[Jiggy Gaton]

Hi Cpp854! Well, it’s been 3 years since u posted this and have probably moved on, but if you still need this tut, let me know. Matchmover has been discontinued – what a shame – as Autocad has bought it up and bundled in their other products. I have not tried the newer incarnations, but I sure liked the old one (v4 Realviz Matchmover) and it works well with c4d v10 (also aged software). Well, let me know here!
jigs

Phoenix Studios: Small A/V Production House in Kathmandu

[Jiggy Gaton]

Hi Tim I am following this thread as a lurker ‘cause I know someday it will be relevant. Currently we (Nepalese) are mostly working in SD, it’s mostly a question of economics, so our studio is producing SD using FCP Studio 2 and the ProRes 422 codec. I am wondering what we should be doing in preparation of moving to HD shoots and post production someday. Got any tips for us here? Thanks!
BS in Nepal

[Jiggy Gaton]

The fix is here as I had the same problem this week.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1559565&tstart=0
the trick is command-0 and using the Prores 422 codec to make everything smooth. good luck!
BS

[Jiggy Gaton]

Wait, how does that link to a file on the DVD?!? I am pulling my hair out with this and other quirks if intellidisc. But I had a wonderful edvd project built only to find out that the target was locked down PCS, so i have to somehow port this eDVD project to an intelldisc one. I am going nuts with all the bugs. Can u help answer a few questions if you have successfully built a DVD with this tool?
Thanks
BS in Nepal

[Jiggy Gaton]

hi jilliwoodward, it seems that charging clients for your homework would be counterprofitable in the long run. Although I have been there. Clients will bring you all kinds of wacky stuff, “video” from ancient digital still cameras, stuff that’s been copied and recompressed using who knows what, and video that’s frankly not worth editing. Key to pricing that kindof job is recognizing it up front during the negociation process, and explaining to the client that reworking the video supplied into something presentable is going to cost more than if you were working with “normal” video, or if it were something that you shot yourself. (but be careful not to offend) But this might mean that you will have to “eat” your learning curve if you take in junk not knowing what it is, and then later having to spend lot’s more time just getting the frames to play right. Good luck!
BS

[Jiggy Gaton]

Bill, I am glad that you brought that up. No one in 7 years has asked me what my hourly rate is. I think they could give a rat’s butt. The only way that I use “hour rate” is to pick an arbitrary high number for my hourly rate when calculating an estimate. That number is added into all the factors mentioned in this great post + profit. But never have I had to give that number to a client. And this is what got me here in the first place: I think we, as creatives, should share those numbers, if not just internally, for the help of each other. Jim in Australia gets xxxx for 30 second Soap commercial. Jane in Tiawan gets xxxx for 30 second Noodle commercial. If there was a database, that would help others, I think, when someone is branching out to a new area of production. One could look at the productions and then judge quality vs.money, and make some determination on their own number (all things considered). In other words, to answer Mark’s question “how long is a ball of string” – if there was an informative extensive database on balls of string, one could figure it out..to some useful degree. Just a thought.
BS

[Jiggy Gaton]

Nick, that one made me laugh! So true. They want it to cost that much. Even for reasons other then vanity. To clear a fiscal year end budget is one that I see alot. But the saving grace for us is that we work with poverty-alleviation agencies and all of us are natives of one of the poorest countries in the world. So it’s even understood that $$$ spent with us is in line with the UN’s millenium goals…somewhere in there…But that’s a tough one for moral. Pay me ’cause I’m poor. The thought usually ends with “and ur stupid too.” Well, anyway, I think I have enough info now to do what i need to do. I’d ask about radio psa fees vs. video psa fees, but that would just return to madness as Mark would think.
THANKS SO MUCH U TWO FOR ALL THE TIME SPENT WRITING HERE!!!
BS in Nepal

[Jiggy Gaton]

again, all good stuff, thx! but this client won’t quibble. I am more worried about underbidding the big boys but not bidding as much as i could have gotten. i know that sounds crazy, but in the world of bilaterals and ingos, this is what happens: contracts are usually awarded to lowest bidders unless one of the following:
1. they want hi-quality results from a big name (or friend of a friend), or they just want a big name.
2. they think the lowest bid is TOO low to produce anything resembling quality, either hi or low, and don’t know the bidder well enough to make a judgement.
I am dealing with both variables…hence my request for the database of PSA production costs that appears no where on the planet.

I can figure out how much it will cost us. fine. I have no idea what the big names will bid, but it’s gotta be higher. fine. The range inbetween what it will cost us, and what the big names bid is an area of let’s call it “profit oppurtunity.”

See where I am going with this? Is that shady or what! But heck, this is business. I want to get my people as much money as they can possibly get from a job. Is that not reasonable?

So if I knew what the high-end of the range was, I could predict something lower but above what it takes for us, in order to make a profit while at the same time giving the client a good deal. Ha! how to do that?

BS

[Jiggy Gaton]

Ha! Mike is a caffine hallucination. Thanks Mark for all of your great info and expierence specifics. I know deep down what u say is true. A ball of string is as long as a line of string. But like with a ball of string, I wish there was a price sticker on the wrapper of all the PSAs I’ve seen out there. But now moving on, I am going to do as you suggest and calculate MY rate as u descibed. I will also try the triangle angle, but based on my knowledge of client and the time in the fiscal year, the pocket is deep…hence the bid going out to the big boys.

I love what your 80’s boss said. I think we may have had the same boss back then. I was in IBM internal affairs. He said something like “I’m not paying more then 10 grand for that.” It was a 10 minute internal promo for something called a PC XT. So he must have been using the same rule:)

Okay, back to the calculator.
BS

[Jiggy Gaton]

Mike, this is all great stuff. I am sure this thread can now be used as a sticky reference for working with any client on video projects. But I still do need a pointer to table of fees for producing 30-second PSAs. Or for folks to reveal Xxx dollars for Y project. I can handle all the rest – your point on treatment/script/storyboards is a great one – I don’t start anything shooting-wise until that is signed off – been burned without before. Through a mistake in the bidding process, I even know who i am bidding against, one of the largest agencies in north america. There must be a median or range in that genre, after all, a PSA is not a feature film like SpiderMan3. We know how much those cost. I know how much a 3.5 minute music video costs to make. I have done enough 15-minute promos/fundraisers to know how much those cost to make. There might even be a goverment database somewhere that shows the costs of Nancy Reagans Just Say No campaign. I wish I could find it. How much would you charge for one PSA on say “Ride Sharing” or on “Not Using the N-word.” I need numbers.
thx,
BS