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$10,000-$12,000 Equipment Budget for New Job
Hey folks,
I posted a similar thread a couple years ago. It was more conceptual then and (surprise, surprise) the budget my company promised didn’t materialize. I’m excited to have accepted a new position with a different company and I start in a couple weeks. It’s a one-man-band corporate video producer gig and it’s a new position which means starting from scratch with gear. It’s a marketing position with a big car dealership cartel in a major market so I’ll be working with different dealerships and traveling around the city a lot.
I have 10-12k to work with and need to purchase everything I’ll need to take videos from conception to delivery (online and potentially some local TV spots). The CMO told me we’ll start with this budget and add more as we go, but I’ve heard that one before so I want to make sure and outfit myself with a thorough kit that will last me as long as possible.
My initial thoughts are basing it around a GH5/12-35 since I’ve worked with a GH3 for many years and it’d be familiar. In terms of an editing solution, I’ve been using a late model (2012) macbook pro and it works fine still in FCP X but I think I’ll be transitioning to PrP and am not sure that dropping 3k on the latest macbook is worth it under those circumstances. And of course lighting, camera stabilization, storage, all the other knickknacks like SD cards, batteries, protective cases, and maybe most important of all, audio.
I wanted to make a post her to see if you wonderful gurus had any ideas in hopes of avoiding potential pitfalls and getting the most out of my budget.
Thanks a million.
-Boe
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4 Replies
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Ignore the gear as long as you can. The biggest challenge you’re likely to face is product shots.
Cars are a PITA to shoot well.
Big colorful reflective assemblies peppered with glass and chrome? And interiors in enclosed spaces with little room to light or shoot? Holy heck.
Unless they want you to just re-purpose marketing stuff from the manufacturers, I’d start looking for a location big enough to set up as a shooting space and prep that. That kind of money might work if they give you access to enough rent free drive in space someplace in their system.
Good production shots of cars are hard.
Get the shooting sorted first. A great NLE setup won’t help much if the product shots drag everything down.
My 2 cents.
Good luck.
Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery. -
Bill’s not wrong. You need a large, aircraft-hangar-like space and giant softlight banks to adequately light cars. Or you accept the very fine stock footage and digital models Detroit has already paid for.
You don’t really explain what your product is. Dealership promos? New only or new and used? Multiple dealerships? Why would competitors work with you unless you had a special resource unique to their region? Like the airplane hangar with the pre-set lighting, maybe? I dunno – the used car guys are famously thrifty and “thrifty” is being diplomatic. They’ll settle for a iPhone and a big curtain stapled t the side of their garage to get shots of cars for web sales. What’s the “value proposition” you’re offering? 360-degree quicktime VR of the cars? They’d better be premium-priced sports, exotocs, and luxury cars, or I don’t see how this pays off.
I’ve said this about corporate production for a while now: the only hardware you “really” need is a phone and the internet, since it’s all freelancer and rental-driven these days, with as small a human resources footprint as possible, and minimal gear to depreciate.
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Thanks, Bill.
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A phone and an airplane hanger. Got it.
Thanks, Mark.
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