William Demeritt

Jens: that's what I thought, and then processing a 1920x1080 image to a 1280x800 panel requires a scaling step which costs a frame or two.

Would love to see this as well. I thought I've read that LCD panels intrinsically have a 1-2 frame delay due to the way the LCD's function (or maybe more)? Curious to see if this is within the threshold of what all monitors do. Also, has anyone spoken to SmallHD about this? I'm sure their response is "Yes, that's standard", but I'd be curious to see if an engineer somewhere could explain more.

I'm not sure how to print from an iPhone, but I imagine the desktop and web versions can handle printing. Message sent from my Google Glass using telepathy

I've found Quickbooks Online to be most useful for invoicing, tracking, etc. They also have a fantastic Mac app that serves as front-end to the website, but you can also use a regular web browser to access invoices and receive payments. They also have an iPhone app.

I've got the Tiffen Wagner Module on my rig for digital horizon indicator, and a bubble as backup.

Lately, more people are likely swearing AT their Cinetronic...

Flip to low mode includes: Dock upright Extend post all the way Move gimbal down. Add D-bracket to gimbal arm Rotate Monitor 90 degrees using Sachtler Tilting Telescoping Monitor arm. Tilt monitor a bit. Slide camera platform forward a bit on rough adjust (maybe 0.5" to 1"). Pick up the rig, make sure static balanced, can view monitor properly, everything secure. Interrupt DP and Director discussing how it will take me to switch to low mode to tell them I'm in low mode (generally this is about the same time it takes an juicer to bring in a Kino on a stand or makeup to get off her phone). I have a GPI PRO rig/gimbal, Sachtler Tilting Telescoping Monitor arm and Small HD PRO HB monitor on the Cam-Jam monitor yoke. For the most part, this whole pricess requires no tools except for locking the gimbal arm onto the D-bracket after the pin is placed. Camera is moved forward close to 1" because tilting the monitor to the new position changes balance.

Another reply: "Magnets... how do THEY work???

"I operate a camera like a cameraman, however it's attached to my body with an apparatus that uses springs to stabilize the handheld camera 'jostle', so it comes out smooth like the camera is flying in front of me."

Nothing about that photo I don't like.

Alan, Doesn't matter what you sign, you can't waive your rights as an employee. They really just try to use that as a reason for declining unemployment benefits. However, it won't have any bearing on claims with the Labor Board (claims over not getting paid, etc). That comes from a conversation I had years ago with a mediator at the Labor Board when a gaffer didn't pay me for 6+ months (he'd spent the money from production elsewhere). Here's my 2 cents: "Death is kind of like sex in high school. If you knew how many times you missed having it, you'd be paralyzed." -"Dead Like Me" Replace death with undercutting. If you had any idea of how many times you'd undercut another operator, you'd be probably (rightfully so) be pretty freaked out. I know, because I know the names of a few people I've actually undercut, and found out after the fact. In many ways, I'm still a wuss and haven't discussed it with them. Easier said than done. However, I believe twice, I've undercut another operator during negotiations, and I told the producer I was talking to that I was aware of what had happened and could no longer honor the rate I was giving before. However, when you realize you've undercut another operator, above you or coming up behind you, you should be f*cking TERRIFIED. Word travels fast, especially among operators. We get a lot of our work from fellow operators, and if they can't trust you, then you might as well just become a Craigslist All-star. That situation gave me a black eye with the producer (not really, they know the name of the game), but one of those operators has gone on to become a good friend and colleague (and someone he refers for jobs, for which I am most grateful!!). I think Alec Jarnagin once said that rates conversations were best left undocumented, unwritten, and loosely discussed over brews at your local pub. I agree with that. Let's consider the tier system: Tier 1 is $21.87/hr for operators (last I checked). Now, productions have a solid number, which is great, but I've worked with Tier 1 jobs where I negotiated a better rate. RARELY happens, though, because apparently "that's the price" for an operator. Asking for a bump for Steadicam suddenly becomes a controversy: "Wait, the union says your rate is this...." I think the mindset need to be this: With producers, we know what our fellow operators are charging (ballpark), and respect it. With fellow operators, we meet up, openly discuss rates, and communicate. Talk about clients, jobs, rates we got, etc. With undercutting, give the person a call. Tell them you were up for the job, glad it went to someone who is in the communication loop, and just inform them how much you were negotiating when they got the job. I'm genuinely bummed out when conversation breaks down among the local operators, and I feel it has (in many ways) broken down here in LA in the "coming up" ranks. Personally, I'm against the label of "undercutter" when someone accidentally does it once. A pattern of behavior should result in the label, not a single instance where you're butthurt you didn't get the job. There's a LOT more politics involved in this, so much so that entire academic disciplines are dedicated to labor, wages and employer relations. We're not going to solve it here, but I'd be willing to try and solve it at Golden Road Brewery, Fuddruckers or somewhere else for shenanigans. Or maybe just my back yard for a BBQ.

I believe Alan Rencher has a Ninja Star for sale right now in the Marketplace. I'm considering buying it, but I have a kid on the way, so stop me and buy it yourself.

I believe the 4 canister arm is in fact lighter than the 2 canister arm. I've down both a lot, and can barely tell a difference between the two. The 4 canister arm is definitely a larger profile, which can become cumbersome over time, even though it weighs less.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=electric+unicycle I've seen one up close, one of the guys in a music video I did 2 months ago had one and was talking about trying to bring them to the US. They seem cool, but I'd be terrified of trip hazards. The foot-ground clearance while moving is very small, and I saw the guys NOT wearing a Steadicam have some issues negotiating a flat parking lot on it.

I've got a CW-3, works great, cost effective, external antennas give great range. Once psf is solved, it'll be even better.

What price are you asking?

I must say, we have a strange relationship with fellow members here. Anytime someone has a sub-par experience company, lots of people seem to rush to defend the company with stories of their success. Granted, perhaps we can do without the melodrama of "a story of a FAILED PRODUCT" etc, but I don't think it's particularly constructive that anytime someone has an issue with a larger company (Cinetronic, Teradek, etc), the flurry of replies cite the responder's positive experience. I can't imagine it really helps the aggrieved to hear numerous stories of everyone's positive experience in the wake of sharing a negative experience. Mike has already replied, and if they make good for Tim, I'd love hear about it from Tim himself.

Tim: Can you give any details on how/when it broke? How were you using it, etc? Just curious, I'm sorry this happened to you!

Does someone at GPI want to chime in? Says serial number 320, maybe check with the owner to make sure it's legit?

Hmm, I may have a faulty monitor then. Not sure, it's happened twice and cooling off the monitor fixed it both times. This picture probably doesn't illustrate the "problem" well enough. It didn't prevent me from working, but it did make me nervous. Do you mean that fancy "x-port" has that function?

I've bought a bunch of stuff from Alan, and he's also gotten me out of a bind a couple times. Seriously, his stuff is great quality and he's on TOP of his stuff! Thanks Alan! Keep up the great work!!!

Directions unclear; monitor is now on fire. Halp.

No, in all honesty, I've been thinking about it hard for the last few weeks but not doing much about it. This post was my attempt to get the fire lit under my ass to find it. I figured I'd cast a wide net, starting here.

Rumor has it that a CAD design for a GPI Gen 2 battery hanger paddle is floating around somewhere, and I was wondering if anyone had it? Since Dionics on the Gen 2 battery hanger paddle places the batteries too far to the right, I heard that someone made a CAD design for a new paddle that moves the batteries to the left a small distance (enough for dynamic balance to be easier to find on a sled without camera on top). Does anyone still have this CAD drawing, or better yet have the CAD file/drawing or a one-off from whenever someone maybe made a batch of them? Hit me up if you know what I'm talking about. Thanks!

Here were my thoughts which I shared with another operator recently: I bought a SmallHD DP7HB back in February to be a backup monitor, but it quickly became my primary monitor. It's lovely, works wonderful, but here's the honest feedback: I wish it was as bright as the Gen 2 Cinetronic, but it's not. The front panel of the Gen 2 is optically bonded, and the SmallHD isn't, so you get some glare issues pretty much always. Heavily overcast days, you may strain a bit to see the image, but it's not awful, and some monitor angle adjustment helps. I bought Nick Davidoff's recommended screen cover, and it helps, but it doesn't make it brighter. Glare is reduced, but ambient glare (overcast bright skies) still washes out the image a lot. I haven't tried using the SD input on the monitor, but they're in a very inopportune place AND they're only through a Hirose plug. I wish they'd had just a standard BNC composite input, but it doesn't. I think that Matthias Bieber with www.cam-jam.de is the only monitor yoke built specifically for the SmallHD, and I just ordered one (apparently he just redesigned it). I've been using my Gen 2 yoke with a few modifications, but got stick of it. If you order it, the battery plate and backing plate system comes with the monitor but not actually installed... so you get to install it. When I installed it using their screws, I felt like it didn't necessarily install as securely as I wanted. HOWEVER, I haven't had any issues with it, so I think it was just lack of confidence in my install. When the monitor gets hot, which happens, the image starts to degrade. The monitor has a built-in fan, which you can turn onto 3 settings (hi, med, low) or off. If the fan is set too low, and you're outside, it can overheat which causes the image degradation (imagine watching an HD image with transmission interruption, like bad signal on a rabbit ears TV). Weird coloration and "snow" starts to appear until it cools off. Best way to combat it was to power off the monitor when not in use. I haven't seen custom framelines, but I haven't looked very hard for them. Still running the Hirose connector. It performs pretty well for me. I have it on a coily cable with LEMO on the other end for powering from my PRO 8-pin LEMO, and I haven't had any disconnect or fidelity issues with it, even with the coil pulling at the plug.