[Mark Suszko]

HTH, Congrats.

[Mark Suszko]

I don’t see how you’re going to do a good job on this with one, unswitched camera. Unless I’m missing something, I think what you need is a 4-camera switched feed to those monitors, essentially a multicam IMAG setup. You can rent them, but it will cost you.

[Mark Suszko]

I take it “lucky bastard” is not an option? 🙂

[Mark Suszko]

Indeed, this is now a common way they do things for stage shows at theme parks and the like for many years. It’s especially good for those shows where the actors have to run around, fight, or dance a lot, and just can’t keep up a consistent wind and voice over a dozen shows a day. The delivery remains consistent even after cast changes. At the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library, they have a very nice, effects-filled show where a librarian interacts with ghosts of Lincoln and others; they use this same system, where the live actor has to lip synch in perfect time with a pre-recorded track that drives all the effects. Not very much of a stretch for the actors, but it does mean everything is consistent show to show and actor to actor, without any micing problems.

[Mark Suszko]

Tom, I believe this is exactly what I predicted was going on, only your description is if anthing even more chilling and depressing.

Cheer up that your solution of mailing them betas one-way will at least bump up your quality some. I suppose you could save to data DVD in the format their Avid can read and mail those disks too.

There is also usendit.com, a service that transacts uploads and downloads for you, using emailed links to the FTP site. I tried it twice and liked it. There’s a free version and a paid one that gives you mroe capacity and features. We also have played with using V-Brick over fiber for sending approvals back and forth in real time. Generaly good and glitch-free. But that’s over a dedicated private network, with SD footage.

When we surveyed stations in our state this year, only a small percentage said they would accept digital files of any sort for our PSA distributions, amnd most did not accept HD, or said they’d just downconvert it if they got around to it. Most still wanted a DVcam,DVCPro, betaSP or SVHS or regular (gulp!) VHS tape.

None polled had any clue about FTP for distribution. None, and we tried to make sure we talked to someone in Engineering, not just a front-desk reception flunky. What we’re all gonna do in 2 years beats me.

Mom and pop stations or local cable head-ends were the worst, all having some variation of your description of the sneakernet/one or more dubs to trans-code scenario. This comes from the bean counters not wanting to pay for timely upgrades to the physical plant unless federally mandated. The old technology that’s fully amortized will be kept in use as long as it is running and repairable, over a more modern and higher-quality but costly solution. Deliberately wearing out or breaking the old gear may be the only way for the most desperate station engineer to force an upgrade. I think I’m kidding about that last one!

“Och, me wee bairns!”-Scotty.

[Mark Suszko]

Oh, ok, I just don’t usually hear it called that.

Without money you are going to be somewhat limited. Everybody does the typical behind the scenes interviews and backstage/studio footage thing. If the artist travelled someplace on tour or while composing the songs that was interesting, a little travelogue with lots of cool stills could be neat.

Say the person played blues, a tour to the old Chess studios would be of interest to fans and a wider blues audience. If they play folk instruments, a visit to the place their guitar or whatever was made could be cool.

A quicktime VR panorama of the group on stage, that you can navigate all around to look at from different angles, could be neat. Add some extra work and embed tags in various target objects in the panorama that are links to hidden, full pages the web site, or just to some HTML pages on the give-away disk with more detail about something. Like click on the amp in the corner to get a list of all the instuments used inthe making of blah blah blah.

Record some audio stories of the origins of particular lyrics. Add flash animation illustrations.

How about you supply a version of one song from the album in a format where the user can re-mix it and mash it up? You would have to prepare the tracks so they would be ready for use in a looping program like Acid or etc. This could also be duplicated on the web site. Then you run a contest to enter your best re-mix of the artist’s song, and that one will get added to later pressings.

Simple: add alternate templates for the CD cover so you the owner can print out the cover you prefer for your CD.

Maybe change the form it is delivered on: put it on USB keychains instead of a DVD or CD-Rom. At least for a handful of high-profile target viewers.

[Mark Suszko]

Unless you have guaranteed work for that camera 3 days or more a week, don’t buy one yet, rent what you need, when you need it, and when somebody else is paying for it. No matter What Doug Spotted Eagle says, this is a bad year to tie yourself down to a camer aand format at least until after NAB.

The camera is only a tool, a means, not the end. The end is to make a program. Ownership of the camera doesn’t necessarily need to be part of that.

[Mark Suszko]

Put the word “Supervisor” in the title, because you defacto are doing that function, regarding not just physical assets but people working with you/under you.

It also smacks of management or at least management potential, and gives a rank above lowly deck ape.

So something like:

Digital Media Post Production Supervisor or Media Applications Supervisor is apropos.

“Big Kahuna” would also work:-)

[Mark Suszko]

This thread has too many TLA’s. What is an EPK?

[Mark Suszko]

I’ll suggest this: the most effective thing I’ve used for in and around-car shooting is a lipstick camera. Fits anywhere inside the car and is super easy to mount. Outside the car, it’s a treat, because with some gaffer tape and foam rubber, I can give you six differerent angles in the time it takes to rig one angle with conventional hand-sized camcorders and brackets and tiedowns, much less anything larger.

Do they make wide-screen lipsticks? Heck if I know. But my experience was very positive with a Sony LS-1, which can use a variety of tele or wide lenses and matched our Beta SP footage very closely. The newest ones must be even better now.