Great post,
Carl - I appreciate your concern. I've inserted replies, making the whole story more clear:
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I am wondering if your photographer company can or will do the conversion of their video to a consumer format for you?
Yes, they could do that. It's approximated that the 8 hours of full HD footage would take between 20-30 hrs machine time to transfer and convert, and machine is $65 an hour. That could come close to $2,000 more, and that's out of the question. That's why they've pointed me to Sorenson, software they use, so I could only have the expense of buying the conversion program. They know what my original budget for the whole project was, and have come as close to it as possible . Having me do the conversion is part of the costs savings they've suggested, and that I agree with.
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We really do not know what you are getting until you see the actual video.
That's literally true, but there's much I didn't include in my original posts on this thread. I've worked with this company several times before, and they've produced the very best videos of live events possible. They're the only local company of any sort which has received the "Business of the Year" award from our area's Chamber of Commerce. So I have reason to completely trust that the footage they'll do of this event will be excellent.
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It may be a case of the photographer really does not want to give up their work and are trying to make it hard for you to do the editing yourself.
You know that they have the equipment to turn out a turn key job.
They do not seem to want to help you. They seem to want to block you from bypassing half of their work.
As I said, I appreciate your concern, Carl - but you're basing your post on too little information. They quoted me the price for using their very best, top of the line, full HD cameras. Using those cameras dictates that the data is raw, uncompressed footage which consumer programs like PD just can't handle.
They outlined another option, to use "prosumer" cameras that record to HDV tape. But then there would be the step of transferring that footage to data I could use on my computer. If they had to load the footage onto one of their edit systems to transcode it and put it on a hard drive for me, then I'd lose all the cost savings. Using the pro cameras that don't use tape will give me better footage, and at the same total price. I don't have the capability to digitize HDV tapes, so going that route wasn't an option.
My contact person is a friend and one of the co-owners of the video company. I've known him for well over 10 years now, so he did all he could do set up this project in a way I could afford.
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My question, is exactly what did you contract with them to do? Did you change the terms after the shooting was done?
When I first contacted the company, I explained I needed this event covered on two nights, from 3 different camera angles. To avoid the huge cost of them doing post-production, I said from the beginning that I would do the editing, since I feel competent about putting together a final edit that I'd be happy with. So my friend came up with what the costs would be, with the number of cameras and operators needed, and with them providing me just the raw footage on a hard drive - That's when the discussions about formats came up.
I also outlined my needs for the soundtrack. They'll be recording to a 4 track digital recorder, one track for the person on stage, wearing a wireless mike, and two mikes to capture the audience in stereo. The event has a soundtrack I produced which will be played back live - sound effects and music. Those tracks will be imported directly during the editing process, so we'll have the best sound possible for that soundtrack. I'll be producing a mixed soundtrack, balancing performer, audience, and music, in Sonar (digital recording program) - importing the mixed soundtrack into PD, something I've done a number of times now.
This event isn't until November. This week was the first time we started negotiating, and it looks like a Go to me, even though I'll have more to figure out with their footage, settling on what conversion program to use.
So - there's a detailed explanation, Carl. Things should be much more clear now. It's a long response I've typed, but maybe it'll be interesting to people at the Forum as a look into the kinds of challenges that can come up when working in conjunction with a pro video production facility.
rbowser
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