Question about the "average" Video Production Company

[ProAmateur]

I have a couple of questions about video production companies.

I know that descriptor covers ALOT of different scenarios, but I want to ask about one in particular. I guess it would be considered "Event" guys. Every time I go to my kids school for some kind of event, they seem to always have a "Video Production Company" recording the whole thing and selling DVD's. I started wondering about what types of set-ups these guys might be running.

Most of the time, they record with something like a couple of Canon XH-A1s and run one or two handy cams as what I can only guess are B-Roll cams. But they edit it all together and sell DVD's. So my question, in a situation like that, where do most people get these DVD's produced? Surely they can't be burning them one at a time right? Do they make a "master" then send it out for replication? Or is DVD replication equipment not as costly as I might think?

Now I assume these places also do events like weddings and the like, and for that I would think they could simply make the DVDs themselves as i can't imaging them needing more than just a handful.

Also, another question...for some of you "event" guys out there...what kind of editing setup do you think is most common? What would be considered an "average" NLE setup for the "average" video production company?

I just became curious after attending numerous events and seeing these "event" video production guys. I have to be honest though...I have seen some that don't look to be all THAT professional.

Regards,

G.
Wonderer

 

[Alex H.]

Yeah, there are a lot of bad event videography companies out there. Multi-cam shoots are getting to be more common, but I know one company here that used single-camera coverage for things like dance/cheerleading competitions for a long time, and recorded straight to VHS out of the camera (three consumer VCRs daisy-chained) so that each team could buy its own tape at the end of the event. This was still going on within the last four years.

Not only that, it's a quick buck and a lot of those clients don't have time to discern production quality, so any hack who can afford a camera or two can get booked. As long as the turnaround time is right, nothing else seems to matter (including audio, exposure, and color balance).

But if you are really good at what you do, you can get more clients and charge higher fees.

As for DVDs, you can purchase a DVD copy station for under $1k these days, and it'll ingest the master to a hard drive and then burn three or four copies (or more) at a time. Some of the more expensive ones, over $1k, also include on-disc printers. For higher runs, companies like DiscMakers have replication service packages and decent turnaround times.

And for your "average" NLE setup for your "average" company... there is no rule. You could probably get by on event videography like that with a MacBook and Final Cut Express. But a MacBook Pro with Final Cut Studio would be better. You could even get by with an iMac and FCS, depending on your needs and budget.

 

[kgimedia]

I used to do these type of events. My main issue was I had a real hard time doing sub-par work and all my competitors were completely happy doing the absolute minimum.

After trying several options my quickest and cheapest "good" process was the following:

3 DVX-100 with tape and a BNC run back to my master control. 2 cameras with ops and one in back on tripod stationary for the "goto" shot. All Composite BNC run into my Edirol V-4 video mixer. Output of mixer run into mini-DV deck then Firewire into my 1st gen Macbook straight to FCP. I would run a board feed and a condenser for audio. Learn my lesson the first time when the dancing was over all the parents clapped but it was not captured via the board.

I had several layers of backup, but the editing was done live and all I had to do was cut out spaces in between and ad titles.

The guy that did it before me charged $50 a DVD for one wide camera, on camera mic and no chapters on DVD. I charged $45 with a $5 dollar kick back to the client. I got in for a sales only gig because with 300 students I thought it might work out. Every year parents said "wow this looks great" and "why is it so expensive".


As far as replication I have a dup station I bought, and built DIY, 5 years ago. 9 DVD's in 14 minutes from master for around $600. Look up Wytron and I used Pioneer DVR-109 best available when I built it.

I limit my in-house dup work to around a 200. Any more then that and it becomes more expensive IE:time and printer ink. Also if the event uses any music or content that is copyright protected most dup houses will not touch it. They may have the right to play it but you don't have the right to replicate it.

 

[DJDecay]

Also, another question...for some of you "event" guys out there...what kind of editing setup do you think is most common? What would be considered an "average" NLE setup for the "average" video production company?

Mostly that stuff is modeled after the live broadcast setups with switchers (live editing). (Camera 2, go tighter on Obama) switching to camera 2, red lamp lights on Camera 2 to indicate that its the one that's on.

Bigger venue guys even have live projection, so the far audience members can see close-up shots of the tiny guy on stage.

That live stream is recorded and output to DVD (sometime in real-time). AVID has a couple of modified "almost" live products. Including their venue systems for sound only.