The O'SHIT check list? Spares to bring, things to think about?

[Patrick Wieland]

So after coming home from a 2 week shoot in the Philippines where my Scarlet stopped powering my Touch LCD half way through the shoot, I'm wondering what are other Pros bringing on shoots and purchasing for these O-Shit moments. I sent RED my log file and they are pretty sure its the Cable as the Camera Body is not communicating with the LCD. Luckily my client wasn't too bummed I had to shoot the rest of the trip with a backup 5d body. I sold him on 4k and charged a him a premium for that idea. He trusted that I could still get it done with the 5d.

I travel a lot for shoots to places that are remote and usually in the middle of no where. Rental houses and Best Buys are a far and few. I'm heading to Abu Dhabi beginning of December for a week long shoot as well. So I am trying to make sure I am not going to be stuck again.

My current setup-

Scarlet
SideHandle
V-Mount backplate
4 Bricks
2 Redvolts hoping to purchase 2 more very soon
2 64gig SSDs
1 48gig SSD
DC Power (3 Power Sources incase something goes wack with power)

Future purchases-
More SSDS
HDMI Monitor
BOMB LCD
Spare LCD Cable

Backup Station-

Macbook Pro
2x 4TB Raid Enclosures- Redundant backup and storage. Always keeping Raid Enclosures in different cases. One in my carry on and one in Checked Pelican.

Purchasing a second body is out of the question right now but hopefully be buying an EPIC early next year.

So ya... Any suggestions for items that have failed you in the field or things that you always bring with you on shoots to make sure your 100% at all times.

 

[Kemalettin Sert]

we had so many failure moments with RED Epic M and we started to carry spare epic-x everytime..and epic-m died many many times then thank god we had epic-x next to it.
if you are working with RED you gotta be ready for these kind of O'Shit situations and dont believe in people who says they didnt have any problem with RED never ever..i expect to hear this Mark Toia again lol
i love RED so much even more than my gf imma die hard red fan for people but this is the reality and you should face it in the end..
and write this down to somewhere you wont forget--> Restart is the key on RED..its like windows computer when you see something bad just Restart the camera everything will be alright then.

 

[Björn Benckert]

If you carry multiple SSD's make sure one of them has the firmware on it and or keep it on a nearby computer. I can not recall us having had any issues with our Epic M that we bought over a year a go.

 

[Brian M Lynch]

If you carry multiple SSD's make sure one of them has the firmware on it and or keep it on a nearby computer.

+1 to this. Saved my ass several times by doing this.

Not nessesarily an o'shit type thing - but I like to carry all sorts of BNC connectors with me. Specifically, i have one of these living on the camera so i don't have to break my fingers every time i disconnect the sdi monitor. http://www.filmtools.com/bncelbow.html

Make sure you carry a full set of allen keys and ideally torx wrenches also. Maybe a pair of pliers. Can never have too many tools.

 

[Patrick Wieland]

Ya full set of Allen Keys and Torx Wrenches + Needle Nose Pliar are packed in case.

Also have the Force_Upgrade Firmware on computer

 

[Troy Bakewell]

+1 on always bringing a laptop with both a firmware and forced preset as BU.

My camera has freaked out a number of times and usually a quick reboot does the trick. But I have had to reinstall the firmware in the field twice now. It sure would be great if RED were to come out with a 1-2 gig Redmag. I would love to be able to carry it preloaded on a mag just in case.

 

[Michael J. Underwood]

My Scarlet O'shit List:

1x 5" touch monitor
2x LCD Touch Cables
2x redvolt
1x redvolt charger
1x red vmount belt clip (with 1b-2b adapter)
1x red brick charger (also works as a AC adapter)
2x red brick
1x AC Adapters
2x HDMI
small HD 9" Monitor

 

[Paul Ellington]

I had one moment in 3 + years working with REDONE and Epic. Like everyone the forceupgrade spare is all I needed once the flange was set. Tools to build it but think about pre-building in a bag if possible so you are as ready to shoot as possible. Spare SSD's. Hard-Drive.

Matte-Box.

Tape.

Polarizer.

Spare monitor & Cables.

Something to record Scratch Track or audio.

Etc...

 

[Scott Crawley]

If your client is paying a premium price for a professional service, you really should be providing a backup of all essential camera gear. (As Bjorn recommends, backup software too.) That doesn't mean that you have to buy two full set-ups, but you do need to bring them. Rent a second body if you can't afford the purchase, and take that expense into account when you price the job in the first place. Anything else is less than professional, IMHO.

 

[Elan Gunos]

-Insurance
-Money
-Cell Phone

 

[Phil Holland]

-pocket knife
-extra cables
-color chart
-gaff tape
-hot mirror nd combo filters
-towel

Always have a backup plan. In case there are villains or gremlins.

 

[Gunleik Groven]

A spare monitorcable, an hdmi cable and an hdmi to dvi adaptor, and extra ssd reader and the side handle...

Sorry to saythat I haven't seen the Epic die.
I have however seen a lot of firmware issues like a year ago. But not any since the july "get rid ow the B&W hang on boot" fix.

But I guess Mark T and I are just lucky in our random treatment of our gear...

 

[Delvon Teco]

If you carry multiple SSD's make sure one of them has the firmware on it and or keep it on a nearby computer. I can not recall us having had any issues with our Epic M that we bought over a year a go.

Nice tip but couldn't you have it on a zip drive on your key chain? You can transfer it on the field.

I have two V-mount plates for my Scarlet...if one fails - backup used. Not sure what other have or do if power fails?

 

[Ryan De Franco]

Delvon--second the notion of two plates. There are two Anton Bauer plates in my case as well, because once, hours from home, the camera refused to start up.

I called Anton Bauer. The rep told me "you will void your warranty if you open up the plate," I said "we're not having this conversation right now," he said "ok so you want to look for a little terminal that might have shorted out..."

Inside, a little screw from the QuickBack made by Camera of Wood had come loose and fallen inside the AB plate. This is my fault, as they provide a thin piece of cardboard that I stupidly discarded. The screw was lodged between the positive and negative terminals of the lemo power cord running to camera.

In the words of the now silent Anton Bauer representative from Texas--"well son, the bullet was dodged." For whatever reason, the Scarlet could tell something was fishy, and refused to start, thereby preventing a total short that might've bricked the camera, or at least a few boards.

If your camera won't start, it just might be trying to save your ass.