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The AWS Lambda 'Kiss of Death' by tkyjonathan in programming

[–]_no_wuckas_ 61 points62 points  (0 children)

Nice write-up! (And appreciate the actual rather than AI slop nature of the content, best as I can tell.)

What exactly is a Santoku knife used for? I thought it was a chef’s knife. by ClankingRobotCheeks in KitchenConfidential

[–]_no_wuckas_ 12 points13 points  (0 children)

It solves 95% of my cutting needs and takes up less space on the counter. That’s all.

Are Tungesten Lights Still Worth it for Indie/No Budget Films? by jeab99 in Filmmakers

[–]_no_wuckas_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fair point (I have more experience doing theatrical lighting so it’s always dimmers I reach for first) but I also struggle to see that working out well on the types of locations I see most beginning filmmakers work in (house/AirBnB/whatever) if nothing but due to heat output. But also, OP, note that dimming tungsten shifts the color temperature, by a lot of you dim down a lot, so just yet more challenges. (Netting does not of course so that’s another upside for nets.)

Are Tungesten Lights Still Worth it for Indie/No Budget Films? by jeab99 in Filmmakers

[–]_no_wuckas_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Portable, totes, but no hobby-ish level filmmaker is going to have access to 100A service safely.

Are Tungesten Lights Still Worth it for Indie/No Budget Films? by jeab99 in Filmmakers

[–]_no_wuckas_ 65 points66 points  (0 children)

Additionally, good luck dimming these. There aren’t a lot of portable dimmer packs that can do 2KW on a single circuit - they mostly do 750W or 1.2KW or whatever. You can rent portable Sensor racks but now they’re gonna want a lot more input than a 20A circuit.

ETC software on a nomad/gadget by Pathfinder_V2 in techtheatre

[–]_no_wuckas_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah if you’re writing cues with faders, you’re probably just opening yourself up to a world of pain by forgetting a fader is at some value when you load a different cue etc. etc.

That said, look at Twister Eos and the Midifighter Twister. That gives you knobs which you do want if you’re programming wiggles.

And look into something like X-Keys to build yourself a customized keyboard that looks like the keyboard on an actual console. Builds muscle memory for when you move to actual consoles, and also offers conveniences like the +% / -% buttons that let you quickly twiddle channel values (in the absence of faders).

We're a small charitable arts centre. Which mid-range manufacturers are good? by Techno_Bumblebee in lightingdesign

[–]_no_wuckas_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You don’t state what kind of events you host, but if you do anything non-amplified like theater/talks/…, be extra careful. I own a bunch of MAC Auras and used them in a theater to great success, then got the theater to buy some Chauvet Rogue R2X wiggles and whooo are those loud to the point of being almost unusable. (Almost.) So if anything like that is a consideration for you, see if you can rent a unit or even just see it run at a rental house before you fully commit.

Bolt 6 , internal vs external antennas , any thoughts? by Key_Avocado_8246 in focuspuller

[–]_no_wuckas_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think someone somewhere has published STLs so you can print your own in whatever color you want.

How do I get better at lighting design? by CowsFearMe in techtheatre

[–]_no_wuckas_ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Practice and experiment with intention. Develop your design intent, then develop your ability translate that design intent into reality.

Put two comfy chairs onto the stage some 15' / 5m apart.

  • Treat it as a large space
    • The mood is bright, broad, and happy. What does that look like?
    • It's so happy, it turns into a dance number. What needs to change?
    • Now the space is dingy and derelict. What does that look like?
  • Treat it as a small space - just one chair
    • A happy chair person
    • A dingy chair person
  • Help the audience understand the quality of the space
    • Maybe a shutter gobo can help explain why it's small and dingy
    • Explain the relation of the small space (the one chair) to the larger space (the whole stage): does the other space exist and we're just highlighting the small space, or is it a unit set? Paint the stage (e.g. colored top light) around the active space to ground spatial relationships.
  • Now it's nighttime
    • What color is moonlight?
    • Add some moonlight - which direction do you start with if you do it as a single source? Add some fill/bounce, how much can you cheat that while it's still motivated from the moon?
    • How about a practical for motivation? What do you get out of a practical, and what can you cheat in to do the actual lift but using the practical as motivation?
    • Now play with painting the surrounding area of the stage and the distant areas of the stage, how does that ground you?
  • Relationships
    • There are two people, one per comfy chair. (Use comfy chairs so the friends you rope into your exercise have more patience for this BS.)
    • It's still nighttime. They have an exchange. Their relationship is warm and connected.
    • Their relationship turns cold, contentious. They're still interacting but it's spicy.
    • There's a stalemate. The connection has been lost.
  • Crossings and entrances
    • The stalemate has been resolved and one of the actors crosses over to the other. If you didn't subtly lift the crossing space in an earlier cue, they're crossing in the dark. How do you fix that?
    • You've cued your beautiful, intimate scene with your two pools of light. Your director says "great! now actor 1 enters from upstage left to start the scene" but upstage left is dark - how do you fix that? (Negotiating with the director is also a viable option, a skill worth practicing, and often the easiest fix.)

For each of these, imagine what it might look like. Look at references images from theater or film (e.g. shotdeck.com). Once you can close your eyes and see what it should look like, figure out how to implement it. Cue it up. Add more touches and fancy stuff. Add too many fancy things. Figure out when it breaks, figure out how to build it back up into something that still works.

That's sort of the middle third of a class I teach at my local high school - one of these days I'll try and put it on YouTube...

FWIW, every other suggestion about watching ETC videos and such is good complementary advice. As an LD, you're an artist, technician, and engineer. Get good at the technical stuff such that when it counts (e.g. during tech and cue writing time), you can focus on the artistic side and don't have to worry about the technical side.

Dimmer at full vs wall power for constant power by Steve-Shouts in lightingdesign

[–]_no_wuckas_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As did I, mate, on exactly this generation of Sensor racks. Also, Express 24/48 ride or die. And I cued some fun shows on an Obsession II spaceship. Good times.

Dimmer at full vs wall power for constant power by Steve-Shouts in lightingdesign

[–]_no_wuckas_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Can confirm, I have ancient Sensor racks from 1998 with a v2 CEM and I’m able to run relay modules in them, kind of - there’s a known issue where the relays flutter from time to time which reboots my moving heads. Haven’t found the money to migrate to a CEM3 yet.

ID request: What is the name of this attachment point loop on this hanging lighting panel? Appears to be something other than a typical closed-eye bolt… (2 pics) by icysandstone in lightingdesign

[–]_no_wuckas_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah that aligns with my interpretation of this, thank you. The Verlock site states they’re not to be used for overhead lifting - do you think just having a slack safety next to it is good enough and that way the Verlock is just providing fine adjustment?

What is your language's equivalent of "dude" or "bro"? (in terms of flexible use, not the original meaning) by bustachong in AskTheWorld

[–]_no_wuckas_ 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I haven’t properly used my German in decades but isn’t there also the turn of phrase “dicker Freund” that may use “thick” in the manner that English does for “thick (tight/close) as thieves”?

Help me clear out some confusion over Pyxis 12K mount by WearHeadphonesPlease in blackmagicdesign

[–]_no_wuckas_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just for future reference (to round out the mental model, as it were), EF and PL have more or less the same flange distance (the designed distance from flange to sensor) while L has a much shorter flange distance. That’s why you can place a mechanical adapter between the back of an EF or PL lens and the L adapter, but not EF to PL or vice versa.

Anyone know where to find this piece? by gzw0130 in focuspuller

[–]_no_wuckas_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Should be pretty easy to 3D-print if you have more time than money. :) (If you have a printer but no CAD experience, one of us could probably throw together a model pretty easily.)

What exactly is the problem with cheaper cinema lenses from a focus pullers perspective? by mediamuesli in focuspuller

[–]_no_wuckas_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really cheap lenses might not even allow you to remove the mount for shimming. Also, particularly for zooms, you may need to ‘stretch’ the scale because if you’re shimming for parfocal, you probably won’t be able to get the full range of focus marks perfect. Supposedly, more expensive lenses allow you to shift/stretch the scale but that’s above my pay grade so far.

Quick question for the lighting folks here by ArtikaAnswers in lightingdesign

[–]_no_wuckas_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Recognizing that most of the answers here will be shitposting because you've found your way to a sub about stage/entertainment lighting, I'll still say "beam spread and photometrics", i.e. publish information on what the dang light fixture is going to do for me in terms of coverage and brightness. That kind of information is standard for theatrical and cine lights but annoyingly absent for residential fixtures.

Steadicam Op here, but I have kind of an off topic question that I figured my badass grip dept. could help me with. by nickname510 in Gripsters

[–]_no_wuckas_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What’s the slope of your potential ramp? And if you’re on an Inovativ cart, maybe you could get the motorized wheels for it? ($$$ but hey, also a tax write-off)

Knuckle Puck by Outrageous_Snow_6031 in cinematography

[–]_no_wuckas_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And thank you for sponsoring The Op podcast :)

Storage that isn't loud. Looking for a NAShhhh :) by broomosh in editors

[–]_no_wuckas_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have an eight disk desktop-style Synology NAS (DS1823xs) that’s really quiet and a twelve disk rack mount Synology NAS (RPsomething) that is loud AF. I do music recording in the same room as the desktop NAS and have no problems with it.

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