Annoying Cameraman!!!

[David Roth weiss]

[David Smith] “are you saying you expect timecode to be reset for every take?”

David,

No, he’s suggesting the cameraman hit the button that returns the tape to the place where the timecode left off so that there is continuous timecode on the tape.

[David Smith]

Thanks David. That shouldn’t be necessary unless they’ve gone back and replayed the previous take or ejected the tape for some reason. If they did go back and replay every time, then indeed the camera should have been set to regenerate TC, and the review button would have to be pressed every time. If all they did was stop recording and then start again, there shouldn’t be any break in record run timecode, even if the pause was so long that the tape unwound from the heads. If the camera was set to free run timecode it’s a moot point, there would be a break every time they paused no matter what they did.

Regards,
David

[Phil Balsdon]

This was a problem on SP Beta and earlier cameras. Often the cameraman would put the camera into “Save” mode if there were extended periods of time between takes. This saved battery power and head wear on the VCR. Buttoning on with the heads in “Save” would cause a timecode break. The solution was to put the camera back into “Standby” mode and then hit the Return button on the lens before rolling the next take. This would then replay the last few seconds of previous take and reset the camera to the last timecode frame. Sometimes this was impossible if you had no control over the event you were shooting. Most new cameras are capable of compensating for this situation.
However as a cameraman I was always taught to; a) leave enough run in time for the editor anyway and b) as you are very aware as an operator when “Save” start up happens as you can hear it, to leave about 8 – 10 seconds if possible.
I would consider it very arrogant and stupid of any cameraman, made aware of this issue, to refuse to adjust his style. I would also wonder about the editor who considered himself high enough up the chain that he had the authority to fire the cameraman, unless he was also the producer or director.

[Phil Balsdon]

A couple of years back I was at a 10th annivesary for a production company. This company operated solely with freelance cameramen and editors so we rarely met. One particular cameraman turned up later in the evening and was introduced to everyone, in unison all the editors said “So you’re “D o P” (Name witheld)” and proceeded to bombard him with complaints about his habit of not reseting the heads.
The producer eventually calmed the situation, took the editors and the cameraman to the edit suite and showed him the problems he caused. Despite 30 years experience and being a very good shooter he was totally unaware of the problem.
Take your cameraman to the edit suite and show him the problem.
Unfortunately these days anyone can buy a camera and run around shooting. Companies seem to think it is unnecessary to properly train operators and operators think they are beyond or often are unaware of the basics. Every cameraman should spend time watching some of his footage being edited to learn how he can improve things and every editor should spend some time in the field to appreciate shooting is often far from a controlled environment with coffee machine down the hallway when you need to take a break.

[David Roth weiss]

David,

You’re identified the problem. Looking at playback in the camera is just bad.

DRW

[Kevin Monahan]

I would also wonder about the editor who considered himself high enough up the chain that he had the authority to fire the cameraman, unless he was also the producer or director.

I forget that I often produce my own projects and can fire crappy DPs accordingly. If I were simply an editor working for a producer, I would make it well known why it was costing him so much money for me to patch up a DPs mistakes in post. For sure you can’t remain silent about that kind of situation.

Kevin Monahan
Take My FCP Master’s Workshop!
fcpworld.com
Pres. SF Cutters

[David Smith]

[Phil Balsdon] ” Every cameraman should spend time watching some of his footage being edited to learn how he can improve things and every editor should spend some time in the field to appreciate shooting is often far from a controlled environment with coffee machine down the hallway when you need to take a break.”

I couldn’t agree more Phil. I know I became much more aware of pre-roll time, among other things, after I started to do some editing myself. As a shooter however, those seconds feel like an eternity. More than once over the years I’ve had a producer come back with a comment about some little detail, and I’m thinking man, if this guy only knew how lucky we were to get that shot on tape at all!

As to the original point of this thread…. I am sorry you’re having so much trouble with this project Dan. The dub with new timecode suggestion is a good one if it’s not too late, as is the suggestion to bring the shooter in to learn about the problem. I’ve been mentoring some young shooters over the past few years and always recommend they do some editing. Praise or damnation from an editor can really effect our reputations.

[Dan Lachevre]

WOW… Quite the discussion. I’ve started here isn’t it. Guess I’ve hit a nerve for editors everywhere with this issue…,

Thanks for all the responses and suggestions. I feel editors and DOPs everywhere now need to give each a big hug… [actually maybe we can just fudge it with some clever cutting?]

Danny

[Nick Meyers]

i agree with everything said here.
(even the contradictory stuff, nick?)

already pointed out, is that cutting with the existing material will cause MAJOR slow-downs in the online.

but i thought id chime in with a workflow suggestion

“you have to put each set of clips [created by the TC breaks] into a sequence to view the whole tape, and then match frame to start to cut.”

you can load the sequence of clips into the viewer,
then edit them to the timeline by holding APPLE when you make the edit.
if you did a normal F9 or F10 edit, you;d get a “nest” (read up on nests in the manual if you dont know about them yet)
but Apple F9 or Apple F10 will cut the CONTENTS of the laded sequence across.

cheers
nick