Live camera operator Triax belt technique

[Joe Perri]

Hey,

 

I see live hand held operators (for award shows, corporate events, concerts etc...) have their Triax cable tied to their belt/waist somehow to prevent the cable from being pulled out of camera. So it's pretty much Triax cable tension relief. For those of you who do these kind of shows, can any of you tell me how you tie the cable to your waist? Or any other similar techniques with the same affect?

 

Thanks!

[Brian Drysdale]

I've only done it with a Steadicam and it was tied to where the arm attaches to the vest. For hand held I suspect your belt would do the same job..

[Frank Barrera]

Whatever you use it should be something that is easily disconnected from your body. As in when you put the camera down you should in the same motion disconnect your able so you are free from camera and cable.I have used either Velcro strips or trick line rope attached to the cable and then attached that to a carabiner clip. The clip is then attached to your belt. Easy on, easy off.

 

FYI the purpose IMO for the cable strain relief is not to prevent the cable from coming off the camera (this is unlikely no matter how hard you try). Its so if your cable wrangler gets jammed up and you run out of length for a moment while you are walking and shooting, you will know by the tug on your belt as opposed to a tug on the camera so as to maintain your shot.

[John Stout]

Typically it is done two ways.

 

1. You take a caribiner and using either gaff or black tie line, you attach it to the triax in a spot that allows you enough slack to move the camera freely. Then attach caribiner to you your belt, not a belt loop. Black tie line is preferred and much less messy than gaff.

 

2. With Steadicam there are different methods of hanging the cable from the camera, but 99% of the ops use a jumper cable that is thinner and lighter to go from the camera to a connection that is attached to their vest between their jumper and the main line. This is true for triax or fiber. Most of the time, it is a caribiner to the vest for quick disconnect. There are variations on this process that are debated on the forum, but this is the basic set up description.

 

John