[Simon Roughan]

Thanks Walter.

A picture is only as good as the glass it comes through. And the person using the camera has something to do with it too.

[Simon Roughan]

Hi Nathan,
if you look down a bit, I started a thread with more or less the same topic a couple of weeks ago. I too am a producer at a regional TV station in Germany, and believe you me, everything you and everyone else here has touched upon, is relevant here in Europe too. The sales people giving away the production without the slightest inkling of what is involved, is a constant thorn in my side. Lsat year, I started a topic looking for advice on how to deal with this particular situation, and have responses ranging from helpful and productive, to basically saying “quit if you don’t like it!” My biggest problem is that when they give a production away, the costs never go down on the accounting books. It looks like my job loses money. I do quite a few bigger jobs, with a (sometimes) healthy budget, but I also do a lot of these freebies. Mark said “That is to say, once a client gets a below-rate deal one time, they will always demand that rate, and worse, they usually blab about it to other potential customers and soon, you can’t get anybody to take that rate seriously, they think it’s just the starting point of a downward negotiation.” Thats where the shite starts.
When a company sells a custom kitchen, and advertises that over $5000 the oven is free, it doesn’t mean that they are giving the oven away. It means they are covering that cost elsewhere. Its still on the books. When you sign a mobil phone contract, and get an iphone for no cost, it doesn’t mean the $700 phone is a “giveaway”.
My sales team see the world through blinders. There is a world of difference between “You only have $5000? Then we can produce a spot for nada, and you get 3 weeks air-time” and “You only have $5000? For that we can make you a super cost-effective package, that includes the production of a spot, and 3 weeks air-time.”
But the sales people just cannot see it like that.
But anyway, good luck, and just know you’re not alone in this boot…
Simon

A picture is only as good as the glass it comes through. And the person using the camera has something to do with it too.

[Simon Roughan]

Testify, Brother!
I spent a great deal of time and stress fighting with the sales on this exact point. Production has real, calculatable costs, where as air time is only a file in a playlist. One suffers at the cost of the other, because the sales people make commision just with air-time. its taking money out of the left pocket, and sticking it in the right. But the trousers still belong to the company.

A picture is only as good as the glass it comes through. And the person using the camera has something to do with it too.

[Simon Roughan]

But Im not sorry to read you ramble. Thanks for the input. I find it cool and extremely helpful that we can discuss stuff and swap ideas and opinions around the world like this.

ps I look at the super bowl commercial line-up every year. But I prefer watching “real” football. that is, of course, Rugby Union. (I come from New Zealand) Sorry for the provocation! 😉

A picture is only as good as the glass it comes through. And the person using the camera has something to do with it too.

[Simon Roughan]

Thanks for your response Mark. many of our customers just come and say ” I want a TV spot. We have X Budget.” I have to work out how much to put into the production, that they still have a good whack for air-time. I can remember somewhere reading about this 10:1 cost ratio. I thought it might have been on this forum.
BTW, I have shot the commercial for the bus company. Finished up today. It was shot on a Panny AF-101, with Arri PL lenses. Very pleased with the pictures. I will give you a heads up when it finished in post. You might even see something you suggested in there…
Again, Thanks heaps for your input
Simon

A picture is only as good as the glass it comes through. And the person using the camera has something to do with it too.

[Simon Roughan]

DISREGARD!!!!
I sorted it out. Simply check the “include XMP” box in the render settings!

Thanks for your help, Simon.
Thats OK Simon, Jeez your Smart.
Aw schucks, stop it!

A picture is only as good as the glass it comes through. And the person using the camera has something to do with it too.

[Simon Roughan]

But for Premiere Pro and After Effects, they smoke.
Cinema 4D is only 1 of my tools. Although my favorite.
And thanks for the Tip with the stones the other day…

A picture is only as good as the glass it comes through. And the person using the camera has something to do with it too.

[Simon Roughan]

Hi,
yeah I read through your thread too.
I work for a relatively big company, so although they whinge and moan about the price, its not really hurting anybody. The work I do will pay for that machine in 3 weeks, so they shouldn’t bang on too much.
I dont have to worry about him (the technical manager)reading this thread either. His english is non-existant. They always go on about the price of hardware. My reply is that we produce TV. If we were a hairdressers, all we would need is a mirror and a pair of scissors. But we are not a hairdressers.
Re: Graphic Card. I know that the config I named is a bit over-board, but like I said above, when I ask for a 6000, and they buy me a 4000, then I’m still happy. But Im going to insist on the Maximus Config. have you seen the demo video? 9 mixed format streams playing realtime, with on the fly colour correction.
I have to pinch myself…I also do quite a bit of cinema 4D work, so the more OOMPH the better.
Thanks for all the input!
Simon

A picture is only as good as the glass it comes through. And the person using the camera has something to do with it too.

[Simon Roughan]

[Adam Trachtenberg] “They require application specific drivers to get the most out of them and there are no Cinema/Quadro drivers”

I just looked on the Nvidia site, and…
https://www.nvidia.com/page/partner_certified_drivers.html
Under MAXON
R12
259.81 –
Supported OS: Vista 64, Win7 64
Supported Graphics Cards: Quadro 6000, 5000, 4000, 2000, 600, FX3700

I would hope this works for R13 as well. I really want a Nvidia Quadro 6000 + Tesla C2075.
Thanks for taking the time to respond, as always
Simon

A picture is only as good as the glass it comes through. And the person using the camera has something to do with it too.

[Simon Roughan]

Thanks for the replies guys.
After a bit of research, I have the dream machine configured.
That bang you just heard is the manager falling of his chair when he heard what it costs.
Still, when negotiating, aim for the top, and when they bring you down a bit, youre still up there…

HP Z820 Computer
Dual Intel® Xeon® E5-2660 2.30 20MB 1600 8C Processors
128 GB RAM
Nvidia Quadro 6000 Grafik Card + Tesla C2075 GPU
2 x 1 TB SSD Drives in a RAID Array
Black Magic Intensity Pro I/O Card für External Monitor 10 Bit 4:2:2 HDMI Out.

How does that sound?

A picture is only as good as the glass it comes through. And the person using the camera has something to do with it too.