p.k.roberts

Before spending any money at all, have they checked whether the Uni has a Film/TV/Media course who might already have the equipment and even students who might be willing to do the filming to gain some experience?

For budget microphones, you're not going to get much more budget than this;

https://www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_c2_stereoset.htm

next step up would probably be

https://www.thomann.de/gb/lewitt_lct_040_mp.htm

but don't forget to add on a stereo bar.

That, in simple X/Y configuration, on a high stand, just behind the conductor is a good place to start and if you get the position right (might take a bit of experimentation - don't forget to take some reasonable headphones) it should get a reasonable result without any post-recording tweaking. You could add more microphones (e.g. for soloists or further back to give more room acoustic), but I'm inferring from your post that the preference is to keep this reasonably simple.

There are lots of articles about recording choirs on the Sound On Sound website (a reliable and reputable source of information).

Just a quick update on this one - the driver from Thonk just arrived and although it's fine for panel sockets, it's sadly no good for the sockets on Sennheiser radio mics; the 'prongs' are not long enough to reach past the protruding, threaded section of the jack socket. Thanks for the suggestions, it was worth a try, but I'm off to dig out the Dremel....

That looks like just the puppy I've been looking for - thanks Josh.

I've been looking for a tool to tighten 3.5mm jack socket securing rings (as used, for example on Sennheiser radio mic packs). I've tried a variety of two-prong security bits, none of which seem to fit and Google has let me down, so before I get the Dremel out and start hacking away at one of my screwdrivers, does anyone know if there is a ready made tool available to do this?

It's always worth checking the 'Pilot Tone' settings - I've had this on a few occasions.

https://www.sennheiser-sites.com/responsive-manuals/ewG4/100/EN/index.html#page/ew 100 G4/ewG4_Operation_EM100_EN.14.21.html

If all the two cores and screen are showing continuity but phantom will not pass, then check for shorts between the screen and one of the cores. That would give the symptoms you describe.

We had a few in to test, about four brands. Our parameters were colour accuracy, beam control (how well the doors 'cut') and flatness of beam. In the end, we went for the Prolights ECL.

E2A - as a bonus they were available as pole-op as well.

Those nice chaps at ETC have an explainer video here .....

Depending on how the stuff looks, it might be worth an email to a few film/tv prop houses. Bob's Bits and Ancient Lights for example. You never know and it might save a bit more land-fill.

Surely it should fail the (formal) visual inspection before it even got that far .....

Anything 'installed' would be covered by an EICR. What we continue to refer to as PAT testing I find leads to a lot of confusion as it contains the word 'portable'. The CoP for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment now specifically excludes that term and the old terms 'portable' 'mobile' and stationary have, thankfully, gone away.

I don't really think that the lanterns would necessarily be regarded as 'low risk' as the type of equipment in the document Kerry linked to is. Additional considerations in this instance might be whether the lanterns (or their cables) are likely to be knocked (or pulled) by other activities - using access equipment or moving scenery for example. These might be considerations in a performance space for example but not in a 'gallery'. The CoP also suggests that whilst record keeping is not mandatory, it is useful to see if there is any history of degradation. If the lanterns are 'tungsten', then heat degradation over time might be another issue to consider. I suspect the OP was looking for a simple answer, but sadly there really isn't one. No activity is really risk free, that would be unrealistic, but when I am making this type of decision, I always picture myself on a jury and ask myself would the precautions I did take be viewed as reasonable (or reasonably practical).

I had the rubber surface coating on some Avid control panels go sticky and eventually had success with IPA (isopropyl alcohol - not the beer) and a fair bit of elbow grease. They came up well and the problem has not recurred .....

I used to have a few of these, they're marketed by Red5 Audio and are occasionally on 'special offer' at £100 for 4. They're hyper-cardoid with with a good build quality and a decent 'heft' as a hand-held and come with a rather natty clip that has both common mic stand threads already tapped in the bottom, so no need for thread adapters. They seemed really good value to me and punched well above their weight for 25 quid mic!

Have you looked at the Doughty modular stuff? You could put together a half-coupler at the top of a drop-arm and a stirrup at the bottom allowing you to mount the camera (with it's half-coupler) in the correct orientation.

Hmmm, thanks for that. I guess my employer has decided that I would get up to some unspeakable naughtiness if I were to glance at it .....

Hi,

I've been trying to get on to the set exchange website for a while now with no success. Does anyone here happen to now if this is a temporary issue or if it's (sadly) died a death?

There's a picture near the bottom of this page;  https://camstage.com/stage-grid-and-pulley-bar-systems/lighting-bars

this any good?

https://www.surreyamps.co.uk/shop/product/srm-450v1-toroidal-transformer/

I've always found that with backlighting for video, being able to control the beam is needed to keep it off the camera lens, so the LED batten originally suggested and probably the 'LED PAR' style lights may prove problematic, probably needing flags or grids, neither of which are great in a low ceilinged space. My choice would be a small fresnel; be aware though, some of the more budget versions I've seen seem to have been designed with the barn doors as more of a 'decorative feature' rather than for proper beam shaping.

We have an online booking system and expect all items to be booked 24 hours in advance. We also allocate a pickup and drop-off time. This ensures that kit is available; if you hand out kit 'on-request', then every time you do that you have to check that no one else already has it booked. It's also sadly the case, that as soon as (some) students realise they don't have to plan, then they won't!

13 hours ago, Bryson said:

Oh, it was a genuine question!  Thought maybe you got an intensity wheel?  Never tried it.

On the software I use it is (hence my post) - the ring maps the same as the scroll wheel on a standard mouse, so might be worth trying one of those first.

Oops! note to self; always read the whole thread before replying .....😳

+1 for the trackball, but I use this one;

https://www.kensington.com/en-ca/p/products/featured-products/orbit-scroll-ring-trackball-1/

I find the scroll ring a useful additional control.