This week, the Focus Enhancements FS-H200 Pro was added to our HD Camera.  This device provides Direct To Edit (DTE) functionality, to streamline our workflow.  Video data is written to a compact flash card, while a director or production assistant can enter meta data, and review proxy clips via a web interface.  Clips are stored in 1980i, or 720p HDV, or MXF, and proxy data is generated on the fly.  This time and labor aaving device produces data files that are directly ready for the edit bay, with no need for daily clip logging, ingest, and review.  Directors can make clip decisions right on set!  We're currently training on this device, but it has already produced stunning time saving results.

Focus FS-H200 Pro Portable Compact Flash DTE RecorderGo from Solid-State Acquisition to Editing Instantly Connect the FS-H200 Pro directly to your DV or HDV camcorder using a single FireWire cable and record video on industry-standard Type 1 compact-flash (CF) media1 or on CF media and tape simultaneously. Once a recording is complete, simply remove the media card and insert it in a compact-flash card reader, or connect the FS-H200 Pro to your computer via a USB 2.0 connection, and transfer your recording to your computer. Your footage is ready to edit instantly—no conversion is required.

We contracted dimmerrack.com to build a custom dimmer rack panel to save on labor.  The premise of this engineering project was to pre-rig as much of our dimmmer assembley s possible into as small of a package as possible.  The dimmer rack is only 6 U tall, and contians three 2-U JANDS dimmers.  The back panel needed to allow for Camlok power in, Socapex out, cooling, and DMX-512 pass-through.  The folks at dimmerrack.com came through with a pre-fab panel that just worked perfectly.  These panels are perfect for mbile installations requiring lots of conventional dimming.  

Dimmerrack.com is a great source for any custom engineered rack panel!

In recent years, the advent of LED lighting, and DMX controlled fixtures has reduced the need for dimming.  However, these panels have a new life as a very SMART means of power distribution.  We still need to distribute several 20 Amp circuits around a venue.  With the desire to single source power at foreign venues, socapex is still the ideal means to distribute power into truss and rigging systems where it is impractical to install heavy Camlok cables, and PDU boxes.  Go to dimmerrack.com for all of your custom Socapex, dimming, and power distribution needs!

The image to the left is the Califur VI stage just before we finished setting it up.  In our gallery, you'll find several more images of the set-up.  As soon as we get actual event images we'll post them.  The event was exciting.  We were sharing the hotel with KROQ, and KROQ was using this as their host hotel for their annual KROQ Weenie Roast.  Stone Temple Pilots tried to crash our party, and supposedly Smashmouth, and other bands were in the hotel, even Devo.  The two unlikely to be compatible events seemed to not only get along well, there was a lot of "cross polilnation" between events.  Even the KROQ manager said she wanted to pre-register for Califur VII.  We were brought down to facilitate the stage for one specific performance, and Califur was able to benefit from it's use all weekend.   Hopefully next year Califur will have us back again in a similar capacity or even  an expanded capacity as well. 

Click Here for the KROQ web site images

Friday, and Saturday nights the dance allowed us to open up the floodgates of the  Crown and JBL PA quite a bit.  Perhaps this is why STP  wanted into the party.  We coarsely measured the room at well over 100db.  As someone pointed out with this URL's chart, it was getting up there!  It was still comfortable, clear, and un-distorted with plenty of headroom left.  We never actually were able to turn it up even close to redline, but the system has proven to have considerable "bandwidth".  We'll likely need a large outdoor venue to really push this safely.  Perhaps an outdoor concert or street fair is on order! 

To the right is a custom system control I was working on between performances.  I later added more controls , and indicators.  This was a great place to demo the total control of the Crown iTech DSP.  Literally any control light, meter, indicator, slider or knob that is controlled by software can be presented in a custom control surface.  This really lends itself well to the pictured laptop, because it's touch screen.