[Bob Cole]

Thanks John. I’ll get some labels before more of my equipment evolves legs.

re: my homemade Chimera lantern/Edison holder. Looking at plates, I realized that there may be a better alternative than mounting a 5/8″ spud — a receiver instead? Do you worry about things like safety chains when using a drop down?

[Bob Cole]

follow-up: I did a little more research, mainly on sites devoted to digital photography, and found some substantiation for the archival claims of MAM-A. It’s all about the gold.

And anyway, we could re-archive all our “keepers” every XX years, on the best media of the time. Deciding what’s a “keeper?” That’s tougher!

[Bob Cole]

[Peter Ralph] “it should be quite easy to slow down a belt drive model”

Great idea — could you give me a hint of what you would do to slow them down?

[Bob Cole]

[Alexander] “Luke Duncan] “ny of that, and how do you deal with it?”

Soundtrack Pro”

True, but avoiding the problem is so much better; you don’t always have the time, and if you have the time, you still can’t always fix these things in post. imho, if you are recording irreplaceable audio, esp. with devices like the Beachtek/Studio1 (which probably create other avenues for noise), you really need to wear headphones all the time. Regarding these adapters, it’s probably a good idea to remember that “pro” mixers cost much much more.

[Bob Cole]

[Luke Duncan] “My question is this: When the DXA is plugged into the 1/8″ input, will the GL-2 still auto-level the audio coming in both channels?”

Short answer: I think so.

I just used a GL2 with the Studio1 equivalent to the BeachTek, plugging two sources into the 1/8″ input. I used manual level for the most part, but I did switch to auto occasionally, and it appeared to change the levels from the manual setting.

btw, I noticed some occasional sensitivity to noise, depending on where I placed the Studio1 adapter. I wound up holding the Studi1 adapter box for some shots. Of course, I had a lot of wires lying around (teleprompter, lights, two mics, lots of power cables), and mic wire noise is not uncommon even in straight XLR-XLR situations.

— Bob C

[Bob Cole]

The big problem with this scenario is the part about contacting the Hold-Requester. Often there is a slight time delay because the Hold-Requester is “on another line” or “out of the office” and unavailable via cell phone. By the time the hold-requester releases the days, the new client has found someone else.

Whether you offer these hold-requests should depend on your other work; if you have projects with long lead times, and you can always fill in for a blown date, it’s okay. If your facility is sitting idle because of a hold-request gone bad, that’s another story.

[Bob Cole]

I agree with the above responses, while applauding your desire to get better customer feedback. There may be customers for whom lunch isn’t really appropriate, depending on the nature of your business. As it happens, I was just talking with an Internet entrepreneur about this (while trapped on a delayed flight, so we covered the topic thoroughly).

The only way you can get busy people to fill out a survey is to offer them something of value in return, whether it is a drawing for something big or a definite small freebie. Often, btw, the surveys you fill out have a purpose that is totally disguised; they are used to provide a list of “qualified leads” to some mega-corporation which isn’t even mentioned in the survey.

— Bob C

[Bob Cole]

or you could try convincing the client that it should be shot black and white, and you won’t charge extra….

— Bob C.

[Bob Cole]

Agree. It’s all about VARYING the pace, and staying one step ahead of the audience’s expectations. Bad pacing is deadly; with great pacing, you don’t even think about the pacing, just how exciting and great the story is.

[Bob Cole]

I was just joking — I enjoyed the Stones show, and the whole game, all the spots, except for the new Lorne Michaels “Family” promos, which were painful. The only laugh I got from those was when they said the new show was unscripted, which must have been a writer’s subtle jab.

But I had a thought about the officiating: there is better talent out there. If you’ve ever worked with headphones on in a broadcast truck, you notice that before the refs even get their hankies out, somebody in the director/producer area is yelling into his headset, “[Camera] 4 get 87,” meaning, the refs are about to call a penalty on #87, and I want a close-up of his reaction to getting caught. Those folks in the truck are QUICK, and usually right on.