[Craig Seeman]

Lessons to learn:
Not everything that happened was yours or Joe’s fault. Unlike corporate shoots or tv spots, weddings can have unpredictable changes. You can only do the best you can under the circumstances.

Camera light – bulbs do burn out
Bring extra bulbs (extra tapes, extra batteries, etc)
Shoot with the best light sensitive camera you can get for your budget class. I use a Sony PD-170 since many couples want NO LIGHT and rarely will I use anything beyond 10 watts. This leads to another wedding reality. There may come a point when you have to change, bulb, battery, tape during a key moment and you’re the only camera. You try to avoid that as much as possible but it can happen.

DJ Sound System output – Risky at best since it is the DJ’s board. You can’t control that. Going to Shotgun is reasonable backup plan. Split the audio so one channel always gets shotgun and it’s always on. There’s always the possibility of the wireless mic signal getting hit with interference. Always keep shotgun going on one input. You can’t guarentee “2nd sound” unless you control it. It’s a nice bonus when you can get it. If you want to ensure it you have to take on the difficult task of setting up your own “2nd sound.”

Focus – Joe has a choice between manual and auto as we all do. If he’s looking while shooting he should have switched to auto if he couldn’t adjust manual. Was he using the camera he normally uses? If I hire a camera person I prefer them bring their own.

Video only a half hour long? Did the couple have a desired length? Didn’t you/Joe shoot filler? I always do a walk around the tables. Not interviews, but simply circle each table so I’ve got nearly all the guests. I also spend lots of time shooting the dance floor, focusing on various couples with emphasis on bride/groom, parents, bridesmaids, groomsmen, couples “cutting the rug” etc. Just the tables and the dancing can fill up 30 minutes to an hour.

Hiring camera people – use a person as “2nd camera” before you trust them to do a job alone. You need to judge camera talent, technical understanding and troubleshooting ability. Someone has to be good at all three to fly solo. Ultimately you are responsible.

What the client paid for – There’s a reason why two camera weddings are better than one. There’s something to cut to. One camera weddings have greater “risks” involved. Charge appropriately and offer a two camera package.

I’d make the video as long as possible based on reasonable “footage.” “Dress” it nice and send it to them, no note other than maybe “congrats and enjoy.” If they make negative comments THEN have an honest discussion with them and reconcile. Let them know there are elements you can’t control especially with a one camera shoot. You are responsible for Joe’s camera work though. You are responsible for backup bulbs, batteries, tapes etc. You’re not responsible for the DJ.

[Craig Seeman]

I’ve heard people had issues when using the old MPEG2 presets which get moved to the “Custom” folder when you upgrade form Compressor 1.2x to 2.0x

[Craig Seeman]

Charles, would H.264 be worth a try instead of MPEG2?

[Craig Seeman]

Update Compressor to 2.0.1 just in case. I’ve heard that some folks have had issues using old presets (for Compressor 1.2) with Compressor 2. Have you tried creating a new preset?

[Craig Seeman]

Split the clip where it brakes and place it as another angle (makes it confusing for client watching and clutters screen).

Create sequence and export/reimport (but lose original time code).

Only do multiclip until a “break point” and then create another multiclip (breaks the fluidity of screening/editing).

[Craig Seeman]

For those reading this thread and wondering why using sequence would be a useful thing in creating mutliclips:

1) staggered reel changes on long multicam shoots.
2) The stop/start in which time code is continuous but one wants to split the clip to resync.

Yes, I know there are work arounds but it would be much simpler to insert a slug for the missing video and keep the camera angle continuous.

[Craig Seeman]

Flip4Mac works in Autodesk Cleaner so you can export WMV9 files and use Cleaner’s processing filters etc. It’ll also export from QuicktimePro, FCP, FCE, iMovie, Sorenson Squeeze 4.1 (and there’s more on the way).

[Craig Seeman]

[drew conner] “Thank you so much!! IT definitly works now on other peoples computers. THe only problem i am having now is keeping the file size small. It is pretty big when useing this codec. Any hints or help?”

“small” is a relative thing. Think of your “target” audience. If it’s higher speed broadband you might want a frame size of 320×240 and around 500kbps/s at the source frame rate (29.97fps for NTSC) and do 2 pass VBR for best quality. If you want smaller you’ll have to think about which corners to cut (frame size – data rate – frame rate) but these will affect “quality” in some way. What’s an “acceptible” impact is subjectively up to you.

[Craig Seeman]

While all three are good cameras, the PD-170 has the best low light performance (least grain) which is key for dark receptions. You can use a camera light but the brighter the light the more the intrusion. I find people are sometimes unhappy even with a 10W light.

You should also consider if/what other work you might be shooting. Once Blu-Ray or HD DVD hit the market, you’ll be able to deliver HiDef to clients with HDTV. I’m just not sure how dark grainy reception video will look at HiDef sizes or such clients will just have to understand you’d need to shoot with a camera light on. If that’s the case, the Z1 could work.

[Craig Seeman]

Some tough lessons here.

A verbal agreement to replace but no agreement on value. You can insure things for replacement value or new value. I always insure for new value since that’s the price one actually pays for the new piece of gear (as opposed to the used value of the equipment).

Your employer should have insured his equipment. Breakage can happen on his jobs too. NOT the same as an extended warranty. Maybe you should have taken out insurance if you plan on using their gear regularly.

The two of you have to decide what’s “fair.” I do think keeping the damaged camera is fair after replacement. You really should get (pay) for an estimate. It may be very expensive to repair (new housing, new lense, possibly other things) but it MIGHT cost less then buying a new camera. It might give you a usable camera. I’m not sure if selling for parts is viable. Who uses used parts except for small “in house” repairs? Used parts usually works only on discontinued service parts.