Question about Generators

[Dan Keaton]

Just to be clear, "Hire" in Ireland, is translated to "Rent" in the United States.

[Aaron Power]

Thank you everyone for your responses, and Dan, I don't think it'll be necessary for me to call you but thank you very much for the offer.

I think for this particular shoot I'm just going to take your ^^ advice and rent them.

I've used harsh worklights before in indoor shoots and we used a variety of tin-foil reflectors and home-made gels to diffuse it. For this shoot it will be outside in the dead of night and I'm looking to keep the harshness of these worklights, similar to the look of car headlights shining on the band.

It's also going to be shot infront of something that is lightly lit up in the background (a building on the university of toronto campus that they light up at night - http://pound.med.utoronto.ca/~philip..._028_large.jpg, so I want the focus to remain on the band members.

EDIT: Upon looking into it further, I'm having difficulty finding a generator rental place in Toronto,Canada that rents PORTABLE units, not 15k monsters. Any locals have suggestions?

Thanks again!
-AP

[Seth Bloombaum]

Originally Posted by Aaron Power

...Upon looking into it further, I'm having difficulty finding a generator rental place in Toronto,Canada that rents PORTABLE units, not 15k monsters. Any locals have suggestions?

In my fair city, if the lighting/grip rental places didn't have 1.6-2KW gennies, my next stops would be party/event rentals, contractor rentals, Home Depot's rentals, etc.

[Bob Howard]

In regard to comments above, my 2 cents....

Looking at it from the $ angle, I have found that purchase generally saves me money. After the shoot I simply resell whatever it is (sometimes at a profit, sometimes not) But always the difference has been less than the rental would have been. Also it is often to arrange, requiring only one trip to the store. And I don't have to worry about getting whatever it is back to the rental company the next day. Areas with a high sales tax or the UK might be an exception, but I live where it's close to 9% and it still figures out to my advantage.

Also, it often works out that I will use an item for more than one shoot. Too, the item is often included in the billing, so one way or another the client is paying for its use.

[Alessandro Machi]

Originally Posted by Aaron Power

Hi,

I'm new to the concept of lighting in spaces without plugs. I'm looking for the cheapest solution to powering (yet to be purchased) two, ~200 watt lights for a few hours. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
-AP

Originally Posted by Aaron Power

Most of the language above is greek to me.....

I'm confused as well. It sounded like you just need to power up a couple of
200 watt lights. If you go the 12 volt dc route, your wattage drops to around 20-50 watts per light, no?

If so, a couple of 12 volt batteries would work. Just be sure to have them converted to 3 pin XLR power, and add a fusible link for safety. You probably will need four however, and a couple of quick chargers. The advantage is once this shoot is over you have the system in place for future similar types of shoots.

[Brian Drysdale]

Originally Posted by Bob Howard

In regard to comments above, my 2 cents....

Looking at it from the $ angle, I have found that purchase generally saves me money. After the shoot I simply resell whatever it is (sometimes at a profit, sometimes not) But always the difference has been less than the rental would have been. Also it is often to arrange, requiring only one trip to the store. And I don't have to worry about getting whatever it is back to the rental company the next day. Areas with a high sales tax or the UK might be an exception, but I live where it's close to 9% and it still figures out to my advantage.

Most things depreciate when you buy them. If you've got longer term use for kit that's fine, but on one day's use it doesn't make sense because the depreciation will be higher than the cost of a day's rental on one of these generators. I suspect this would the case with all pieces of rented in equipment.

On a longer shoot purchasing might make sense, you have to do your sums. However, with expensive high end camera kit it'll start seriously tying up your capital and could involve bank loans and finance charges - costs that could mess up your cash flow. Also, there's more work (unpaid time) involved trying to sell a piece of kit than merely driving round to the rental company and dropping it in through the door.

You really need to make a business plan.