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Tele Prompter


Marco Dardari

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I've had flat screen LCD teleprompters mounted on the rig. 6" and up to 11". Check with the supplier to find out the power connector. Usually 12v with a 4 pin XLR on the end. I have made up a cable to supply power directly from the sled (Auxiliary output on the PRO). On a video camera you might be able to power it off the Hirose connector on the camera, but it may blow the fuse. Otherwise you will be dragging a power cable and a BNC to feed it. If you are running Triax or fiber you can get prompter feed out of the camera.

Best way I had it mounted was with some industrial velcro on top of a flat rubber lens shade. Also the supplier usually has some (heavy) bracket that will mount to a handle on top of the camera.

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On a show that I do monthly, we attach the monitor to the low mode plate using an arm off of the plate. The monitor sits just above the matte box. I power the monitor out of one of my camera ports and power the Cine Alta 900 with a battery off the back (one of the small Dionics batteries so its pretty light).

The best set up is using either a 6.5" or 9" monitor off of the arm and putting a wireless transmitter up on the low mode plate as well so as to avoid any additional cables. Depending on your prompter supplier, you can either do that or go with one BNC. I use my 12 volt cable out of the Jbox and had the prompter supplier make an xlr to monitor power cable, so its pretty self contained and not too heavy.

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Don't ever power a promter (LCD or not) off a video camera's 4-pin Hirose as it will sure blow the internal fuse. Way too much of a current draw. If the camera has a 2-pin Anton/Bauer style powertap on the battery mount then you can safely power from that. Some battery brands even include a 2-pin powertap on the bricks themselves. And if the camera includes on of the 6-pin Hirose multiconnectors then you can get 12v out of that (don't recall which pins) but this is again not sufficient for an LCD.

 

As for transmitting the video signal, some telepromters use computer screens instead of video screens, which means that the component signals cannot be transmitted with a Modulus. There are workarounds, but one would have to work it all out with the teleprompter operator beforehand. It has been my experience that the teleprompter ops are stunningly unknowledgeable about the technical aspects of their tools, and are thus utterly useless when it comes to such matters.

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  • 10 months later...
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Hey there kids,

 

I have to find a 9" or so LCD that can mount above the lens for a 35mm shoot for tomorrow to interface with an existing prompter situation, so it needs to have video in and 12v XLR for powering through the rig. Best case scenario is some sort of clean way to mount to the top plate and/or 15mm rods with some sort of vertical adjustment possibilities. And hopefully it won't be 10 lbs...anyone got the setup or know where I can find it for rent, please call me: 323-350-8822

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http://shop2.outpost.com/category/Outpost/...st+LCD+Screens/

 

 

thinking outside the box, but fryes is open late.....

 

could you wire an xlr adapter and make something like this work???

most of the baby telepromters that i have been looking at project on the glass inside of a shadow box... so the brightness of one of these might work....

 

the price is right on some of them.......

Edited by DavidWest
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Brad--no problem, I appreciated the effort! We didn't shoot until 3:30 p.m. hence my not being up at the "crack of--".

 

Job, yes, this prompter doesn't involve the half-mirror concept, as those units tend to use smaller LCD's like 5.6" ones, fine for close proximity work. When 15 feet away as I generally was on this shoot, a larger screen (=larger text) becomes critical, and conveniently the shifted eyeline becomes less critical. It seems that having the eyes focused just slightly above the lens is preferable to slightly below, but at that distance it's unnoticeable anyway.

 

As a follow-up, the prompter worked very well. It mounted off the 15mm rods from the Steadicam dovetail (I borrowed one of the Bubb plates from Erwin, which was a good choice because of the additional rigidity provided at the rods). Converting the spacing of the non-standard rods to the Arri mini-rod spec took all of the "Lego" in my kit (a record number of dogbones and little bits of rod triangulating out and back again) but once in place, the frame mounted easily and solidly and we could slide the monitor up and down to find the perfect spot above the lens. Steve Graham, the designer of this system came to the prep and was instrumental in making sure everything came together properly. He's spec'd some amazing backlighting into the display so that it is brighter and punchier than anything I'd ever seen (optomized for the black and white nature of text/background, not suitable for presenting video). The 12" monitor and bracketry weighed under 5 lbs, which is impressive considering the size. Obviously one must be prepared for the additional weight on the lens end, but I justified it by thinking of it like a beastly anamorphic--and I was aided in balance by the otherwise unfortunate and accidental circumstance of the LWII being provided with standard, non-lightweight mags.

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  • 3 months later...
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Hey Charles, just curious.....

 

I have a show coming up that will combine walk/talks as well as live musical performances. Would you recommend this prompter system for such an application? I see that it's not a heavy prompter system...but what about it's size?...kinda bulky for shooting live music maybe?

Curious to know your thoughts.

Thanks!!

 

Bryan

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A useful invention, would be excellent for ENG applications...however I'm less convinced about the Steadicam aspect of it, as most such shots are static and it would therefore render the Steadicam useless (and cause slow destruction of the operator, as he holds a static shot for minutes on end...

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I disagree, I think this opens up a lot of possibilities to move with the subject, to follow or preceed as well.

Sure there are some limits what you can do, but it might give you new perspective too.

 

One thing i wonder though, as a viewer we are used to see people that react to someone off-screen, mostly we don't need or want reactions straight into the lens , as that would address the viewer and not the interviewer.

 

I wonder if it would be a more "natural" look when you place the camera on one side of the teleprompter, obscuring the lens by the same mirror, so people will look slightly off-camera.

You can still use the same setup, with the remote interviewer.

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