Debe
Forum Replies Created
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A white screen usually means, as you have said, QT can’t find the right codec.
It’s possible the QT for the PC doesn’t have the codec you need. What codec was used to make the file? Is it possible to remake it with a different codec that the PC has?
debe
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I think you need to explain this more. Is he backing out of paying you for hours billed while you were still an employee, or is he saying from here on out, the rate will change? I don’t think he can back out of money you’ve already earned under your employee agreement. The future freelance agreement is up in the air, and the beauty of that is you get to choose whether or not you want to continue working for someone who’s like that. You get to set the terms. Your rate is your rate. They don’t get to tell you what the job pays. Well, they can try, but you are in control. You can say no.
If he’s backing out of the agreement he had with you as an employee while you were still an employee, stand your ground. I wouldn’t recommend laywering up quite yet. He just might be trying to find out how far he can push you.
As a freelancer for the past 6 and a half years, I will share with you the most important advice I received when I struck out on my own: Plan to need 50% MORE than you were making on staff to live the same lifestyle. Just to make the math easy, if you had a $40K staff job with decent benefits, you will need to make at least $60K freelance to have the same household income and to provide yourself with similar benefits. This will cover your insurance, retirement, the employers’ half of the Social Security taxes (yes, the beauty of not having a boss means you have to pay the government for the priviledge…), and for “time off” (or, more likely, down time…).
Also, the best way I have found to make sure the money is there to pay the tax man, the insurance man, and to fund the retirement accounts is to have an account that you can split deposits into. I have a checking account and a money market account that are tied together, so I can depost part of a check into one account and the rest into another with the same deposit slip. 55% of EVERY invoice paid goes into the checking account to pay my business blls and to pay myself. 45% goes directly into the money market acocunt and only comes out to pay taxes, insurance premiums, and retirement funds. I do not “dip in” under any circumstances, unless they’re coming to take away the house because I defaulted on the mortgage. It’s amazing how often that never happens, and it’s also pretty eye-opening to see what you can do without, or wait to purchase, if you limit your access. After the taxes are done for the year, whatever is left over is mine to play with. This is also incentive to get cracking on the taxes as soon as the 1099’s come in!
It takes diligence, and some folks can’t sit on multiple thousands of dollars without spending it, but when it’s time to pay quarterly taxes, you’ll be very glad you have the money. I know far too many freelancers who don’t think about taxes until it’s waaaaaay too late. It’s ends up messing them up somethin’ fierce. Most of the folks I know who had to go back to staff jobs were the ones who couldn’t manage their money well enough and got in deep with the tax man. No only did they get themselves in nasty trouble with the government, but they neglected their retirement savings. The best gift you can give to yourself as a freelancer is to max out your retirement accounts as many years as you can.
Anyway, back to your question. Don’t let him push you around. Stand your ground if he’s trying to back out of your original agreement while you are still technically an employee. Be firm, polite, and professional. Be prepared to walk away. If he welches on your original agreement, I’m not sure you are obligated to remain there for your two-week notice, or whatever. I’m not a lawyer, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never played on on tv, so this is not legal advice. I’d just tell him that “As long as I am an employee of this company, I expect the agreement we had in place to remain the same until I am no longer an employee” You are allowed to quit a job. You are allowed to decide that it’s time to move on, and you should not be penalized by a good employer for making a hard decision that is in your own best interest.
You could posture that you are prepared to seek out a lawyer, but really, unless it’s multiple tens of thousands of dollars, what you would have to pay the laywer might make it seem hardly worth it. Look into it, certainly, if he’s trying to welch on an agreement, but be prepared to hear something along the lines of $400 an hour for at least 40 hours as starting point for getting legal representation. Of course there is the possibility the laywer will work on contingency….but that gets dicey too. Then s/he might get as much as 40% of what you win, maybe more, maybe less. It depends on your area, and what’s customary. It’s a huge can o’worms when you get the legal system involved. I’m not trying to talk you out of it necessarily, but just be prepared for it to be expensive, and to take years, if you choose to go that route. I know a guy who won a summary judgement against a former employer who pulled multiple fast ones when he quit. It took over a year to get to the judgement phase. He was awarded $40K. The lawyer took 40% off the top. The former employer eventually stopped making payments and closed his bank account. My friend received about $5000 of his $24K of the $40K judgement. The laywer got his $16K. I think it took over two years to get to that point (I’m a little fuzzy on the timeline. I may be off a little). In order to get the rest of his money, he had to get the sheriff involved. I actually lost track of the story. He may have gotten more of the money by now, but by now I think it’s been over 5 years. The lawsuit so consumed him for so many years, that he did somewhat regret what he got financially over what he lost personally. Not all cases are the same, but I hope you can see the murky point I’m trying to make. It almost has to be more the principle of the thing than to be about the money to make it worth it.
Of course, if it’s a small amount, and I don’t know how small it needs to be to qualify, but you can avoid the whole lawyer thing and look into small claims court, as well.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I remember first venturing out into the unknown of the post-staff job world. I hope something in here helps you during your transition!
debe
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There should be a patch. Go to Boris’ website.
debe
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I don’t have an info on it, but I have a client that uses a logging program on his Palm Pilot. It uses the IR port, I think, to interface with a transmitter, perhaps. He showed me once a long time ago. I just don’t recall anything about it.
If you have a Plam Pilot already, it might be worth a Google.
I remember it being really slick…but I didn’t have a Palm Pilot at the time, so I didn’t pay that close of attention to it.
Sorry to be so vague.
debe
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Google: MPEG Streamclip.
debe
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The crossgrade form says “Orders must be postmarked by December 20, 2006”.
Whether they decide to extend that is anyone’s guess. I’d recommend that folks get it done now. I had an 8-day turnaround sending mine in Express Mail (insured for replacement). The crossgrade disks came back via UPS.
The closer it gets to December 20th, the longer it will likely take due to volume.
debe
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…or right-clcik and select “Open in Viewer”,
There are scads of ways to do the same thing in FCP! Pick the one that works best for you!
debe
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OOH! That’s a GREAT idea, Arnie!
I’d still try both ways, just to cover the bases, but Arnie’s is an elegant solution!
Thanks!
debe
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[Andy Edwards] “no fedex or ups for tracking.”
Mine arrived via UPS yesterday. Apparently they have given up on Media Mail. It was an 8-day turnaround.
debe
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Can you copy all of your sequences and bin information into a new project and try save it that way?
That error is usually a hallmark of file corruption.
You may have to dig into your Autosave Vault to find a copy that’s not corrupt.
debe