Filming bass heavy rock bands

John there is a lot advice available on this subject and no doubt many members will give you advice.
If you do this commercially then yes that is a problem. As i enjoy editing and having filmed this sort of subject i have found a solution which suits me.
I record as it is and in the editing stage i avoid the bands live sound and use there C.D recording or ask them to record the track. This method those not work for everyone. Any live recording you need to place your cameras away from the amplifiers and work out a shooting plan with your crew and do a sound check when the band is rehearsing. Any stage shoots are usually hand held and if the sound is bad from that camera then this is were editing from a other camera comes in with a good sound.
Like i said this method works for me and i can edit to get the sound balance i need. I hope one or 2 tips will help. But every person will look at this subject different and i hope you will get more reply on this topic.

Maxwell - my understanding of the question is that it's about the visuals suffering, not the audio.

There's no doubt that mounting a camera near any sub is going to impact on any surface parallel to it, but to be honest, the impact on cameraman I've always found worse - I'm not convinced that the wobble introduced into zoomed in shots isn't actually induced by the cameraman, who's body being soft and lumpy absorbs the LF energy rather well, and then it gets to the camera via the pan handle. The vibration through the floor obviously happens too, and with the camera supported on it at height then even small vibrations in the floor can be magnified many times by the height. A barrier mat under a large ply sheet could help, but if the floor actually shakes, then at these frequencies, there's not a huge amount you can do apart from add mass to the camera support system. To be honest, I'm far more concerned with the damage to my hearing that being in those locations causes.

Hi again,
Paul you are right the vibration is on the visuals and only with bass. The first time I got this I was at a venue where I set up at the soundcheck and noticed this pheonomon, I went to the bar at the rear and cheekily asked if I could pinch some beer mats and which I folded and put a couple under each tripod foot and this greatly reduced the problem, so that's why the mat seems like a good solution (the bar staff knew I was having a problem because all their bottled drinks were bouncing).
The second incident was a show at the Glasgow Armadillo, I was at the side of the stalls on a raised area, the floor felt very solid (possibly concrete) but the problem occured again and this time the padding under the feet made little difference, which is why I assumed the problem was airborne buffeting.
Probably a daft question but would a lightweight steadicam (such as the type with the hanging curved bar) be any use?
John

Personally, I doubt it because the work is being done by your arm, so although extending your arm forwards would add the necessary decoupling from the ground, it would kill your muscles! You can't predict in advance how the building reacts. Concrete floors should be solid. If they are moving with the bass, there is a major problem with the structure. They will transmit vibration quite well, but enough physical movement to be visually noticed is scary! Suspended floors are very different, especially if they have a resonant frequency in the same range as the subs. The other test is simply to check how much actual air movement there is - use a lighter flame. Subs can blow candles out on a kick drum thump over a fair distance at a big gig. If you are close, then this air pulse can hit the camera and if the mounting is anything less than rigid, expect movement - as in a storm outside. I'd still check that it's not operator movement though - maybe worth checking. If the thump is enough to move your diaphragm, it's enough to jog the camera.

About 18 years ago, we did a 3-day gig at the Edinburgh Festival, in a jazz club, in HDTV. We had one camera on a power jib (Technocrane). It's pictures were virtually unusable, simply because the club premises had a dance floor, gently sprung. So, whenever Humphrey Lyttleton got into full swing, the audience started jigging about and camera 3's pictures jumped up and down. Priceless footage, but would have been far better on a simple tripod.

Gigs Ive done in pubs have suffered the same; direct air buffetting as well as ground vibration.

As the clients didnt have a CD available, and I HAD to use the available sound, I was able to take a feed from the sound desk via a radio link.

You are still at the mercy of the soundy, who may have the mix wrong... it seems bass is not bass unless its bouncing the drinks off the table and ears are bleeding..

( I use my aviation headset at times....;) )

Ben