[Denise Quesnel]

Thanks Michael. I am thinking I am going to skip this update, in hope that the next will have even better stereoscopic support, and just maybe a means to edit in HFR timelines.

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Stereo 3D Post Production Specialist, adjunct researcher at the S3D Centre in Vancouver, BC.
The S3D Centre is a premiere research, curriculum/training, production and post-production facility.
https://www.s3dcentre.ca

[Denise Quesnel]

Hi Daniel, do you know of any changes they have made to stereoscopic 3d? I looked through Avid’s content sheet but there was very little info on it.

Stereo 3D Post Production Specialist, adjunct researcher at the S3D Centre in Vancouver, BC.
The S3D Centre is a premiere research, curriculum/training, production and post-production facility.
https://www.s3dcentre.ca

[Denise Quesnel]

I am going to respond to your post more specific to the Vancouver Canada area, don’t take this post as a template for how to network in other cities.

I have lived in Vancouver, for the past 7 years. Vancouver is in a unique situation especially after hosting the Olympics. There is a bubble here waiting to burst, in fact it is already bursting now that the Olympics are out of town.

1) The animation/film/video industry here is absolutely flooded. There are no less than 6 schools that have programs specializing in those fields and each release between 30-400 graduates a year, almost all whom try and find full time work. There are FAR more applicants than jobs available. Most companies that have satellite offices in Vancouver will tell you that they get more applicants in there than at any of their other offices.

2) As a non-Canadian you will have to prove that you are a highly skilled worker, there are forms online you can test out but not everyone passes (depends on their career)

3) The Canadian dollar has gone up to match the American dollar, which means fewer productions are coming from out of town. Also, the province of BC has yet to match tax credits that other Canadian provinces have. Ontario for example, where the major city of Toronto is located has more lucrative credits.

4) Vancouver has a massive gaming industry, but it is also very volatile. Last year a few companies laid off HUNDREDS of staff, only to rehire a small portion so far this year. And for animation, Pixar has just moved into town, but they only plan on hiring about 70 staff. Television, cable networks and production companies frequently use freelancers.

5) Metro Vancouver has the highest rent/cost of living in Canada.

Vancouver, British Columbia has the least housing affordability among 272 cities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Source: Demographia 2010.

Vancouver is the most expensive city IN THE WORLD to own a house. It now takes over ten years worth of average income to be able to afford a house.

Average Rent for Two-Bedroom Apartments (about 900 square feet) in 2009
$1,154.00 per month
Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. 2009.

Minimum wage: $8.00 an hour (and that is what entry level media professionals get if they are lucky)

SO, what can a person in your position to get a job? While networking in advance could be helpful, it is really unlikely it will make any difference at all. Like I mentioned, the industries here are absolutely flooded and most positions whether as an employee or freelancer almost exclusively come through word of mouth. What you could do, is start up a conversation with someone in the area over something other than hiring you and go from there. Look up Vancouver area events/groups and see what names pop up that may be affiliated with a company, shoot them an email about the events or groups (Facebook or LinkedIn are good sources). Then when you know you are serious about moving, inquire about work. Just as long as you don’t waste their time, no one gets hurt.

More people seem to have better luck in Toronto (particularly Americans), and Europeans seem to be well embraced in Montreal. Both those cities have slightly lower costs of living but also host some big name agencies/companies. They just don’t have quite the reputation that Vancouver has since it just hosted the Olympics, but they are equally great media centers.

Good luck.

[Denise Quesnel]

What codec did you export out of after effects? Does it match your final cut sequence settings? Is it interlaced? Also if the font is serif instead of san serif you may have problems.

[Denise Quesnel]

I would never try and render a self contained video that has still images in it. As you have found, it is a render but also corruption nightmare.

What I would do it just render out the still images into a quicktime, whatever codec your sequence is in. Then re-import the resulting video into your sequence and delete the images. There should be no render time on this.

[Denise Quesnel]

Don,

You definitely need to check out Trek-Tech’s line of mono and tripods. They are EXACTLY meant for the kind of purpose that you said you would be using it for. They are also within your budget.

https://www.trek-tech.com/products/trekpods.html

I highly recommend these sturdy and convenient products- If you plan on hiking or trekking into more wild areas these also double up as a walking stick.

Hope his helps.

[Denise Quesnel]

There is one big thing missing here. The original poster mentions he has been doing all this for 6 months, and also keeps mentioning ‘projects that he has worked on’ and not exactly that he is good at what he does.

Fact: It takes more than 6 months to be an accomplished editor, camera op, graphic designer, whatever. 6 months, whether or not there is an education behind the experience, is a very very short period of time.

As a freelancer, you have to be able to go out and find work. One client is not good enough. You need to be a good business person as people have already mentioned. If you are not sure you can do this, then being an employee is the way to go. Heck, if someone offered me an employee position early in my career I would have taken it. Being an employee provides more stability, more predictable income and also time, believe it or not. It gives you all this while becoming experienced.

I don’t think the question is what one is worth, as much as it is what is a good move in this particular economy. Experience is ‘worth’ more than anything else, including talent in my humble opinion.

[Denise Quesnel]

My advice is to try and balance out major clients with smaller ones. That way you don’t get stuck with a massive amount owed while waiting to hear back from the big guy- you can do some work for the little guy and possibly get several projects done for him/her between the time you were waiting to be paid by the large company.

There is nothing worse than assuming you have thousands of dollars in your account when it takes months of waiting to deposit it. By doing some quick turn around projects this situation can be avoided, to an extent.

[Denise Quesnel]

“I’m already concerned about squeezing an 11 page script into 8 minutes of finished product plus two minutes of title/credits. It’ll definitely be an adventure.”

Here is a bit of advice I always use, regardless of the final legth of the project:

For every shot you use, really decide if that particular shot has a purpose in telling the story. If it doesn’t or you are unsure, cut it and see how much the shot is ‘missed’.

In the scenario that I have to edit a piece where the script is longer than the final product should be, I do an ‘additive’ edit. That is where you only add the bare bones shots that are needed, and then from there you add other shots that enhance the story/look etc. This is a technique where you can truly evaluate the guts of the story and go from there. People have a habit of adding too much to their timeline then ‘cut back’ on shots- difficult to do once you have become really familiar with your edit.

And also in my opinion 2 minutes of titles/credits are overkill- in a shorts program people groan when credits take more than 60 seconds to roll. All credits can be given, just make them fly a little faster 😉

[Denise Quesnel]

Nick gave you lots of great answers, but I can confirm as a Canadian that laws here are different, and you need an agreement to use children. Best to consult a Canadian lawyer as well as check out our TeleFilm website as well as the Provincial film commission (of the Province you are shooting in) for leads to lawyers, forms etc.