Eric Buist
Forum Replies Created
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No worries! Happy to help!
I’m going to say it once more, for emphasis: Get a cart to move equipment. The less heavy lifting you have to do, the sharper you stay during your shoots. A good cart has been the best piece of equipment I have ever purchased. Period. Not my cameras, not my lenses, not my lights, not my computers, ect. It is my cart.
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Some credentials before we start: I am a one-man-band video producer at a rather large company (72,000 employees across the US). I have also been one-manning as a freelancer for almost 10 years now.
I only see a couple of places that you are either spending too much or might want to re-think your purchase. Personally, I have been extremely happy with the Satchler Ace tripod. The head is great and the sticks are ok, but there are a TON of tripod options that are just as good at half the price of the one you selected. Seriously, you should not be spending almost $2,000 on a tripod. I would take that savings, get a second c-stand and a cart to help with moving equipment around.
For the boom cradle, look into something much simpler… https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/885688-REG/Auray_BPH_BOOM_POLE.html plus an extra grip head (which has so many uses it stupid not to have more) is the same amount, but much more practical and more industry standard.
Why are you getting the Zoom H6? How many channels are you planning on recording (and this isn’t DSLR land, you can run a cable into the camera…). If it is just for VO, save the money, get something that only has 2 channels and maybe a nice little preamp to make sure you have a hot signal coming in.
If you are going to be a one-man show, does it make sense to have a boom pole? If you are shooting the majority of your content indoors, do you need a blimp? Is the NTG 3 a good mic for doing interviews? I’m going to suggest something like this: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/242661-REG/Audix_SCX1_HC_SCX1_HC_Microphone.html for a mic, throw it on a stand like this: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/770263-REG/On_Stage_56985_MS9701TB_Heavy_Duty_Tele_Boom_Mic.html/pageID/accessory and call it good.
With a little budget savings, I would suggest you add things that either save you time (faster external hard drives, faster computer, faster card reader), make your life easier (like a cart), or add production value (slider, additional lights).
Have fun with it and let us know what you decide!
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I would guess your issue is with Neat Video. It is a pretty heavy plugin that really increased my export time when I started using it.
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After reading your post about what equipment you own/use, I realized why you weren’t finding clients and why the young kids (like me) are… Clients want something new and shiny, they hear about HD and want it, they hear about 4K and want it. They don’t understand it at all, but it is new and they see it as showing their company/product/service in the best light.
Is the industry cut throat? Yup. Do I have to fight to find client work? Yup. But, I carved out a niche and made it work. Paid off the 15,000 in equipment that I purchased and worked my way up to find great clients, now making a great wage without having to market myself, since it is all word of mouth.
Part of me wonders if you had kept up on the changing times, would you have made it?
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I’ve just gone through a similar situation. The other comments about not needing a DSLR or similar are fine, but it depends on the look you want and the variety of videos you see producing. 5k is not a big budget, but it is doable. I would do some heavy research into the camera and audio equipment. I walked into a Sony A7, so I had to stay in that ecosystem with my purchases. 4K would be nice, but then you need to consider hard drives and computer for working with it, which will balloon you up. A lens will be pretty important, get a 24-70 (good for 90% of your needs) in your ecosystem with a cheaper camera body. Audio – We run with a Rode NTG-4 on a mic stand to a Tascam 60D, which is pretty solid audio. I don’t do anything with Lavs because we are in a downtown area and wireless could get a pile of interference. Lights – I decided to get some bi-color LED panels, we do a lot of on location interviews, so battery power and low heat output were key. Read reviews to figure out what might work for you. Tripod – They had a pair of sticks, so I purchased a cheaper manfrotto fluid head, with a DSLR you don’t need something huge. And, since I am used to using a monopod for b-roll shooting, that was my one “toy” purchase. Since they had some gear, I didn’t hit 5k, but it was around 3k and a camera + tripod legs would probably hit your budget. Look for camera models that are a couple years old or used to save a few bucks up front.