Doug Graham
Forum Replies Created
-
DVCAM is a data format, not a tape format. The same physical tape can be used to record either DV or DVCAM or DVCPRO25.
A completely separate issue is that of using multiple brands of tape. Different manufacturers use different tape lubricant formulas. Mixing them can sometimes cause junk to build up and cause head clogs. However, if you run a cleaning tape for a few seconds before putting in the new brand, you should be OK.
Another, less alarming issue, has to do with tape thickness. From what you say, the DVCAM tapes are a longer length, and therefore are probably thinner material. Thinner tapes are more prone to stretch, especially on repeated use. Again, you should be OK if all you’re doing is recording and then dumping the video to disk for editing.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
I don’t think a release form is what Zvi is looking for. Those are used to get permission from the person being filmed to use his or her image. For event video, they are almost never used.
Zvi, what you want is called “errors and omissions coverage”. It’s a type of insurance used in the film industry to cover your tail in case the client sues you for leaving out something important.
But even E&O insurance is almost never used (or needed) by event videographers. Most of us just have a clause in our contract that states we can’t guarantee that any specific shot(s) will get recorded.
Do your search on “sample wedding video contract” instead. You can also find links to sample contracts in a number of wedding and event video forums. As I recall, EventDV magazine published a sample contract a year or so back, too.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
50 to 75 feet? What’s wrong with a cable?
Regards,
Doug Graham -
Zvi,
Since you’re posting this in the Event discussion group, I’m going to assume that you’re planning to focus on wedding and event videography. If that’s not the case, tell us…because the requirements for doing, say, corporate video are very different from weddings and events.
The first thing you need isn’t equipment, or even investors…what you need is a business plan. There are software programs to help you create one, but all you really need is a pencil and paper, and some serious thinking. Your plan should address things like:
– what’s my competition? Don’t guess. Do some research in the phone book, in bridal magazines, at trade shows, on the Web.
– what makes me better than the competition? Lower prices? Better product? Faster delivery?
– how will I structure my product? hourly rate? package prices? Will I offer any discounts? What payment schedule will I ask for?
– will I offer additional products? Film to video transfer, still photography, video scrapbooks, funeral videos…there are lots of possibilities, but don’t spread yourself too thin.
– how will I tell customers about my business? Ads? Website? Word of mouth? Bridal shows? Networking with other service providers?
– how will I show customers what I can do? You’ll need to have a demo, and sample clips for your website. That may mean doing a few jobs for free, or at a very low price, to get the material. Above all, don’t steal somebody else’s clips for your website; folks who do this are quickly found out. If other videographers don’t catch you, your customers will notice that your product doesn’t look like your demo, and they’ll be pi$$ed.
– how much income can I realistically expect the first year? How much in each of the next four years?
– what will be my expenses? Here is where you have to do some trading off between options like buying equipment outright, renting it, or leasing it. But you have to consider more than equipment. There’s also insurance, and advertising costs, health care costs, travel costs, taxes, continuing education, maintenance, software upgrades… Don’t forget to include a “salary” for yourself. Whatever’s left over is the business’ profit, the money that can be reinvested to grow the business. I built an Excel spreadsheet that lets you play with income and expense numbers. You can find it at https://videouniversity.com/weddingpricing.htm
– how will I get the money to start my business? Savings? Cash in my retirement account? Sell my car? Credit cards? Small business loan from a bank? Investments from friends or relatives? I think that, first off, your estimate of $7,000 is too low to set up a full time business and hit the ground running. Most full-time event video businesses have about $20,000 to $50,000 worth of equipment and software. You also need enough of a cash cushion to live on until your business is established and profitable…and most event video businesses take about three years to really get rolling. However, you may be able to operate a part-time startup business (one good camera and accessories, computer, software, and miscellaneous stuff) and pull yourself up “by your own bootstraps”. By working at a “day job”, you can reinvest most of what you make into additional equipment. But it does take a big toll on your time. Second, any method that does NOT include the word “investors” is preferable to any financing method that does. Investors are a chain around your neck. They have this habit of insisting on getting paid a good return for their investment, and you could put that money to better use.
Your business plan is a living document. Take it out several times a year and compare how you are doing against what you THOUGHT you’d be doing, and update the plan as needed.
Good luck!
Regards,
Doug Graham -
The Focus Enhancements products are a development of the old Videonics switcher line. I owned one of those, and found it to be unreliable…it would sometimes substitute a transition of its choice for the one I’d selected.
Haven’t tried Datavideo, but I haven’t heard anything bad about them.
Panasonic has a long reputation for making good, reliable switchers.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
The DV format uses a very small tape and heads, and it doesn’t take much of a difference in head alignments for a tape that was recorded in one camera or deck to fail to play back in another. Using LP mode only makes the problem more likely to occur, since the tape speed is slower and the data packed into even narrower stripes. Most manufacturers will not guarantee that tapes recorded in LP mode will play back in anything other than the original camera.
I suggest using the camera you shot a tape with to transfer it to the computer. I also suggest that you stop using LP mode.
If you can isolate which camera is “different” from the others, send it in for servicing, along with a tape that was recorded on one of the other cameras. In your cover letter, ask them to realign the heads to correctly play the included tape. As an alternative, send all the cameras in and ask them to realign the heads to factory specs.
On the other problem, try to isolate whether the issue is with the Firewire cable you are using, the camera’s Firewire port, or the computer’s Firewire port, by swapping out cables, computers, and cameras and keeping track of what works and what doesn’t. If it’s the camera’s port, that’s another reason to send it in for service.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
Haven’t used ’em myself, but I’ve talked to several folks who have. Most users like them very much. The full duplex feature (being able to talk and listen at the same time, like a telephone) is the biggest advantage. To my mind, being able to have Eartec wire up your headset so that you can monitor your camera audio AND communicate with your crew is almost as big a plus.
The only downsides I’ve heard is that some say the volume is a tad low and there is often some static on the line.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
Vegas IS used widely; it’s one of the best-selling NLEs on the market.
However, there are a lot of editors who are used to what they know…FCP or Avid, mostly…and they will run down Vegas as “unprofessional”.
What they really mean is, “I personally don’t like or understand how it works”.
For example, Avid and FCP and Liquid and Premiere all have a Source/Record video window for trimming clips. Vegas (and NewTek SpeedEdit) don’t have this. But the two-window paradigm is a holdover from the days of linear editing, when you had video tape decks as an integral part of your editing system. It made sense then, but it doesn’t, now that we have nonlinear editing. A storyboard or a timeline paradigm is much faster than a source/record trim window…IF you are used to working with them. If not, you will have some “un-learning” to do before you’ll feel comfortable.
Vegas began life as an audio editing program, so it doesn’t have the “baggage” from the linear editing days. On the other hand, because of its audio heritage, Vegas has some of the best audio editing tools of any NLE, and it integrates tightly with leading audio applications like Sound Forge and Acid. It also has some great integrated compositing tools…where other editors have to jump out to After Effects, Vegas editors can continue (in many cases) to work within the editing program.
The important thing about choosing *ANY* NLE software is that YOU are comfortable with the way it works. Don’t listen to the guy over at the local post production house or TV station; don’t listen to the product hype or the magazine reviews; don’t listen to the guys like me on the user forums. Instead, go get a hands-on demo of the software on your “short list” and make your own decision, based on your own likes and dislikes.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
Homebuilt PC here, running an Athlon 64fx 4800+, 2GB RAM, two SATA hard drives (one for system and application software, one for data), plus a 1.2 terabyte RAID 0 array of four SATA drives. M-Audio Delta 1010 sound card, two Dell 24″ LCD monitors.
I run Windows XP, Sony Vegas, Pinnacle Liquid Edition, Photoshop CS, Sound Forge, Acid, and LightWave 3D on this system.
Regards,
Doug Graham -
This is a long-standing bug in Vegas. It doesn’t do it to all clips, but the occasional one (on my system, anyway). When it happens, I undo the normalization, import the offending audio clip into Sound Forge, and normalize it there.
Regards,
Doug Graham