[Nick Griffin]

[Todd Terry] “I won’t give you specific name advice… just test it out a potential name ALL the ways you might use it. Read it. How does it look on paper? Say it out loud. Are there any clunky words that might look fine but are hard to say outloud or together?”

My personal favs as complete duds as a result of not observing what Todd said above:

Ted Airlines – which as the non-union spin-off of United became known as “United, without U and I.”

-and-

BING – Which almost from its beginning was labeled as “But It’s Not Google.”

Oh and one more, this time a translation goody. It was only after the fact that Chevrolet discovered that the reason their “Nova” was selling so poorly in Latin America was that “Nova” in Spanish means “No Go.”

[Nick Griffin]

Alright. I’m ready to buy into SmartSound Sonic Fire pro. I’ve used their tracks several times but never taken the time to get or learn the software side.

Other sources of just straight tracks, aside the aformentioned, include
MyMusicSource.com, PremiumBeat.com, beatsuite.com and royaltyfreemusiclibrary.com.

[Nick Griffin]

Personally, I like XDGFX. That said, the single most important thing in branding is consistency. In other words, STOP changing names, Each time you change you are squandering whatever identity you’ve built up. Pick one and stay with it for good.

[Nick Griffin]

[Michael Phillips] “For existing customers, December 31 is the drop dead date. Come Jan 1 2015, you are buying a new license if you have not signed up for the $299 plan by then.”

VERY good to know. Thank you Michael. Just put it on my calendar for December (in case I don’t get motivated to do it before then.)

Again, THANX!

[Nick Griffin]

[Massimo Alberto Croce] “Subscription!”

Okay. Why? If I was willing to go that way wouldn’t it make sense to at least wait until they add features that I’d benefit from? Avid Everywhere sounds great for a team, but, at least on editing, I work solo.

[Nick Griffin]

Obviously not for everyone, but I’ve been very happy with playing out of an SD workstation using a Kona LX box using SDI into our HD station with the Kona III doing the up-converting. Would this hardware conversion, aside from being real-time, not be superior?

[Nick Griffin]

Guess it all depends on how “short” and what level of skill you’re looking for. Here in the Washington/Baltimore market a good sound guy is going to run $500 to $600 a day, likely negotiable for multiple days. A qualified gaffer slightly less, but not much.

C’mon Suszko, chime in. This is your back yard and you should be able to nail this Chicago question.

[Nick Griffin]

Too low. But to sell this I believe you have to provide options so your prospective client feels in control and not being given a “take it or leave it” proposition. Give options that take away some things they may want, ie.- length, shoot days/depth of coverage, etc.

BTW, I didn’t see a cost for your function as a producer, the one who turns raw footage into a message that makes sense. That’s a lot more than just editing. Maybe the addition of that will help raise your price.

By way of style, I’d suggest reducing the amount of handheld footage and, when shooting talking heads, lower the camera so the subject is looking AT the viewer, not being looked down on.

AND, for what it’s worth, Medical interests have serious money, especially if you can get a pharma company involved. Then it’s SERIOUS money.

[Nick Griffin]

We go by the TV model of a “vanity plate” at the end (when allowed by the client). Speaking of which, ever take the time to read any of Chuck Lorre’s vanity plates? Some are fall down funny.

I personally think a watermark is serious overkill unless you haven’t been paid and are using its presence to indicate that you still own it.

[Nick Griffin]

[Ryan Holmes] “answered in the Canon manual, page 235”

Thanks, Ryan. Actually page 237.

[Ryan Holmes] “DSLR’s = use second source audio. The in-camera audio on DSLR’s should really only be used as scratch audio”

I fully agree and certainly would never use the camera’s mic for anything but reference. The add-on mini shotguns are only minimally better and certainly not acceptable for professional work.

What I have been experimenting with are external XLR mixers which feed the camera’s mic input. Conclusions so far is that the JuicedLink “ultra portable mixer” (at least the one I was using) introduces waaaay to high of a noise floor to be ever considered for serious work. On the other hand the Sound Devices Pre-Mix D outputting at line level, and with the camera’s input level cranked down to one step above off, sounds fantastic. Problem is whether or not it sounds $900 fantastic so I’ll probably keep looking.

We primarily bought the 5D mk III to do static interviews on location, so I really want to stick with a single system approach if at all possible.

Special thanks to the Audio Cow’s Ty Ford for allowing me to test and playback both of these options in his studio.