basic NLE for windows

[Mark Suszko]

Sony Vegas might work for that.

[Michael Williams]

Thanks, Mark. I’ll look into it. any other suggestions?

mvw

[Mark Suszko]

I usually advise non-professional clients not to try the DIY thing, and stick to their core business and core competency. Inevitably, their skills and means can’t meet their expectations, and they wind up blaming the consultant that set them up.

[Michael Williams]

agreed. that’s what I’m telling them, but they want options.

thanks,

mvw

[John Grote, jr.]

Hey Mark,

Hell, let them buy what they want since they (the client) knows better. Its just like everything else, clients want the big red easy button. Clients don’t want to hear that they have to invest money in equipment to be able to do the task that they would like to accomplish.

Yes clients, it does take money and training to get a good product.

By the way what does this corporate client do or sell? Reason I ask is that maybe we could all tell them how to better market or sell their products.

Cheers,

John

J. Grote, Jr.

[Eric Addison]

You could check out Adobe’s Premiere Elements – it’s low cost with a great feature set. It should do all you need and more.

—Eric

[Mark Suszko]

I feel like a Cassandra sometimes, because I’ve seen this scenario play out several times for folks I know over the years, it has never turned out well. But they keep trying.

Usually the unfortunate thing (for folks like us) is theclients draw the wrong conclusion after the failed exercise, that video “doesn’t work for them”.

I think if they have you up against a wall, gun to your head, and ask for the “ingredients and recipe list” for a DIY thing, if you’re bound to tell them, at least don’t scrimp, lay out a list of stuff that you would be proud to use and that you would bet your life on. Hopefully, the sheer daunting scale of the thing will scare them off and save them making a huge mistake. In any case, don’t wind up being the guy they blame when it doesn’t magically work.

[Michael Williams]

guys-

thanks for the info. I agree with the sentiments and I plan to lay out the problems with the DIY option, but they want the option so I’m giving it to them. I plan on selling them on not doing that, but at least they can see and I’ll let the chips fall where they may.

thanks.

mvw

[Alan Lloyd]

You mean just buying a Steinway isn’t going to turn me into a concert pianist?

[Mark Suszko]

I would ask them this question: (Assuming the client is not an aerospace company,) if they have salesmen that travel, do they take the salesmen away from doing sales, and spend time and money to teach them to be pilots, as well as airplane mechanics, and buy each one a personal plane to fly to the sales calls… or do they let the salesmen be salesmen, and use a travel agent to book commercial flights, so they can just.go.make.sales…?

What business is the client really in? Shouldn’t they be concentrating on THAT? Rather than take productive people off of whatever they were getting paid to do, and spend money and time for them to add a non-core skillset that you already have ready to go??? And make capital expenditures on specialized gear that may sit unused a high proportion of the time, in office space that you pay rent on 24/7/365? And their final product is not going to be as good as what you, the video pro, are ready to deliver TODAY.

How is that a good idea these days? Ask them that for me:-)