Tony
Forum Replies Created
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What are your scratch drive setting?
Are you using internal or externa scratch drives for your media. Have you ever disconnected a scratch drive while editing in FCP?
Verify the media is still on the specific scratch drives.
Reconnect to the media if the media offline dialogue appears when you launch FCP.
Tony Salgado
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Yes David is right try to settle before going to court. Offering the client a chance to pay in full is the first step. Verbal request do not carry much weight compared to written demands.
Mail(2) certified letters requesting payment in full along with a deadline for receiving the payment.
After that date instruct the client you will have to seek legal recourse to obtain full payment.A demand for payment is required and offers the client a chance to settle up and if not then small courts is the next step.
In anycase a paper trial of all emails, demand letters, invoices etc is necessary to prove your case.
Good luck,
Tony Salgado
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The missiles are in the air.
Prepare for war!!! You client has fired the first blow and now you must take defensive action. Pull out all the stops and sue his dumb @@#$$ss.
Forget about hiring a lawyer and go straight to small claims court immediately.
However you need to know some critical information in order to file properly.
1) Full legal name of the defendant (your scumbag client) – I advise naming the individual (full legal name) as well as his company and other parties associated with the deal. Do some research on who are the principals in his company (wife, partner etc) and name them on the lawsuit. Most cities have a division where you can look up who are the principals in a company.
You must name them all individually in order to win a claim against one or all of them.
2) You will need to hire a process server or find a neutral party to deliver “serve” the defendant the court paperwork. You need to be sly about this as you will need to provide the best time and opportunity for the process server to “catch” the client and deliver the paperwork with that great line “You have been served”.
3)Here in California even if the client does not show up for the court hearing and you win by default you still have to wait an additional 30 days before your claim if finalized.
4)Winning the case is half the battle collecting the money is the hard part. Unless you have the defendant’s bank account information ie checking acount number (did you get any credit information on file prior to taking the job?) collecting the money you are owed is going to be an uphill battle.
The only leverage you have at this point in time is the client’s tapes which you should put a lien on.5) Research the proper paperwork and court procedures to legal file the lien on the tapes so that this does not go against you if he countersues you.
6)If you claim is finalized in your favor immediately file a lien against any and all property the defendant owns. This is your most power “weapon” in this “war”. The defendant may ignore you and not pay you immediately but when they go to sell or refinance their property the lien will show up and they are F@#$%%ed. In most cases they respond immediately to clear up the mess. You will be able to collect interest starting from the award date to the date they pay.
7)The small claims process in not a difficult process but rather a drawn out process that will suck up alot of your time but you must be willing to go the full course.
8) Do not take a company,personal or certified check from this scumbag.
FYI certified check can have stop payment issued after they have been delivered. Cash or the following methods are advised.A) Go to the bank where the client banks at and receive the cash in person.
B)Demand that the client pays with a bank check along with a letter on bank letterhead signed by the bank manager verifying the funds will be available for withdrawal by you when you present the check. In otherwords the bank is assuming responsibility for the check funds.
If the client will not do the two above items and will only pay with a company,personal or certified check then specify the tapes will only be released upon cashing the checks at their bank.
He can meet you at the bank to receive the tapes after you have received the checks.Use caution during this meeting and bring along other person with you to 1)guard the tapes while you are in the bank 2)watch your back in the event things get out of control.
You have already lost this scumbag as a client so pull out all the stops to get what is rightfully due to you.
9) Don’t give up easily.
I sincerely wish you the best of luck. Please keep us informed on how the progress goes.
Tony Salgado
PS- If the small claims course of action is too time consuming for you then consider settling the matter but this may involve giving in to the scumbag for a lower amount.
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With Varicam Shoot at 1 FPS with shutter off this will give you the most blur and later in FCP reverse the additional frames will result in the fast motion.
You will need to access a hidden menu to allow 1 FPS.Great motion effect
Do a search on this forum for the instructions on how to gain access to the hidden menu. Leo posted the instructions some time back.
Disclaimer: Enter the menu with extreme caution as there other settings which should not be touched and could cause problems if set wrong.
Proceed at your own riskTony Salgado
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Losing market share?
Did you do a poll of your clients to ask if you actually have any request or actual work for HD shooting or are you just speculating.
Don’t make the mistake of creating the need when no need actual exist.
With the expense of the entire package you should take the time to research how much actual work will be created.
Tony
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Los Angeles event has a waiting list.
Other cities still look open.
Tony Salgado
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Just got a brochure from Apple about the nationwide FCP/XDCAM HD tour.
Native XDCAM HD editing on a MacBook Pro.
More info at apple.com/go/videoevent
Tony Salgado
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Sending the unit would most likely be much more expensive.
Last I checked Sony Depot repair rates were $120-130/hr (usually four hr minimum billing) plus it takes forever (over two months) for gear to be repaired.
Tony Salgado
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Ron’s suggestion is a great one to consider.
You could consider creating several new projects to build up a spec reel showing casing your work.
As far as fairness from the client’s view it is unfair that you are using the work they paid for to generate work for you not them.
I recommend adding a clause to your job contract which details obtaining the rights to use the work created for promotional purposes with credit given to the original client who hired you.
This is standard for most post production facilities who are hired to complete work for clients. However the client can still refuse to allow the work to be used.
Tony Salgado
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You do not own the copyright to the work as this appears the work you completed was a “work for hire” case.
In addition your client never gave you permission to use the images or work.
In either case if you choose to leave the images and work on your website after being told to cease doing so you are now liable for additional copyright penalities if these case goes to court.
My suggestion is to immediately stop using the images or work and comply with the request you have received.
Unless of course you want to become involved with expensive and time consuming legal action.
Tony