[Mrnewo]

D –

Have you tried selecting the clip in the project panel, then navigating the Clips menu to the “Source Audio Mapping” dialogue box? I think this is how you’d go about doing what you’re seeking. It’s also possible that the originator of the clip thought he was producing a 4 channel file, but actually didn’t.

David Owen
Skyline Productions

[Mrnewo]

Maybe I’m just oversimplifying this, but I’d be inclined to simply get a photo of a brick or make one in PS, then create a comp the max width of your ultimate comp, but only one brick high. Replicate the brick to create a full course of bricks using the offset function. Then, animate a mask to outline the first brick, then the first and second, then the first three, and so on. Use hold keyframes on the mask to reveal entire bricks only. Once you’ve created a first row, you can dupe that comp and flip it to build the second, etc..

[Mrnewo]

Maybe I’m just oversimplifying this, but I’d be inclined to simply get a photo of a brick or make one in PS, then create a comp the max width of your ultimate comp, but only one brick high. Then, animate a mask to outline the first brick, then the first and second, then the first three, and so on. Use hold keyframes on the mask to reveal entire bricks only. Once you’ve created a first row, you can dupe that comp and flip it to build the second, etc..

[Mrnewo]

Daniel,

I believe this relates to the bitrate of your encoding and the horsepower of the computer you’re playing it on. As default, Encore is set to automatic transcoding. Apparently, this strives to achieve the highest bitrate possible based on the length of the video to be transcoded.

The bitrate needed relates directly to the amount of detail and motion in the video… If you’ve got footage of two guys on horses chasing a bankrobber on horseback with trees in the background, you’ll likely need a higher bitrate. If you’ve got someone standing at a podium reading the minutes of the last meeting, you could probably drop that rate through the floor.

I suggest finding the most challenging part of your video, narrow it’s in and out points to just that portion, then try some lower bitrates… perhaps starting as low as 2500. If that looks like crap, bump it up 1000 and try it again. Still looks bad? Bump it up again. After a while, you’ll be able to “eyeball” your content and give yourself a pretty good guesstimate of what your bitrate will be.

I hope you find this helpful.

[Mrnewo]

The workers comp push-back is a good point. I’ll have to investigate this, though, to see if it’s worth stirring things up with the client. If it’s only worth $50, I probably wouldn’t want to risk a $50k contract!

I’ll give productioninsurance.com a check-out. Thanks for the tip!

[Mrnewo]

Wonder if they insure south of the border… I’ll give them a shout. Thanks!

[Mrnewo]

Daniel,

Having evolved from an engineering firm in the highly-litigious construction industry, our company started with a basic contract (you pay me $x for me to do task y by such & such a time, etc.). Then, we simply added to it. Our attorney (for the engineering firm) once told me that there is no such thing as the perfect contract… we just contemplate possible problems and write clauses to try to eliminate their impact.

Concern that clients may try to re-use programs beyond their intended use caused me to add the clause which states that Client will be liable for 3x the original contract fees for uses beyond the scope of the agreement unless otherwise agreed-to in writing. That catches their attention! WHEN they fuss about it, I simply state that if they don’t intend to breech the contract, they’ve nothing to be concerned about. If they wish to expand the application of the program, though, you must be willing to be reasonable on your re-use rates. This can often wind up being an ownership discussion as well.

I would love to know how many corporate video producers/companies retain ownership of the final program versus relinquishing all rights to their clients.

Hopefully, this will shed a little light on the issue.

[Mrnewo]

This is a debate for ANY service industry…

Two ways to price it:
Cost plus a margin
or
Value in the market

I would suggest doing an estimate of the hours you’d expect to put into it, multiply that by your cost+margin hourly rate and use that as your low end. Then, do your best to find something comparable in the market… (not the easiest thing to do!) and use that as your high end.

If you believe in the potential of the film, you might want to quote your low end number plus a percentage of any GROSS revenue derived from it.

If any portion is speculative, you should double it to cover the risk involved, in my opinion.

Hope you find this helpful.