Mike Cohen
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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Storage is cheap. If you have 1.3 TB of raw footage, why are you concerned about big file sizes? You already have big file sizes and/or just a lot of files adding up to a lot of space. But a 1.5TB eSATA drive is like $99 And if you are using a RAID you have plenty of space (or can buy more drives for it) – I would convert everything to Prores from the get go and avoid headaches with relinking later. Measure twice, cut once.
Mike Cohen
Medical Education / Multimedia Producer
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Well, you can’t print full page, but a 1920×1080 image should print ok at a smaller size – a magazine may complain about DPI, but plenty of video stills have been printed over the years – content first.
Mike Cohen
Medical Education / Multimedia Producer
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While we do not deliver anything for broadcast, we do deliver edits and final files to our clients for them to put on their websites and internal intranets.
“FTP” is like “Quicktime” – it means different things to different people.
A client may say “can you put it on your ftp site?”
I make sure the client(person) has an FTP client(software) BEFORE sending them an FTP address and login – inevitably they will paste the ftp address into Internet Explorer – without the ftp:// nothing happens, and even with ftp:// there is no guarantee FTP is allowed on their firewall.
FTP to many corporate folks means a web-based way to download files.
So manage expectations – make sure you and the recipient are talking apples and apples (the fruit, not the computer).
Thus, we have a web-based download system (we access via FTP for upload, downloads are via website) – our IT genius wrote a php file that automatically shows the contents of any folder on the server (within the httpdocs folder that is), even subfolders. If you want, you can add text information and a title to the php file in a text entry area, and we sometimes add a logo for our company or the client, just to remind them what they are looking at.
We also maintain an internal FTP server for uploads FROM clients (logos, PPT files, videos etc) and downloads to clients if they need a file that would be too big to download via a website. Also, since our FTP server is down the hall and our web server is in Arizona, it is faster for us to upload files to FTP vs web download location. But it depends upon the application, and most importantly, as stated above, the client’s ability to access and download files.
Seems like this will be an interesting forum.
Mike Cohen
Medical Education / Multimedia Producer
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If you client has a fixed budget established, chances are they have an established budget for the assistant editor. budgets are not big bags of money looking to get spent – a budget is a definite plan on how monies will be disbursed. Get it?
As in every thread like this, we don’t know your costs, your overhead or you standard of living. 3-4 months of work may sound like a good thing, but if you only keep a few percent of what you are paid then how good was it?
Mike Cohen -
Mark beat me to the punch – you need to tell them to put in writing what you will be doing BEFORE you can give them a price. Otherwise it is saying “how much to build me a house?”
Mike Cohen -
[Nathan Abbott] “I’m not a professional editor, nor am I a professional videographer. However, I’ve spent the last 6 years using FCP and the HVX200, while working on commercial or indie film sets, so my experience isn’t limited either.”
I don’t know, that sounds like professional experience, but the word “professional” has various interpretations. If you can deliver work and get paid well enough to do it that the client is happy, continues to pay you and you are making a living, then in the most basic sense of the word, you are a professional.
Don’t sell yourself short – if you think you can do the job, do it. But don’t project self-doubt because others will pick up on this.
[Nathan Abbott] “How do you choose what to charge? $500 a minute? $2000 per project? What?”
As the others have told you, and as you can find in hundreds of posts on this forum, you need to know your costs, your labor rate and how much profit you need to make to support your business. We cannot tell you those numbers. You charge what you need to charge to A) not go hungry, B) support your business, C) invest in the company, D) have a salary that allows you to live in a house/condo/apartment/cardboard box (your choice), E) cover your costs.
[Nathan Abbott] “I know weddings will have a separate price tag ranging from $200-$30,000.”
Really, a $30,000 wedding? I would not want to meet that bride’s mother.
Good luck.
Mike Cohen
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[Mark Suszko] “What should I charge for a Puu-Puu Platter?”
Mark – can I substitute Chicken Fingers for Chicken Wings? And can I get extra spare ribs?
Don’t forget the fortune cookies.
Mike Cohen
PS – There was a restaurant in Lenox, MA called Luau Hale – actually it is still there, but in the 70’s and early 80’s it still has the outrageous decor of a tiki bar, complete with painted murals of the South Pacific, piped in music, mood lighting and the occasional hula show. It was such a special treat to go there, the whole family went. Puu puu platters were fun to eat.
Way off topic, but they say never to shop while hungry – same goes for the COW – never read forum posts while hungry. I gotta get me some takeout!
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It is true that there are recurring themes in the B+M forum, more so than elsewhere. Either an FAQ/Intro page that is always at the top, some hot button issues represented by actual buttons at the top of the thread list, or maybe a trending keyword cloud like you see on some websites
I have tried writing an FAQ for the B+M Forum, but the Answers part is the challenge, since frequently asked questions are frequently answered by everyone!
Mike Cohen
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Hunter,
Your concerns are frequently expressed by visitors new and old to these forums. Everyone on here is replying to posts as volunteers, in addition to our jobs, often much more than full-time hours. Thus, some people come here to relax, take a break, browse whilst rendering – it is like Cheers – where everyone knows your name. I have caught myself writing some wise remarks in a thread which I later realized were not entirely accurate or in line with my usual style – and I attribute these indiscretions to being tired, stressed, punchy (a combination of emotions), decaffeinated or just lazy.In a nutshell, Hunter, we are human, and we are not always at our best. But I assure you, we are here to help.
Well, Bob Zelin is not completely human. He’s more machine now than man, twisted and evil. But even he has good intentions.
Stick around.
Mike Cohen
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I’ll believe it when I see it!
Mike Cohen