[Steve Martin]

Aaron,

Your policy is not unreasonable. Yes, many corporate clients do want net 30 or net 45 days – especially larger companies. I believe that they’ve made the calculation of using their A/R as a source of revenue.

If you trust them to pay the bill, it’s no big deal and you build in the cost of cash flow (either through your own cash reserves or a line of credit) and build the cost (time value of $) into the project cost like you would everything else.

If you can’t (or just don’t want to do that) another reasonable alternative is to request a credit card that you and have them sign an authorization document giving you the right to bill against it as the project progresses with the final charge hitting at the master hand off. You’ll have 1-2% discount fees but you can build/bury that into your fees.

Any reasonable client would understand your need as a small business to get paid in a timely manner. Sometimes a friendly discussion can persuade them see that it’s not a matter of trust as much as it is that you simply can’t afford to be their bank.

Of course if they are the unreasonable type, you should listen to your gut that you might be dealing with a grinder and let him find another producer. In my experience, when they are difficult BEFORE they hire you, they’re MISERABLE once you start the project and ABSOLUTELY UNBEARABLE as you approach the end. You know the type, endless revisions, etc…

Good luck!

Production is fun – but lets not forget: Nobody ever died on the video table!

[Steve Martin]

Thanks Bob,

We’re playing with Premier 4, but will take Walter up on the 30 day trial soon! I’ll be in touch if/when we make the switch to re-engineer hardware as needed.

Thanks,
Steve

Production is fun – but lets not forget: Nobody ever died on the video table!

[Steve Martin]

Hi Walter,

Thanks so much for the great info – the vimeo videos were great!

If ever in Orlando, give a shout!

All my best,
Steve

Production is fun – but lets not forget: Nobody ever died on the video table!

[Steve Martin]

Thanks to all for the great information – as always, the COW rocks!

Production is fun – but lets not forget: Nobody ever died on the video table!

[Steve Martin]

Hi Joel,

I’ve never heard of them, but if you can’t find enough public information and/or are less than convinced that what your contact is telling you is the truth, my advise is that you pay close attention to that little voice in your head.

It sounds like it’s telling you to be very careful.

If it were me, I’d make sure to get a deposit, a clear written agreement of the responsibilities & deliverable(s). Oh, and payment in full before you hand over the final master.

Good luck to you!

Production is fun – but lets not forget: Nobody ever died on the video table!

[Steve Martin]

Tim,

I think you hit the nail on the head. I would only add that in my experience of getting an degree (not in production, but in Marketing) what I learned more than anything was how to think and re-think.

As a person who is now in a position to hire people, I like folks with 4 year degrees because they have demonstrated a variety skills and characteristics:

That they can stick with a goal for a number of years even when some of the classes (and/or professors) may have been useless – perhaps like some projects and clients.

That they have a well rounded education and can hopefully relate to wider variety of people (again, like clients)

Production is fun – but lets not forget: Nobody ever died on the video table!

[Steve Martin]

Thanks Scott (and all) for your replies. We spent all day today testing (and reading through the manual) and I think we’ve got a good handle on the camera now. It appears that we had several issues going on.

One was that the stock settings on the camera really aren’t too flattering. Reading and watching some of the hands-on reviews suggested that changing the gamma setting scene files make a real difference – they were right.

The lack of good monitoring also played a role in the issue I was having.

But the main problem was really operator error. But in all fairness, the camera did throw me a curve ball. It turns out that the zebra settings on this camera operate differently than any camera I’ve ever used.

Like many cams, it has two zebra settings. Unlike other cams, it doesn’t display both at the same time (with a different pattern for example). Instead, the zebra button on the camera toggles between 3 settings: Zebra 1, Zebra 2 and off. You can set each of the Zebra settings to anything you’d like from about 50 – 105.

What I think was happening is that I opened the iris until I saw Zebras on the talent’s face – thinking that I was looking at 70. Well, I must have been looking at 100 bt didn’t realize it.

In my head, I figured that the first pattern that came up would be the 70. However, the camera was likely set at 100.

The display only indicates the zebra pattern for a moment after you press the toggle switch and if you’re not looking, you don’t notice it.

How I didn’t see that it was overblown on the monitor is beyond me. In my excitement, I probably just wasn’t paying close enough attention – letting the zebras do the work instead of using my judgment. But after a full day of testing and playing, I can say that this camera is really nice and there are no issues to report.

Thanks for all the input!

Steve

Production is fun – but lets not forget: Nobody ever died on the video table!

[Steve Martin]

Thanks for the reply Walter.

I realize that my next purchase really needs to be a good HD screen for on-set monitoring. My old Sony was good in her day, but she needs to find a new home via eBay!

Nonetheless, I really think there’s something else at play. Because the difference is just so dramatic. I’ll fiddle with filters to check highlights, but the difference (between field and post) is so striking, I really think the problem lies elsewhere.

As for edit suite monitoring, we run a Bob Zelin built FCP suite with a Kona (LHi?) feeding a 26″ Panasonic HD monitor via HD-SDI. As I indicated in a reply above, the HPX300 green screen footage that we sot side by side looks perfect.

I’m leaning toward the possibility that we could have a few issues at play at the same time. Poor field monitoring that isn’t revealing a problem with with camera settings or even the camera itself.

More testing today!

Production is fun – but lets not forget: Nobody ever died on the video table!

[Steve Martin]

Thanks Rafael,

I’ll double check that. I think there are 2 patterns – one set to 70 and the other to 100. But in my test, I close the iris and slowly opened until I thought I had the right exposure.

The camera even has a vector & wave scope built in and I remember thinking how cool that was.

Thanks for the thought – I will be looking at those setting today!

Production is fun – but lets not forget: Nobody ever died on the video table!

[Steve Martin]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the reply. I think I know what you’re refering to and the difference I’m seeing between field and edit suite is pretty dramatic. I’m clearly doing something wrong. I have to determine if it’s a camera setting or something I’m doing when I bring it in to FCP or something else all together.

In fact, the green screen shoot was an actual project for a client that we shot with our HPX300. We just brought in the AF100 right next to the P2 cam so we could do a side by side test with a few minutes of footage.

In the edit suite we’re monitoring through Panasonic 26″ HD monitor via HD-SDI from FCP with Kona 3. The P2 footage looks perfect in the same set-up.

Production is fun – but lets not forget: Nobody ever died on the video table!