My Camera Rigs, Deleting Footage, Internal Audio vs External Audio [Ep207]

We're answering your questions once again regarding my camera rig, deleting footage from past shoots, internal audio vs external audio, and more.

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• Transcript

  On this episode of the Miami video podcast, we're talking about how I manage my camera rigs, what I do on days that I'm not shooting, recording audio into camera versus externally deleting footage from past shoots. And when is it appropriate to follow up with clients on particular jobs? Let's go

  welcome back to another episode of the Miami video podcast. My name's Ariel Martinez. Uh, after last episode, you guys have been sending over even more questions and I really do appreciate that. Um, I, I really enjoy. Answering these questions. Um, I've gone ahead and chosen some of them that are more unique.

  I like to answer things that I haven't answered before, but for those of you that did not see a response to your questions, probably because I've already answered it. Uh, or I'm just saving it for another episode, but, uh, if you haven't already done so you can go over to Miami video podcast.com and, uh, over on the search, uh, bar there, you can go on and, um, search for other episodes that I've covered and probably find what you're looking for.

  I've, we've covered a wide variety of things on this podcast. We're at, I believe this is episode two. Oh. which is nuts. So, uh, yeah, you can go in there and, and pretty much find anything. Anything from production equipment. Sending emails, finding crew, uh, you know, how to deal with a bad client, how to get paid and all this sort.

  So, uh, we've gone in there. Um, and you know, I like to answer questions even, I may have even answered some and might be approaching these new ones from a different angle. So that's kind of, uh, why I've chosen the ones that I did. But anyways, with all that outta the way, let's go ahead and get started with our first question.

  Uh, what do you do on days? You're not shooting, right? So if you follow me, you know, that I barely do any post-production work. And I actually like it. I like that. Uh, most of what I do now, these days is shoot and deliver footage. It's a way easier work flow for sure. Uh, it's easier to manage. Um, I'm done at the end of the day and I move on to the next one.

  And so. When I'm not shooting the days that I don't have a production set, I'm doing things like I'm updating directories. Uh, that, that I find myself on like production hubs, staff, me up and things like that, uh, organizing, um, updating the website, uh, see how that's performing over on Google. Uh, I'm organizing my equipment.

  So, uh, if, if I just finished a shoot or several shoots, um, My studio's probably gonna be a mess. So I'm probably, uh, organizing all of that stuff and putting things back to where they were, maybe labeling things, getting even more organized. There's so many things you can do, um, uh, with, with that regard. So.

  And, uh, also checking messages. Um, I think the other day, I, I, I, I noticed that I missed a message over on, I think it was production hub. Uh, but no, either I didn't receive the message, like through my email or text or I just missed it. I was so busy. Uh, but yeah, you, you might want to go and check your messages there because there might be things you might be missing there, but anyways, Yeah.

  When I'm not shooting, I'm making sure I'm keeping things up to date. I'm continuing to build my presence online, make content like the podcast I'm making right now. Uh, today's the day that I'm not shooting. So I'm able to do stuff like this. So, uh, yeah, I, I always try to keep myself busy because you know, you never know when, um, Uh, you're gonna have that time again, to, to sort of build the business.

  So trying, trying to keep a, a, I guess some sort of nine to five sort of regimen, whether it's more or less, according to how you wanna work, it's really up to you, but try to be productive, even though you don't have, I guess, paid work. This is indirectly paid work. So, um, I do things like that. Always try to improve, always try to, uh, make my presence more, uh, better known on the online, uh, platforms.

  How do you manage your camera rig? Is it the same every time or do you change it depending on the shoot? Well, I definitely change it depending on the shoot. Uh, I have, um, like four external monitors and I only. I, I actually barely use them. I barely use 'em ever since I, I switched over to Sony full frame mirrorless, uh, I guess like the FX line and FX nine FX, three S and a seven S three and all that stuff.

  The auto focus is so good. It has, uh, really not. Made it necessary for me to use external monitors anymore, just because I trust the focus so much. Um, I can really make, I can really trust that the camera's grabbing focus on what it's saying. It's grabbing focus on. And I don't really have to like, uh, push my face up onto the screen to really see if I'm getting proper focus.

  Uh, it it's been that good for me. I just make sure that the white box is on the eye of my subject, if it's an interview or whatever. And, um, Or touch to focus. And, and that has really helped me a lot to, to rely on auto focus and, and, and whatnot, and not need an external monitor to make sure that I'm getting proper focus.

  But, um, yeah, as far as like external power, I really just use. The, the batteries that go directly into the camera. I don't need VLO S uh, I have found at the batteries, especially with the FX three S they, they last a good amount of time, um, before I have to replace 'em. Uh, so it hasn't made it necessary for that.

  So I, I try to do things that are a lot more efficient, especially if I, if I operate one man band, oftentimes, or even if I'm with this, an assistant. my, my setups, I guess, tend to get a little more elaborate. Uh, the more people I have on set. So either way, it's still quite a process to get set up, but I, I try to do things that are a lot easier.

  Also, I like to eliminate the things that don't take, that, that basically don't put the, the production at risk. Uh, you know, having an external monitor is just something else that can go wrong, a cable that could go out, uh, something that I might forget, uh, batteries that I have to charge. So things like that I have to remember.

  So, um, I'd rather focus more on getting everything I need rather than the, the, at the, the additional stuff. I guess I, I don't need really. Uh, so it's, it's worked out really, really well for me. So my camera rigs tend to be very, very light. Do you always have audio going directly into the camera or do you sometimes shoot audio externally into a mixer?

  What determines this decision? That's a good question. Um, so normally I have it going into the camera. Um, to me it really depends on how many people I'm shooting. So if it's two or less two or one, one or two people, it's mostly in camera, but also it really depends on what the client is requesting. So if they're requesting my one man band style, Uh, including audio.

  Sometimes they're very direct with that, that they just want audio into camera. And that's what they're looking for. Sometimes they don't even mention it, but their budget doesn't, you know, allow for a sound mixer. Uh, Or sometimes they don't even need it, you know? So for what they're looking for, for, you know, online based content and things like that, it's really not necessary to go externally.

  Um, I have found that the preempts of these new cameras are working really, really nice. Um, and so for the sake of simplicity going internal into the cameras, much, much easier in my opinion. Um, and, uh, You know, adding time code and external tracks and all that stuff, it gets a little more complicated. It's a couple more steps in post that you have to do.

  Uh, but you know, I mean, nothing probably is more, uh, I guess, how do you, how do you say it? Um, have a lot more confidence there being a sound mixer on set. That's taking care of audio and I know it's gonna be. Good. Like, I always prefer that. Um, but I don't want that to be the only option that I give my client, if that makes any sense.

  I, I wanna make sure that my client has options. Should their budget not be, uh, big enough to accommodate a sound mixer when they really are more concerned about having a creative look. Right. So, um, I really kind of distribute the budget according to what is needed. Uh, so sometimes they have us a fixed.

  That that can really pay for a beautiful interview set up. Uh, but doesn't leave too much for an audio, uh, tech, right? So me being confident in, in capturing audio, um, I'm able to offer that to my client. So. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's nicer to have a sound mixer there, but it's not always, um, affordable for the client.

  Uh, but you know, I, that being said, I have the equipment myself to capture audio externally, should the amount of people that are being recorded have to surpass. Two, right. So if it's 3, 4, 5 people that have to be recorded at the same time, now it makes it a little more complicated to record internally.

  Uh, don't even think that could be done. So now you're gonna have to need a sound mixer, uh, to come in and, and, and kind of record externally. And you're gonna have to sync it all in post. And it looks like they're looking at a lot of post production, uh, time, but more likely than that, your client is expecting that.

  Um, But yeah, I mean, it really depends on how many people you're, you're trying to record. Um, and always, always, always want to record in separate tracks. You never want everything to be mushed into one, uh, to one track, cuz that's not good. Uh, but yeah, that's kind of how I approach those kinds of, uh, jobs regarding audio, um, and deciding whether or not it's internal or external.

  So I wanna make sure that I'm doing that. when do you delete footage from past shoots? Um, I don't think I delete footage. I actually just archive everything. Um, so I always buy these Western digital or these Seagate, uh, external drives and I, I sort of label them actually here, there we go. And I label them.

  and I, I put stuff away. These are like eight to 10 terabytes per drive. And, um, yeah, I label them and I, I put things away. One thing I should actually do now that I think about it is I should be putting the, the stuff that I have inside of them printed or written somewhere on the outside so that I don't have to connect it every time I need to see what's in there.

  But, um, yeah, I, I, I don't, um, I don't really delete stuff. And if I've ever sent anybody, any client footage, whether it's through Dropbox or physical drive, I always have it backed up somewhere, whether it's that archive drive or on my Dropbox, which is how I would've sent them the footage anyways. Um, my Dropbox has an unlimited space.

  So, uh, it, it, it's very, very safe when you're dealing with your client's footage. Like you wanna be very, very careful with it. I just, I, I've never made a habit of deleting anything. Um, and it's become relatively affordable to, to have to buy those external drives. I think they, they run about a hundred dollars a pop, you know, for, for all that storage.

  And, you know, you don't need those every few months. You. At least one to two a year. Uh, you should be fine with that. If that, you know, it depends on how you shoot and how much footage you're you have to put away. But, um, that's kind of how I do it. I don't, I really don't delete, uh, old footage. When is it appropriate to follow up with the client about a potential job inquiry?

  I guess it depends. It depends on, um, when is the job. So if you, you get an inquiry happens all the time where, Hey, you know, we're looking for this, this and that. And you're able to go ahead and submit an estimate, a, a proper quote to your client. Um, then, you know, let's say, you know, they're probably gonna tell you.

  All right, great. Thank you. We'll we'll get back to you. Um, or I'll send it to the director or, you know, we're, they're just shopping around. , it's not a bad thing. If you go the very next day and say, Hey, just wanted to follow up and see if I could answer any more questions for you. Uh, there's there's a polite way to approach without you.

  Uh, I guess looking so desperate, but, um, that's kind of, sort of how I would do it. I would just approach them and, and, and sort. Or email them or whatever, however you're contacting them or you guys have been communicating and just friendly. Uh, Hey, is there anything else I can answer for you just want 'em to follow up and see how things are going, um, and, and whatnot.

  So, yeah. Uh, they're, they're most likely they're not there shopping around and what whatnot. Um, uh, you know, if the, if the shoot is like three months away, that that's quite quite a lot of time, so you can rest assured maybe it'll take a few days to. To, to really make a decision and maybe you, you don't have to do it the very next day.

  You could just wait a few days to three, four days maybe is fine. Maybe even a week is fine. Um, uh, but yeah, I really depends on, on how quickly the shoot date is approaching. So that's kind of how I sort of, uh, approach. Well, that is it for this episode. That was just a few questions here that was submitted.

  Thank you guys so much for submitting your questions, then please, don't forget to go over and, uh, subscribe to the podcast. Share this episode with somebody you think might benefit from it. I really do appreciate that. Leave us a five star reviewer on iTunes. Uh, those are great. It makes us look good. And so, uh, I really do appreciate you guys tuning in any other questions you guys have?

  I love to share my production journey. My, my, my building, my business has been my dream come true and it continues to unravel each and every day. So I. Anything you guys have, I, I always want to, uh, share forward, uh, what I've learned and things that have worked for me. So, uh, I, I do appreciate that and don't forget to continue to listen and tune in for more, uh, episodes to come.

  So my Instagram is Ariel it's at aerial Martinez dot ju Jr. Junior. I've changed it a few times already. Um, and for the podcast is at Miami video service. So, uh, I appreciate you guys tuning in and until next time, see ya.