[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

[Mark Suszko] “the real fake people are all on Twitter these days.”

Speak for yourself 😀

With Loads of Love
@madsvid

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Ozzy,

[Ozzy Baines] “My client asked me to edit footage using camcorder footage that he shot. It’s about three minutes long. I am starting out as a freelance video editor. What should I charge for this project? This is not going to be incredibly high quality given the quality of the camera.”

The quality of the footage have no impact on how much you should charge – it is more about whether you can make the footage look good in its final form, and tell the story that the clients needs.

How much is your daily freelance rate?
Will you supply your own editing kit?
Will you be working from home or at client location?
How long will you be working on it?
Don’t forget insurance, subscriptions and holiday pay.
Once you know that, you will know how much to charge.

There are plenty of posts on this subject in this very forum – feel free to use the excellent search function.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Dave,

I understand all of that. But on the day where some people may be really excited about getting some new tools that will improve our lives and maybe help even make our productions look better: You are deciding to take a proverbial verbal dump on the rest of us – and that you have done with every single COW post that I have seen on the subject.

Why not give it a rest for at least 24 hours…?

Or at least used the designated forum for unhappy CC people to do it in?

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Dave,

CHEER UP! You got some new toys to play with – why all the negative postings across the forums(s)?

Let’s hear what you like about it, rather than stabbing away at those “executives” least likely to read posts on the COW… 😉

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey David,

Just admit it; your clients thinks that you are using state-of-the-art computer, where really it is 2 U-Matics coupled together – only delay in answering Steve was that you had to order a crane to move one of them out to look at the connectors on the back of it 😉

Having said that, I still remember editing on those top-loaders with a frame-accuracy of 3 seconds…

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Steve,

It can be as simple as taking composite video signal from another old vtr playing back a tape with no “holes” in the recording. Normally you need a BNC cable which goes into “sunc” or “Video In” on the U-Matic – depending on your model of vtr.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Steve,

What are you monitoring the deck on?
Straight to video monitor for confidence, or through a digital video capture system?
(Just making sure that it isn’t software going B/W)

It is soo long since I edited on U-Matic, and I was working in PAL – none of the “Not The Same Color” Twice stuff 😉
However, could it be a Low- / High-band tape issue?

Lastly: What Black burst (sync) are you feeding the box? Seem to remember if it doesn’t have a stable sync, this could affect the colors – unlikely, but worth trying.

If everything else fails: Capture 1 minute at a time and stitch it together later on a NLE or similar.

Hope this helps?

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Nae,

Sounds like you should not be speaking directly with the director.

[Nae williams] “It seems to be a power struggle with him. I paid almost 6k and walked away with nothing. This seems the time to get an attorney involved?”

If you have the money and are willing to spend them, by all means hire an attorney.

One good reason to involve a lawyer is to move the problem away from yourself at an arms length – as in that you will no longer be having any direct communications with the other side, and that this “neutral intermediate” may help achieve a satisfactory outcome, rather than one of demands and counter demands (you want rushes, he wants publicity for the already finished product).

So yes, a legal representation can be a good thing to insert between you and the director.

However, to save some money, before going to the lawyer write up a list of what you want, and what you are willing to offer in return? Although you have paid above the agreed price, it will be easier for you to get what you want if you make the other side feel like a winner too.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Mark,

Why not pitch the program idea to Google? 🙂

If your idea is successful, they will want to “milk” you for as much money as possible. Or as long as their logo as an identifying feature is on it, you may use it for free. But it is worth asking Google directly how much they will charge you.

Have you looked at similar maps from Bing, Nasa etc – there may be better and more cost effective options.

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Nae,

Won’t repeat all the other good advice here. However, if you are still talking it might be worth “horse-trading” on the following issues as per my understanding:

• The video will not be used as is – neither you or the “director” can use it. At which point it is not fit for purpose. If you cannot come to an arrangement, then you should ask for your money back – all of them.
• It is in neither party’s interest to have the video shelved, as it would have been a waste of of money and effort + both parties needs to be published in order to find future fortunes.
• There can be many reasons for why a creative will not hand over the source materials. One can be that there was issues with the footage, another can be professional pride, or just that they want to keep creative control. It may be worth exploring the point that you feel that you need a specialist music promo editor to complete the job and tidy it up, and that you will do so without harming the reputation of the director.
• You could also add that all of the copyright to the footage lies with the director as long as both parties agrees that it must only be used for the purpose of producing your music promo, unless otherwise agreed mutually. However, you do need access to all of the rushes in order to get the final product that you expected and that the supplier, even when adding extra costs, failed to deliver.

I am not a lawyer, but in this case if you use one, you will need to be prepared to go to court – the cost of both lawyer, litigation (keeping in mind that you may loose and have to pay the other side), far outweighs the cost of doing the whole project with someone else. It would be interesting to see the reaction from the Director if they get a “cease and desist letter” from you demanding that make no use of any of the footage related to your production until a mutual agreement have been reached.

If he complains, do remind him that the substandard post-production was due to him being “Over the budget, and that the agreed animator and video editor would not be afforded due to an overage of the budget”. However way he looks at it, in your opinion he was as the supplier in charge of the budget and never shared itemized accounts for the production. Which brings us back to the Not-Fit-For-Purpose, a line that will hopefully help you both to resolve your differences.

Good Luck – and don’t give up!

All the Best
Mads

@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk