Tapeless acquisition, should we charge more for it?

[Mark Maness]

Sounds like a good idea…

BUT… I’m sure that the clients will be thinking it should be cheaper since you don’t have to log and capture anymore.

To be perfectly honest, it still takes about the same amount of time to work tapeless as it does with tape. Faster on the front end but it bites you on the back end, so usually it evens out for us.

_______________________________

Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
http://www.schazamproductions.com
https://blogs.creativecow.net/waynecarey

[Shane Ross]

Capture time isn’t “nil,” but drastically reduced.

Charge them more for…NOT spending time capturing? I don’t get you. If they want to STORE the tapeless media on my drives, I’ll charge a storage fee.

I charge for my time…and my hardware.

Shane

Littlefrog Post

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD now for sale!
http://www.lfhd.net

[Mark Maness]

Exactly!

Clients are charged for additional storage, not for new technologies. We have been doing this for years, now.

_______________________________

Wayne Carey
Schazam Productions
http://www.schazamproductions.com
https://blogs.creativecow.net/waynecarey

[Chris Poisson]

My thinking is that time saved for not having to capture is worth something, we have to store it all no matter what, so that doesn’t answer my question. It is, should shooting time go for a little more given the time we are saving the client in not having to capture? I can’t express it more simply than that…

Have a wonderful day.

[Shane Ross]

[Chris Poisson] “should shooting time go for a little more given the time we are saving the client in not having to capture?”

Shooting time is not increased…or shouldn’t be…so charging more when you aren’t working more, again, makes no sense to me.

HOWEVER…it would be prudent to have someone on set who’s sole purpose is to download and manage the P2 footage. So there will be extra money needed in that. That is a HUGE thing to have, because if you lose footage, it is gone. If you don’t download and VERIFY that your footage is there, then that can be a huge problem. See this post:

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/193/867607

Shooting really won’t take longer UNLESS your camera guy does the offloading..then it will.

And you still have to do SOMETHING when you import. When you import all you have are file names, you still need to have an assistant there…or you…renaming all that footage and organizing it. Just because it it tapeless, doesn’t mean that it is all ready to go.

You can use RAYLIGHT and access it immediately, but again, you should rename the clips in FCP so that you know what is on that clip. COPY the MXF files first…don’t work with the originals.

Shane

Littlefrog Post

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD now for sale!
http://www.lfhd.net

[Mark Palmos]

[Wayne Carey] “To be perfectly honest, it still takes about the same amount of time to work tapeless as it does with tape. Faster on the front end but it bites you on the back end, so usually it evens out for us.”

plus the fact that when you capture from tape, you have a good look at all the material. ingesting tapeless media lacks this step… and when you are spending that time on the back end, its wasted time rather than productive.

i guess as long as you are charging for backing up too it should be about the same.

later
mark.

[Stuart Simpson]

We actually charge more at the moment as we add on machine dubbing time to create backup tapes of the rushes…

-Simmie
1 MacPro – Kona 3
2 G5 – Kona LH
2 G4s – Cinewave
xbox360, Wii, PSP, PS2
https://www.speak.co.uk

[Rennie Klymyk]

[Shane Ross] “I charge for my time…and my hardware”

I agree with Shane, charge for the gear you use. How would you feel if someone scraped across the screen with a light stand? Equipment depreciates or goes defunct and we all need to recover these costs. If it’s use is warranted on set, charge for it.

It’s use must be justified and explained because clients/producers will compare quotes/rates when choosing camera and crew. In the corporate market cost is the 1st determining factor for most clients and they would need to know there is a cost savings down the line.

You may decide it’s best so keep your rates the same because it is you who benifits through time saved in the end.