) are good; cost about $400 so plan on doing that mod on day 1. 4. If you think you'll EVER need 24v, Tiffen has been very reluctant to offer the upgrade as an option. You can buy the dual battery holder of the 24 for about $1500 plus other undisclosed parts, plus labor costs and do the mod yourself though or have someone do it. Chris Konash and someone else did their own home-grown 24v mods. 5. The "two section post" on the Clipper 2 is really just one post that telescopes up out of the electronics housing. The three section on the 24 is really a two section just the same. That extra section is substantial though and I wish I had it. 6. The 7" 700 nits monitor with built-in framelines is decent but progressively sucks without adding a DA to the sled with other video AKS. Compared to the HD UltraBrite... there is no comparison. The UltraBrite kicks some major boot'ay but it's a big upgrade expense; like close to $6000 I think. 7. The tilting top stage... couldn't live without it I don't think 8. The rig seems stiff but it's not a big 2" post and I'm such a relatively new op, the finer points of the construction probably escape me at this point but no complaints from clients yet. In retrospect, I wish I had bought a Clipper 24 right out of the gate for the 24v and longer post but I didn't want to finance and the Clipper 2/G-50 with Ultra vest was the biggest check I could write at that time. I actually considered selling my rig last week and making a deal on a C24 for those two reasons. You know Peter Abraham, give him a jingle and he'll shoot straight with you about it and the exact numbers. If you're seriously considering a C24 with the Ultra vest and HD UltraBrite monitor upgrades you're probably looking at the $45,000 range without batteries. I've thought this same scenario through a lot over the last few weeks and it doesn't make economic sense to me for the following reason(s): The U2 is $59,500 and comes with new electronics technology guts, G-70 arm, HD UltraBrite, Ultra Vest, 6 PowerCubes, a simultaneous four position charger, hard cases for all, motorized top stage and an absolutely huge zillion section post. So, if I were going to spend $45k, I'd be better off spending $60k because you get so much more in the way of features, benefits and a new design. That means I'd need to get $32k for my rig and still have to find another $28k and that's just not in the cards at this stage of my Steadicam career or my marriage! On the other hand, if I stumbled across a buyer for my Clipper 2 then I would do the bump to the Clipper 24 for the post and 24v but I would wait on the monitor. Sorry this is so long but it's something I've been "chewing on" for a while now. You've got my number, call if you want to chat or help me cry in my beer for want of a new U2.

Hi Job, Here's a link to the original posting on the squeeking along with diagrams and the fix. http://www.steadicamforum.com/forums/index...?showtopic=4482

Anyone know the name and contact info for the Sopranos op?

Hi Brandon, realistically it's not going to happen with either of those cameras. I did manage to strip down a Varicam with a smallish lens on the Flyer once but by the time I added enough batteries on the bottom of the sled the Flyer arm was at it's limit and clearly the rig and vest were beyond. That's no matte box, no viewfinder, no nothing.

Hi Jens, any idea on the pricing?

Hi Rob, I've been asking myself the same thing lately; it seems like every job is HD and the whole downconverter thing is a pain. Here in Vegas we don't have many resources for downconverters, particularly if one goes bad and I've had two AJA converters go belly up in three months. We used the Tiffen Ultra Brite HD every day last week and it is impressive. When Charles connected an HD signal to it, it really was DAMN impressive as Eric said. The quandry other than improved viewing is I doubt my kit rental would/could change. Maybe I'm wrong but I'd do better financially if I bought a Miranda downconverter and rented it to production. My guess is they'd pay for that quicker than an extra $150 per day on my kit rental. On the other hand, I still have monitor envy.

Here you go Dan... Dan's Happiness

Hi Charles, I did the DUN hack on my Treo 600 and then on my 650 and managed to share it via Bluetooth once on the 650 with my Powerbook G4. It never was very effective and it made my Treo (sprint) even more bugged out than it was to start. Look around, there are other DUN hacks out there as well as a cool WiFi hack that lets you run the Palm WiFi SD card made for the Tungsten series on your Treo. That's a worthwhile hack that I used a lot until that Treo got stolen from my car. I even manage VOIP with it which is of course why the carriers don't want you using WiFi on your Treo. Sorry my geek is coming out!

Singles? The only thing our "Blessed Ladies Of Vegas" would give you is dirty look for that.

Cool! Lucy's 51 sounds like a winner. I don't think they'd allow a bunch of unsupervised Muppets in a place like Jumbos! You guys sort out a time that works for you; I should be wrapped by 3 or 4 tomorrow so any time after that is good for me.

Hey guys, I'll be working over in L.A. Thursday-Sunday and would like to offer the beverage of your choice if anyone would like to get together informally Friday afternoon/evening. That's right, I'm buying the first round. It's the least I can do for all the help and support you all have offered in the last six months. It would be nice to put some faces with the names. Plus I have a whole stack of free drink coupons for NAB here in Vegas next month. I'm staying in Burbank but have transpo with GPS. Any place, any time is fine. Any takers?

Oh, c'mon Erwin... just come up and enjoy some fresh air with us; show us your cool set up and load up the van with all that extra kit and have a little yard sale.

Actually Charles maybe you can get that company to design a pen where the Steadicam op trips over and begins to stumble towards a picket fence but is caught by a PA :o As the new op here, I'm going to get one made where I stand still but the more you try to hold pen level the more the background moves!!! Perfect!

Hi Dan: I carry the following: $5 million General Liability (typical is $2m but with the aerial and underwater work I do some of my clients like Disney and MGM require a higher coverage) $1 million hired auto $250,000 rented equipment $100,000 props, sets and wardrobe $60,000 negative, film, video tape $60,000 faulty stock, camera, processing $60,000 Extra expense $15,000 office contents $100,000 unscheduled owned equipment $500,000 third party property damage The above is written through Marshall Entertainment Insurance in Orlando; they only do entertainment / production related work and we've been with them a long time. The above is split between two insurers: Empire Fire and Marine and Fireman's Fund for whatever reason. That package costs me about $8500 annually. The largest part of that being the General Liability I also have Workmans Comp through a Vegas based company. One other insurance we have is DAN air evacuation insurance worldwide. It's part of what I get as a diver but covers air evac regardless of the reason. My wife's company has something similar for them. To give you an idea the HBO series I just worked on had to air evac one person and it cost around $25,000 for a 20 mile trip to the hospital... and they did not have this coverage. I need to get some kind of Disability Insurance myself. Hope this helps you?

Do I detect a bit of a "Technicratic Electronic Elitist Snobbery" from you on this Jim??? B) Dualing pocket protectors are on the horizon... "Gunfight at Heat Shrink Corral" coming to a theater near you. Robert

This shot is for Jim "Show more BFD" Bartell. Is that better Jim?