Kc Allen
Forum Replies Created
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I’m really picky about music, but I’ve found some pretty nice solutions. Blue Fuse is good, but it’s a lease. If leasing is what you’re after, there’s no end to what you can find out there. FirstCom is great for leases. More expensive though.
If you’re looking for inexpensive buy-out, try Studio Cutz, and since you’re looking at Digital Juice, I’ve really grown to appreciate the StacksTraxx libraries. The bass is rich and full, the music is customizable, and there are 50 libraries to choose from. They’ve recently lowered the price a little too. I visited a Final Cut Users Group, and the folks there liked Smartsound’s Sonic Fire Pro. I checked it out at NAB and almost bought it on the spot. Very cool software. https://www.smartsound.com/sonicfire/index.html
Another nice source is the Music Bakery at http://www.musicbakery.com. The prices are pretty decent, and I actually really like the music, and it’s a full buy-out.
I’ve never bought a sound effects library, but Hollywood Sound Effects is good, and I have a sweet spot in my heart for Sound Ideas because in the 18 years I was in radio, it was almost the only SFX library I used. https://www.sound-ideas.com
I saw the D-Juice sale…considered it myself, but need to look into it more.
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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I use the XDCam 350 and the XDCam EX and I have never crashed. What are your project settings? You might think about changing your compression to either one of the ProRez codecs, or try one of the HDV codecs (smaller file size, but SLOW rendering.) On the top tool bar go to sequence, then settings, and then make the changes in there. You may also need to upgrade your RAM.
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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If you’re doing a documentary, some of those news rules can apply. Here are a couple of websites I found regarding this issue.
https://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/resources/fair_use/
https://www.photosecrets.com/tips.law.htmlHere’s a nice download for doc producers too:
https://centerforsocialmedia.org/rock/backgrounddocs/bestpractices.pdf
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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I agree mostly with everyone here. Royalty-Free music has a nice catalog of stuff too – we buy the StudioCutz library. We also get Digital Juice’s StackTraxx, and occasionally visit MusicBakery.com for something different. I really like their music.
Buy a camera. Don’t rent a camera. If you own it you have the time to create things for your reel. You have time to get to know the camera, get used it, get comfortable with it, and it’s always available. During downtime you can take the camera places and just create. Be artistic, shoot a short movie. I agree that the HVX200 is not the best choice. For the money, the Sony XDCam-EX is getting great reviews, and it doesn’t use out-of-date architecture like the HVX200. The HVX200 is a great camera, don’t get me wrong, but the PCMCIA cards it uses are old news. The EX uses SxS cards which will slide nicely into your MacBookPro. The two cams are relatively similar in price, too, and FCP supports the XDCam with no problems. I use it’s older, bigger brother, the XDCam HD 350.
The only downside to using tapeless media is the folks who will want you to tape the event and hand it over to them for editing. If that happens, then you can rent. Beta Cams are a dime a dozen. They’re everywhere. So are MiniDV cams.
For business, you might try aligning yourself with local graphic designers or advertising agencies. At least be their friend and let them know you exist should they get a request for some video.
Another great way to pay the bills early on is to do TV commercials. Yes, they suck. No, they don’t pay well…but they pay. In a small market it’s a great way to get your name out fast. Also, join a Chamber of Commerce and offer to do work for them. Join networking groups. One big decision is to decide whether or not to do weddings. Some people say that either you’re a pro, or you do weddings. Others keep weddings in their business plans because they’re pretty profitable most of the time. I personally don’t do them – anymore.
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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(Ron Lindeboom) – “But the part I will always miss by not going anymore is the people. That was the part that both Kathlyn and I liked best. That we will miss.”
That’s what we’ll all miss. I was in radio for 18 years and the thing that really is killng that industry was the increasing lack of human interaction. The past greats in radio told of how their connection with the audience is what created a fan base. The talkers of today do still enjoy that, but normal FM radio has been taken over by voices via satellite and Internet. Even the guys in the booths are “voice-tracking”, pre-recording their raps so they can get out and sell for their station, or attend a remote broadcast, or a staff meeting for crying out loud.
Buying and shopping via the Internet has its place, but as we become an ever-increasingly isolationistic society, the demise of the trade show is another stark reminder about how little we actually want to get to know other people. Production people are sometimes characterized as pale, big-eyed, socially deficient lab rats who sit in the dark for ten hours a day staring at a computer screen. If we’re not careful, that’s exactly who we’ll all become, whether we’re in production or not.
I’ve lived in my house for 9 years…I don’t even know my neighbor across the street because he never comes out of the house. His blinds are always closed. Come to think of it, so are mine. Crap. I’ve been sucked in. Goodbye world, if you’re still out there.
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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I also have a web show, and I’m experiencing the same thing. Advertisers aren’t willing to pony up real money for web space because they’re savvy – old savvy. Many advertisers are used to the pay-per-click infrastructure of traditional web advertising, and they think that it should always stay that way. If no-one clicks, I don’t have to pay for it.
Advertisers also know that “viewership” can be audited better than TV. Sure, TV has Nielsen ratings, but the boxes are widespread and can be inaccurate regarding actual viewer numbers. The Internet, on the other hand, has a relatively accurate ability to track actual viewers, and new users as well. If their perceived TV audience is larger, then the Internet is still just a value-added opportunity.
One fledgling network I recently talked to boasted, “we broadcast to 10 million people in 14 states over cable and satellite”, which are subscribed services. I broadcast to an unlimited amount of people worldwide, on demand, but can’t get the same respect. Advertisers may also know that it costs you and I much MUCH less to host a web show as opposed to spending dollars on buying time on broadcast TV, which can start at $1,000 a week and up depending on the market. YouTube and MySpace have taken the ZAZZ out of web video and dumbed it down for the masses – that can’t help serious producers either.
That being said, I can only offer this. The Internet is still an infant. It’s continually evolving. Five years ago, video online was unheard of because of bandwidth and cost. Now look at it.
Similarly, advertisers are just starting to wake up to the potential. One ad on the Super Bowl cost $2.7 Million for 30-seconds, yet they can run over and over for free by comparison over the Internet, and they can show the spots that the Super Bowl said NO to, and get even more buzz.
As I read ten minutes ago in Ron L’s column about Avid & Apple bowing out of NAB, I must repeat the phrase, “The pioneers get the arrows.” We are on the starting wave of online content for specific audiences. Even the networks are using the medium for archiving only. Watch “The Office” on NBC.com after the episode aired, but don’t expect NBC, or Animal Planet, or TLC, or HBO to come up with original content for the web when the real money is in broadcast.
There will be a time when someone from one of the networks will have a light go off in their head and they’ll say,” ya know, we ought to do something original for the Internet.” That light will eventually be the light at the end of the tunnel, which will lead others to finally realize that the future is coming and that they’d better get ready. As a side note, now that writers are going to be paid for Internet residuals, the chances of content being created for the web has just grown exponentially.
Until then, stick to your guns, don’t relegate yourself to “value added”, because if it has value it should be paid for. If they’re not willing to pay for it, don’t let them on. I had a guy try to pull a fast one on me – he said, “let me try it out for 6-months. I’ll look at the traffic I get, and if it looks good, I’ll stay with you.” I said, “let me have your product for free. If I like it, I’ll pay for it in six months. If not, I won’t.”
They’re not a client of mine, but that’s work I didn’t have to put in to a client that ultimately would have screwed me anyway.
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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You know – I’m still new at this, so I’m going to ask a favor. I went to the website, but just like before, I really don’t know what to look for. Emre found some stuff online for me. Would you mind pointing me towards something you’ve used, or at least what you know to be the right thing for me? That would be really helpful, and would allow me to compare prices and so on. I know I want something pretty big, something that could be set up behind a family that’s at the door when my model opens it up. I’ve got this one agency I work with that likes to do the “answer the door” thing, and it always looks like crap. Terrible to try to light. I also have a car dealership I work with that has TONS of windows, so it’s probably in the cards for me to get a couple of mega-scrims…down the road…not today.
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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Thanks, Emre – that was really helpful. I happened to have a Matthews catalog I picked up at NAB, but there’s so much to choose from – I wasn’t sure what to look at.
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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Thanks, Todd. I’m going to assume they come in different degrees, or f-stops. For the scenerios in my original post, what would you use for the person at the door shot on an overcast winter’s day? What would you use on a golf course in the middle of July under full sun? I’ve seen them used once and have wanted one ever since, and too often the work I do really calls for it but the budget isn’t there for me to buy or rent one. I’ve finally decided that budget or not, it’s my name on the production and I’m gonna get one.
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”
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I agree with Ron…it’s tough to compete with free, and you have to do everything you can to make your value higher than that of cookie-cutter cable. We did just that in NW Ohio and it wasn’t long before the local cable provide shut down their production facility. That was nice because we got the business, but it also sucked because the clients were used to getting spots for $350, which was then comped to them in advertising time. As we slowly raised the price, we slowly lost the business.
We’ve been able to raise the price to $400 for a stand-alone and then $350 if we do multiple spot in one location on the same day. Some clients may more, but that’s when we pull out the dolly and the jib and spend extra time getting their scripts ready and so on. We did one with a dolly a short while back and got $550 for it. Offer more pizzazz, earn more money.
Okay – I have to mention this. I’m not going to have the same attitude as others on this forum (which was unprofessional and uncalled for), but I do need to agree about your website. I know you probably did it yourself, and that’s cool, but it’s not something that would make me have confidence in your company if I were an aspiring client. Get to know some of the graphic designers around you. Perhaps you’ll be able to network. Maybe one of their clients will need a video or commercial. Have them give your website a professional look. Lastly, you may want to rethink your logo. I’m not picking on you, Dude, but I think you should use the whole name and not shorten it to BO. BO always stood for body odor when I was growing up. Big Operations lends itself to an industrial look, with rivets and so on – could be a great way to get industrial clients, trade show videos, training and safety videos and so on. Just drop the BO thing – I think it’s in your best interests.
KC Allen
Allen Film & Video“Who’s the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows?”