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Professional use.
I work as a video boater during the summer shooting video for raft companies, then edit and have to have a final product in about 2 hours, which is a great job. After last summer I decided to extend my work, and I started doing weddings for family and friends as their wedding present. Everyone really has loved the videos, but I have decided to move a little deeper into video and do some professionally. My question to the forum is: What do I need to do?
The camera I use is just a little Sony, the picture looks great. Do I really need a $4500 camera?
I use Premiere Pro 1.5 and after effects. I have trained myself, but do I need formal training to understand the full capabilities of the program? I’ve been using it for a couple years, and feel pretty solid on it.What kind of system should I be using? I move around a lot, so I use my laptop, but it runs great, 3.5 ghz, 1 GB ram . . .like that.
And music? What are the laws about music royalties? Where can I get royalty free? What is fair use?
Things I never thought about until now . . .
Thanks everyone.
P.
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3 Replies
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Well, it sounds like the parts that are working for you are working…I would leave it at that.
I might suggest that you buy the occasional book or attend the occasional seminar to introduce photographic and/or film-video lighting/exposure/field of focus issues into your skillset and keep growing what you know.
Use the gear you’ve got until you can make so much more money with some other piece of equipment that you can’t afford NOT to have it. It’s way too easy to sink your profits into expensive gear in this business…
Music…there are many sources of royalty free (NOT cost-free) music on the web and you could Google that. Simply pay by the song from the web, or order CDs of music from a library. Fair use is a myth. The only fair use is when you aren’t getting caught, which unfortunately happens all the time. I guess you have to make a choice on that one.
TimK,
Kolb Syverson Communications,
Creative Cow Host,
2004-2005 NAB Post Production Conference
Premiere Pro Technical Chair,
Author, “The Easy Guide to Premiere Pro” http://www.focalpress.com
“Premiere Pro Fast Track DVD Series” http://www.classondemand.net -
I was in a very similar position. I did a couple videos for friends and family and realized the potential of doing them full-time. I did the business liscense thing and got started. I edited with Premiere Pro, Authored with Encore DVD, and used Audition for a little bit of audio tweaking. This was really all that I needed.
I would, however, recommend getting a 3CCD camera. No, you don’t need to spend $4500, but you will notice a tremendous differance between a consumer miniDV camcorder, and a 3CCD camera. I would highly recommend Panasonics DVC80. It is no longer manufactured by Panasonic because it was giving the DVX100 too much competition for a fraction of the cost. It is identical to the DVX100 with exception of the progressive formats (which you would not want for weddings…terrible with slow-mo). You can still get the camera from many companys. Just do a google search.
If you are familiar with Premiere Pro, don’t waste your time paying for training. I learned it all on my own. I have picked up a few tricks here and there, but I wouldn’t spend great deals of money on trainings. They teach you 90% what you already know, and 10% of cool (but usually inpractical) tips.
Let me know if you have any other questions. I’d be happy to give my input.
(p.s. Music is one of those shady areas. By law, no, you cannot use any copyrighted music. However, just about any wedding company does it. There are some ways around it, but they involve contracts and usually attorneys.)
NeutaMac
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Don’t forget also that the wedding ceremony music played in church is also copyright. A license can be bought, it’s not expensive and keeps the lawyers off your back.
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