What I Learned Today
Now that I have my professional website www.section3films.com up and running, I've decided to use this blog as a place to document things that I learn over the course of my career.
This is a place for me to keep a log of my progress and self education through the film industry and life in general.
Today I'm going to make up for lost time by talking a little bit about how "you get what you pay for" isn't always the case.
1.
New Apple towers don't REQUIRE official "mac certified" RAM. During black Friday, my friend mentioned how he was going to upgrade his ram using all the terrific deals going on that day. I too decided that 6gb just wasn't enough. After all I usually run Photoshop, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Chrome, Garageband and Soundtrack pro all at once. So I started my research. Here's what I found online:
- New Apple Towers (I believe newer than 2009) don't have a proprietary number of pins for their RAM (older Macs do).
- The Apple "certified" Ram is usually more expensive because of A. the name and B. the Error Correction Code they ship with.
- If you match the speed and type (DDR3 for me) your RAM should in theory work
Now there was some contention over weather or not ECC was needed or not. Some said that disabling the ECC would cause serious crashes, others claimed that the computer wouldn't boot if ECC was mixed with non.
Totaling out at 16GB.
Getting home from will call, I quickly slotted the RAM and booted up. No problems at all. The ECC and non ECC RAM blended well (although ECC is overall disabled now).
ECC RAM basically corrects for bad memory calls that occur thanks to any number of things (including atmospheric particles bombarding the motherboard). If the error is uncorrected, the computer freezes and shuts down. I have yet to have this happen.
2. Hazers. I love big beams of light coming through windows. They really photograph well and add great atmosphere to a given scene.
The difference between a Hazer and a fog machine is the size of the particles they produce. A fog machine produce a much denser atmosphere than a Hazer.
Hazers are more expensive than Foggers and after much research (and negotiation) I finally found an affordable one.
I always weigh my purchases against the "you get what you pay for" model, often trying to debunk said statement.
I ordered the Elation Faze Stream 700. I chose this Hazer because A: It uses cheaper water based fog fluid. B: It was cheaper. C. It packed a good punch (1500 cubicft/min output).
Now this probably wouldn't be the best choice in a DJ setting due to its lack of DMX control, but it was perfect for my needs as a filmmaker!
It really sips on juice! It filled my decent size garage in about 3 mins with a barely noticeable decrease in fog fluid. And I mean filled. The haze hung around 1-2 hours after output and that includes the doors opening and even the main garage door opening.
As far as results go, I've learned a couple things:
- First hazers like parallel beams of light so hard lights (more parallel than soft) create the best effect.
- Second selective lighting can really make the effect pop. Conversely, the light beams can easily be washed, especially with top down lighting.
- A little goes a long ways. Running the Faze stream for 3 mins was probably two long. Just a min. or two would produce solid results.
The main point of this tip is that this is another case of a cheaper product being more than adequate. Would I haze and amphitheater with my new toy? Probably not. Will it work great for location stuff? Absolutely!
By the way, the Hazer is for rent. If your looking for a cheap hazer rental, contact me: section3films@gmail.com
Here are the results:
