[Shawn Miller]

[Shane Ross] “Oh…and I am coming from a broadcast world. I’m sure corporate video is different. Not sure about those rates. I do those on occasion, but quote the same rate I do for TV.”

Good point, Shane. I’m the opposite, coming from a corporate background. I’m sure broadcast is different… though there probably isn’t anywhere near the amount of that kind of work in Seattle (compared to corporate).

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

Depends on the job and how much experience he has. For a ‘beginning’ editor, anywhere from $25-$60 an hour (I think $30-$35 is the sweet spot though). If he goes through an agency, expect to get about half that. For a shooter, again depends on the job and whether or not he has his own gear (also what that gear is). I wouldn’t quote anything less than $700 for a full day, or $350 for a half day… that’s assuming that he has a basic video, audio and lighting kit (DSLR, FS100, AF100, lower powered lights, etc)… add 20-30% markup over anything that he has to rent (assuming he has to pick and return it). If he has a better package (Red, F3, HMI’s ect), add an additional $300.

Lastly, these rates depend heavily on his reel and how he comes across to the clients. A good reel+confident, positive attitude can equal greater perceived value on the part of the person looking to hire for services.

Hope that helps.

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

[Darren Roark] “The ability to shoot 4K directly in Prores HQ is a huge plus for me.”

There is that too. I wonder how many people will see 8 bit 4:2:0 recording as a deal breaker when compared to 10/12 bit ProRes 422 and (later) compressed CinemaDNG. To me, it’s a no brainier – ProRes/cDNG/global shutter handily beats every other feature on the GH4k… I don’t even care about the sensor size, as I really like M43rds. I wonder if these cameras even appeal to the same markets.

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

[John Heagy] “The only thing more pointless than 4K in the home, is 4K at 24fps.”

Even more pointless than 3D? 🙂

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

[Simon Ubsdell] “[Shawn Miller] “I think it’s just as possible that edge refinement wasn’t part of the spec to begin with… ”

Sorry, Shawn – I think I may have not made it clear what I was talking about here. This is looping back to an earlier thread where we were talking about how the lightwrap makes a complete mess of the edges of your image because the blur operation hasn’t been set up correctly:

https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/335/64474

Here’s the screen grab I posted again to make it clear what we were talking about:”

Ah, I see. I did misunderstand, thanks for the correction. Reading through the thread, I think you’re right. This does seem like a case of, ‘it’s good enough, they’ll never notice’ product development.

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

[Simon Ubsdell] “Just to come back round to your point about beta-testing – beta-testing is pretty useless for picking up stuff like this unless you’re very lucky. You simply have to have systems in place to pick up basic technical flaws – even if it’s just your co-workers taking sufficient interest in what you’re doing.

So I don’t blame Apple’s scanty beta testing program – I blame the lack of pride in their job of the people doing the work, sorry to say.”

I like your scenario Simon, and I completely agree that it’s plausible. Let me add a wrinkle to your thought process… from a software development standpoint, there may be absolutely nothing wrong the keyer! I think it’s just as possible that edge refinement wasn’t part of the spec to begin with… so, not only did Joe (or Josephine) do his/her job, but they probably slept just fine knowing that they built the keyer ‘to spec’. In that case, there would be nothing for QA/test to catch; does the keyer crash – no, is it fast – yes, does it work as expected, yes – pass.

It’s possible that the product team doesn’t think that editors need that sort of complexity or control. So, this really isn’t a technical flaw, but a feature found in most other keyers… just not this one.

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

[Martin Phillips] “So my subscription for Hightail is due soon. Just wondering whether to jump ship into Google’s arms? Thoughts / experiences?”

Personally, I prefer wetransfer.com. I was a yousendit subscriber too, but I think their subscription fee is too high, compared to the costs and benefits of other services. For shared folder access, I think my favorite is still skydrive, although I also use googledrive and dropbox.

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

[Simon Ubsdell] “…Obviously you will know that this is just scratching the surface of a huge and very complex topic (and hugely over-simplifying in the process) but I thought it would be useful for less experienced users to understand the concepts under-the-hood of their favourite keyers.

Knowing how to make it happen means you can get better results than just pulling the sliders around without really understanding what they do – an exercise in frustration for a lot of users I have encountered.”

Absolutely! I was really impressed by your ability to pare your explanations down to the basics and to present only the most useful information on the subject. IMO, that’s an enviable talent in and of itself. 🙂

[Simon Ubsdell] “As for Conduit, I started using it many years ago and it really is an amazingly good thing – in terms of keying it really is a pretty high end tool quality-wise and from the perspective of being able to build really powerful keying tools from the basic building blocks. It is very definitely not a toy in any sense (unlike some of the rubbish that Apple offer up as professional!)
“

Totally agree. I think I first heard about Conduit from Alex Lindsay at NAB a number of years ago. I really loved the mission; to make a stable, powerful and inexpensive compositing tool that didn’t require a fire breathing beast of a machine (like everything from Autodesk did). I believe I purchased a license that night when I got back to my hotel room.

[Simon Ubsdell] “Pauli is a massive talent – it’s just a shame that he never seems to have attracted the investment to make something more of what he’s developed.”

Yes, I believe that’s why he dropped support for Windows. Just not enough time/resources to develop for multiple platforms. Even so, I also wish Conduit was more popular. It’s one of those tools that everyone should be using. I mean, the core application is free, isn’t it? And if I’m not mistaken, the advanced add on pack (or whatever it’s called) is like $100 US… right? Anyone on a Mac who is remotely interested in compositing really should have PixelConduit – no excuses. 🙂

[Simon Ubsdell] “Have you used it much?”

Yes, I was able to use it on a few real projects before the demise of the Windows version. It was a much more powerful application than the price tag suggested, and I really enjoyed using it. I started learning Nuke a few years after that (for my node based compositing fix), but it’s just way out of my price range. Now I’m slowly embracing MambaFX, hoping that the industry acceptance of Mystika will fund further development. As much as I like Adobe’s suite of tools, I also like to have a parallel set of applications that I can rely on… just in case. 🙂

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

Very well done, Simon. Shows how valuable a fundamental understanding of compositing can be. I believe you mentioned your intention to try PixelConduit at some point… were you ever able to do that? Do you see PC as a viable alternative to the built in keyers for FCPX and Motion?

Thanks,

Shawn

[Shawn Miller]

[Jeremy Garchow] “[Shawn Miller] “I see your Devil of Blue Mountain, and I raise you a Birdemic :-)”

Well, of course, now we have to bring up American Movie.”

Totally forgot about this movie! I’ve been meaning to see it for years, but never made the time. Now I’m inspired to finally sit down and watch.

Thanks for the reminder, Jeremy. 🙂

Shawn