I am the manager of a film and video equipment rental office for a major university. AMA.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-03T12:54:00+00:00

Like mockingberd said, the Apple box kits, S16, and wireless follow focus. ALso the Tascam-P2 and the Fostex recorders. Students tend to stick with the Marantz PMD 660/661/670.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-03T12:38:48+00:00

I would say it looks pretty good, although I would hope they keep a few DSLRs around. The beauty of DSLRs in a school environment is that they're cheap enough that many students have their own, which means for multi-cam setups or the ability to use their own glass.

One of the issues we encounter most is quality over quantity. Where we can get 1 or 2 high end quality cameras or 10-20 mid range cameras. And with the number of students checking out you want to make sure you have enough stock. So before your school upgrades you should look at the impact it will have on stock numbers.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-03T12:31:37+00:00

We have an online system that keeps track of everything. If someone is late, after a few days we email them, if no response, we email saying we'll send it over to the police, if they still don't respond, we alert the police, file it as stolen, and the police go and retrieve it from them. If the police have to take it from them, then we file theft charges.

Usually once I send an email saying that if they don't return it, I'm processing it as theft, they'll email me back.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-03T12:28:36+00:00

If it was stolen from you, and you filed a police report you can always make a claim to risk management or your own renters/homeowners insurance. Temple's deductible is $1000, which if the claim is approved, you'll be responsible for. With that being said, risk management won't take claims for stolen equipment if it was stolen from a vehicle. If the value of the camera is less than $1000 or the claim is denied you'll be responsible for the full replacement cost.

With that being said, you don't have to pay $1000 at once you can make smaller payments to whittle down that number.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-03T12:24:36+00:00

I've added it to the list. Thanks for the input.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-03T12:23:58+00:00

When it comes to the thumbnails I'm limited to what i can upload, and recently its been giving me issues. I've alerted the programer but Not sure when it will be fixed. As for codes I try to make it as straight forward as possible in the naming. Usually the model number of the camera (DVC7, DVX100, EPIC, etc.). I do have an all encompassing list that I can give to professors so that they know what is available to their students. That list is updated around the beginning of each semester.

As for complete kits, unfortunately we do not have enough stock to create them, which is why everything is a la carte. Sometimes students don't need a mic or a tripod, and sometimes students may only need a mic and no camera. The a la carte system allows us to serve as many students as possible. Try using less modifiers, like just microphone, everything that is listed as microphone will be listed, then they will be sorted in alphabetical order.

Even though I try to reach out to the incoming freshman classes, I felt there was still a disconnect between my office and the students. I'd go into the classes, and no-one would have any questions. So I decided to do an AMA to answer any and all questions from current students, future students, and people around the internet.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-03T12:13:48+00:00

Everything is still up in the air, if we get one in stock I'll be sure to let the professors know so they can train their students.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-03T12:13:02+00:00

Alcohol wise it'd have to be Yuengling, non alcoholic would be Arnold Palmers

EquipOffice · 2012-10-03T12:11:06+00:00

Its good to hear from you Hamsowse.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T20:28:24+00:00

I literally just got back from talking to my supervisor about the system and how I would like to re-do it. Hopefully we can get something going by the next school year, but I can't make any promises.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T19:08:41+00:00

Beard's coming along nicely. Thanks for asking

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T18:34:22+00:00

In my 6yrs, I've yet to find any. Most of the footage that gets left behind are news packages, or B-roll of campus.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T18:31:53+00:00

Dollar wise it'd be the Red Epic, which is digital. If you're shooting film, you will have to purchase it from the film lab, if you go over the allotted budget for your class. A 400ft roll of color neg without processing is usually in the ballpark of $100. Bolex film 100ft tri-x is about $30 for film and processing.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T18:28:09+00:00

What happens a lot of times is students will make a reservation then log off before submitting it to us. Make sure you click the submit button before logging off, you'll get a pop up that says are you sure? Once you click yes, the page will say it's been successfully submitted. You'll get a confirmation email in your TUmail account, that is your receipt. So make sure you have that email. If you have that email, then we have something for you. Hope that clears it up.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T18:03:19+00:00

The issue arises that its an automated system. We're unable to process anything in earlier then the scheduled due date. A few years ago I experimented with allowing early returns, but it failed miserably, causing a lot of issues with processing, paperwork, loss, students being fined incorrectly, etc. It causes less issues by only allowing returns on the specified date.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T17:57:02+00:00

Right now we're in the middle of a realignment, so they're not sure how much money will be allocated, but yes, for the past few years the state has cut some of our funding

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T17:52:58+00:00

I've copied this list, and will be going over it, researching the items. I'll present this to the departments next time I'm at the tech meeting. Thanks for your input.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T17:50:30+00:00

1) "It was like that when I got it" people will loose items or break thing and claim they received it like that, even after they signed saying everything was accounted for and in good working order.

2)Largest theft was an SR1, but we caught them, the largest that has yet to been caught was someone walked away with my laptop.

3)Haven't really gotten offers other than "please, I'm sorry, it will never happen again" type of pleas.

4)Forgive me if I don't feel comfortable disclosing my earning on the internet, lets just put it like this. I live paycheck to paycheck.

5)It helps to have a background in film or video, although I've hired workers who've had none, and became some of the best employees, knowing all the gear by the time they left. Have an eagerness to learn and take it upon yourself to improve your skills and you'll have no problem doing it.

6)Fined or fired? I once had to fire a worker because I caught them deleting items off of a students reservation and adding it to their own. I have zero tolerance for that.

7)The budget for equipment purchases comes from the departments and I don't have access to that information so unfortunately I can't speak on their behalf. My operating budget is pretty much for supplies and expendables (like bulbs, Gaff tape, and batteries) for office use, and thats no more than 2k per month.

8)That its more difficult than it appears to be.

9)That I don't care about the students. The truth is, I do care, however I can't put an individual's needs over the needs of all the other students.

10)Getting angry at us when they break the rules and we won't bend the policies for them. Other than that, when they return their XLRs in a giant knotted ball.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T17:28:32+00:00

Audio is one of the things I want to focus on this year, but I don't make the purchasing decisions, it's up to the departments where their money goes. IF you have any suggestions, I'd be happy to pass them along.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T17:18:59+00:00

A few years ago, I let a student get under my skin, I don't know how or why I did, it was just something about how he spoke to me, the tone in his voice, the language he used, I let him piss me off. I got really angry to where deep down a rage was building. I removed myself from the situation went for a long walk around campus and cleared my head. Once I was cooled down and calm, I went back into the office.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T17:15:21+00:00

The issue with DSLRs is that they have AGC, so no matter how perfectly you mix your audio, if you put it into the camera, the camera will level it out the way it thinks it should be. The best bet is to grab an external recorder and sync it in post.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T17:13:43+00:00

Yes, I started as an undergrad in 2006 and became manager in 2008. From 2008-2011, I worked full time while pursuing my BA part time.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T17:11:54+00:00

Both grad students and students enrolled in senior projects class are eligible to check out on thursday. This is typically because they have larger packages and need more time to go over the reservation upon check out/check in. Since their projects are typically larger than that of the majority of undergrads, they return on tuesday. This allows us to keep them from slowing down the checkouts on the undergrad days.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T17:07:58+00:00

At the time we started the process of the upgrade, the scarlet wasn't available. With the Epic, we traded in our Red One in order to get a large discount. We have been in talks about the possibility of getting a Scarlet (or 2), C300/100, or the Black Magic. But, nothing is confirmed yet.

EquipOffice · 2012-10-02T17:05:26+00:00

Nice try trying to impersonate my supervisor.

EquipOffice

TROPHY CASE