Zen & The Art of Wrapping Cables

The film & photo business relies on having technicians who are highly skilled, resourceful, and quick. If there is any foundational skill that still gets over-looked, it's cable management. Look no further than this video for last word on wrapping cable like a true cable master.

#tutorial #wrappingcables #filmmaking

[GeraldBertramPhotography]

This is the kind of video that may not get a ton of views but is infinitely more useful than something like a "what's in my camera bag" that typically gets a bunch of eyeballs. Huge thanks for making this! I need to get practicing now...

[reneebangs]

Thank you! I watched 5 videos trying to get over-under and yours contained both best explanation and visual examples.

[GrahamBartlett]

I am sound volunteer for, well every church I have been a member of, sharing this my team and the musicians, this is gold, and makes me seem less OCD. and presentation was excellent.

[AlexanderHaibel]

This is a great video not just for production careers, but also musicians. As a teenage guitarist I destroyed my first cables very quickly, and I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out what was wrong with my guitar before realizing the real problem.

[giuseppechirico]

This is the best video ever made in the century.

[earlfenwick]

Omg yes! I was a best boy and gaffer for most of my career. I brag that I wrapped enough cable to go to the moon and back. I always gave the wrapping sermon to newbies just after coffee on day one. The eye-rollers rarely lasted. The arm-rollers always had me jumping off the tailgate screaming You made my day.

[picophd]

Most modern men's lives have indeed significantly improved just by this video. xD

Thank you!

[wesllewellyn]

I started working in the industry back in the 80’s and began working as a chief lighting technician, aka gaffer in the 90s. I was always taught to wrap stingers with a clockwise twist and XLR cables over and under. The reason being that the internal wires in the AC cables have a twist to them and wrapping them clockwise works better either the twist of the internal wires. With XLR cables the internal wires don’t have such a twist and work better with the over and under method. As far as I know that is how it is done on most US film sets. That being said I know a lot of guys with personal equipment who insist their cables are wound over and under. As far as I know the cable gods have not struck them dead and their cables seem to work fine but that being said I have no problem with mine as I have a good number of personal cables. I think it’s just a matter of being consistent how are you wind them and don’t switch back-and-forth. A good tip if you get a cable that has been wound improperly and has kinks, you can lay it out in the parking lot or the grass on a hot sunny day for a few hours and then rewind it. That usually fixes the problem. I could be wrong or standards may have changed. For the last 20 years I have worked primarily as a DP and Director and leave the cable winding to others. Good video though.

[KaiVertigoh]

The video I didn't know I needed. Thank you for this!

[laughwithoutsmiling]

Thank This was not a dumb topic. I am very grateful for this.

[Francois_L_]

This is also known as a "roadie wrap" as it's used by all roadies at concerts. To remember it, they tend to relate it to their job: Over worked, under paid...

[churchaudiolife]

Best video on cable wrapping I’ve seen.

[thatom]

I'm going to be that guy.... I put my velcro or tie at the male end of the cable. For audio this is important so there isn't a flag hanging in the shot if its used with a handheld mic. For power, I just like to not have my tie in the middle of everything. Lastly, I adjust the first and last loop so the heads are close together. The less slack the heads have the less they tangle when you stack/store large amounts of cables. This is especially important when working with audio trunks. Love the video.

[zachmatchem]

This video was great. The thing that confused me for a while when I first started was that I'd wrap the cable correctly, but still get knots while unwrapping. I finally realized that if one of the ends passed through the center, I'd get knots every few feet. Important to know!

[forrestning]

Master class of setting and striking : Cable LOL Damn your video can replace my theatre classes

[marksasahara]

This is great! Thanks for posting this!

I often do event production jobs, so we have to tape down cables when they cross a doorway. Ramps are not really practical indoors, nor are small mats, esp. in a posh venue, so we tape shit down.

The trick is to throw a few perpendicular strips to tack the cables down and then run a long parallel strip, or strips, where the cables cross the doorway. Extra points for putting angled white, or contrasting colored tape over the perpendicular tape.

When it's time to wrap, on the wall side (no tape side), put your foot down on the cables and then pull up the parallel tape first. As you move down the line and the tape is lifting up, move your foot along, as well. Keeping your foot near the tape being pulled up, avoids the tape wrapping around the cables. Then, pull up the tacking strips and you're good to go.

I personally prefer the Over-Over wrap for my stingers and most cables. The hundreds of cables we use, seem to be fine using Over/Over. I am the guy that fixes the cables, and connectors fail, before the copper conductors, inside, fail.

Some of the less compliant cables, fiber, or triax get the Over/Under wrap. Hopefully the triax is on a spool, so you can just roll it up. The best is when the spool is in a hard case, on wheels.

A tip for wrapping long cables, or heavy 3/0 (aka horsecock): Rather than holding the whole coil, put it on the ground and use your foot to hold the coil down as you reel it in and make the concentric circles. I'm getting older, so sometimes I'll do it on a trunk, or a case and use my knee/hand. That way, I don't have to bend over to pick the damn thing up.

[kinoromantic]

I have been taught this long ago by one of the instructors in a cinematography workshop, thanks for a refresher )

[renslucas]

Thank you for the content, Dale. Very informative! Looking forward to more of these 🙏

[nikonalpharand]

Hi Dale
Just brought new 7m head extension cables
for my Aputure 600D Pro.
Thanks a lot for simple but good advice.
Regards Nigel
UK

[LensofWyant]

Great series! Would love to see cleaning camera bodies, labeling & inventory management!