Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

Does everything a slate should do. I like the color bar to help with color grading in post.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

I've been a professional editor for years. The color and grayscales are great in post. I have also used in the field. I read the reviews about dry erase makers not working. I haven't had any problems during filming with standard Expo markers. Clap is bright and solid. A couple picky things I would have liked. The board is translucent. If it was white, I could use it to white balance. Also, the space available for writing in production notes is, in my use of the board, not in the correct proportions. For instance, the space for production is tight at the top while director is prominent in the middle. Like I said, more pertains to my particular shoots than a bad design of the board, but I just ignore the engraved writing on the board and write what I need where I need it.
Again, I recommend this slate for any production artist who wants to make their editors happy.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

I was dying in anticipation to receive my [$] slate in the mail and expected it to blow my mind. When I got it I was more than disappointed. The wood had several chips in it and the corners were bent. The acrylic portion wasn't even aligned with the wood and was flimsily attached. Don't waste your money on this; just go out and make your own for dirt cheap.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

This is an excellent production slate for those that aren't using state-of-the-art time code equipment in production and post. It produces a solid "clap" for manual video/audio sync and the color and luminosity reference marks are valuable in post.

BUT BUT BUT

Even though Birns & Sawyer say it's dry-erase compatible, it's not. I used bog standard Expo dry erase markets on it and needed to make a correction 10 seconds later. It would not come off with either water or alcohol-based solvents. Elbow grease doesn't work. Dry erase chemically bonds with acrylic surface.

If this happens to you, don't panic. It *can* be removed with a micro-abrasive sponge like "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser". Use something like this before using your fingernail or scratching it.

Otherwise this is a wonderful little slate which is highly functional and impresses the clients :-).

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

This is a simple but important item to have on a shoot. It makes a difference when you start looking through a lot of takes in the edit suite. After using it the first time I won't do a project without it.

One thing to keep in mind - USE THE RIGHT MARKERS! The low smell markers do not erase easily from the acrylic. Buy the cheap smelly markers and you'll have no problem erasing the slate.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

This is an all around excellent slate. It writes clean and doesn't immediately wipe off by an accidental brush.

Only con is that in real strong daylight (specifically backlit) it can make the slate hard to read due to its transparency.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

Great packaging. The product was what i expected to be.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

A nice slate that's large and comfortable. Very nice sound on the clapper. I love it.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

This thing just projects profesionalism and seems to be very durable.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

This slate is absolutely worth the extra $$. You'll get plenty of whiteboard space for legibility at almost any focal distance, and smooth, solid hinge action. The clapper itself is made of light yet solid wood, and the added color bars are a nice touch to allow for easier color balancing in post. Nicely balanced for one-handed use and sturdy enough to survive drops and dings and keep on clappin'.

Adding this to my crew's production kit gave us an instant credibility boost with clients, and really made us feel like pros. I cannot recommend this product highly enough.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

I was really wow'd when I opened the box. This is a very solid, substantial slate. It's well-made and everything was just right. Good value for the price!

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

outstanding, works perfectly. clients love it!

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

This thing is indestructable! Used it on a shoot where it was constanly thrown around, but it still looks and functions like I just bought it. I highly recommend it to anyone. It's not cheap, but it will save you from having to buy another one for a very long time.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

Great product, but it should be for the money, basically used as an impressive prop which everyone thinks is cool, worth it for that alone.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

A nice and durable slate.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

I'd give it 5 stars, but... Well, really, 5 stars?

Anyway, it works just as you'd expect it do, as durable as they get, the professional standard, only thing you might want is a fully digital back lit slate, but who has that kind of money for something that really is a dying part of film making... Does anybody "sync" sound anymore, except of course studio productions...

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

Very useful when working on a small scale production, a great aid for all in the set; and a guideline tool when shooting out of continuity and on different sets/locations.

Comments about Birns & Sawyer 425011 Professional Acrylic Production Slate:

I will be honest, I bought this mostly as a prop. I do corporate video and half the time what really impresses the client is the overall "feel" of the production so I thought this would help a little. And sadly it does. Clients love seeing the clapper (I let the enthusiastic ones do the CLAP) and it is of course handy for it's intended purpose but a cheapo white board from a hardware store works just as well - it just doesn't look professional nor impress clients!