OT - clients just think its THIS simple...

wgzn

wgzn

Veteran
i received the following email this morning after handing off a completed project drive to a client.
thought many of us would identify:

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Wayne, I realize you did your editing on a Mac, but was there not a way you could have saved the video and other information so that it could be accessed on a PC? The information on the hard drive you sent is useless to us, since we all have PCs, meaning we are at the mercy of someone with a Mac.

-------------------

HA!
 
I'm always (sadly) amused by clients who start asking the questions at the very end that they should have been asking at the very beginning.
 
I am curious Wayne, which format could you have given them that is ONLY readable on a Mac? FCP files with an FCP sequence? Everything else I can think of is readable on a PC if they know what they are doing, which they obviously don't ;-)

Dan
 
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yeah. i just cloned their project drive (mac extended) in live state to an external drive as i do as a general rule. and gave it to them. it's as much a ceremonial effort as anything else.

we exchanged several emails afterward where i explained to them that that drive was for archive and comfort and was never intended for them to USE themselves...
 
If you gave them a Mac-formatted drive, then that's a problem first off; a FAT32 drive is a much safer option for a client. Windows can't read a Mac-formatted drive, but both platforms can read and write to FAT32.

Second, if you gave them DVCPRO-HD quicktime files, that's a problem, because Apple's purposely made them incompatible.

For those with the smart-alec "get a mac" response, please recognize that there's no quicker way to lose a client. You have to give them something they can use, that's just business 101. Heck, it shouldn't even be "101", it should be "001".

For everyone using a Mac out there, it'd be wise to recognize that the installed base market share for computers overall is something like 8% Mac, 92% Windows, so please do your client a favor and ask them what type of systems they're using, and deliver them the product in a way that they can use it.
 
CW-35 said:
I'm always (sadly) amused by clients who start asking the questions at the very end that they should have been asking at the very beginning.
Click to expand...
How did they know to ask? It's the contractor's responsibility. The client is hiring you to handle their problem, not give them new ones.

As a standard matter of practice, you should always clarify what your deliverables will be in your contract right up front to avoid this kind of situation at the end.
 
But Barry, this was a "completed project drive," not a delivered movie, wasn't it?

and using a FAT32 drive will present issues on a Mac should the editor need to make changes.
 
Barry_Green said:
How did they know to ask? It's the contractor's responsibility. The client is hiring you to handle their problem, not give them new ones. As a standard matter of practice, you should always clarify what your deliverables will be in your contract right up front to avoid this kind of situation at the end.
Click to expand...

sorry, I don't care to project or debate to much onto this situation.

Yes, it is the contractor's responsibility to figure out much of what needs to happen from beginning, middle & end regardless of the client's expertise.

But, no, it's not always the contractor's responsibility to figure it all out either, because often it is just impossible to do that...

My perception of the original post was that the project was done & delivered and the drive itself was a backup of the materials.

But yep, get it all in writing to begin with.
 
David S. said:
But Barry, this was a "completed project drive," not a delivered movie, wasn't it?
Click to expand...
The way I read it, the drive he was handing over represented his deliverables. Is that not a correct reading?

and using a FAT32 drive will present issues on a Mac should the editor need to make changes.
Click to expand...
Why? As long as no file needs to exceed 4GB, what problems will a Mac present with FAT32?
 
CW-35 said:
My perception of the original post was that the project was done & delivered and the drive itself was a backup of the materials.
Click to expand...
If that's the case, then yeah, they kind of get what they get. I thought it was that he was to deliver the drive as the final project, in which case any producer should take upon themselves the responsibility of verifying what the acceptable deliverable media and formats are.
 
It's always our job to overcome the clients lack of knowledge. That's what the client hires us to do. I don't expect to tell my mechanic how to fix my car. :)
But I agree, sometimes certain clients make it hard to help them.
 
As Barry stated, DVCPRO quicktime files are useless on a PC. I had a recent project that I had to drop to a windows client and our work-around was to deliver everything in quicktime animation codec. Project got done but it was hundreds of gigs instead of maybe a hundred gigs. I love my Mac, but sometimes the workflow when dealing with PC people can be a huge headache.


I too have learned that the, "ohh by the way" statements get me in trouble. Stuff should get really nailed down in the beginning. If a client does also specify delivery of project files and such, then I do charge a premium for that.
 
Mate.... make everybody's life easy... tell them to download MacDrive....

PC will then see the Mac formatted drive just like any other drive...

http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive/

The free trial last for 5 days... and then they can move it over to a NTFS drive...

Easy...

Cheers

PS.. the 4gig limit on Fat32 is juat a pain

PPS... They probably still won't be able to view the DVCPro HD if it's quicktime... will open but be a white window... audio will play though...

The suggestion of going to animation codec is good... but you'll need to re-export the master... H264 at a high bit rate is also pretty good but not as a master...

I come across the PC issue all the time...
 
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wow - didnt expect so much mileage from this post ; )

the handed-off drive is as much a ceremonial thing as anything else. they are given the option at the project inception for an "archive fee" that will provide them a copy of the working project drive. that leaves the project live, as it was last used.

it's purpose is twofold.
1. a comfort gesture to the client that i dont intend to hold their content hostage. that their content is theirs and they are free take it elsewhere
2. a secondary, off-site backup in the event that mine fails

there is nothing said about "you can take this professional HD project and open it on your wonky little powerpoint-friendly, windows laptop" and in more than 5 years. this is the only time this issue has come up...
 
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