Forum Replies Created

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  • Kai Cheong

    July 10, 2012 at 9:48 am in reply to: Transcoding 5DMkIII footage on FCP 6/OS Leopard

    Hi Michael,

    Thanks for the tips. I’ve just downloaded the trial version of Magic Bullet Grinder and it runs okay on my Leopard/FCP 6. I think it just means I don’t have the option to transcode to ProRes LT/4444.

    No timecode though, but with careful re-arranging, at least I could run continuous TC per reel. On the upside, it looks like it’ll be faster than L&T in FCP.

    Kai
    FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
    https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
    —
    Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
    At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
    Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
    —
    MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.7

    8-Core Intel Mac Pro 2.26GHz | 8GB RAM | FCP 6.0.6 | Mac OS X 10.5.8 | 3.0TB CalDigit VR | 2 x 24″ Dell S2409W

  • Kai Cheong

    January 22, 2012 at 7:23 am in reply to: First jobs in film

    I wouldn’t exactly call what I do as ‘filmmaking’, but I’m currently a working editor-producer helping to co-run a small production house that produces corp/marketing/branding/training videos and some TVCs.

    My first taste of ‘the industry’ was a temp stint as an ‘admin assistant’ at the Branding & Promotions department of the new local broadcaster, before I entered university. I helped out at events, press conferences, summarized series synopses for the daily TV listings, monitored and made newspaper cuttings, organized and filed press kits for all sorts of movies…

    My first ‘proper’ baptism of fire was a 6-month internship as an ‘assistant producer’ at a local production house. I did everything that was thrown at me – with or without consideration that I was a greenhorn by the thrower. That was definitely a trial by fire and for all that I’ve learnt, I learnt what I DON’T wanna be or do when I finally enter the industry professionally.

    I started at my current job officially as an ‘assistant producer’ as well. I really wanted to be an editor but I graduated from a university course in Communications and whatever FCP I knew, I’d picked most of it up myself while editing my graduation film, so I wasn’t feeling too confident of my abilities, versus those who graduated from the polytechnics. But due to circumstances, I ended up with the opportunity to edit the entire series of videos for our 1st project for the National Museum [after looking at the other videos in the permanent gallery, I’d dare say for a n00b’s attempt, mine weren’t too shabby at all!]…

    … and as the cliched saying goes, the rest is history.

    Looking back, there are lessons to be learnt in every one of these predicaments I found myself in and I’m still utilizing them one way or another now. I’d say a lot of it has to do with developing a can-do attitude, appreciation for what you have to do, patience to push through the shitty tasks and being open to learning from every opportunity, task, challenge, setback and failure.

    Never think you’re ‘too good’ to do certain things which seems entry-level. I still go on shoot sometimes and being a small setup, everyone gets their hands dirty – I still go on my hands and knees to wipe up stuff, help the crew lug equipment, buy food and drinks for everyone… I enjoy chilling a bit more when we have PAs on some shoots that handle that but even then, I’d recommend keeping your eyes and ears open to see where you could help out. On set, my philosophy is that the focus should be to allow the director and crew to get the best footage possible [as an editor, it’s a way to pay it forward, too! ;)]

    The stuff we work on is not always exciting [we do a lot of work for government agencies and not all of them are looking for groundbreaking, ‘creative’ stuff] and sometimes, client management can be a pain… but I try to tell myself that I’m thankful that I get to earn a decent living doing what I love… it’s not always ‘fun’ but when the really fun/cool stuff comes along, I treasure them even more.

    Enjoy the ride!

    Kai
    FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
    https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
    —
    Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
    At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
    Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
    —
    MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.7

    8-Core Intel Mac Pro 2.26GHz | 8GB RAM | FCP 6.0.6 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | 3.0TB CalDigit VR | 2 x 24″ Dell S2409W

  • Kai Cheong

    July 10, 2011 at 10:07 am in reply to: “Constipated Pipeline” (projects that linger)

    Our longest-running project was offloaded after… 3 years. It was pretty insane, because there would be lulls of months in between as clients flip-flop on decisions.

    Thankfully, most of our other projects wrap within a few months. Not sure how the situation is like over at your side, but I would say 2-3 weeks between previews (assuming you don’t have more than 3-4 previews) is probably expected, especially if it’s a big company with many approval layers to clear.

    We try to avoid epic-length projects by finding out at the pitching stage whether the client has a definite deadline to meet, or it’s just one of those ‘there’s leftover budget therefore we’ll do something’ projects. The other thing we try to do is have our producers prod the clients for their response, largely with the explanation that if they miss our original production schedule, we cannot guarantee we can turnaround their requests quickly schedule priority would have been shifted to incoming projects.

    Kai
    FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
    https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
    —
    Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
    At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
    Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
    —
    MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.7

    8-Core Intel Mac Pro 2.26GHz | 8GB RAM | FCP 6.0.6 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | 3.0TB CalDigit VR | 2 x 24″ Dell S2409W

  • Kai Cheong

    July 10, 2011 at 9:55 am in reply to: Feeling guilty for not “being accessible” when on vacation?

    I can empathize. When I started out about 5 years ago, I was really workin’ it – being woken up by clients’ calls (they kept office hours which started early, whereas I would’ve ended an edit close to midnight the night before) and dealing with requests even after I’d left the office and over the weekend.

    Now, I’m taking it a little slower and give myself the leeway to prioritize my tasks at hand. If I take every phonecall that comes, I’ll never finish my edits (the woes of a Preditor) – and the edits now come first because slots are scheduled and budgeted so they should be given due respect. Clients know they can reach me very easily via email (and receive prompt response) so that communication channel is still open. In fact, I personally prefer communication via email because I can control my access better. Besides, most requests require me to do some checking, so I wouldn’t have been able to answer immediately on the phone as well.

    To me, having mail access via my iPhone is more of a good thing – but it depends on how I control my email usage. I would regularly check my mails on my commute to work so that I could start planning what to do once I get in. But I try not to let it bug me too much if it involves some difficult requests.

    I recently came back from a 5-day beach vacation – first proper holiday in 2 years! The away message was set the day I left, stating I would have little access to the Internet, though I did buy some wifi time to check my mails. But other than that, I left instructions to contact my colleague if there’s anything urgent. The other thing I did was to put in extra hours 1-2 weeks before to make sure I cleared all my work and sent it along to the clients, so that they could take the time I was away to do their reviews. So it takes some planning.

    The uninterrupted vacation was much-needed… and really helped cure the burnout that had accumulated. I do find myself being more productive and alert post-holiday.

    I’m thankful that most of our current clients do understand the importance of work-life balance – and would wish me a happy vacation!

    Now, I’m working towards a more evenly-spaced vacation schedule. As much as I love what I do, enduring waves of burnout is no fun. I try to rationalize that I always bring my ‘A’ game to work instead of just plodding through, so I should’ve earned some well-needed downtime.

    Kai
    FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
    https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
    —
    Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
    At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
    Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
    —
    MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.7

    8-Core Intel Mac Pro 2.26GHz | 8GB RAM | FCP 6.0.6 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | 3.0TB CalDigit VR | 2 x 24″ Dell S2409W

  • Kai Cheong

    June 18, 2011 at 2:01 pm in reply to: Social media making you money yet?

    Mike, your post reminds me of a recent hoo-ha about Malaysia’s Tourism Board spending RM1.8 MILLION just on creating/maintaning their Facebook accounts:

    https://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/tourism-ministry-rm1.8-million-spent-on-facebook-pages

    Sounds pretty exorbitant but apparently, the Filipinos and Australians are spending even MORE on their FB campaigns:

    https://www.greyreview.com/2011/06/15/tourism-malaysia-hits-back-at-critics-explains-rm1-8-million-social-media-campaign/

    Kai
    FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
    https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
    —
    Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
    At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
    Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
    —
    MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.7

    8-Core Intel Mac Pro 2.26GHz | 8GB RAM | FCP 6.0.6 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | 3.0TB CalDigit VR | 2 x 24″ Dell S2409W

  • Kai Cheong

    June 15, 2011 at 11:59 am in reply to: Examples of Great Talking Heads

    Hi Drew,

    We do a lot of corporate videos and that means we get to interview a lot of people along the way. I’d say one of the most important tips in getting a good, credible talking head is to make the interviewee comfortable and at-ease. Chat with them about stuff, don’t stress them to deliver a “perfect” performance, have them forget all the lights/cameras/crew milling about. Prior to that, if they have a script, emphasize on the need to be familiar with the content. If it’s not absolutely necessary for them to stick to the script word-for-word, encourage them to rephrase and use their own words.

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    Here’s something we’ve done not too long ago which isn’t too bad. These interviewees were natural and articulate – great to work with. We also always try to plan in some relevant cutaways so that there’s something more visually-exciting to cut to.

    Kai
    FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
    https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
    —
    Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
    At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
    Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
    —
    MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.7

    8-Core Intel Mac Pro 2.26GHz | 8GB RAM | FCP 6.0.6 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | 3.0TB CalDigit VR | 2 x 24″ Dell S2409W

  • Kai Cheong

    June 11, 2011 at 4:34 pm in reply to: Social media making you money yet?

    I have had 2-3 inquiries that came to me through my (not-very-updated) personal blog because of my very amateur “SEO attempt” (Google ‘Singapore final cut editor’ and 2 of my blog pages are on the first page – the only relevant search results).

    Too bad I’m not exactly freelancing 😛

    The blog I’ve set up for my day job is also doing well with my amateur SEO attempt (Google ‘Singapore production house’ or ‘Singapore TVC production’ and it’s on the first page; ‘Singapore corporate video’ has our YouTube channel on page 2).

    We’ve had a few leads come through our blog (we have not developed our website since starting out 5 years ago… but the blog is bringing in better hits on search engines and is doing the job pretty well).

    Personally, Twitter is my very specialized newsfeed for all the most relevant and updated industry news, tips and updates. Tried doing something for my production house but have kind of dropped off – currently lacking real drive or direction for that.

    Facebook remains a personal ‘hobby’ – but I keep in touch with some industry acquaintances through that.

    I know for myself, whenever a new contact, be it a freelancer, client or company get in touch, I immediately turn to Google. So for that reason, I’m finding it pretty important to maintain a credible online presence.

    Kai
    FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
    https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
    —
    Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
    At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
    Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
    —
    MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.7

    8-Core Intel Mac Pro 2.26GHz | 8GB RAM | FCP 6.0.6 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | 3.0TB CalDigit VR | 2 x 24″ Dell S2409W

  • Kai Cheong

    April 6, 2011 at 2:51 am in reply to: bachelors degree worth it in this field?

    I have an Honours degree in Communication Studies – which meant I studied Advertising/PR, Journalism, Research & Broadcast – before I chose to major (in Broadcast). To put it in the local context, I don’t think it’s necessary to be employed in the industry – and I think there are more Polytechnic graduates in it anyway. But I wasn’t dead set on going into the industry when younger & knew I wanted a university education… Kept my options open. 

    After graduating, like many of my peers, I lament that we were taught too much theory & too little technical skills – unlike our Polytechnic peers who also have the advantage of starting work younger/earlier. 

    But 5 years into my job as a Preditor, I’m beginning to see the value of a more holistic education (plus, as someone had commented above – the value of learning how to learn & the discipline to complete a 4-year course.) Maybe it’s also because I deal more with Corporates & outreach/marketing/facilitation videos with communication focus – that’s why the knowledge of communication theories, different kinds of journalistic writing, target audiences & ideas like USP, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (heh) come in very handy.

    I’d like to think these plus my bilingual skills have helped me along in my editing (and producing) by bringing an additional understanding & awareness to the script & communication objectives. It has also given me the confidence to correct factual, grammar & structural errors to scripts while editing. Perhaps the jobs you are applying for are more along these lines than more “creative” work?

    I remember working with experienced editors (when I was a wee intern) who probably wasn’t strong in languages… And it was a horror when dealing with projects with lots of supers or subtitles – Typos! Out of context! Glaring errors! It might be the producers’ job to watch out for this but when deadlines are looming (as they always do), I think an editor who has the additional education/understanding can help a lot.

    Though I also do wish clients could see & appreciate the additional value-add I bring to the table sometimes… That I’m not just an edit monkey 😉

    Kai
    FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
    https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
    —
    Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
    At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
    Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
    —
    MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.7

    8-Core Intel Mac Pro 2.26GHz | 8GB RAM | FCP 6.0.6 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | 3.0TB CalDigit VR | 2 x 24″ Dell S2409W

  • Kai Cheong

    January 30, 2011 at 2:21 pm in reply to: Fcp Unable to have clean Titles/Subtitles

    Definitely heed the advice of rendering in DVCPro50 or ProRes. The other thing to look out for is to make sure your text are positioned on a ’round number’ [ie. not a sub pixel/number with decimal – on both the X and Y axes]. You can check it in the motion or the text tool tab. Same goes for positioning in LiveType.

    And if doing text inside FCP, use the Title 3D tool instead of the simple Text tool for better control/quality.

    Kai
    FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
    https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
    —
    Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
    At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
    Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
    —
    MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.7

    8-Core Intel Mac Pro 2.26GHz | 8GB RAM | FCP 6.0.6 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | 3.0TB CalDigit VR | 2 x 24″ Dell S2409W

  • Kai Cheong

    January 30, 2011 at 1:52 pm in reply to: FTP upload fee

    Hi Greg,

    It sounds like a chargeable fee wasn’t discussed with your client before you started on the uploading – I’m not sure how agreeable they’ll be to any fee at this stage [even if it’s lower than or very reasonable for the actual time/effort incurred]. So good luck on negotiating that. 15GB is a lot of data to send through the Internet!

    There’s this quote I’ve heard of and believe it applies sometimes: ‘Lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part’. We all want to do our best and help our clients out – but sometimes, there’s an opportunity cost to think about [eg. if you can’t check email and conduct your other business]. Would overnighting through FedEx [though fairly expensive] be quick enough? Or perhaps they were assuming FedEx = Expensive; you sending = Free?

    Kai
    FCP Editor / Producer with Intuitive Films
    https://kai-fcp-editor.blogspot.com
    —
    Now ‘LIVE’! Check Out The Intuitive Films Blog @ https://intuitive-films.blogspot.com
    At Intuitive Films, We Create: TV Commercials, Documentaries, Corporate Videos and Feature Films
    Visit us @ https://www.intuitivefilms.com
    —
    MacBook Pro 2.4GHz | 4GB RAM | FCP 5.1.4 | Mac OS X 10.5.7

    8-Core Intel Mac Pro 2.26GHz | 8GB RAM | FCP 6.0.6 | Mac OS X 10.5.6 | 3.0TB CalDigit VR | 2 x 24″ Dell S2409W

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