Markus Rave

The best step you made is towards a back mounted harness. I myself own a Klassen harness and bought that because I once met Walter on a workshop and personally liked him a lot and was stunned by the craftsmanship he put into his products. (NOT!! forgetting his wife Jennifer who helped in any possible way.) I mean, who would have a bag made out of italian leather just as an arm bag not being an enthusiast appreciating and honoring his own work? I have made very good eyperience with Walter´s harness and am happy because he modified the vest towards my needs. The way to find out is talk to both of them and make a personal decision. I cannot say anything about Daniel Sauvé´s vest since I have not tried one. But a Klassen harness is definetely a good buy.

As I read GB comes to France for a workshop in September. Just a hint.

Very delicate situation. You like the client and he gives you many jobs just let go. If this was the kind of client you would rather not work for again charge them. You might consider half rate also if you see more jobs coming. That shows you are willing to "forgive" them. Mention you normally charge 100% but since it´s a new client .... you know the rest. I never charge a good client except I know their client will pay for the loss.

I use NP1 since 4 years now. You buy them at ebay for around 30 Euro here. They come with 13,2 V 2.5 Amphours as NiMH or 13,2V 1.9 Amphours as NiCAD. Buy a couple more and spend the rest on something else. When they loose their power you dump them and buy new ones. When you buy AB you spend a fortune. Markus

Just to enlighten you. This is the guy who developed the electronics on the BaerBel sled. You probably can ask Markus Berhardt directly if you have any questions about the device. Markus

There have been a lot of threads about the AR. Now we know it´s for real and to me the question arises how do I keep track of the monitor when I rotate the sled 180° from lomode to high? Will I need 2 monitors? Does the monitor rotate, too? Calculating that the AR costs as much as a used Steadicam system, has any of you guys that already fly this nice piece of equipment, found out how the clients respond to the more costs. Or do you just put this thing on top of the tons you already bring along? Can´t really believe on that :P Markus

Thomas, sorry I did not get back earlier but hope you still want an explanation. I´ll try to make it short. If you leave your knee in always the same position for a prolongued period of time it compresses on a very small spot of the upper leg joint with the lower part of the leg. You could imagine a rubber wheeled cart stands still heavily loaded. After a day you roll the cart and encounter a bump where the wheel has set on the ground for that time. This will go away after a while and so the knee does take a lot of hits before reacting with health problems you encounter. A more physiologic way would be moving the knee whilst long stands using and compressing different parts of the round surface and allowing the body to "grease" the joint while doing that. Also I would not recommend bowing the knee back to release your muscles for some time but keeping them bend all the time. To understand the reason you must know that the radius of the curve of the femur (upper leg bone) gets smaller when you stand your knees straightened all the way. Also you put more pressure on to the joint since musle power is weaker when the knee is straight and thus helps less in carrying the weight. To make it really short: build up you leg muscles (bicycle uphill is the weapon) when you´re set up try to move your knees, if you can´t leave the leg bowed. Never stand straight the knee bowed back for a prolongued time. Markus

Before earning there comes blood sweat and tears. You buy the rig for more than you would spend on a Hummer. You often go to your limits. You risk your health and your friends regarding the time you spend on set. And maybe you are lucky and get the good jobs. Maybe you are not. Compared to that the Hummer is a nothing. But it is fun, isn´t it? Markus

If you have back problems already you might encounter problems working as an operator. I had back problems when starting but obviously they went away. I´d stick with the opinion that a healthy trained back will not suffer through operating except: you keep the thing on you all the time. The trick is not to. Give the rig to your assistant if the stand is not available. To clarify this issue you have to know how cartilage in your bone joints is nutrified. There are no vessels in cartilage so the only way to nutrify it is through diffusion. This is done via compression and release. If you keep the pressure for a prolongued time you will increase the risk of damaging your cartilage. To prevent this the muscular bondage around bone joints has to be trained NOT wearing the harness. Wearing time should be kept short. I guess the most "healthy" improvement has been the back mounted harness. I haven´t tried Garrett´s new one he developed with Walter Klassen, but I am sure it is the healthier version than the Master´s vest before. But talking about your back is not the only issue. The most unstable joint is in your knees. If you have to stand still try to move your knees whilst the shot and don´t bend them back all the time but try to keep an angle. I know this is more consuming but helps your body to stay healthy. A friend of mine already has encountered problems with his knees. This guy is 10 years younger than me and has done hours of TV shows with very long wearing times. Markus

Mitch, let me tell you. I was working for this client last year and had no trouble at all. It all came out to be a nice job. I did not expect it to go wrong this time. That what bugs me the most is I could have stayed at home working more for even better money. I guess it just happens from time to time and I know he will look for an operator this year shortly before Xmas. So you german guys out there in Rhein Main area, stay alert and ask for for advance payment! Markus

Just to get this straight. The client has no reason to cut down the rate whatsoever. Here is the story: I was booked for a 2 days shot in Dubai. Should be 1 day prep, 2 days of travel, 2 days working. The schedule was changed 4 times until we should fly throught the night, get to Dubai at 6:00 am, rest until 16:00 pm do some location scouting (because I told the client, we could not work without sleep), shoot the next day and fly back. What really happened was this: We flew through the nicht, the client asked to pay the excess baggage for him since he was in Dubai, came to Dubai 6:00 am, no hotel room ready no breakfast no client until 11:00 am. The client wanted us to shoot immediately. We took a shower and shot until 18:00 pm, no break. The next day we shot from 10:00 am to 00:30, 1 hour break. Of course I wrote my overtime. I sent a bill of what was made out plus overtime and some equipment he rented off me. He wants to pay 2 days travel, 2 days shot, no overtime, no extra equipment, no excess baggage, no taxi transport stating I refused to work, my equipment was not ready, I was not ready all the time, there was no overtime, there was no extra equipment, he never asked me to pay the excess baggage for him, he never agreed to a day of prep, there was nothing made out concerning the schedule. How, I ask myself, could I have made an offer then? There was a delay because he caused it. He was supposed to rent a stand with a 16mm spud. This was to save him the extra cost for the overweight. He rented the wrong stand and my assistant had to open the hole in my docking bracket the get everything working. I have witnesses for everything against him. My assistant stood right beside me when the call arrived to pay for the baggage and I had my communicator opened wide, so he could hear what was said. I called 10 times to get it straight. 3 times I got him and he refused to talk. We had a day in court already and the judge blamed him for not paying anything at all until now. He was like a schoolboy and refused to straighten it out right away. He has not paid a single Cent since then. Before the judge he stated that he has no money. I know this guy has tons of it. He ripped off a lot of people before me and I didn´t know. Could have had a happy time shooting and staying at home. The company´s name: TV Medienservice GmbH, Owner: Karlheinz Balzer, Michelstadt, Germany Any other questions I will gladly answer. Markus By the way: my setup time including the docking bracket problem until we rolled was 45 Minutes.

I have a serious problem with a client who denies payment stating that it took me too long to set up my equipment before the shot. I would really appreciate your estimate for yourself as an argument at court. I consider setup time matching the camera and balancing the sled. My equipment was packed into Peli cases. So nothing really unusual.

I am using the bag Walter supplies with it most of the times. Recently we were shooting in Dubai and it would have broken my heart to send the harness with no protection. I bought a Pelicase 1620. The vest fits right in there as if it was made for the vest. Has a collapsible handle and rollers. When it came back I was happy the vest was NOT in the bag but in that case :) Markus

For anyone who might be interested. I bought a Pelicase 1620. My harness is a little taller than the standard, hips around 35" and it was a perfect fit. Snugs right in there the arm detached. A big plus is the handle that is collapsible and the rollers underneath. Only drawback the weight is over 20 lbs. That adds up. Markus

Thank you for your input. Despite Jennifer´s advice to be safe with the bag, I think I just can´t do it. I will check a Pelicase 1620 tomorrow. If they quote the measurements right this will be a perfect fit for the vest together with the carbon arm and my working clothes. Another plus is that the case rolls like a trolley with wheels and a handle. Maybe I am a little overprotective but I simply love my gear and due to that it has not seen very many scratches during the years. I want to keep it like that :) Never fell either (knock on wood) ..... Markus

I will be shooting in Dubai this month and want my harness in the cabin, since I don´t have a case it fits in. Will the airlines accept the harness onboard? Any size restrictions? Will be flying Emirates. Anyone has experience with that kind of situation? Thanks Markus

Quite true. I checked the prices on the recommended harddisk but all together ist will come only 50 USD below buying the AV480 instead the AV420. Loosing your warranty and risking the device is not worth it, I guess. Markus

I thank you all for your input. Looks like the Archos is a real competitor to a DV deck. The only thing to work out is the 20 GB or spending 300 USD more on having 80 GB.

Well the AV 420 seems to have overcome some problems of the 320 as the exchangeable battery, the internal increased resolution up to approx. 700 x 420 pixels. Means on a highres monitor you could actually have almost full PAL or almost full DVD resolution. And that means playback on the normal greenscreen should be able to deal with focus issues. Ron, would you consider buying the AV420 to exchange your stolen one or would you rather get your hands on a DV deck instead? Markus

This is a must see for the ones always looking for Steadicam curiosities :-) [url=http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=21165&item=3846909439&rd=1

Thanks for the link David, but did you try one? I mean how does it behave under working conditions? Markus

Without confusing too much. Choose something between 10 and 15 mm on your lens and start with that. This will leave you with good result and low frustration. Good for a start. You may increase focal length when you get better. You have a presumably light camera which is harder to operate than a heavier one, except for weight :-) since the inertia is less and needs more accurate operating techniques. Good practice anyway Markus

There had been a lot of discussion about the Archos 320 some time ago. Now Archos has introduced a new device with an "almost DVD" resolution, as they call it. Has anyone tested this device especialy for the improved onboard monitor and resolution? Would it be wise to get the 80 gig version, for as I think the storage capacitiy has to increase due to the better resolution, or do the 20 gigs do the job? I agree that focus is always critical to judge going through the groundglass and the video, as Peter once mentioned. But for video this should work then. The question is: does it?? Anyone? Markus

Vest has been sold. Markus

My PRO vest is still for sale. Reduced to 3.300,00 Euro or equivalent in foreign currency. The vest is as new. I will send pics if you mail. The vest will fit up to waist 37 or 38 and can be fitted to any smaller waistsize by just shortening the foam inside the waistpad. That can be easily done by an orthopedic store. I will cover the costs for that AFTER a down payment on the vest.