getting paid for work

[goldenhawkofky]

Hi all,

I have someone wanting me to convert 100 hours of hi 8 and mini dv video to dvd. What would you personally charge for such a feet? No editing, or basic editing, mainly just getting it onto a computer, authoring and putting then it onto a basic DVD. I have no reference point for a "bulk" task like this. any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[gitreel]

You ought to take the money. Sounds like an easy job

[gitreel]

the money is your disgression. I would love to help you out, but charge whatever you want 8)

[jaxxboss]

huh??

[reboot]

Some one PAYS people to do this?
I do it all day. I'd take the job, just for the challenge, but generally a professional video editing shop is going to charge between 65 and 100 dollars per hour. 100 hours of video, encoded and burned, is going to take almost 100 hours of time. As little as 50 hours maybe, depending on computer speed, software used, etc. Just encoding time alone is going to be a LOT, no matter how fast the computer/software used.
You could drop the bitrate down to 1000kbps as xsvcd and burn far fewer dvdr's that way, but at a substantial loss in quality.
Need more information about their desired results.

[Supreme2k]

Who is the someone? It may depend if you give a "friend" discount.

If it's not for a friend:

Around here (Silicon Valley), about $25 per hour of video.
I'm not sure what' comparable in Kentucky ($15/hr?)

For a friend:
No less than $5 per hour of video.

Edit: Many film developers (walgreens, etc) offer conversion to DVD, up to 2 hours, for $25-30 bucks. I've seen the results, and they are generally shitty.

Also, the prices above depend on if you're licensed, have a studio, etc., but I guess you wouldn't be asking if you were a professional

[housepig]

for 100 hours of stuff?

I'd probably charge $1000 plus materials. for an hour or two I'd charge $15-20, depending on who it is.

for bulk, I figure I'd come up with some basic templates for most of the discs, so they'd get faster as I go along.

the rest is just babysitting - making sure nothing crashes or freezes up.

but it will still be a big chunk of work and a big chunk of time - even if you are capturing direct to mpeg-2. don't sell yourself short.

[gitreel]

amazing...jaxx did not fart.

[glockjs]

well if your gonna do if for dirt cheap i hope this "friend" is hot...i know what my cost would be

[housepig]

For a friend:
No less than $5 per hour of video.

and even then, think hard - "friends" can be bigger bitches to work with than "clients".

"hey man... I thought we were friends... can't you look out for a friend? I'll get you the rest of the money next week - you know I'm good for it."

[indolikaa]

Some one PAYS people to do this?

You better believe they do! That's where I get all the spending money to keep myself going in this hobby.

If all they want is a straight transfer from 8mm/Hi-8 to DVD, I charge $50 per hour of taped material. Once they even mention the words 'menu' or 'editing' we start from $100 and work our way upwards.

AND LISTEN TO HOUSEPIG! Friends can be the worst clients.

[jeex]

hell, i'd just rent/buy a standalone dvd recorder & a 50 pack of dvdr's.. capturing and converting all of that would take a long ass time.

[freestyler]

I agree with Jeex. What kind of turnaround time is expected?

[teegee420]

I'd do it for a free DVD recorder and media.

[jeex]

teegee,

you can get a nec 2500a for $84 shipped & a 50 pack of 4x dvdr's for $51.

avlogic.com for the dvd recorder
sam's club for the ricohjpn01's (that will record @ 8x just fine on the new w/ hacked firmware)

you'd be getting ripped off.

[thor300]

In Philippines VHS to VCD transfer is a good business, one of my friends do nothing else for a living, even if the quality sucks. Hm, maybe not so very good business anymore, too many doing it already.

[teegee420]

teegee,

you can get a nec 2500a for $84 shipped & a 50 pack of 4x dvdr's for $51.

avlogic.com for the dvd recorder
sam's club for the ricohjpn01's (that will record @ 8x just fine on the new w/ hacked firmware)

you'd be getting ripped off.

Thanks for the info, jeex but I was referring to a standalone DVD recorder and I wasn't entirely serious. The good ones I've seen run around $400.

[goldenhawkofky]

thanks everyone for all the suggestions, we decided to do the videos a few at a time at a rate of $20 per hour of video.

[teegee420]

thanks everyone for all the suggestions, we decided to do the videos a few at a time at a rate of $20 per hour of video.

I think that's fair.

[reboot]

I'm having new business cards printed up as I type this.
There is no shop in this town (pop 150,000) that does this type of work.
At $20/hr for friends, and $40/hr business, I should be able to afford that new burner in about a day, a new computer next week, and a new house by Christmas

[mecg]

thanks everyone for all the suggestions, we decided to do the videos a few at a time at a rate of $20 per hour of video.

A couple thousand by the time you've finished. Not bad at all, that'll buy you some new stuff (or "toys" as my wife refers to it). As I point out though, add it all up and it's really not what you'd call an "expensive" hobby (compared to cars, boats, scuba diving, etc.). I often wonder how many generations will be viewing the stuff we create here.