CCU Operating

[Sycophant]

Anyone here every do CCU operating for OBs or studio shows?

It's something I am generally interested in, and I have been learning a bit more. I CCU'd a rehersal for a 5 camera show last night, with one of the fastest directors I have every witnessed. That was illuminating.

Any web resources or anything?

[imported_blank]

I done multi-cam CCU controlled shoots - both in the field and in the studio. From sports to rock bands. Mostly regional stuff with only a limited number of cams - not the big international 50 cam OB set - ups.

I was DP/switcher on up to 4 camera shoots a few times. Small gigs, I was even responsible for matching the cameras. Gotta know your termination points, waveforms and vectors as well as training your eye looking at your monitors and knowing which one is the most accurately calibrated.

The most important thing is "COMMUNICATION BETWEEN ALL CAMERAMEN AND THE CAMERA SWITCHER. The director/switcher should prepare the next cameraman before the actually take whenever possible. All cameraman should be prepared and should shoot as being live unless the director tells them to move to a different shot or if there is a pattern to the "takes" and the "move-backs" of each camera. Another neat trick is to plan enter and exit shots.

I love it!!! Especially if all cameraman and the switcher/director can work off on another. Like a music band or a sports team. You have to be a team player. I encourage you to pursue it!!! Cool toys.

IF you have any questions I will do my best to answer you, but, it's been a while now. I wish I did it more often.

[cleancarrier]

I run QC for a couple of 3-camera studio shows, and I am lucky enough that the director/TD is also responsible for studio lighting. Plenty of fixtures, multiple scenes on the lighting board, and a regular floor director that can see in foot-candles (most of the crew is freelance). Set lighting doesn't get fooled with, so it's a pretty easy set up. Things don't change much between shows. We have a small rack kit we take into the field for EFP and hire someone for lighting. I did the Stones many years ago, and they had a mix of CCD and tube cameras. That wasn't fun.

The only web resources I know of are this one and maybe Hellgate Pictures (http://www.film-and-video.com/broadcastvideoexamples.html). They have some pretty good articles. Depends on what your are looking for.

I run more to the engineering side. I agree with Ivan, you gotta know your WFM and VSC's. Knowing how to check that your monitor is calibrated is even better. Some EIC's get tired after being on the road for weeks on end.

One warning though; as the QC guy, be prepared to fix any problems you see with what you have in front of you. Camera control guys don't get much say in camera positions or shot selection. You just have to make it look good, or at least 100/40.

[Sycophant]

Thanks for the feedback.

I have a pretty good mentor in this field really, which is good.

The situation here seems to be that the TD is most often the QC/CCU Op/Vision Op (whatever you want to call it) - or one of them at least. Which suits me fine as I am generally pretty interesting the whole tech side, from cabling to rigging to engineering.

I'll take a look at the website you mentioned.

For my first taste of actually operating for a real director (albeit a rehersal) imagine the director saying this "1 cut, 4 cut, 3 cut, 5 cut, 4 cut, 2 no 1 cut" - at about 1 cut a second. In a studio where many of the main show elements had been moved into experimental positions, without the lighting guy's knowledge. Shooting a band, and dancing girls, as well as a panel.

It was scary. But I enjoyed it.

And yeah, I can read a WFM and VEC, and I can calibrate monitors in my sleep (well I did dream about it once)

[imported_blank]

Originally posted by cleancarrier:
I did the Stones many years ago, and they had a mix of CCD and tube cameras. That wasn't fun. Wow man, I think I remember watching that Stones vid. I recall some of the shots had strange "lag" effects and some didn't. I blamed it being in my mind due to the "magic-shrooms" but now I know the 'real-deal". This b-roll site can be so informative.

But seriously, I do remember watching a stones taped performance on PBS that looked like it had a mix of CCDs and tubes. If I remember correctly they had some high quality cams on "tracks" some average quality cams on stix and shoulders and some low quality lipstick type stationary cams in the mix as well. Is this the show?

Can you tell me which Stones show you did? (In a private b-roll message if you prefer - member 5) If ya want I'll tell ya about the time Bachman's crew just about deafened me when I was running a triaxed shoulder cam on stage.

Your horror story reminds me of the times I had to match all kinds of cameras into the mix. Full blown triaxed cams along with cheaper cams gen locked into the system without even a com between the director and genlocked cameraman. Talk about shooting blind live to tape.

What the hell happened to the H-timing and SC-phase? HHHEELPPP!!!!

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Originally posted by Sycophant:
I am generally pretty interesting the whole tech side, from cabling to rigging to engineering. Just wait till you get to lay half a mile of triax cable at an event like a rodeo. You leave the cables laid out for the whole 5 day festival meanwhile after hours horses shlt all over the triax cables and bulls p*ss all over the extra XLR audio lines. I bet putting away those lines won't seem as much fun then - eh? ;)

Originally posted by Sycophant:
imagine the director saying this "1 cut, 4 cut, 3 cut, 5 cut, 4 cut, 2 no 1 cut" - at about 1 cut a second. I must say, in all the multi-cam shoots I done, not once have I encountered that. :rolleyes:

[cleancarrier]

Originally posted by Ivan:
Can you tell me which Stones show you did? (In a private b-roll message if you prefer - member 5) If ya want I'll tell ya about the time Bachman's crew just about deafened me when I was running a triaxed shoulder cam on stage. Ivan, if I remember correctly, the Stones were traveling with their own production truck (NEP maybe) on the Steel Wheels tour. They were at Carter Finley Stadium in Raleigh NC. They were traveling with 2 seperate stages, but only one production truck. There were 3 hand helds on stage, 2 on sticks in the pit, and 3 on the island. It was an all Iki shoot, but I can't remember which cameras they were using. The pit cams were still using multipin connectors, and the rest were triax. No lipsticks on the show I did. The one thing that made it bearable was that the lights were pretty well placed, and had a relatively stable wash on stage the entire time. Plus the director didn't think he was doing a music video, so we had some nice pre-sets (Mic in position 3, Keith on position 7) and no rapid fire changes.

I was lucky enough to be in the truck, so I got out with my hearing intact. That show was the loudest I have ever worked. It was incredibly loud on the monitor mix onstage too. No in-ear monitors back then. I can't imagine what the front row was like.

My brother did stage work with a MC hammer tour, and lost all the hair on his arm when the pyro guys shot off a can 15 seconds too early. He would have lost his hearing too if he had been wearing the single muff on the other side.