What is wrong with this picture?

M

mbsevans

New member
I have a client which produces web based videos for local business in my region. Their requirements are very straight forward, 480i footage.

I transfer the P2 files from cards to my laptop with the Panasonic software.

I then check and shot log these clips with the same software and all is fine.

I transfer the folder to a portable hard drive and ship it to my client.

Initially they said they didnt know how to deal with this technology. After several weeks of coaching them and passing on various web links with information on how to do so...they were able to get the footage off the drive and into FCP. During this time I determined they were using an older version of FCP and I explained that a newer version has the ability to import this material with very little if any problem.

Now as of this morning, I am informed they will be shipping the latest footage back to me on the hard drive and that they require another method of footage transfer. They cannot deal with my hard drive method. Well, as we all know here, whether its hard drive, DVD disk, BluRay disc or even a USB thumb drive...its all the same...they still have to transfer the material and deal with it.

They're suggestion is this...find a way to transfer your P2 material to DV tape and we will now accept it this way, since this is the only way we can deal with it. Maybe I should be worried about dealing with a company that can't upgrade its software or is stuck in the world of DV tapes. I thought I was saving them tons of work by not having to ingest footage to FCP. I assume they expect me to invest in a deck, then place all the footage on my PremierPro timeline, then export it to the deck!? lol

What IS wrong with this picture...yes indeed.
 
There are many MANY companies out there that don't upgrade their editing systems. Because what they have works and there is no reason to upgrade. I still find myself on Avid systems on G4 Macs running OS9! Because it works, and Avid's are expensive. Then those guys want to shoot on P2 and have NO WAY of ingesting the footage. They even get a newer Avid version and MacBook Pro, injest it and cannot read the MXF files (The new Avid's media type). SO they injest, then transcode to OMFI...

ANYWAY...very familiar mentality. Why upgrade when things are working so well? Well, when you start wanting to work with NEWER camera technologies, that is the time to start investing in the upgrades.

If your client wants 480i DV, then you can import the footage as DV...oh, you have Premiere. It imports as AVI, or converts to AVI?

This is difficult, as you should have communicated to the client what you could provide them, and see if they could deal with it.
 
If they pay you extra to transcode it you could put it in a format they understand, hard drive or tape. I wouldn't hold it against them, though. The cost of upgrading this software is not even close to worth it just so they can natively edit footage from one videographer who can give them a different method anyway. I wouldn't do it in their place, either, at least not without exploring other options.
 
I'm with Cassius. Encode the footage to ProRes or DVCPRO and give them .mov files instead of raw p2 format.
 
That's if he has a 200. Well. Yes. You could do that. You can also dub the p2 footage to tape through the cam. Now 170... different story.
 
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