splashtop and iPad with fcpx

[Christopher Travis]

So you’re already having a nightmare with clients? Don’t you think it’ll be worse when they know you can edit by voice control on your iPad 6 while driving your kids to school?

Managing client expectations and herding them to give comments in a timely fashion is like pushing water uphill I know, but I’d rather try for the sake of my personal life, than roll over and yield to being a 24hr editor-on-a-rope for the rest of my working life.

Maybe I’m overstating this point but I do believe that it’s worth fighting to retain ones personal life in the face of constantly increasing client demands.

I think this applies to both freelance editors-for-hire who will be asked to work in increasingly uncomfortable and unconducive conditions AND one-man-band video producers who will find clients taking more liberties with their spare time.

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Christopher Travis] “So you’re already having a nightmare with clients? Don’t you think it’ll be worse when they know you can edit by voice control on your iPad 6 while driving your kids to school?”

I don’t think you understand. In today’s on demand environment, everything is a push button away, even if it isn’t. Some clients do not care about my well being, so I need to look out for my well being. If making things easier and more accessible is the way to do this, then I am more for it.

As I have mentioned three times now, I am already doing a version of this through LogMeIn, on my iPad. Guess what? Sometimes it’s even on my iPhone.

Now, it’s not full blown editing, but I have edited graphics, reexported, triggered a compression and upload. I also check on renders/exports/processes from anywhere. No more watching paint dry at the office. I am telling you, if you will listen, I am happier for it. If I could edit, I would. Certainly it would not be practical all the time, but sometimes I would and save myself the trip to the office. I don’t think that makes me, as you say, mad.

[Marvin Holdman]

Jeremy Garchow – “Certainly it would not be practical all the time, but sometimes I would and save myself the trip to the office.”

I don’t think anyone is arguing that this doesn’t have promise, I think the point is raising to level of expectation of your client to believe that these technologies are reliable and practical enough to depend on is not a good idea. Sure, we can all remote in to our office machine from time to time and yes it is convenient. To take it from there to depending on that type of connection for deadline work, in a fluid environment, is something I don’t think even you would want to do.

As professionals, we should migrate to proven, reliable gear and processes. Cloud based Starbucks edits are only for discrete convenience and curious exploration. Not ready for the client world just yet.

That and dealing with the abusive nature of some of our clients. Sadly, it’s not going to make much difference where you are, or what gear you use, for those who are inclined to such.

Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Marvin Holdman] “To take it from there to depending on that type of connection for deadline work, in a fluid environment, is something I don’t think even you would want to do. “

It really depends. Most of the time, our clients do not care where it comes from, just as long as it shows up. They could care less about the OS, NLE, version, etc, and we work with decent size agencies, some you have probably heard of. They want it done, and done now. It is rare that a client comes in to the office anymore to edit all day.

If remote editing works, why wouldn’t I use it? If it is more convenient for me, why not? It still requires a decent and fast infrastructure in the office with fibre SAN and the like, but if I need to make a few adjustments to something and resend a screener, why wouldn’t I do it from where ever I happen to be if not at the office?

I (of course) am not talking about finishing or fine tuning, I am simply talking about last minute changes and requests. You know, the stuff that keeps you at the office for hours unnecessarily.

[Marvin Holdman]

We are not so far apart in our worlds. Of course we all want to do whatever it takes to keep our clients happy, but…

I’d rather keep them happy in the long run than confuse them about what it is we do.

When you say this, “I (of course) am not talking about finishing or fine tuning, I am simply talking about last minute changes and requests.” SOME clients can’t make the distinction you are talking about. It’s a subtle difference. Personally, I prefer to leave their office, head down to the coffee shop, make the changes, check my email and maybe make a few calls, then come back later and say, “Well, it took some doing, but we were able to stretch it out and get that change made. Whew! That was a tough one”. Much as Houdini would routinely take a break after an escape, and before re-appearing, to “build drama” while the audience imagined him struggling to free himself.

I think the point the original poster made was that this trend of anywhere, anytime editing is going to be a challenge to manage with our clients relationships.

I don’t disagree with what you are saying, nor do I dismiss the “portability” of our work, I just think it needs to be used judiciously and with an understanding that sometimes it suits us best NOT to do this type of work “in the cloud”. I think we’re all just trying to make sense of when those times are. Frankly, we’ve got some time to figure it out. As I think everyone agrees… we’re not there yet.

Marvin Holdman
Production Manager
Tourist Network
8317 Front Beach Rd, Suite 23
Panama City Beach, Fl
phone 850-234-2773 ext. 128
cell 850-585-9667
skype username – vidmarv

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Marvin Holdman] “Personally, I prefer to leave their office, head down to the coffee shop, make the changes, check my email and maybe make a few calls, then come back later and say, “Well, it took some doing, but we were able to stretch it out and get that change made. Whew! That was a tough one”.”

I undersand about building “contingencies” and perception, but when this is unnecessary, it is unnecessary and my convenience is paramount. Wy would I make my job harder to pull the wool over my clients eyes?

[Marvin Holdman] “I just think it needs to be used judiciously and with an understanding that sometimes it suits us best NOT to do this type of work “in the cloud”. I think we’re all just trying to make sense of when those times are. Frankly, we’ve got some time to figure it out. As I think everyone agrees… we’re not there yet.”

But what if the “cloud” is a local SAN or something? I mean, if we can tap into our SAN remotely with all proxies and full res on the SAN controlling a real live computer with a remote interface, then it starts to become very real as the infrastructure isn’t reliant on a third party server, you are simply controlling the software on a fast, local machine.