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Options for client viewing away from edit suite
I’m getting a new Mac Pro setup at home – principally to work on corporate projects. As I will be working from home, it won’t be very practical for clients to come around for viewing. I do have an HP business laptop, so I could output from FCP and play it on the laptop at the client’s office. This, however, would mean I wouldn’t have access to other clips or be able to make changes there and then. I don’t have a large enough budget at present to buy a MBP as well. The other option would have been to buy a MBP (instead of a Mac Pro). Note I’m working in ProRes HD.
Any suggestions for what the best way of working might be? Perhaps there are alternatives I’m not thinking of.
Thanks very much in advance!
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6 Replies
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Is your media storage drive(s) simple enough that you can take it home with you….like a G-Tech FW800 G-Raid? You could just unplug that, save your project on a USB flash key, and simply open the project up on another Mac.
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Hi Ray. I’m still trying to decide on storage – whether to go with a RAID 0 option like a G-RAID or Caldigit VR, or a RAID 5 option like a Caldigit HD Element. With the former, it would have the benefit of being transportable. The difficulty is I won’t have a Mac at the other end. Almost all the companies I’ve worked with are all PC. So to do that, I’d also need to bring a MBP myself, which I can’t afford if I go with the Mac Pro…
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I used this once and it was very useful, although there was a bit of lag, and it also depends on if the client likes such practice.
iChat Theater Review
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/harrington_richard/final_cut_ichat_theater.php
I also upload a compressed view copy to my websites private link for clients to screen. They can also save the view copy to their desktops to share with others involved. I usually place a VERY LARGE date stamp at the header to avoid any confusion as to which is the latest version downloaded to their desktop.
Victor
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This looks like a good option for the client viewing it remotely. Does the other party need to be on a Mac?
In any case, most likely I will be meeting with the client in person at their office – so I will want to have something there to show them. I guess it’s a matter of outputting a given sequences (or specific clips) and using my PC… or getting a Macbook Pro. Has anyone worked with a corporate client doing the former… just showing them edited versions rather than having the client come to the edit suite? How was that worked? I’d be curious to hear about anyone else’s experience.
Many thanks.
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Hi Shane,
[Shane O’Brien] “just showing them edited versions rather than having the client come to the edit suite? How was that worked? I’d be curious to hear about anyone else’s experience.”
In my opinion, if you’re only showing them edited versions then it makes no sense for you to go out of your way to sit next to them as they watch it. Just send them a Quicktime file and talk on the phone/email with any comments from them.
Doing that gives the client more of a chance to review what they’re looking at, ultimately enabling you to provide a better finished product, which is what it all comes down to.All the best,
Alex Elkins -
I use xprove.com to show my approvals to clients.
You can stream or download, and make comments that include the time code.
I’ve had clients with macs and pc enjoy this flawlessly, but sadly I have had 2 clients have troubles, they were both on pcs and sadly were not very computer literate, so I chalk it up to operator error.
Todd Reid
Senior Editor
Digitized Media, Inc.
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