Scott Sheriff
Forum Replies Created
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Hi,
A couple of quick thoughts.
I didn’t run a price sheet, but off the top of my head I don’t think you can do all that for 9K.
Also, I don’t think the 8 core 2.88 is available new anymore. The only 8 core is the 2.4. Odd number memory (11GB) combos wont work on the 8 core.Lots of reasons I wouldn’t take my edit room monitor in the field. Too much wear and tear. And since you only want to buy one monitor, what happens if it gets dropped in the middle of a big project? Your going to be running around trying to replace it, instead of editing. Murphys Law. Or what if you have a shoot, and want to set up a long render while your gone?
Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
I think it depends on what you do. For those that only edit, I think ‘Editor’, is appropriate. Even if you do VFX/MoGraphs, I think it gives a general idea of where your at.
Even though I Produce, I mostly Direct. Either single camera, or sitting in the truck behind the switcher. My editing is often an extension of that work, so I go by the term ‘Director’. It’s simple, and best describes what I do, live or in post.
I stay away from the term ‘Creative Director’, since at a lot of broadcast and ad houses, this is often a promotional type of job associated with contests and events.
Is the term ‘video guy’ offensive? Maybe. Disrespectful, probably. Unprofessional, definitely. I wonder if the head controller would like to be introduced as ‘the money guy’, Producer as ‘the paperwork guy’, or the GSM as ‘the sales guy’.Mark
“I used to just shrug it off when people introducing me in work settings couldn’t quite name my job and would describe me to the person being introduced as “video guy”, “camera man”, “the TV person”, etc.”
Perhaps the best way to avoid this is to be proactive, and introduce yourself with your preferred salutation.
If that is not an option, I usually just correct it right away. Firmly, but polite. As a Director, I don’t have a problem establishing my territory, and putting the kibosh on that ‘video guy’ nonsense is a good place to start.
So it would go like this.
AE to ‘Bob the Client’: “Bob, I’d like you to meet Mark, our video guru.”
Mark: “Bob, its nice to be working with you. Actually, I’m your Director, and I’ll be guiding your project through the production phase.”
Then you shake hands and hand Bob your card with your preferred title on it. Now Bob knows your in charge, and feels confident that his project is being managed by a professional.Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Seems it’s the latest internet meme, like the ‘downfall’ parodies, but a bit more niche’.
https://www.youtube.com/user/AndiePandaVideo#g/c/A15C56DC10DA05F6https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com
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Steve,
“What frame size should my final product be?”It usually works best to know what your delivery format is going to be, and work backwards from that all the way back to acquisition.
I would think that ProRes would be better than DVCPro.
And not knowing what your delivery requirement is, I’m just gonna throw out that sticking with the 5D’s native frame size of 1920×1080, and bringing the RED down to that would be better than bringing them both down to 720, unless that is the desired finish frame size.Just a guess on my part. I bet the big guns on the forum will come along soon with better advice.
Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Fiddlesticks!
Mpeg Streamclip as good or better than Compressor?
Streamclip is a useful app, but Compressor looks much better.As far as FCP needing an overhaul, I would ask why? I hate change, for the sake of change. Especially the UI. “Looking tired” is not a reason to revamp the UI. It is not there to entertain, it is a tool. And I don’t want to open my tool box and find out that someone has put put new handles on all the screwdrivers, and then put them in the wrong drawer. I really want to spend my time editing, not relearning an app because some twenty-something software engineer thinks the UI isn’t trendy and hip enough.
Sure every piece of software, could be improved. That isn’t what I mean. I’m sure everyone here has a tweak or two they would like to see. But, the premise that the FCP suite is out of date, or useless is completely false.I use the entire FCP suite except Cinema Tools, and the only one I would make major changes to is Soundtrack Pro.
The 90% majority of my workflow is HDV material to SD DVD, and the other 10% is web delivery. Blu Ray? Haven’t had a call for it yet. In fact, the only people I know that own a player all work in the biz or its their PS3. I think demand for BR is still regional. If I need to do BR, I’ll just go with a 3rd party app. With the exception of STP, which seems buggy at times, I can’t complain.
If you find yourself spending hour after hour fussing with the app, perhaps it is either that it isn’t properly installed, or you need to read the manual, because in three years this hasn’t been my experience. I installed it, and ran it without incident until SL came out. Then I went to SL, did a clean install, updated my drivers, and it has worked fine since then. About two months ago, I rolled back an update, because it killed the mpeg2 audio on Streamclip, and that took a few hours. So I would say that in three years, I have spent around twenty hours total in downtime, with updates, installs.
In the end, these things are just tools, so if it isn’t working for you, vote with your dollar and go buy an Avid. But I think it’s unnecessary to flame the entire suite, especially with what sounds like user error and unrealistic expectations. And I’m not a classic Apple fanboy either. I have been a MS/PC user since the days of dos, and my editing system is the first Mac I’ve ever had. Nor am I new to editing. I have years of online experience on CMX, Paltex, and Sony linear systems. But IMHO, a Mac Pro running FCP delivers a pretty good bang for the buck.
Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
OK, so the footage can’t be reshot, so why go to all the trouble of making a DVD, trying to tell if the mic will be seen? Sounds like you have no choice but to use it.
Why not just blow up the frame a little, and reposition it so the mic isn’t visible, then no worries?
Just a thought.
Post a frame of the footage if you can.Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Chris,
Here is what he said:“Now I’m working on doing my own video production. I’ve recently quit my job (as a public school teacher) to do this. I want to be able to create quality videos and edit them myself.”
Chris-How much would you charge him to provide the same video? If he and his students can live with the sub-par quality and it is a useful learning tool, what’s wrong with him doing it himself? Kudos to him for taking the initiative and time to figure it out himself.
Well he said he wanted to “create quality videos and edit them myself.”, and “Ultimately, I guess I just need an excellent video quality for my students.”
I think the real question is what would I charge to teach him how to edit, not what would I charge to do the videos. I’m not against new folks in the biz. I just want them to get in the back of the line.Whats wrong with this guys post? IMHO, Everything. Being so naive. Quitting your day job to get into a business you know nothing about. Not having a business plan. Especially in this economy. How about expecting working professionals to tutor you for free? This guys post is more than a simple question, a lot more. To me, this is far beyond helping a colleague, because you would first have to be an editor to be a colleague, and this guy is not.
I wonder how many free piano lessons this guy gives out?Chris-Let me put your mind at ease; you don’t need to worry about losing market share to a guy making movies with a flip cam and iMovie.
I have to admit I am bitter and angry, when I see posts like this.
Maybe unintentional on his part, but completely disrespectful.
Hey, it’s a ‘no-brainer’, just buy imovie, and some POS camera, ask few questions on the web, and your an instant DP, and an editor.
So you have yet another guy that thinks he can come crashing into a profession overnight, that many, including myself, have spent years, if not decades learning.
So I’m not worried about this guy taking work from me, or anyone.
I’m not worried, I’m just tired of it. I’m sick of people trying to cut in front of the line. And then when they are having a melt down, they expect those they cut in front of, to bail them out. And we see it all the time, it’s not just this guy.So to me, this is the ‘Current state of the Video Editing industry’.
OK, I’m done ranting…Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
You wanna see the current state of the video editing industry?
read this post from the FCP forum:https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/8/1100921
So is the industry heading in the same direction as local record shops, newspapers and movie rental stores?
You have to wonder, when a guy thinks he can break into the biz and quits his day job because he has a Flip cam and imovie.
If this was April 1st, I would think I was getting punked, reading that post.As far as this actual post.
I’m on the fence about posting a response to this guy, since I don’t feel I can say anything that won’t be snarky, or dripping with sarcasm. Maybe “don’t quit your day dob”.
Oh…wait…never mind, you already did.Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Don
“If after getting my 8 gigs right, I decided to put my “Apple” 1 gig sticks back in the machine giving it 10 gigs, I would be asking for trouble……. right?”
Don,
Well, maybe not. According to these benchmarks:
https://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/Framework.cfm?page=/Benchmarks/macproearly08ram/article.htmlIt looks like either way you do the 10GB, it is a little faster than the 8GB, but there might be an edge, depending on which riser the 1GB sticks are located.
If you believe these benchmarks, it looks like more memory, even if it is mismatched, is better.
But when there is a combination that can be made with either mixed, or matched memory, the matched wins.
I wouldn’t loose any sleep over your 10GB memory combo, and run out to buy matched sticks. If it seems to run OK, and your happy with it, run it. I might move around what you have, and try the configuration that ran fastest in these benchmarks, since you can do that for free. It can’t hurt, since you can always put it back the way it was, if you don’t think it’s as fast.Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com -
Wayne,
My bad. I didn’t get the mixing sizes from your post. Which I agree with. I thought you were saying to use only Apple sticks, and not mix mfg. There seems to be this constant rumor that ‘Apple’ sticks somehow either deliver better performance, or that other MFG will cause errors. I know there are some knock-offs that have insufficiency heat sinks, and perhaps this is the basis for this thinking.Scott Sheriff
Director
SST Digital Media
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com