brooksrobinson

I think you'll find that the majority of A-list steadicam operators in the US own Preston systems, and I can't imagine anyone stating that a Preston is too heavy to use on a steadicam. Other brands are used of course, but I believe Preston to be the most popular follow focus system on features, television, commercials, etc., at least in the US. Brooks Robinson

I was wondering if anyone has come up with a smaller solution to the large dual-sided Anton Bauer cage that Teradek sells for the Sidekick. It appears to be the same AB cage designed for the standard 2000 RX that has been modified to work with the Sidekick. The large size of the cage increases the footprint of the Sidekick dramatically and somewhat defeats the purpose of the smaller RX. I realize that Teradek made a huge effort to get these units into our hands as quickly as possible and as the owner of two, I applaud the effort. At the same time, I’m not sure how long it will take Teradek to come up with and manufacture a more streamlined design for the cage, so I’m wondering if anyone has taken it upon themselves to address the size of the cage and come up with anything smaller and lighter. Thanks in advance! Brooks Robinson

I just started a show this week, and while I have yet to use either of my new Sidekicks on set, I did put them both up during my prep to test with my two directors monitors, and they worked great and will be welcome additions to my kit. My only complaint would be the Anton Bauer cages that shipped with mine, which are much too big and heavy for the size of the Sidekick, and appear to be modified standard 2000 RX cages. I'm not sure if they were a temporary fix in order to deliver the Sidekicks on time, but the size and weight of them defeats the purpose of buying a smaller/lighter RX. Teradek (and Andrew specifically) has been very willing to listen to suggestions and I'm hoping there are plans in the works to reduce the size of these AB cages. Brooks Robinson

I just picked my new 702 up to use as an onboard monitor but I don't get to use it until my show starts next week. The power "connectors" are a joke, and the new Vitec (Teradek, SmallHD, etc) office in Burbank didn't have any power cables for it when I picked up my monitor, but they did send me to Alan Rencher at Media Blackout (mediablackout.net) who builds the power cables for SmallHD. Alan was able to build them for me the same day, and just in time for me to ship my gear off to location. He is a solid resource for these cables and others, and he totally saved me on this last minute job. I'm looking forward to trying out the 702 in the field and am hopeful that my experience will match other peoples positive experiences with it. Brooks Robinson

Great news Andrew! Can't wait for mine to arrive! Thanks for making it happen. Brooks

Just ordered two...thanks Andrew!!! Brooks

Thank you Victor but I am not looking to do this myself. I'm looking for a good case company in Los Angeles that does solid work with foam. Any thoughts? Brooks

I know there was a similar thread a while back on the Forum, but it was geared towards case companies in New York. I am looking for a case company in Los Angeles that will put foam in my Pelican cases and cut it out to fit the equipment that will go inside. Robert Starling pointed out Master Case (who I haven't used yet) in the previous thread, but I was wondering if people in LA had good recommendations in addition. I dropped three Pelican Cases off at Innerspace Cases yesterday to be refoamed - two 1450's for my batteries and one 1610 for my chargers. The ETA I was quoted was 3 weeks, which seems long, and last time I was there the ETA was surpassed by weeks, which I forgot until I was in their office. I'm currently in between jobs so that timeline is probably okay, but I'll need to have two more cases refoamed once the new Teradek Sidekicks are available, and I don't know if I want to wait that long for a relatively simple foam job. Any ideas would be welcome. Thank you. Brooks Robinson

Great post Janice! You never know what you are going to find when you show up to work each day and it is important that you are able to protect yourself. Some prop/grip/special effects departments are well stocked and set up to protect you for whatever may arise on set, while others are woefully equipped, and your safety is in your own hands. I always carry several bags in addition to my regular equipment for safety and comfort. The first large duffle bag doesn’t include my safety gear, but does include things I use most days on set. There are several smaller sacks inside this one, each filled with different items that are easy for my assistants to find quickly if I’m busy on set. The first sack has black-out clothing for help beating reflections. I have black long-sleeve dri-fit shirts, black gloves, black cap, lightweight balaclava, and a lightweight black one-piece “ninja suit” with hood. The second sack has a full change of clothes in case I get wet. The third sack has my rain gear. This includes a poncho (I prefer these for doing steadicam in the rain), a nice Arcteryx rain suit (lightweight jacket and pants), rain hat, waterproof gloves, and 2 pairs of Neos waterproof overshoes (both the insulated and lightweight models). The rest of the bag is filled with spare shoes to change into at lunch, sweatshirts and coats, gloves for warmth, stocking caps, and various hats for the sun. There is nothing worse than being on location and not having the right clothing to be comfortable during a long shoot. Since we often don’t know what a particular job entails, or didn’t bother to read the callsheet, it is good to have it all with you just in case. My second duffle bag contains my safety gear. I have a fire retardant Safety Fire suit that I use for fire/explosions/gunfire. It is made out of thick, treated furniture pad material, and while it is hot as hell to wear on a hot set or in the jungle, it has saved me on many occasions (literally), and it is an essential part of my kit. I also own several face shields for close-range gunfire as the ones the prop departments provide are always scratched and hard to see through. One of mine is pre-cut for an eyepiece so I don’t have to ask the prop or grip department for one at the last minute when the sun is setting. I also have two sets of ear protection (cans). One is a slim model for when I go hand-held. The thin ones are narrow enough to fit between the camera body and my head without adjusting the eyepiece too far out away from the camera body (a throwback to the film days when you couldn’t do that). My other set of cans are made by Peltor and I use them for steadicam and traditional operating when I am using a monitor or an extension eyepiece and there isn’t a clearance issue. They are great because they allow you to hear people talk but actively cut out loud noises. Perfect for set use so you don’t need to keep taking them off and risk forgetting they aren’t on your ears when SPFX blows up a building. I also keep a box of the small foam earplugs in with my cans so I can double up the protection when using full-load gunfire. Lastly, I also have a respirator for working in nasty and dangerous conditions, not that production would ever make us work in a location that wasn’t completely safe. As always, when working with explosions and gunfire, ask the special effects guys what is safe. They should know how close you can be without getting hurt, and if there is a safety concern, involve the 1st AD and key grip. Nobody wants to get hurt on set, and it is your responsibility to ask questions and be as informed as you can be. Have the right gear and make sure everyone signs off on where you are going to be in relation to the gun or explosion. Thanks again Janice for starting the thread. I’d be interested to hear what other people bring to set to make their life safer and more comfortable. Thanks in advance. Brooks Robinson PS Off topic, but important...I was reminded while proof-reading my post of the importance of black clothing. Years ago in my formative years I was fortunate enough to land a job with a big time DP that many of you would know. It was an exterior job in the mountains and it was cold. I pulled out my jacket which was bright red. My assistant on the job was an old-school guy who I'd never worked with before (but who I still work with whenever I can), and he quickly pulled me aside and told me I'd need to change to something black right away. Without taking up too much time with an explanation, he told me I'd never work for the DP again if he saw me wearing a bright red coat on his set. It was a reflection risk (though we weren't filming anything that could show my reflection at the time) and also a color bounce risk. I ran to the truck and changed immediately (good thing I always keep that big duffle bag on the truck!). I didn't really take it in until later, but upon reflection (pardon the pun), it made perfect sense, and I appreciated the AC saving me. Because of him, I wasn't let go that day due to my red jacket and I still work with the DP to this day. Because of that lesson, I only wear black or dark gray while on set and certainly nothing that might distract or be an obvious reflection risk. I am always amazed when I show up to film a car commercial and the AC's, AD's, and dolly grip are wearing white shirts. So wear what makes you comfortable on set, but know that some DP's frown on bright clothing in the camera department.

Thank you to everyone who has been thoughtful enough to contact me directly via email or PM regarding my friend Jason Gaviati and also to all of you that have contributed towards his cause, either financially or by just sparing a moment out of your day for a warm thought or prayer. It is incredibly valuable and it means more than you know. I wanted to take a minute to write about something that happened this past weekend. Jason is a huge UCLA fan but wasn’t able to attend the home game at the Rose Bowl against BYU this past weekend because he was back in the hospital for a second round of chemotherapy. Jason had met BYU senior wide receiver Mitch Mathews after a concert in Salt Lake City while on tour with Lindsey Stirling and the two bonded while talking about football. If you follow college football, you might recall that Mitch Mathews is the guy who caught the improbable last second 42 yard Hail Mary touchdown bomb to give BYU the victory over Nebraska 33-28. Jason gave Mitch some grief and told him that he’d be rooting for UCLA when they played each other in the 3rd game of the season. In the time since their post-show meeting, Jason was diagnosed with the fast moving Burkitt lymphoma and Mitch has had a great start to his senior season with a terrific BYU team. Mitch learned about Jason’s condition and remembered their meeting and Jason’s love for UCLA football. When BYU played UCLA this past Saturday, Mitch decided to pay tribute to Jason and wrote “Gavi” (for Gaviati) on his right arm with Sharpie so that the 90,000 people in the Rose Bowl and countless millions at home watching on TV could see. Here is an article about the tribute in case you are interested: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865637364/Mitch-Mathews-pays-tribute-during-UCLA-game-to-fan-battling-cancer.html?pg=all Lastly, here is a link to Jason’s Gofundme page if you are interested in contributing to help fund his cancer treatments or to simply drop him a note: https://www.gofundme.com/2nv6ujw4 And here is a link to Lindsey Stirling’s merchandise website where she is selling T-shirts to help Jason with all of the proceeds going directly to support his medical care: http://www.shopbenchmark.com/lindseystirling/catalog/product/view/id/24954/s/wearegavi-shirt/ Thank you again for all of your support. It is hard to put into words how much little gestures mean during difficult times and I really appreciate all of the love the steadicam community has shown.

Thanks again Andrew!!! It is nice (and rare) when a company goes out of its way to listen to their customers, and the turnaround time from Alec suggesting it to it being a tangible product has been incredible. Thanks for championing our cause with this and I look forward to picking up two of them when they become available. Brooks Robinson

Elliot, I’m certainly not a doctor but I’ve never heard of anything like your heart/chest pains being caused by wearing a rig, and certainly not one as light as the one you are lifting. I would assume that your issue was not caused by your vest, regardless of how much or how little padding there is in the chest section, or how loose or tight you are wearing it. See a doctor. Ron and Janice have been operating rigs as long and as well as anyone out there so their advice is valid and well worth considering. I’m not sure what you were looking for as a reply to your question, but your tone in follow-up posts came off as a bit misguided and condescending to those taking time out of their busy schedules to give you guidance. Victor’s advice from yesterday about taking a workshop is also valid if you haven’t already done so. Though I’m quite sure your chest pain wasn’t caused by the rig, learning how to fly the rig as it was intended will prevent all kinds of future injuries, especially if you continue with this physical pursuit for any length of time or eventually move up to a bigger/heavier set-up. As I mentioned above, the first thing I would do is get to a doctor. Chest pains aren’t anything to take lightly regardless of your age, and the fact that they were still happening several days after your shoot is really scary. I would think that the sooner a doctor sees you after/during an episode like you described, the easier it would be to pinpoint the issue so you knew what you were up against, and how to prevent it going forward. I would assume that the longer you wait to see a cardiologist or similar, the less likely they are to see what you were experiencing. In a profession like steadicam, your health is everything, so you can’t take it lightly. When you make your living on your feet, it can all go away with one misplaced step, so treat your body as though you were a professional athlete and get things checked out when they don’t respond the way they should. Good luck, and let us know what you hear back from the doctor if appropriate; it might help someone else down the road with a similar issue. Brooks Robinson

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has contacted me off-forum to send warm thoughts and also to those who have contributed to Jason's medical fund. Jason's gofundme account has managed to raise over $39,000 towards his ongoing medical expenses and people from around the world have stepped up to help in droves. Some have offered $5.00, some have contributed much more, but the fact that people from such diverse backgrounds have gone out of their way to help is incredible. Since my last post, Jason was admitted to the hospital and has been responding very positively to his chemotherapy treatments. He has a long way to go, but is encouraged by the success of the treatment so far, as well as from the outpouring of love he has received from around the globe. As a way of showing the kind of musician he is and what he does, I have attached the link (below) to a clip from a Lindsey Stirling concert from London (Jason is the one in the striped shirt with the hat playing the keytar - yes, the keytar!). Jason has been touring the world with Lindsey for a few years and was dismayed to be forced to cut his participation in the tour short because of his illness - especially with her recent home date in front of friends and family at the Greek Theater in LA. Thank you again for looking, and I just wanted to pass along the story as it has evolved. Here is the link to Jason's gofundme account in case anyone is still on the fence about this: http://www.gofundme.com/2nv6ujw4 All the best, Brooks

Ozzie, Thank you for taking the time to look at the site and for posting, and I'm very sorry for your loss. Jason is a beyond talented musician and a unbelievable guy who has inspired people around the world. The outpouring of wishes and love from all corners of the globe has been a huge comfort and benefit to Jason and his family, and I really appreciate those who have reached out here, through PM's, and on the gofundme site: http://www.gofundme.com/2nv6ujw4 Thanks to all who have looked, and I really appreciate even just taking a moment to send wishes to a great guy who is going through a hard struggle. It all makes a huge difference. Brooks

I realize this is quite off topic, but it hits close to home for me and my family and I thought I’d reach out to the steadicam community and see if anyone might be interested in helping out. A close family friend is a musician named Jason Gaviati who plays keyboards for Lindsey Stirling. He was on tour with Lindsey in Germany about a month ago when he noticed a swollen lymph node in his neck. He went to the doctor on a down day to get checked out. After numerous tests, he found out that he had Burkitt Lymphoma, a form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma which unfortunately produces the fastest growing tumor in humans and is frequently fatal if not treated immediately. He obviously dropped off the tour in order to start treatment. As a travelling musician – an industry (like ours) full of wild swings in monetary fortune, he did not have medical insurance, but was able to sign up for it upon his diagnosis. Unfortunately, the insurance he was able to get isn’t accepted at his first several choices of doctors and he is seeking help in financing his treatment, as well as maintaining with day to day expenses until he is able to beat this disease and go back in the studio and out on tour. Here is the link to his gofundme account: http://www.gofundme.com/2nv6ujw4 It provides a way of contributing financially if that is of interest, and also gives information about Jason, his diagnosis, and talks about the kind of person he is. I realize this isn’t the sort of thing we often talk about here, and I’m sorry if it isn’t appropriate for this forum. I am not the sort who posts here often and when I do, it is hopefully about something that is helpful to someone in our community. I try and help people whenever appropriate, and I know Jason to be the kind of guy that those here would appreciate and like – not just for his talent as a musician, but because of the kind of guy he is. Thank you in advance for any possible help – be it financial, or simply warm thoughts for someone in need. All the best, Brooks Robinson

I've had an agent for 17 or 18 years. There aren't too many that specialize in steadicam out there, and I've never heard of anyone trying to take a commission on equipment. I'm guessing the person you are talking to is new to the steadicam market and my advice would be to stay far away from them - bad enough to get screwed by producers, you don't need that from someone you are already paying handsomely. Brooks

Thanks for the great information Greg. Always appreciated. Brooks

Brendan, The gimbal alone is worth $8000 new with the ergo handle...not to mention everything else. A very nice set up for the price and should make whoever buys it happy for a long time. Good luck with the sale Joseph. Brooks Robinson

Thanks Andrew!!! By the way, mark me down for two of the smaller RX units if the plans move forward - one for each of my 2000's. Also, I'm planning on going to the stabilizer expo. Brooks

All of the 230 batteries and chargers have sold (except 1 battery - anyone want to give it a home?). Thanks for all of the interest. Brooks

There have been lots of people interested but so far no takers. The batteries and chargers are all brand new and still sealed in their original boxes. I'm dropping the price to $300/battery and $150/charger - that's $140/battery and $100/charger less than GMP sells them and $107/battery and $151/charger less than I just paid for them. My loss is your gain. The batteries have between 2 and 3 times the capacity of Dionic HC's at less cost and the chargers are substantially less expensive than Anton Bauer. In buying them from me instead of GMP you get a great deal and avoid the wait time to import them from New Zealand as well as a rather steep shipping fee and additional import duties. I have 13 230wh Global Media Pro and 3 simultaneous quad chargers for sale. If interested, the link to the batteries is: https://www.globalmediapro.com/dp/A2HGA0/Globalmediapro-Li230A-HW-Lithium-ion-Battery-230WH/ and the link to the chargers is: https://www.globalmediapro.com/dp/A012C8/Globalmediapro-SCA4A-4-channel-Charger-AC-Adaptor/ The only reason I am selling is that I purchased them (and a bunch more that I am keeping) for an experimental 3D job that I became unable to do. I am willing to break this package up. Los Angeles area buyers are preferred. Thank you for looking. Brooks Robinson brooksontheroad@pacbell.net

Andrew, I don't want to speak for the others, but in my experience, if the director is holding a monitor, he tends to be pretty close to the camera (transmitter); otherwise he'd be sitting comfortably in a chair looking at a much bigger/better monitor. I don't know what that means in the real world, but I'd think you'd want to be prepared for the camera to go around a corner or two and get a little distance away from the transmitter. My guess would be 150' or maybe a bit longer - anyone else have any ideas on distance needed for a smaller Bolt 2000 RX? Brooks Robinson

Ron - the downside to the Global Media Pro batteries is that the don't work with Anton Bauer chargers, which is why I just sold our of my AB TWQ chargers. On the plus side,the GMP chargers are inexpensive by comparison but I can understand why someone wouldn't want two sets of chargers in their kit.

In my above post I mentioned that I would like to sell the batteries and chargers locally...and then forgot to write that I live in the Los Angeles area. Sorry for any confusion. Brooks

I purchased a huge amount of Global Media Pro 230 WH gold mount batteries and chargers for a very specialized 3D job than I didn’t end up doing. I am keeping 12 of the batteries I purchased and three of the chargers, but I have 13 of the Global Media Pro Li230A-HW batteries and 3 Global Media Pro SCA4A 4 channel (simultaneous) chargers available for sale. Here are links to each: 230 WH Gold Mount Batteries: https://www.globalmediapro.com/dp/A2HGA0/Globalmediapro-Li230A-HW-Lithium-ion-Battery-230WH/ 4 position simultaneous Chargers: https://www.globalmediapro.com/dp/A012C8/Globalmediapro-SCA4A-4-channel-Charger-AC-Adaptor/ I found out about these batteries through Greg Bubb at XCS who has been using them for years. All of the gold mount batteries and chargers I have for sale are brand new in the box, and I’m selling them for the same reduced price I paid for them. I would like $400 for each of the thirteen gold mount 230WH batteries (they are $440 each on the GMP site, plus a large shipping fee – I paid $1300 in shipping from New Zealand for my total order). I would like to get $200 for each of the three 4 position simultaneous chargers (they are $251 on the GMP site). I would prefer to sell these locally and am happy to break up the package. Please let me know if you have any questions and thank you for looking. Brooks Robinson brooksontheroad@pacbell.net