[John Davidson]

Seriously. That was the coolest feature added, like, ever. Maybe it’s being tweaked and will be back in 3.3. Perhaps it’s still in the software, just not listed with a checkbox?

[John Davidson]

I used to hate macs. My analogy was that Macs think like women, and PC’s think like men. When you have a problem on a Mac, it’s really really end-of-the-world bad. When you have a problem with a PC, control/alt/delete, restart, done. Then I bought a digibeta deck and started looking at options to make it work with my PC. Disappointment. Slowly but surely, I began to question whether a Symphony was worth the money. It would only work on certain PC’s that ran on Windows 2000, it was complicated, confusing, and buying an Avid meant buying an engineer keep it running. Finally, a coworker confided he had been working on FCP for years for our mutual client, and nobody was the wiser. That was the nudge I needed.

Since last July, I’m a Mac convert. I love this thing so much. It kicks both my pc’s butts. Does my Mac still think like a woman? Yes. But a GOOD woman that wears an apron, and nothing else, whilst cooking up awesome dinners every night. Does my PC still think like a guy? Yes, but instead of James Bond, he’s Larry, the plumber who is too fat to get to the pipes in the kitchen that broke and has that exposed buttcrack issue.

I’ll still keep a PC around, mostly because it runs FrontPage, which I need to do quick webpages. My hot mama is my Mac. She’s got the hottest set of RAID’s you’ve ever seen. Hubba hubba.

[John Davidson]

No problems with my purchase.

[John Davidson]

I had a client that was located in Burbank while I worked in Santa Monica. They had been paying day rates for Symphony, Me (Producer) and an editor for about a 2 years, practically full-time. While I was producer only, I would run ‘over the hill’ and grab tapes, check in, etc., so couriers were rare. Well, my editor got a great gig and couldn’t turn it down, so I started self editing. The work was still good, and the client was happy – until they noticed abotu 200 bucks in courier bills over a 3 week period. I was in the middle of editing and producing a spot (with no increase in day rate for over two years) when the call came in.

Client: “John, these courier bills are getting out of hand”.
Me: “Really? How bad is it?”
Client: “Bad, it was 200 bucks in the last 3 weeks. From now on you’re going to have to pay for a courier yourself. You choose to live on the west side, so we shouldn’t have to pay for that.”
Me: “Hmm. I’m sorry you feel that way. This is an unfortunate byproduct of my self-editing now, because I’m not able to drive over the hill myself to pick tapes up. If you think about it, I’m saving you $9700 a month on editor fees”.
Client: (internal logic rejecting pause) “Well….you could self edit in Burbank, so no more couriers”.
Me: (small pinprick aneurism behind now-twitching eye) “um, ok then”.

This was a really really big network and was absolutely true. The Creative Director then told me just to bill an extra day every month to cover it.

My current clients doesn’t seem to have any problem with couriers. Courier costs really depend on the individual circumstance. If the client forgot to give you a source tape, or just remembers on the 8th edit that they wanted another shot in there that they didn’t give you, make them pay. If you screwed up something on the delivery, then you should probably pay.

Hope that helps. Wow. Felt good to get that one out. 🙂

[John Davidson]

It sounds like you’ve got it all covered. I’d provide the client with these specifications in a few different file formats/taps.

1. Animation QT, with alpha channel (look under the render settings, check RGB + Alpha, and make sure your background layer is off for that specific render), labeled as such.

2. Animation QT, with no alpha channel, labeled as such.

3. Tiff/Targa sequence using the animation codec, just in case they’re on a machine that can’t handle a QT.

That should make them happy. I’m not as familiar with PAL, so if I’m missing something, perhaps somebody else will chime in.

Cheers,
-neo

[John Davidson]

Is it TV, or Cinema (i.e. theater)? They’re different. Pal? NTSC? Do you understand issues with frame rate (24 vs 29.97 vs 25)? Nobody can give you a definitive answer until we know where you’re going with your title. Also, do you know what program your title is going to be edited with? Has the client given you any details as to what they need?

10bit uncompressed is usually the way to go as for codecs, but the animation codec at full quality is also pretty standard as it also can output an alpha channel in the quicktime file.

It might help you to fill out your profile just a little more. I used to get busted for not having one filled out long ago. 🙂
-neo

[John Davidson]

Good point. You don’t want it becoming a habit.

John Davidson____ writer | producer | director____https://www.magicfeatherinc.com

[John Davidson]

You’re right. I think I’ll stick with 8bit – but it’s great to know that the codec trick works.

Thanks!

John Davidson____ writer | producer | director____https://www.magicfeatherinc.com

[John Davidson]

Mark, that’s alot of fire and brimstone! You should start your own church. I’d go! :-).

Could you imagine the crapstorm of bad PR if a preacher gave a sermon on friendship and showed a clip from “Beaches”, and then Miramax came and took his house and put his family in the street?

Actually, for a preacher, that’s an amazing way to get new folks in the church-get martyred by hollywood. Usually you’d have to get caught in a hotel with a stripper/pornstar/crackhead for that type of press.

I think my point is, unless you’re a giant church on Santa Monica BLVD, getting busted for showing a clip during a sermon in a small town is about as likely as getting hit by a meteorite while traveling on a train, and then getting struck by lightening at the exact same moment to boot. I’ve seen this done so many times in churches, schools, kids events, etc. Once, (back when I was a kid) my church had a big group of churches get together and showed Lady and the Tramp to about a thousand people. I’m absolutely positive that there was zero licensing involved.

I ain’t sayin’ it’s right, I’m just sayin’ it’s really, really unlikely that anything would happen.

[John Davidson]

Unless you’re advertising and charging admission under the pretense of showing movies at said church event, I really don’t think you have anything to worry about.

Most of the folks in Hollywood who would care wouldn’t be caught dead near a church. I think it’s a lightning/doorknob thing.