A few weeks ago, Lisa and I are heading to a commercial shoot. We’re stressing, because we don’t know what the location is going to look like, and we’ve got just 30 minutes to light everything before the talent arrives. I’m pushing our folding cart across Second Avenue, piled with plastic bins. And I hit a bump. The bins and their contents end up in the middle of the street.

Luckily, we had time to scoop everything up before the light changed. But this embarrassing and potentially dangerous scenario woke us to the reality that we’re either packing too much shit or it’s time to pack it properly. So the hunt began for the perfect cart.

Requirements: It has to fold down to fit in the back of my Nissan Leaf – but have big-assed, bump-taming, curb-mounting wheels. It’s gotta have stays on both sides, to prevent load shifting while in motion. Ideally, it should adjust to fit one or two bins, all the way up to big enough to handle my 50″ golf case, which I use to carry tripod, light stands, and c-stands to shoots.

I started my search online, where I discovered that good carts don’t come cheap. I found a couple amazing ones at filmtools.com, but a thousand bucks is more than I want to spend, and most of their carts look like you could use them to perform surgery on a horse. I need a cart without a horse. I also didn’t like the hand-truck convertible carts – I want a proper cart that’s born to be a cart and nothing but a cart. We spent hours scouring the web for something perfect, and came up empty.

But today I was at Glazers here in Seattle, picking up a part for an upcoming shoot. I see this. “Tell me you sell this,” I said to the sales guy. “Why, yes, in fact, we’ve got a bunch of them in the back. This way.” He led me to back of shop, where a stack of cardboard boxes of varying sizes piled with carts. I didn’t even ask how much until the cashier told me $250. Deal.

So here you have it: the perfect cart. It’s called Multi-Cart, and I got the big one, the R12. They make some smaller ones which look pretty sexy too. But this one? Mine.

As you can see from the wheel detail shot below, there is a small amount of semi-permanent assembly required: you have to bend cotter pins around the axel to attach the wheels, which means you can’t get the cart to lie flatter than 12″ deep. Too bad there isn’t a way to quick-release the wheels, because then the cart would pack down even smaller for transport. It’s also not exactly light weight at just over 30 pounds. But I really like the quick adjustment, and folding uprights. And it’s smoooooooth rolling.

A couple weeks ago I learned that LitePanels is attempting to create a monopoly on LED lighting for itself, which would ensure that LED video lights sold in America will continue to be overpriced. Seems they own one of those vague, overly broad patents that the patent office hands out like candy nowadays, and they have the money to enforce it (it can cost as much as $5 million to defend against such patent claims, forcing even large corporations like Sony to settle out of court when faced with such action).

What’s intriguing is that the LitePanels cases are being heard in Texas Eastern District Court, which Ira Glass recently reported on in an expose story about patent trolls on This American Life, When Patents Attack.

But I digress. The LitePanels patent case has achieved at least something positive: it’s spurred me to purchase an affordable alternative while they’re still available. I recently purchased the CN-900 LED light, which is available on Amazon for about $450, after watching this review. I’ve had an opportunity to use the light on a project, so I’d like to add my observations.

The conference trailer I just finished for the upcoming Seattle Interactive Conference was a great opportunity for me to try out the CN-900 LED light. We shot 6 interviews with VIPs on tight schedules, making it essential that we set up quickly to get the job done. We asked for 20 minutes to set up our lights, 20 minutes for the interview, and did our best to stick to that. The easy transport and fast setup time of the CN-900 light was a big part of how we stayed on time and made the interviews look good.

Here’s a frame grab from each interview (key light was CN-900 in all cases):

Key observations about this light:

• It has a serious green cast, which is easily removed by using the included minus green diffusion, or by using 1/2 minus green gel
• It has a CRI of 75, which at first glance might seem to be too low for professional use. The low CRI is the biggest downside of the light in comparison with the LitePanels, which advertise a CRI of 90. But the fact is, without a side-by-side comparison, I’m hard pressed to say these images don’t look great. The color correct easily and are easy to balance with other daylight sources at 5400K native balance.
• If balancing for tungsten, the included orange diffusion filter is too yellow and is useless. Use a CTO gel instead, and be sure to add 1/2 minus green to remove the aforementioned green cast
• The frame is totally solid, made out of metal, not plastic, and it’s just as thin as LitePanels

As reported elsewhere, the AC power cable is a real design flaw, because the weight of the DC converter hangs and puts stress on the connector when the light is on a stand. The solution is low tech and simple: form a loop out of the cable about 6 inches from the tip, and fasten with gaff tape. Then, hang the loop on one of the stand’s knobs, relieving pressure from the connector. See photo below:

What’s great about the CN-900 is that it can be battery powered – by the same Tekkeon myPower ALL Plus MP3450i Battery (5-19V) that I use to power my audio bag. Yes, the CN-900 comes with a Sony V-mount plate, but V-mount batteries are twice the price. The Tekkeon is just under $140. And I’ve discovered a few tricks about how to get the most from it.

Use velcro strips to attach the battery to the back of the light. Be sure to set the correct dip switch voltage (15 volts for the CN-900 LED) before powering up your unit.

If you power the CN-900 at full blast, it will run for just under 30 minutes on a full charge (27-29 minutes in my tests). Then the light will abruptly shut off, going from full power to nothing without any dimming beforehand. But what’s intriguing is that the battery shows half to 1/3 power remaining at this point. It seems that powering at full power for half an hour causes the battery to overheat, triggering the shutdown, even though there is quite a bit of juice left. After letting the battery cool for a minute, I was able to switch the light back on at half power, and it ran for an additional 40 minutes. So as long as you don’t need full power, you can get a lot of time out of this battery. It takes 3.5 hours to recharge the Tekkeon.

Just when I thought it was safe to edit on my Drobo Pro…it up and dies on me. Weird things began happening not long after I connected the unit to my new iMac. As I was copying huge amounts of data using Final Cut X (which I was using to create proxy media of my entire film footage), Final Cut would sometimes freeze. Then the system would freeze, and I had to force-reboot more than once. With all the badmouthing Final Cut X has been getting, it was tempting for me to pile on and blame that.

But i had a sense that the Drobo was the culprit. Yesterday morning the fan on the unit went crazy, with all the red and blue lights on at the save time. The fan was on top speed, and would periodically go dark as if it were trying to restart. But it was stuck in an endless boot up loop.

I didn’t shell out the extra money for DroboCare, so I was stuck sending an email to tech support on a holiday. To my surprise, someone answered within an hour. Within a couple of email exchanges, they determined that the problem was fatal, and they would RMA me a new one. I’m grateful for that much, because I purchased mine 16 months ago – so it’s four months past the 1-year warranty that Drobo extends to US customers (EU customers get 2 years).

This morning they notified me that a new unit is on the way and will arrive Thursday via FedEx. I’m crossing my fingers that this one will work, and that all my data will be safe despite the unsafe shutdown it must have suffered when it went down. The nice thing about Drobo is that you can pull out all the old disks (what Drobo calls a “disk pack”) and insert them into the new box (with power off) and turn it on, and it should recognize everything as before. Wish me luck.

**UPDATE** My replacement Drobo Pro arrived within 48 hours. I followed the instructions: with both devices powered off, remove the media from the old drobo, and load it into the new drobo (disk order doesn’t matter, they say – but I put them back in the same order because I guess I’m superstitious that way). Then I stood back, and hit the power switch. Wait for it, wait for it…it works! All my data is safe, and the new Drobo is humming along nicely. I’ve copied several terabytes of data so far (yes, backing up my data to another set of external hard drives), and no problems. Average data transfer with iscsi seems to be somewhere around 60 Mbps, as measured by AJA System Test disk whack tool. My plan now is to try cutting my film on Drobo Pro, but when I can afford it to use Drobo Pro as backup and edit on a Thunderbolt RAID.

But yesterday, things changed. In preparation to cut my first feature film, I’ve purchased an iMac 27″ fully loaded war pony. And the thought occurred to me, as I saddled her up, to give Drobo iscsi one last chance. So I cabled it up, and boom, it works. Look at these numbers!

80 MB/s write times! 77 MB/s read times! It’s my editing dream come true. Well, actually, it’s what Drobo advertised when I bought the thing, but I’d come to expect much less from the company. I still wouldn’t recommend purchasing a Drobo Pro, because who knows whether it’ll work with YOUR machine. But today, at least, I am one happy boy, as I contemplate more than 3 terabytes of film and audio that I’ll be scrubbing, tagging, cutting, previewing, and rendering into a film without any storage bottlenecks.

And as for the iMac? Oh. My. God. It’s amazing. But that’s another post.

The experts say you should take these things slowly. Cutting a feature film on a brand new Apple product is a bit like getting married after a single date. But I’m a confirmed early adopter, an Apple fan, and a bit of a romantic. So I’m going for it. I’ll let you know how it goes.

My first impression was to scratch my head. The interface is different. Really different. I had to spend about three hours with it before the lights began to blink on. But once they did, I can see why the new version is going to be killer. In descending order, here’s what blows me away:

1. Storyline vs. Timeline. The old timeline is history, replaced by a single “storyline” that everything magically drops into and stays connected with. No more keeping track of layers and layers of stuff: it’s all on the same line! Now, to layer something above or below the main clip, you do something called a Connect edit. That joins the clip you’re adding to the storyline. Do a couple of these and you’ll wonder how you ever did it the old way.

2. Audio sync: ahhhh, so easy to connect zoom audio with dslr reference audio for individual clips. And just as easy to drop out the reference and bring up the zoom audio, or to mix them together. But so far I don’t see a way to sync multiple clips at the same time, as you can with pluraleyes.

3. Events and metadata: In the old Final Cut, it was possible to log everything, put in notes about takes, label them, etc. But I never did any of that. Did you? Well, on this new version you will. Some of it’s done automatically for you, like recognizing what type of shot you’ve got, how many people are in it, and more. And tagging is a snap, and it’s so heavily incorporated into the interface that you find yourself wanting to tag everything. You can even tag a section of a clip, which creates something like a subclip.

I’ll have more to report as I get deeper into it. But after the first date, I’m confident this is going to be a love story.

For nearly two years, I’ve searched in vain for a DSLR shoulder rig that does what I want it to do, at a price I’m willing to pay. But last week, I finally cracked the code. After taking a look at Ikan corp’s new Recoil XT shoulder rig (and realizing it was ergonomically and technically NOT the rig for me), I got the idea to combine affordable components from Jag-35 with an inexpensive shoulder stock that Philip Bloom once raved about from DotLine Corp. And the result is, for the first time ever, I’ve got exactly what I want. An affordable shoulder rig that:

1. Is balanced – I can completely let go with my hands without the rig falling over.
2. Is light as possible – no shoulder-numbing counter balance weights need to be added.
3. Includes follow focus for smooth cinematic focusing on the fly.
4. Is ergonomic – Z-finder is positioned in front of my right eye; I can comfortably use rig for longer than a few minutes.
5. Can be quickly reconfigured – camera can quick-release for use on tripod.

OK here’s the component parts, and how much each costs:

From Jag-35:

$59.99 DSLR tripod plate
allows mounting to stock and attachment of rails

$139.99 Quick Release Gorilla Stand attaches to rails allowing Zacuto Gorilla plate to quick-release camera on and off

$65.00 Zacuto 15mm rods 6.5″

$189.99 D|Focus follow focus V3

From B&H:

$69.95 Dot Line DL-0370 Hands-free video stabilizer

Total cost: $524.92 (see update below for how to shave almost $40, bringing total cost under $500)
Total weight: 2.5 pounds, including strap

*Also needed are the Zacuto Z-finder, mounting frame, and gorilla plate. But I won’t count that in the cost of the rig, since it’s really a separate bit of mandatory kit.

You might think that it would be hard to breathe while holding still a rig that rests partially on your lower chest, but it’s not that bad. The camera will move slightly every time you take a breath, but it’s easy to adjust your breathing pattern slightly for maximum stability (it simply involves being mindful not to push out your chest when inhaling – it’s easy to expand lungs down and sideways instead).

I was worried that the $69 stock would be cheap plastic, and it remains for me to use it awhile before the verdict is fully in. But it feels very solid. And as far as the Jag-35 components go, I’ve been very satisfied with the quality of their gear. It’s not top-of-line stuff, but it’s solid and dependable and simple, and a fraction of the price of competitors like Zacuto. That’s a winning combination for me every time.

UPDATE: Incredibly, I just found an apparently identical version of the $69 stock listed on Cowboy Studio via Amazon for $29.95. How’s that for a deal? Brings the total cost of this rig down to under $500. Sweet.

But this weekend I messed up. I wired a lav to a Zoom H1, planted it on my subject, took a guess at the recording levels, hit record and let it roll for 8 hours (until the batteries died – it was a long day). Later in post, I synced everything I’d shot during the day with PluralEyes. Piece of cake…except that my subject was in and out of cars, working crowds, basking in applause, oh, and he happens to be Italian, no stranger to high-spl outbursts when cute girls are nearby. Every time one of those things happened, I got clipped audio. Next time, I’ll remember to set the audio levels REALLY REALLY LOW. But what about THIS time?

I looked up audio clipping on Wikipedia, and breathed a sigh of relief when I read this: “It is preferable to avoid clipping, but if a recording has clipped, and cannot be re-recorded, repair is an option. The goal of repair is to make up a plausible replacement for the clipped part of the signal.” Wikipedia even pointed to a couple of tools. But none of them worked for me.

I figured somebody had to have an app for this. And I was right. After some digging on Google, I discovered an an audio repair app called iZotope RX. Their video is a great overview of how it works:

After trying out the demo version for 30 minutes, I was happily forking over my credit card number for the $250. Yep, it’s really that good. And a snap to use. It comes with a whole suite of other audio repair tools, such as a de-crackler, de-hisser, and de-noiser. And best of all, they work as plug-ins with Soundtrack Pro, so I can stay inside my favorite tool to use them.

Here’s what my audio looked like in Soundtrack Pro BEFORE iZotope:

And here’s what it looked like AFTER iZotope RX de-clipper:

Have a listen to the difference yourself:

And finally, here’s a peek at what iZotope does to the individual waveforms: it actually creates data where none exists, presumably based on a careful analysis of what other nearby good peaks sound like. Whatever. I’m with Arther C. Clarke, who in 1961 said: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

I’ve been a Kickstarter member for awhile now, but this is the first project I’ve helped fund: The Glif iPhone 4 tripod. It’s a slick, simple little device that attaches to your phone and turns it into a tripod, as well as a stand, and an antenna protector. I’ve already got a tiny tripod for my iPhone, but it was so cheaply made that it broke in the first 48 hours of use, and is now limping.

I hope the overwhelming success of this project – which has already received more than 600 percent of the money it set out to raise – sends a message that there is a lot of demand for well designed video and photo related accessories for iPhone 4. It’s a great little camera, and with this, even better.

This small, low-tech addition is the difference between wanting to use my DSLR and actually using it. I shoot on a Steadicam Merlin a lot, and having this articulating screen means I’ll be able to use a Canon DSLR without flying blind.

And for “normal” shooting? If I had a quarter for every time I cursed Canon for making me break my neck or lie on the ground to peer through the back of the camera to get a low-angle shot, (which is like half of the time I’m shooting), this camera and the extra shipping would have been paid for long ago. Nice work, Canon!

I’ll be shooting with the Canon 60d this weekend and may have more to say about it. But I doubt there’s much more that needs to be said than this. Oh, maybe one more thing: here’s my recipe for balancing Steadicam Merlin on the Canon 60d (with Canon EFS 18-55mm lens):

Front weights: 1 mid, 1 finish
Lower weights: 1 start, 1 mid, 1 finish
Arc size: 10.75″
Mt. hole: M
Z: -3
G-platz: no

I did a simple side-by-side comparison of male dialog (my voice reading the first paragraph of Origin of Species) recorded in my office, in three configurations: a Tram TR50 lav (run through a Sennheiser G3 wireless transmitter), built-in stereo mics, and Rode VideoMic. I didn’t do any post processing on the files except to reduce gain slightly on a couple files so they roughly were the same level for the comparison. Here’s how it sounds (WAV files recorded at 48khz 24bit):

NOTE: I just discovered that the wordpress plugin I installed yesterday to steam these only serves the WAV version of the file if you have an HTML 5 compliant browser. Otherwise, it serves up an mp3 (no good for comparing audio.) So to be safe, I’ve posted direct links to the WAV files in the comments.

Conclusion: The Zoom H1 records solid dialog. But if you were hoping for the same H4N quality in a smaller package, you will be slightly disappointed. To my ear, the H1 delivers dialog that is flatter and less rich, especially in the higher frequencies, than the H4N. It’s not such a radical quality drop that it’s a dealbreaker, though. Far from it. Until now, all we’ve had in this size and price range has been crappy mp3 recorders that cost the same or more and sound like shit. The H1 can record dialog that’s quite usable, from a tool that’s affordable, and ridiculously small. I call that a winning combination.

I plan to use the H1 two ways: mounted on my dslr for recording dual sound, and as an inexpensive alternative to purchasing another expensive wireless lav. For the latter combo, it’s small enough that I can hide the recorder on the subject along with a wired (instead of wireless) lav. One drawback to this: no ability to monitor while recording, since the recorder is on the subject. And, I haven’t been able to find a self-powered Tram TR50 lav that has a 3.5mm jack (but that’s nothing that a pair of wire strippers and a soldering gun can’t cure) UPDATE: I’m using this adapter to make it work.

Random observations:

• In general, to get roughly the same recording level from the H1 as the H4N, I found I had to set the recording level on the H1 around 10 db higher than I did on the H4n.
• MicroSD cards are TINY. It would be very easy to lose one of these – it’s literally smaller than my little fingernail. And if you’ve got big fingers, you’ll have a hard time fishing the thing in and out of the card slot. I found myself wondering if the next step in this evolution will be a micro card that is permanently embedded in your forearm, which wirelessly transmits the data whenever you need it.
• With a little EQ matching in Soundtrack Pro, I was able to get the clips to match well enough that they’d cut virtually seamlessly.