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Dealing with Clients who want Raw footage
Periodically we supply a crew to shoot something for a client who wants to take the footage back with them. We normally discuss the format that they need and will provide them what will work best for them, given their Editing platform.
However a few times we’ve had a client(after they’ve received the hard drive) that decided they wanted to watch the footage before they give it to their editor. Of course most clients can’t play XDCAM footage without downloading some software (Calibrated) How do you guys handle this up front and also after the fact?
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4 Replies
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[Greg Ball] “Of course most clients can’t play XDCAM footage without downloading some software (Calibrated) How do you guys handle this up front and also after the fact?”
Send them the link to Sony’s free XDCAM Browser.
https://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/resource.downloads.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcam-downloads-XDCAMSoftwareDownload.shtml#appsAlso for those MXF files on Mac there’s the Free MXF4Mac Player
https://hamburgpromedia.com/products/mxf4mac/applications/mxf-for-mac-player.php -
Or charge a minimal extra fee to transcode to a format they can view- such as DVD dailies or H.264 or ProRes files. Or even post to a private Vimeo account. Remember you can make or break your rep on those extra services- why not have them already setup and rate carded? 🙂
Noah
Call Box Training.
Featuring the Panasonic GH2 and Panasonic AC160/130. -
That’s what I do.
I have prices for time code burn ins, transcodes for screening, post so client can screen or download from OVP.I’ve had clients insist on the raw video and despite making it clear they have the above option, come back and complain they can play the files. This is even after I explain the codec and wrapper requires a modern professional NLE. These are “professional” level clients too.
I remember walking into one corporate office when a client (this one sheepishly) said the couldn’t play the clips. They had ancient computers and neither Flash or Quicktime installed, They had insisted on raw video. They could have asked for WMVs screeners. I ended up calling their IT department and they immediately allowed me to install what they needed. Seems the client has assumed IT wouldn’t give them permission. I think the media department there had been used to using DV tapes in an old camera they had lying around hooked up to a TV set. They had no idea that raw wouldn’t be as simple as copy file to HD and play.
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VLC player (free download) will play the files on both Windows and Mac machines. No XDCAM-EX codec required.
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