[Jim Lillis]

John, you’re right on the “name” brand sticks. I use those with some of my freelance work when I hire out, and agreed, the Bogen/Man won’t hold a stick to the sticks. (was there a pun in there) 😉

For our local run / gun / and what I call mid level budget stuff around here, the Bogens / Manfroto’s hold up pretty nice for the price point. I actually looked at the setups we use and was very surprised what the price would be to replace them. That now known, I think I better start an equipment fun for picking up some better quality heads.

I’m really torn though, by the down sizing of equipment for field work, and what’s being offered to hold them up. I would have a really hard time rationalizing putting a 4k pair of sticks under a 28 hundred dollar camera. That said, a smooth pan is still a smooth pan, and one that is _needed_ in the edit room.

Thanks

If it moves . . . Shoot it!

[Jim Lillis]

Thanks for the reply.

I have a 10×20 material green screen that I recently picked up, and will use for portable situations. It’s been so long since I did any screen work that I wasn’t sure. First green screen with Sony Vegas Pro and I wanted to be sure to get it right in the field before I got back here and ended up with ‘problems’ and no solutions.

Again, thanks.

If it moves . . . Shoot it!

[Jim Lillis]

Don’t know how these are made, but on first glance, it seems to be a fairly reasonably priced 180.00 tripod package.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Video-Tripod-Dolly-Combo-Fluid-Pan-Panning-Head-EI717-717-E-Image-NEW-/200706447352?pt=US_Tripods&hash=item2ebb0957f8

Tripods are traditionally one of the most under budgeted items I’ve seen. After your shot is shaky and you’re in post wondering what to do, you’ll probably wish that you had paid a bit more for your sticks.

I’ve used Bogen for decades, choosing to not spend the money on Vinten, or other better known and marketed sticks. I have been lucky, so far. Like all other production equipment, they only last so long until a monkey decides to shove your sticks in a tight corner, and it’s all over.

Just sayin.

If it moves . . . Shoot it!

[Jim Lillis]

Great advice.

I do relatively the same thing. We agree that the cost of an archive HD be included in the production / post costs, and then they know they are responsible for possession and archiving the complete project when done.

I shoot on whatever: tape, HD or a combo, and work the project. Once completed, and a final ok is given by the client, it goes into their stable for archiving. I gladly hand over the Master DVD disk, (keeping one copy for my reference and archive with their approval) along with ALL tapes, and the HD that transfers were made to and worked from.

All in all, a pretty up front easy way for all to be happy.
Just saying.

If it moves . . . Shoot it!

[Jim Lillis]

To me, it’s obvious that they are looking to enhance their business from or through your efforts and work.

That said, 100 bucks p/video with a contract for all video work in the future with them, would be where I would start. Though, the “if it’s free it’s for me” theory isn’t in my stable any more.

Find your per day per camera rate and that’s the contract rate for future work. It’s up to them to sell your video services with their planning services as a package.

If it moves . . . Shoot it!

[Jim Lillis]

Sorry for the late delay, but I did in fact have a bad memory chip. Or at least it was going wacky and finally crapped out. It has since been replaced and I am in the process of changing to a workstation for editing with 16 gig memory which will not be going on line at all. I will probably still edit on the smaller machine, but from all the info on here I think it’s time to just use the right machine.

Thanks again for the input, and I’m sure they will be more questions as this moves along.

If it moves . . . Shoot it!

[Jim Lillis]

I agree with the “gadgets” comment.

That said though, I’m starting to see more and more of those kinds of files dropped on my lap (ok, desktop) and being heralded as the footage that we want you to make something out of.

Obviously there’s not much there, yet the clients are leaning more and more towards that. (At least around this low pv, production value area)

It is also getting harder to say no, while someone’s high school kid runs with the footage and hacks something together. I don’t know, times are getting harder and harder.

Thanks for the notes/replies.

If it moves . . . Shoot it!

[Jim Lillis]

Boy, that’s a good question. I think I have at least 2 or 3 of the studio units sitting on a shelf somewhere. That would be a time / cost saver for me too.

If it moves . . . Shoot it!

[Jim Lillis]

Ver 9 x??? I know, and I agree that it _should_ be working. It says so in the manual. 🙂

I did my work around as stated before, and will look at this in more detail when I have the time. It was kind of funny though, how it showed up, as once I dropped it in it’s timeline, it showed up. But after about 4 or so previews on the timeline to see if we liked it, the whole clip showed up as a red frame. I’m leaning towards thinking it may very well be a problem with the computer.

AMD 64 x2 Dual Core 5,000+, mmx, 3DNow on both cpu’s
XP Pro w/4x Ram
It’s reading a 9x ver for direct-x, but I know it’ 11x.

I have a low end video card on this unit;
NVidia 9500 GT (dual)w/1,024 mb.

2-1tb hd’s on board with abut 15 tb of stand alone.
This is running pretty slow at 2.5 ghtz, but it chugs along, and I have a new HP workstation sitting in the room waiting to get fired up to replace this unit. (soon)

I’m hoping the new station will solve any problems that might be here on this unit, and I can just move this machine over to some real small commercial editing work & use the workstation for larger / longer projects.

Thanks for the input, you guys are tops for us P/D’s who end up working solo for most of the projects.

If it moves . . . Shoot it!

[Jim Lillis]

I’ve been using Firestore units (not solid state) for quite some time now, and (knock on wood) they’ve performed flawlessly.

Great products in my opinion. The only drawback that I have on my units is the battery life of the on-board battery. While I shoot most of my footage on location, it’s still within A/C reach. The other option that I’ve used is to just run directly to an old laptop. A Bauer brick or two and it’s good to go.

I’m sure I skirt the edge of what most of the producers on here use, but I’m in a mighty small (call it micro) market, and we do what we need to efficiently. I’m going over budgets for next year and with the economy the way it is, it’s going to be tough to try to keep on pace to pick up new gear again this year.

Hope you get through your project ok, and find a solution that fits.

If it moves . . . Shoot it!