Marque DeWinter

The union rates don't tier until $1mil. Under that its on a per contract basis. From my experience in NY it can vary from $200-$1200 for 10 hours for most of the jobs with the majority of non-union work around the lower end of that.

~Marque

Sorry but I need to disagree with Brian. While there are many people that jump right into being a DP, few of them every become good at it. And the ones that do become good at do so because they have great gaffers that they learn from. Being DP is as much about lighting as it is about the camera. No matter which way you go you do run the risk of getting stuck. If your smart when you get stuck though thats when you'll transition.

Just my opinion.

~Marque

Gaffer....

I'm sort of in the same position except I'm already a local 600 AC...working on getting my days for local 52 now as an electric. Plus there is one other big benefit, there are usually more electrics on a job than camera staff. Means more work.

~Marque

On the upper end heads and legs are sold separately, and when not in use tend to stay separated because most of the upper end are Mitchell base. An O'Connor 2060 is probably the most common in recent years from my experience. I have one, plus a 2065 they're very similar and the weight capacity is only around 10lbs difference. The 120EX is typically overkill. The 2065 is around $10,500 for the head and set of babies and standards will run you another $3,000 plus another $1,000 for cases.

In the video/eng world Sachtlers are the standard with the Video 18 probably the most common. A complete sachtler 18 runs about $7,000

~Marque

Just so you have it (and I tend to use the military/NATO one...can't shake the army in me)

Alpha

Bravo

Charlie

Delta

Echo

Foxtrott

Gulf

Hotel

India

Juliet

Kilo

Lima

Mike

November

Oscar

Popa

Quebec

Romeo

Sierra

Tango

Uniform

VIctor

Whisky

X-Ray

Yankee

Zulu

They are those specifically because when pronounced in line with the guidelines there are no other words that sound similar.

~Marque

Besides the suggestions above which are all right on, there is some anti-fogging fluid which will help a little bit. But be careful with lenses that have coatings on them. I think film tools carries it.

~Marque

I had a Glidetrack.... Don't waste your money. I ended up using my Cat slider with an adapter from the mitchel to bowl because it was smooth whereas the glidetrack wasn't.

I can't speak about the others.

~Marque

EZ Ups....

Visqueen

Bag-Its for carts

Plus if your shooting in the rain an air knife is good to keep the water off the lens or even more importantly a mirror on a 3D rig. If its a 3D rig with a large mirror your going to need a powerful compressor though since the pressure needs to stay in order for it to work and the larger mirrors require larger air knives.

These all fall under expdanbles. Also most experienced producers know that these things are basics and in some cases realize that with rain towers that the quantity increases.

~Marque DeWinter

Got my answer only holiday, nothing for 6th day.

Thanks everyone.

Well that is the point of the union to make sure we don't have to work a holiday and not get holiday pay. Hence the question is specific to Local 600 northeast corridor.

Thanks,

Marque

I'm working tomorrow (labor day) which will also be my 6th day. I'm wondering if anyone knows what the rate is then? Is it just the 2x holiday or is it 3x for holiday and 6th day combined? I tried calling Friday but couldn't reach any biz reps.

Thanks,

Marque

Will those checksums be checkable in the future? Our theory is to generate a checksum as early in the process as possible, and retain it for the life of the file. That means years from now, if/when it gets pulled from the archive, there needs to be a way to verify the data by using the original checksum.

 

As for what plays on what, yeah, interchange is a bitch in many technologies, LTO included. Problem is, when they put a gun to your head and say, "Pick a digital archive format", there's pretty much nothing else to say but LTO -- especially now that holographic is out.

 

-- J.S.

I print out (usually print to PDF) the log from all the checksums performed after each one and place the PDF file on the drive. This way there is a record of checksum and the results. Sometimes I'll print out a hard copy (paper) if production insists on it. As for LTOs I'm not saying don't use them, but production needs to understand the resources required to make LTO tapes, especially if your doing it on set.

Also consider that there maybe times when not only are you doing transfer but there maybe and assist editor on set doing conversions/dailies, etc. And thats without going into the DIT. Please remember the DIT does a lot more than just color correct on set. By having the DIT on set it should actually allow you to avoid doing as much color correction as the DIT should be changing the camera settings as needed.

~Marque

Do you have any idea how corrosive salt water is? Professional underwater camera housings are designed to withstand very high levels of corrosive agents. While your idea is a good one, I completely disagree with the notion that underwater camera housings are easily damaged by corrosive agents.

Saltwater has a pH around 7 and hydrochloric acid has a pH of 2. I shoot underwater all the time and have a housing for both my canon and my red. A thin splash bag won't cut it in an acid environment. If you want to pull out a full aluminum housing it will do well but they're very heavy, and you can ruin the housing's ability to withstand the pressure at depth with exposure to that environment. So if you want to lose a housing that costs many times more than the camera it would be ok.

~Marque

I have a custom program I use for performing the checksums.

Check out:

 

http://www.md5summer.org/

 

for checksums.

 

LTO has two generations of backward compatibility. So, LTO-2 and LTO-3 tapes can be read in an LTO-4 drive. The new LTO-5's, just about ready, will read the 3's an 4's.

 

LTO is too slow to be practical on the set. In town, the practice is to go to LTO at the post facility. On distant location, it might make sense to put together a little hotel room rig and make LTO's there.

 

-- J.S.

Theoretically this is totally correct. The problem is that I've had too many instances where this simply wasn't the case and the problems go beyond generation compatibility. Some brands of drives don't like certain tapes, even when they should be compatible.

~Marque

If the potential for corrosion is too great, I'd treat it like it is underwater and get an air-tight camera housing . . . ;)

That won't work because all the environment will do is damage the housing. You could go with a splash bag which is more fabric (mostly rubber). I've done something similar to this once. We used a treated sealed rubber bag wrapped in fabric taken from MOPP gear (the military chemical weapons suits). We bought a large optical flat in front of the lens that again was adheared to the glass directly. Also check with your insurance company that the equipment will still be covered in light of the hazard.

~Marque

I just got a gift of the iPhone RealD 3D calculator. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get it onto my phone yet. Does anyone have any experience with it?

Thanks,

Marque

I've probably done more of this as it pertains to the Red than anyone else and for longer than anyone else (since Oct 07).

While the reality is you'd love to run everything through R3D data manager with full bit by bit comparison it typically isn't viable. I had one job where we were shooting with two cameras (3D) and Offhollywood refused to provide drives just provided 8x 16GB Cards. I had brought 6 cards of my own. If I hadn't we never would have made the day with just doing checksums, much less a bit by bit compare.

Forget the Proxies. Depending on the Red firmware build you can have corrupt proxies and all the footage will be fine. Also RedCine-X isn't the fastest program in the world. If you want a visual verification just open it in RedAlert, do a quick drag through the shot (don't try to play it). You'll notice any issues much faster than with RCX. Also depending on the camera firmware some files will only play in certain versions of RC/RCX whereas RedAlert has been able to handle just about all of them.

Process

Do a Visual verification that the files on the media (drive or cards) matches whats on the camera report from the 2nd AC. If there is a number discrepancy you should note it as a potential problem.

Copy the files to one external drive

Do a checksum

Copy the fils to a different drive

Do a checksum

Do random spot checks of files as well as a visual directory verification.

Print out the R3D data manager report as it pertains to the copy!!!! (even if you just print -> make pdf)

If you feel there is a chance for a bad file or a bad drive etc do a more complete verification of the contents.

Personally if I can I try to copy everything to a third drive that belongs to me. The reason being I've had too many times where someone else in the chain of custody did something stupid and it saved me to say "yes I have a copy".

Make sure you have enough drives, and they are a sufficient type for this work. Don't let production give you and excuse and by the cheapest drives. By RAID drives from an established brand. I had one job where we literally ran out of space in the middle of a shooting day. The only thing that saved me was for the four days prior I kept telling production that due to a change they made in the chain of custody I needed more drives. It also meant that making proper backups wasn't happening and all sorts of other issues occurred. Because I voiced my needs consistently and loudly when the figure pointing started I was covered. You need to be clear as to the requirements you give them.

As for LTOs. If your on a larger job (especially earlier on) the bonding company was requiring LTO tapes. The problem with LTOs is that they are expensive and time consuming to make. There are different formats that are not compatible with other drives.

My personal preference is to have a RAID 5 or RAID 0+1 system as your primary backup with a 2 drive RAID as the "off site" backup. At the end of each day (or sometimes more) the off site drive is taken to another location (sometimes to the post house) where it is either copied again onto a larger system or stored for archival purposes. This is just in case something happens on set to the other drive. The other advantage of a RAID 0+1 or 5 is that technically there are two copies of everything included in just that drive enclosure. So if a drive fails (and I've had it happen) you can rebuild the array and not lose any data.

A few more concerns. On some MBPs when using eSATA cards, they can crash your computer. Most drivers for the eSATA cards are poorly written. Test your card out throughly before using it.

~Marque

That's par for the course with any laser tape. I tried to make a sight for mine that would help me aim it in sunlight and it pretty much failed.

The Leica and Hilti ARE builders laser range finders....

You could use a mini-lcd and HD-SDI output on the camera to have multiple monitors, however using the standard Monitor out specifically for the Red-LCD doesn't allow for multiple hookups. In addition you can't use the viewfinder hookup because of the hardware employed is specifically designed to work with the eye piece and not the Red-LCD.

 

A Breakout box will take the HD-SDI signal and allow you to split it to multiple monitors last time i checked, perhaps that will give you what you need. Also, the HDMI port might be useful, however it seems to unplug a bit too easily for my taste.

 

~G

One slight variation. Use the Red LCD and just hook up one additional monitor to an HD-SDI port. I've done it more times than I could count. This way your not dealing with a breakout box or anything like that.

I have. I've done a feature as DIT with the ET Rig, a feature as stereographer, and a commercial (for showing in theatres before 3D Movies. The Pace and ET rigs have both used Red Ones. The Pace has also been set up for other cameras. Really it isn't as much about the camera with 3D as much as it is about the 3D rig itself and the associated support. What is the system like for pulling the I/O, what lenses are you able to use. I've had situation where I've had made up custom filter retaining rings for certain lenses because with the beam splitter system you can't just throw on a matte box. the amount of space is so small we had to have stuff custom made.

~Marque

I don't expect a first to really carry anything... however... Most first ACs have a front box with 25' hard tape, 50' soft tape, laser rangefinder, stabilos, vis-a-vis, a small bending neck led (to stick on the the matte box with velcro and shine onto the FF's disc) and a few things here and there.

As a 2nd AC it all depends on the job. Typically though on an HD job

In Tool Pouch:

Small notepad

Camera log book

Sharpie (double sided)

dry erase w/kleen slate eraser

Inova X5 (best LED I've found so far...and affordable at about $40)

Lens Pen (for the brush only)

Insert Slate

stubby screw driver

scissors

Pen

(for Red I keep the most used hex wrenches as well)

Multitool

Walkie

For film I'll add a hand blower, Canned Air, and a razor knife

I don't tend to carry a tape measure...because my 1st almost always has one. Its heavy, will wear out your belt faster, and if you don't need to have one, ditch it.

I also have 2 bags for my cart and an "on set" bag that will get batteries and other camera accessories that need to be at the ready.

~Marque

I have both as well. As a disclosure I also know both David and Doug... I find Doug's book to contain more information, but David's is an easier read. I would get both. In the grand scheme of things the two books might run you like $75 which is a small investment in your future.

I'd also buy the ASC manual. Its great especially when your stuck with an obscure camera that you don't know. (I had a really old Aaton once... and it saved my butt)

~Marque

I searched the forum and came up empty. I'm looking to find a manufacturer of underwater lights. I know there is at least one stuck in the back of my brain but I can't recall the name. Any help would be appreciated. I'm not looking to rent, I've gotten to a point where I need to buy something.

Thanks,

marque

I'm trying to find out what equipment manufacturers are out there with 3D rigs. Coming to my mind right now is:

Pace

Element Technica

21st Century 3D

Any other suggestions for camera rigs? I now there are lots of other involved companies (3Play, Cineform, etc) in other areas.

~Marque

I'm attaching the general forms I use as PDFs. They hare formatted to fit two sizes. one is an acetate clipboard that fits on the back of a slate (velcro) and the other is the summons clipboards. They include more space for additional information than many others. Prints two to a page. Feel free to use it as you wish just please keep the copyright attached as I went through a lot of working to get the copyright.

~Marque

cam_report_11.pdf

cam_report_10.pdf