Mike Cohen
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COW Coin
Forum Replies Created
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it is just a matter of getting used to it. According to the now concluded election, Change is a good thing!
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CS4 and I just had our first fight. It seems to export a still frame, you now need to use the Media Encoder, select an output location and hit start queue, and then import the file into Premiere if you need it. In all previous versions it was one key combination and you were done. What’s up with this?!
CS4 is sleeping on the couch tonight!
Nice one Adobe.
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I got CS4 to crash by changing the display settings while CS4 was open. Probably should not do that.
I always wondered why Adobe got rid of batch encoding in the PRO version. We continued to use 6.5 for years just for batch processing.
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We put a time code burn-in on the online videos and ask people to e-mail us the edit revisions or comments using the on-screen timecode display. Occasionally we will have someone write back “at 01:03:05:00 edit this down some, and then add some more after that” leaving it up to us to figure out the actual edits. While other people get specific down to the frame with specific cuts. One needs to be mindful of illogical edits, such as the 15 frame edit. Sometimes an editor has to interpret the client’s suggestion, and be able to identify typographical errors by the same token.
Mike
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The important ingredient is to know the client’s capabilities ahead of time. Just recently, I had a client attempt to show her board of directors a Flash video off our client website. She wrote back saying the video stutters and played poorly. I asked if she tested it ahead of time. She replied that all of the files I had sent her played like this, but she didn’t want to say anything. She was always very good about sending her comments about the video content.
I FedEx’d a DVD to her right away. Turns out their firewall was the culprit.
About 99.9% of our clients are more than an hour’s drive away, so we use the web for nearly everyone, either FLV or WMV for download. 90% of people have no problem with one or the other method.
Oddly, I once had a client request the final DVD, then ask for the DVD content to be put online so they could get it approved. Then we got a comment from the approval dept. asking why the website does not show the DVD menu 🙂
Definitely do not use FTP for client review of anything. I would say 92.3% of people have no idea what FTP means and would have issues using an FTP client or even IE to access an FTP site. Firewalls are often working against FTP.
Mike Cohen
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I too have occasionally recommended a more cost effective / time effective solution. For instance, I hesitate to fly across the country just to shoot an interview. It is better for everyone to use a local shooter, and I will tell a client this.
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We have a few channels of money making. One is direct sales at trade shows. We used to come home with a stack of carbon credit card receipts, only to find about a dozen were declined. The best thing we ever did was buy a card reader for the shows, so we know right away if a card is declined. This is loss prevention.
I have worked with production companies that require a credit card payment for the first job, until credit is established. Requiring 50% up front on a project that is billed is a good move.
Mike
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As others have said, when corporations seek out a video producer to make a video, that means corporate video is relevant for that corporation.
Any corporate boss who asks for statistical proof that video works may be under the influence of Six Sigma (which has its uses as my brother would tell you).Here are some examples of corporate work I have done just in the past year:
1. A medical device company held a big event to celebrate 100 years of a particular surgical device. They gave a lifetime achievement award to one of the inventors, had some cool speeches by both doctors and sales guys, and followed that with an open bar and finger food. They shot the event single camera, then came to us for polishing and a DVD. They had requests from all over the world to take the show on the road, which would have been impossible, so the DVD was a big hit.
2. Several medical companies wanted to show live surgery at their trade show booths. however live surgery is not allowed at some meetings due to liability, so we produced live-on-tape videos which they showed on the biggest LCD monitor I’ve seen outside of the sports arena. Very cool.
3. A medical society wanted a video to recruit medical students into their field.
4. A sales training consultant created a series of web videos to teach new sales people how to develop sales strategies. The content was quite interesting regardless of what you sell.
5. I created about 20 sample videos to promote products on our own website.
6. One video on our YouTube page has over 40,000 views. That sounds like fluff to me (Mike looks at camera with raised eyebrows like Jim from the Office).
This thread could go on forever as just about everyone on the COW does some form of corporate video.
Good question.
Mike Cohen
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was McCain using the song to promote himself or to attack his opponent. “Running on Empty” seems to describe running without any energy or substance, realizing your life has passed you by and that you are out of steam. If McCain was using this to describe himself, then Jackson Browne should drop his case, as this would be another example of a politician not reading the lyrics.
The Born in the USA comments are the most telling of all. Springsteen must get a good laugh when that song gets used for pretty much any reason.
Mike
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seems to me the LA market would have an abundance of edit rooms for rent as it is. Sounds like the snow plow operator who gives you a discount at the beginning of the season, but then when it snows you have to call him to remind him to plow your driveway. Then he complains he can’t afford to upgrade his plow because of the great rate he gave you, so he’ll get to you when he can.
That being said, most markets have different tiers of service. Look at the difference in packaged meat at Costco vs Safeway – there is a market for both.
Mike