Todd Terry
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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Yep, being a newsgathering camera the CP16 and CP16R was virtually always seen with a zoom.
I don’t believe there were ever any primes in a native CP mount. I will agree with Rick, I don’t think you can use any kind of adapter to use PL mount lenses (just due to the size of the PL mount in relation to a CP mount).
I would think that if you want to use primes on your CP, your choices will be to find an adapter like the one that Rick had and use Nikkors, or get the body PL mounted. The latter option sounds quite expensive…. and many more times so if you don’t already have a set of PL primes.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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You don’t have to!
You pull both ends through the “trap door” in one of the elbows, and just tie each end in a single knot (you don’t have to tie them together). Stuff ’em back in the elbow and put the cover back on.
There’s room inside the elbows for the knots, yet they are still big enough to keep the cord from zipping back down the tubes.
If I recall, I think I used about 10 feet (maybe a little more) for a 4×4 frame and about 15 feet or so for a 6×6. About two-thirds the total length of the pipe run. Stretch it through, tie it off, and let it pop back.
DO however watch for sharp edges on the cut conduit. You’ll want to file them down a bit so they don’t wear and fray the shock cord.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Sure… just snapped some pics outside the stage door on the loading dock because I was too lazy to set up lights. Hadn’t been outside today… it’s cold! Was quickly wishing I was back in the studio standing in front of an HMI.
This is one of the 4×4 frames I made. The 6x6s are made exactly the same except they have the usual two posts on opposite sides and additional cuts that allow the whole thing to be collapsed to about three feet. The first ones I made used some “real” posts that I had laying around. For these (and subsequent ones), I just used long 5/8″ bolts and cut the threads off the ends… plus the bolt heads make them easy to weld on. Oh… btw… you can easily weld the actual conduit, but you cannot weld the connectors. I originally tried doing that on the permanently attached sides, but the cheap “pot metal” that the elbows are cast out of won’t take a weld, it just burns. So the screws are used there for the permanent attachments.
Alternately, on a bigger one like a 6×6 or larger you could use the 90° conduit curves which are also available for the corners… but I just used the regular elbows because they have a screw off “wire pull through” panel on them which makes threading and tying off the shock cord easy.
Not pretty, but they work like a charm, and are dirt cheap to make. Plus, seems that most 4x4s you see are the flat rigid kind… and these collapse (or pop open) in two seconds.
Hope this helps.
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Well, the good thing about that situation is that except when attorneys stand and walk around to talk, everyone in a court proceeding is pretty much speaking from fixed positions… the prosecution and defense tables, the witness stand, the judge’s bench, etc. It should be fairly easy to mic those locations, either hardwired or wireless.
There will even be existing microphones in those locations most likely. You might be able to piggyback off of them.
Shotguns or parabolics might be an option, but I’m not sure they would be allowed in most courts. Not very discrete.
Some courtrooms already have fairly good audio systems (some, not all or even most though). The guy who does our audio engineering has designed sound systems for courtooms all over the country, and many of them are quite advanced. If you are lucky enough to get into one of those, then you might be able to just pull a feed from the house system.
As I said, the attorneys are the only ones likely do be doing any movement. Can they wear radio mics? Shooting in a courtroom usually requires the judge’s permission, often with the stipulation that “so long as neither of the parties objects” (meaning the plaintiff and defendant). If you have everyone’s blessing to shoot, then putting mics on those two might not be a problem. I’ve been on shoots in tons of courtrooms (in my previous life as a news reporter), and sometimes the parties were given the say, sometimes it was purely the judge’s call.
If you watch a really well done court doc, such as HBO’s “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills” you’ll see that many parties are wearing radio mics… obviously they had good and full participation of everyone.
It’s a good thing you are thinking about audio though, it’s critical. A colleague recently produced a web series of courtroom action, and while the visuals were fine the sound really sucked out loud. Made it very difficult to watch.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Ralph Chaney] “Any experience out there pulling keys off of SEAMED backdrops?”
A bit…
Right now we have a 10’x20′ greenscreen drop which is, fortunately, seamless. However, the one that it replaced a couple of years ago was seamed…. it had a big ‘ol seam running right down the middle.
We never had any problem pulling keys, or troubles caused by the seam.
I think success is going to primarily rely on the quality of the seam, the skill of the DP in lighting it evenly, and the quality of your keying method. Better and higher-end key methods or plug-ins (Ultimatte, Ultra2, etc.), are probably not going to have much trouble with it. The native comes-with-it keyer in your NLE’s software might not have as much success.
Those foam backed key drops don’t really wrinkle, you’re right. But… they do crease very easily, so you have to be extremely careful with folding and storing them. Rolling them up not too tightly is usually the best best. We used to have a foam-backed bluescreen that constantly fought that battle. And, unlike a wrinkle in a cloth drop, once you get a crease or a hard fold in the foam drop… it’s there. You can iron or stretch out a wrinkle in a cloth drop, but creases in the foam are pretty much there to stay.
As far as cloth drops go, we’ve had really good success with that spray-on wrinkle remover that you get in the laundry detergent aisle. Few months ago we put up our greenscreen, and it was a total mess (we don’t key much, so the wrinkles were really embedded). Hoping for the best, we put it up as usual, stretched it fairly well, and sprayed it down with the wrinkle remover (not soaking wet, but pretty darn damp all over). In an hour or so it was dry, and perfectly flat and wrinkle free. The stuff works.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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I’ve checked on that a bit before. I usually buy those kinds of do-it-yourself raw stock from Aircraft Spruce, they sell all kinds of stuff mostly for people building their own airplanes… lots of high quality metal stock but with unbelievably good prices.
I never found any aluminum stock that was any cheaper than just buying the “real” frames from Matthews or whomever. In fact, the store-bought frames were quite a bit less than the sum of the purchased aluminum parts. Maybe a extra-special good deal could be found.
Conduit is actually pretty darn rigid… we’ve never had one bit of trouble using it for frames. It’s also literally only a couple of bucks for a 10-foot piece. The connectors are a few dollars each which can add up, but even then the whole thing is still pretty cheap.
When I decided I wanted the frames collapsible, I was surprised to find that the shock cord (bungee cord) that I wanted to use was pretty expensive in long lengths. But I found it from a wholeseller on eBay, 100′ of quarter-inch cord for only a few bucks.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Keep in mind that PVC is actually very flexible, might not be what you want.
Not quite that big, but we have made a number of frames (4×4 and 6×6) out of 1/2″ metal electrical conduit and elbows. I suppose bigger ones could be made, but I rarely use butterflys or overheads that are bigger than 6×6.
They work like a charm.
For the 4x4s, on one of the sides we welded a standard 5/8″ post, so they will fit in an ordinary grip head just like “store bought” Hollywood frames. For the 6x6s, we welded posts on two sides.
Two of the opposite sides have the 90° elbows permanently attached. Heavy duty elastic shock cord runs through the whole frame. The cord keeps it all tight, yet it easily pops apart to fold up. They will set up or collapse in about 2 seconds, with no tools or knobs or anything else. Easy and rigid.
With the 6×6 frame, each of the long pieces are also cut in half and joined by female-to-female connectors so the rig is much smaller collapsed.
Easy, dirt cheap, and works well. We used 1/2″ conduit for the 4x4s and 6x6s, for bigger than that you might want 3/4″ conduit, but it would be a fair bit heavier.
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Richard Herd] “Even if this gadget costs $20,000, it ain’t so bad.”
Even if…
I could find only minimal pricing details, but the one source I did see expected (when available) that the unit would sell in the 30,000 Euro neighborhood…. so about $40,000-$45,000 depending on the mood of the dollar that day. For something more accurate I’ll ask Barb at ZGC (the US importer of P+S Technik) the next time I get a chance.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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QUITE interesting… I haven’t seen that, although I have yet to be unimpressed by any P+S Technik product. They make great stuff.
That’s exactly the same idea that some of us were kicking around in another forum a few years ago (cinematographers and other fans/users of Russian film equipment). Out thoughts there were that the Russian Konvas 35mm 7M and 8M cameras, just like the 16mm Arri SR, have a magazine that contain the pressure plates, loop formers, and all the threading mechanisms… not in the camera. We mused that it would be cool to have a “digital magazine” with a 35mm-size sensor that you could just slap into place, retaining real cine lenses and optical viewfinder, etc. That looks to be exactly what this is.
I’d suspect the downsides would be that firstly, since it is a 16mm camera (about one-fifth the frame real estate of a 35mm frame) that the much-sought-after 35mm DoF isn’t going to be there, it will be much deeper (just ike 16mm film, of course). And it looks, if I’m reading it right, it’s only a 30fps module? What’s up with that? The film guys who already own the SR body are going to want 24fps.
And… like everything else from P+S Technik, I’m betting it’s wildly expensive. I’m a big fan (and user) of their stuff and they make great products… but they generally want an arm and a leg for it.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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[Ron Lindeboom] “His wife sent pictures of him in compliance”
I think I can speak for everyone when I say we all look forward to seeing those posted soon.
No, wait… hmmm… then again….. maybe not..T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com