Has Anybody Made Money From The Knowledge They've Gotten...

[rhegedus]

I can't really say I've made any money from this site if I consider that the knowledge from this site has resulted in me building a new PC (£700), buying an ADVC-100 (£270), Sony DRU500 (£280), DV Camcorder (£800)....this list is endless.

And it's all been good fun!

Regards,

Rob

[viperjay9]

its more of ive saved money rather than profited from it

[Gazorgan]

Well, I did a major Kickass job on our wedding video. Sent out copies to all the relatives (don't ask about that nightmare).

Showed it to some friends. They all wanted there's like that. I told them 2 hours of tape will condense down to maybe 45 minutes (did SVCD, but same amount of work for SVCD/DVD in Premeire), and will take me maybe 10-20 hours of editing. Cost would be around $200.

No takers yet....lmfao. I did do a bachelor party as a gift....and the money? Priceless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[arcorob]

I will not lash out at idiots
I will not lash out at idiots
I will not lash out at idiots

Breathe breathe breathe

Yes, I have made money. Much of the knowledge I have gleened at least originated here. To see that somethings was possible, or a tool available.

I could give a rats a$$ what the design spec of a DVD is since I am not designing DVD's. I do not own a media company. I do care

How much data will it hold
Its expected life span
Its compatibility with my burning tools
Its compatibility in Set top players

As for GOP , Bit rate, I frames versus P frame versus B frame, some of us ARE NOT ignorant of these things, but really don't have a need to know. If we did, we would know. Anything I have ever needed to know, from Programming to Video, if I needed it, I could find it and learn it.

I do not need to know about structural design to walk across a bridge .....Only that that the bridge is sound and how much is the toll..

[leebo]

I told them 2 hours of tape will condense down to maybe 45 minutes..., and will take me maybe 10-20 hours of editing. Cost would be around $200.

No takers yet....

I assume that does not include shooting the wedding?
So that works out to $20/hr.

The problem is that friends cannot justify paying that much (even though you're probably UNDERCHARGING) to another friend - usually. They tend to not think of you as a real business.

[arcorob]

I myself charge 850 a wedding(and that is cheap !).

7 hours shooting, 3 cameras, average about 8 to 10 hours of tape.

20 hours of editting or so....about 31.00 an hour but worth it. It is work I enjoy and for a side business 20 to 25 weddings a year...thats not bad side cash (17K + a year)

[donpedro]

3 cameras

I assume you have some help ?!? Or they are just different cameras for different shots ? I was thhinking about somethink like that too..... maybe one day.....

[harrymj3]

monoxide77,

Are you with the FBI?

harrymj3

[arcorob]

By myself. I use two stationary - say for the wedding, left wing, right wing, while I operate camera three.

At the reception, its easier because I can setup two, operate one, but if I want to move to a station I can and setup new shots.

Makes for awesome trasnitions...say when some one walks off one camera and I have them come into the next but with the same audio track.
I am currently doing this with an Amateur play I just filmed..Three camera's, Awesome. Plus I use all three sound tracks to give a neat depth because of the acoustic differences...

I would love to post a clip of it....hmm..How could I do that ?

[donpedro]

arcorob, great idea about 3 cameras. Thanks. BTW, I saw some post here for "Submit your video" or somethink like that.

[ktnwin]

Well, I make no money doing VCD and DVD stuff but it has been very beneficial for me (saving money elsewhere).
1) knowledge gave me satisfaction (set a goal, and achieve it with quality)
2) I made special VCD and DVD of lessons which I can repeat any section I want without having to wear out the VHS tapes. This helps my learning and acquiring other skills (that's money saved)
3) like one of you have said, when friends / relatives show their envy when they see the results of my video works, I felt great.
Of course, I can make money helping friends to convert their home video tapes to DVD but that's not what I am after. Every so often, I did one for them for free. There is always something in return but...not $$$.

[arcorob]

Thanks !! Can someone tell me where ? I am trying to reduce even a 20 second segment using WMV and it takes too much room.

The three camera's work great.

If all Views are frontal , then Left camera shoots right field (across) , right camera shoots left field across...and middle camera shoots center and pan view. This way you always have a face shot .

For weddings , the two stationarys actually face me (behind the alter ) facing the crowd focused on bride and groom behind priest. My camera is usually facing their backs, panning for speakers, etc.

The whole thing is, one man can make it look VERY professional with a good editor like vegas...

[arcorob]

Here is a stab

a 29 second WMV clip of the play

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/2d6f9522/bc/Movies/Movie_0004.wmv?BCh5cq.A6vkmbluF

someone tell me if the link works....

[OdubruS]

link works fine mate
pete

[arcorob]

Here are two more ..they go together

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/2d6f9522/bc/Movies/Movie_0005.wmv?BCRifq.AZSIOjFdu

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/2d6f9522/bc/Movies/Movie_0006.wmv?BCRifq.AtFRsO3bq

[donpedro]

It doesn't work for me

[arcorob]

try now..maybe

[leebo]

Nope.

[donpedro]

try now..maybe

nope too....

[arcorob]

dont know what I am doing wrong...I copied the shortcut, its open to the public and Someone saw clip before..try one more please

http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/2d6f9522/bc/Movies/Movie_0005.wmv?BCxHgq.ATg8EjFdu

[gandalf]

Made money, hahahaha, not me buddy I only do the other thing, spending it......

I have spent a fortune on gizmos and gadgets bits and bobs for my pc's and video gear since I started visiting this site , but then again I have had so much fun in the process.......

[leebo]

You do not have permission to get URL '/users/2d6f9522/bc/Movies/Movie_0005.wmv' from this server.

[Faustus]

Not one red cent, but then I haven't tried. I figured out the worse thing to do if you enjoy something is to try and make money off of it. Heck working with computer almost drove me away from using them often way back when I first started doing so.

[DaveS]

sorry to interrupt but on topic, I was going to try to do some dvd's for people, mostly just to earn back some of the $$ I've spent on this stuff (new pc, burner, HD, you get the picture)...

Conversion of wedding videos already done on tape over to dvd seems like people would want that - I could use your feedback..

I thought I'd do the conversion w/ some / limited (but nice) menu, print directly on the dvd (epson 960), and scan maybe one or two pics for the case & put a title on it; but, no real editing of the source - mostly just to get it nicely onto the new media to protect against the tape failure over time...

thought if I could limit the editing to just creating menus, the scanning & label won't take long, maybe the conversion needs a little fooling around (actually got really great results on my own video transcoding in procoder)...thought $99 would be a good price if I could limit the hours...(thought I'd use maybe apple media but haven't had time to look for bulk pricing but I'm sure they're not cheap)...whadda you guys think about that plan / price point, etc. - could use your input...

[arcorob]

There are local markets for it but very limited in pricing because there are about a thosuand houses that you send them the tape and they put it on DVD for you. I advertise it as a feature on my website (as well as 8mm conversion) but so far , just booking weddings and 2 8mm conversions.

[mustang581]

DaveS, I also try to make some money by doing projects for friends not for profit but just to try to recover some of the spent money (on all these toys).
in any case I don't have set prices that I charge but base it on the material and what they want as a final product or how much I like them.
aslo since I don't consider my final product to be top of the line I try not to over charge.
for 1 hour transfer, 1 main menu and 1 submenu with 6 scene selections $35 NO editing (actual time spent on the computer around 20 minutes). up to 2 hours $55.00 same options as before.
additional copies $10 to $15
If I really want to impress my customers then what I do sometimes is create the DVD Insert/cover in photoshop with nice pictures, text etc.
then take it to Coscto and get it printed on a 8x12
$in material:
blank dvd 1.54
dvd case .35
costco printing. 2.11
makes for very happy customers.
Eventually as I gain more experience and get better equipment I will charge accordingly.
good luck.

[ckdexterhn1]

Desi Arnaz was the first to use the 3 camera method when filming I Love Lucy. This is still the standard when making TV shows today.

[Cecilio]

Me not a single cent cause i dont have a DV camera and well i aint gonna sell cause its too much hasstle.

[leebo]

Yeah, I had BIG plans to make a few bucks putting peoples videos on DVD.

Then everybody started buying set top DVD recorders. Now a local mom & pop video rental store a couple of blocks away will copy your video to DVD for $10 for each hour of video.

At that price, not only would I have to sell hundreds to make anything, but the low profit margin makes it not worth the hastle of dealing with discs that wont play on their players.

[monoxide77]

monoxide77,

Are you with the FBI?

harrymj3

yes, and you are all under investigation.

yeah right... i'd be the first they'd lock up.