Long shooting days with the Komodo

[scorsesefan]

I just purchased my Komodo a few months ago and haven't really shot anything but tests so far... I'm planning on shooting a documentary about a progressive grade school from the 1970s. I will be interviewing the students and faculty (who are a lot older now Most of the interviews will be between 30-45 min. and there might be as many as 10 in a day. I have 4 bp-955 batts and one 512gb Cfast card. I have a Rode Videomic NTG for scratch audio and two Tentacle Track E's with a Tentacle Sync II for capturing quality audio. I have a 2020 MBP 13 m1 for offload.

I know my fx6 would be a more convenient tool for the job, but I'm thinking the Komodo will provide more of a "filmic" look to match the 70s vibe of the school and R3D will be more flexible in post than slog3.

Can anyone who has shot long form doc with the Komodo chime in with thoughts or suggestions? Thanks

 

[Brian Timmons]

I would get at least 2 more 955 batteries and definitely another CFast card preferably 1TB. With 2 cards you could at least offload while you’re filming with the other. Just try to have an SSD to offload to
for the speed. Spinning drives may not be fast enough for onset offloads.

I have a feeling with what you mentioned you might be constantly managing batteries and have your back against the wall with not having enough cards for footage to last a day.

If buying the items is an issue you could always rent those items for pretty cheap particularly if you have something like Sharegrid.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Agree with Brian. I shoot docs with my Komodo always on V-mount via the Mutiny battery io. a 150wh battery will get you many hours. I always run with four 1TB cards. If by chance I start blowing through those I'm generally okay with dropping from MQ down to LQ which buys me some space. If that's not an option I would offload to multiple drives but in general it's better to not have to wipe a card until you get back and check footage. On days where we know a ton of footage will be shot, another 3-4 cards get rented.

 

[scorsesefan]

Agree with Brian. I shoot docs with my Komodo always on V-mount via the Mutiny battery io. a 150wh battery will get you many hours. I always run with four 1TB cards. If by chance I start blowing through those I'm generally okay with dropping from MQ down to LQ which buys me some space. If that's not an option I would offload to multiple drives but in general it's better to not have to wipe a card until you get back and check footage. On days where we know a ton of footage will be shot, another 3-4 cards get rented.

Thanks. Have you ever dropped down to LQ or even ELQ for sit downs?

 

[scorsesefan]

I would get at least 2 more 955 batteries and definitely another CFast card preferably 1TB. With 2 cards you could at least offload while you’re filming with the other. Just try to have an SSD to offload to
for the speed. Spinning drives may not be fast enough for onset offloads.

I have a feeling with what you mentioned you might be constantly managing batteries and have your back against the wall with not having enough cards for footage to last a day.

If buying the items is an issue you could always rent those items for pretty cheap particularly if you have something like Sharegrid.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

How do you manage audio, Brian?

 

[Brian Timmons]

How do you manage audio, Brian?

it varies based on the project and cameras used.

If multiple mics are used I record with an external audio recorder like a Zoom F6 (which I own) or when using a sound person whatever they record with.

Sometimes with Komodo I record audio in camera which can work ok if only using up to 2 mics and I have a decent mics with strong internal amps and output level.

For some shoots I use the Diety time code boxes for sync or sometimes just get the time code between cameras and audio close enough so I can easily find them in editing to do a waveform/audio sync in post.

If my RED One MX happens to be on the shoot I have also used that as both an additional angle and for its audio since I can get 4 inputs of XLR audio on it, The preamps on the R1MX were actually quite good. No not as good as a dedicated recorder but very usable.

Using the tentacle E’s should work quite fine as they can do timecode and record in the device.
My only concern might be how you would monitor both of the Tentacle mics if you’re also using the Rode shotgun.

Hope this helps.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

 

[scorsesefan]

Thanks. I own an a Zoom F4, but running that along with the camera (alone) might prove to be too much. I think I'll try the Tentacles...

 

[Brian Timmons]

Cool- Good luck with the shoots.
Sounds like an interesting doc.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

 

[scorsesefan]

Thanks. How's yours coming?

 

[Brian Timmons]

Thanks. How's yours coming?

There’s a few projects and some I’m just working on as a DP or DP/editor.

They’re going but some (the better funded) faster than others,

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

 

[Howie Roll]

I'm a hobby shooter at best these days but I never had any issues with LQ and recording audio internally for talking head stuff. My primary mic is an EW100 wireless lav setup, I've rented a 416 and an 8060 (with preamp) in the past and primarily used the lav audio on account of the air handlers. Last time I did some taking head stuff I didn't even bother with the shotguns. The problem is that a lav sits on a tie or button up very naturally, a blouse or t-shirt not so much.

Good Luck

 

[scorsesefan]

I'm a hobby shooter at best these days but I never had any issues with LQ and recording audio internally for talking head stuff. My primary mic is an EW100 wireless lav setup, I've rented a 416 and an 8060 (with preamp) in the past and primarily used the lav audio on account of the air handlers. Last time I did some taking head stuff I didn't even bother with the shotguns. The problem is that a lav sits on a tie or button up very naturally, a blouse or t-shirt not so much.

Good Luck

Thanks, Howie. I've always heard that the preamps on the Komodo were weak...

 

[Howie Roll]

The EW100 has plenty of gain, the shotguns used a preamp (phantom), but the audio was still recorded in-camera. In fact the line level signal recorded in camera (from the preamp) is going to vary only minimally from a field recorder. 24 bit is 24 bit it's the mic-level preamp that makes all the difference, with line level signals it doesn't matter so much.

Good Luck

 

[Dustin Schmidt]

I've shot many an interview on my Komodo in ELQ. All of them were destined for the web, but they held up just fine and looked great. I can imagine if you don't have super busy backgrounds or a lot of movement going on then ELQ would work.

I would usually run a Sennheiser MKH 416 shotgun into a Tascam CA-XLR2d-C XLR Adapter for Canon cameras. I just used the 3.5mm output on the Tascam adapter and ran it into the 3.5mm input on the Komodo. The Tascam would basically function as my preamp and I could dial down the internal Komodo preamps.

Why the Tascam? Well I already owned it to use with my Canon R5C. It's small, runs on AA's for a pretty long while and I could mount it via a cold shoe to the Komodo body.

Sounded great.

 

[scorsesefan]

Thanks, Dustin. If I'm looking to save space, between ELQ and Prores, ELQ would probably be the most flexible codec...?

 

[Brian Timmons]

Definitely ELQ over ProRes more because of the flexibility in Redcode Raw and the data rate.
6K REDcode ELQ is about 200GB/hour.
4K ProRes 422 is about 225GB/hr.

You could also consider 5k ELQ which is about 140GB/hr.

I only use ProRes for clients that more or less demand it.

Data rate tools

Phil Holland’s Data rate tool

PHFX.COM | tools - framesToDataRate

Frame Rate to Data Rate Calculator by Phil Holland

phfx.com

Color lab data calculator

Footage & Data Storage Calculator

colorlab.com

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

 

[scorsesefan]

Definitely ELQ over ProRes more because of the flexibility in Redcode Raw and the data rate.
6K REDcode ELQ is about 200GB/hour.
4K ProRes 422 is about 225GB/hr.

You could also consider 5k ELQ which is about 140GB/hr.

I only use ProRes for clients that more or less demand it.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

Thanks, Brian.

 

[M Harvey]

I just purchased my Komodo a few months ago and haven't really shot anything but tests so far... I'm planning on shooting a documentary about a progressive grade school from the 1970s. I will be interviewing the students and faculty (who are a lot older now Most of the interviews will be between 30-45 min. and there might be as many as 10 in a day. I have 4 bp-955 batts and one 512gb Cfast card. I have a Rode Videomic NTG for scratch audio and two Tentacle Track E's with a Tentacle Sync II for capturing quality audio. I have a 2020 MBP 13 m1 for offload.

I know my fx6 would be a more convenient tool for the job, but I'm thinking the Komodo will provide more of a "filmic" look to match the 70s vibe of the school and R3D will be more flexible in post than slog3.

Can anyone who has shot long form doc with the Komodo chime in with thoughts or suggestions? Thanks

I agree with the comments here, in particular getting more cards. I found 2TB of media (2x512GB, 1x1TB) became my minimum for a day of shooting interviews-- and that's never been 10 interviews!

The other thing I'd say with the Komodo is that I really like using a behind-the-lens drop-in filter mount for ND filters-- brings it a little closer to the Sony cameras in terms of convenience. I use it with EF mount lenses.

Obviously your comfort level with your audio equipment is the most important thing, but I'd recommend seeing if you can figure out a convenient way to either mount your audio recorder to the camera or to your tripod (assuming this isn't handheld) and running the output into the camera. I think the audio in the original Komodo is pretty poor quality. Even if you don't record on the external recorder at the same time (which is what I would do), it will have better preamps, which means the audio captured in camera will be significantly better, too.

 

[idimata]

I'm currently considering buying the RED Komodo 6K, switching from Sony. Is there a way to hook up a Sound Devices MixPre-6 II to the bottom RED Komodo for a run-and-gun? How would that work?

 

[Dustin Schmidt]

I'm currently considering buying the RED Komodo 6K, switching from Sony. Is there a way to hook up a Sound Devices MixPre-6 II to the bottom RED Komodo for a run-and-gun? How would that work?

I own both the OG Komodo and a Sound Devices MixPre-6 II.

All you need to do is run the 3.5mm stereo out from the MixPre to the 3.5mm audio input on the Komodo and you're in business.

Set all of your levels appropriately so that the MixPre is doing all of the heavy lifting and functioning as your pre-amp, instead of relying on the Komodo's built in audio features. Then remember to hit record on both of them and Bob's your uncle. Go out and shoot!