[Nick Griffin]

You mean all those times when I was sent into the next suite to “audition music…” Hey? Wait a minute!

[Nick Griffin]

John –

First, sorry in taking so long to reply. I was out most of yesterday producing a voice-over session in a language I don’t speak. Big fun.

Second, and in answer to your query, I think Bob was over-reacting, thinking he was answering yet another of the newbie questions we frequently see on the COW. Not that there’s anything wrong with asking questions and everyone has to start somewhere, but some of the posts are so ridiculously basic or obvious that some of the experts can be easily frustrated by the barrage. We’ve all seen them: “After I get the monitor plugged in how do I get Stephen Spielberg to know that I’m ready to edit his next movie?”

Personally I don’t think that’s the category into which your initial post falls. What I read was the start of a broad discussion on what to expect when attempting to work with standards in different parts of the world. Hopefully some light has been shed on this topic. Bob is blunt, but in his own way he got straight to the point.

[Nick Griffin]

[Bob Zelin] “in my typical insulting way.”

[John Grote, Jr.] “So, if you can’t be part of the solution, then don’t answer the question.”

Now, now, boys. Calm down and go back to your corners. While Bob may be confrontational in nature he probably carries around more technical knowledge in his hard head than almost anyone else on the COW. The points he makes are correct, just stated like someone who has some other reason to be pissed off. A lot of us are under pressure these days from clients who want to pay in 120 days and vendors who still expect their money net 30. Maybe that’s contributing to everyone’s level of stress.

So, John, I don’t think anything is to gain by dis-inviting a viable point of view and Bob, try a cup or two of the de-caf.

(Gee… and I’m not even one of the hosts in this pasture. I’m used to tyring to break up fist fights over in the Business & Marketing forum.)

[Nick Griffin]

Hey guys, the COW (like many of the professions represented here) consists of a wide range of individuals: Some at the top, some just starting out, some in big towns/national/international markets, some in Podunkville, still trying to get out.

I point this out because I’m not at all surprised by this as an average. I do however agree with David and think that Massachusetts is somehow skewed. Or maybe it’s that New York and California are large enough that the major hubs lose out because of the averaging in of the many small towns.

[Nick Griffin]

[Mark Suszko] “We used to use DeWolfe a lot, it was very nice, but it got too rich to keep signed up”

I believe what Mark is speaking of is an annual blanket, wherein your annual usage of music is estimated and you pay a fixed fee per year.

Yes, for some this can get pricey. Especially during unsure market conditions.

I don’t know about DeWolfe but, as an alternative, many companies offer music for a “laser drop” fee. (From the days of vinyl 33rpm records of production music when a “needle drop” meant an individual selection.) With drops you pay for music as used and relative to the distribution.

For example many of the kinds of shows we create are for use by corporate sales people and fewer than 500 copies are ever made. On this type of use we pay (without looking it up) say a $100 for a use of a single track. More often than not our shows are several minutes in length and we purchase a “production blanket” which gives unlimited use for up to ten minutes, for, something like $350. If the client wants to put the show on the internet — therefore reaching potentially many more people — the cost jumps to about $750.

The other end of the spectrum would be a producer who wanted to use production music in a theatrically-released feature film and the fee would be in the tens of thousands.

Production music is a valuable resource that can be as simple and cheap as something you create yourself in SonicFire and as complex as a hiring a music house to write and produce a piece, using the London Philharmonic orchestra so in the end you and your production alone own it. It all depends on what your budget is.

[Nick Griffin]

Good point Franklin. Sometimes it’s easy for those of us who have been doing this for awhile to neglect to mention the obvious. Of course you should charge for your time on this and almost every other aspect related to a project.

Normal people (ie. – clients) typically know very little to nothing about things like production music and stock footage until they are exposed to it. It’s our job to take them by the hand and lead them through the complexities. Production music is ohhh so much less expensive than “something they heard by somebody on the radio” and (as mentioned in an earlier post) real paid actors are much less expensive than amateurs in the long run.

So, if you’re burned out on researching music Tim, here’s a suggestion I neglected to mention earlier. Assuming you are in a major metro area, or can get to one, book a couple of hours at a recording studio which specializes in radio and audio for video production. These places usually have very large libraries of licensable production music. A good engineer will be able to quickly steer you through a myriad of options and help you narrow down to a few choices which you can take to your client.

Some studios will also offered a discounted rate for un-assisted music auditioning where you’re left on your own with a bunch of disks, headphones and a player. This may (or may not) even include being pointed in some specific directions without the need to pay for the engineer’s time.

[Nick Griffin]

Over in Corporate Video Mark Susko wrote an excellent post on this. Check out: https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/12/856334

I especially agree with the fact that using contemporary “popular” music makes a show age quickly. That and the fact that licensing the real thing costs a bloody fortune.

In addition to Royalty-Free music look into libraries from companies like Killer Tracks. Great stuff for not all that much money.

[Nick Griffin]

[Joey Burnham] “Europe (and I’m pretty sure Japan too) are PAL.”

Umm, No on Japan. Japan is NTSC just with a 0 pedestal instead of the 7.5 IRE used in the US. I believe (but have NOT DONE THIS MYSELF) that you can simply re-set the pedestal on your NLE to make an NTSC-J program.

Most of Europe is PAL, but some countries are SECAM and scattered around the globe are some countries where the variant of PAL-M is standard.

Google “Global Video Formats” for a complete list of what’s what and where’s where.

I also agree that for broadcast-quality work you will get the best results using a facility with hardware-based standards conversion. Last time I checked the boxes which do this sell in the $25k range.

[Nick Griffin]

Sadly, ditto for some of our clients. One biggie in particular, who always paid net 15, in January informed us that going forward they would be net 45. They held to that for a few months and lately 45 has slipped to 60.

We have a clause in our agreements stating that we can charge 1.5% a month interest on outstanding balances, but in the current environment I’m reluctant to use it.

Although slower pay is an issue, the far bigger problem these days is the delay mentality. “Oh, yea, we still want you to estimate the job and do the prep work,” says the client, “We’re just not going to get this approved right away.” If August and September turn out to be half as busy as we were told they would be in February, March and April I’ll be happy. (And surprised.)

[Nick Griffin]

Sorry. Thought it was fairly obvious that one would use a 2/3″ lens on a camera with 2/3″ chips. Less obvious is the fact that adapters make it fairly simple to put a 2/3″ lens on a 1/2″ camera. The downside is that because of the smaller sensor the apparent focal length is increased. For those who need clarification, a wide angle becomes a normal lens.