Business

My Advice if You are New to Creative COW

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It’s impossible to know all the answers or even who to ask Fortunately there’s a lot of great forums for interacting with video pros. I offer a few simple pieces of advice when participating forums (the ones I hang out in are at Creative COW).

  • Lurk a little. Get the hang of the tone and community first. It’s just like a party, don’t walk through the door and start yelling.
     • Use the search function first. If you ask a question that has already been recently answered recently, you’re going to feel ignored.
     • Post short questions. Nothing turns off a potential responder than the feeling that they’re taking a graduate school exam. Eight-part essay questions are fun for no one. Keep your questions short and direct.
     • Give context. Let people know details about the system or gear you’re using, software versions, etc. Even smart geeks aren’t mind readers.
     • Give a little, get a lot. If you only ask questions in a forum, you’re going to have bad karma. Most forums have unpaid hosts who do their best to answer questions. Helping out is good for the health of the forum and community.

New Web Video Book

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The staff of RHED Pixel just finished updating our web video book. This book significantly expands our original book on podcasting. We've added coverage of lots of brand new things. Here's the official listing:

Want to create professional quality web video that stands out in a crowded playing field? Gain a complete understanding of the opportunity, limitations, production, and distribution process with this book. Step up from the flip-cam experience with this solid introduction to professional planning and production techniques, ensuring that your video meets the same standards you set for every other element in your communication program.

  • Follow the RHED Pixel team as they detail every step of the way with engaging illustrations that demonstrate the process from concept to distribution including:
  • Preproduction planning of concept, scope, budget, and casting
  • Web-specific techniques for audio, lighting, and videography
  • Detailed overview of editing and encoding of web video
  • Effective branding and storytelling aids including b-roll, images and motion graphics
  • Distribution alternatives including HTML5, Flash, podcasting, RSS, and website hosting
  • Effective techniques to promote and monetize your video


Now available for pre-order.

Social Media - Is it Real?

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It seems that everywhere I turn, social media comes up. Independent producers as well as top studios look to harness social media to raise awareness for their productions. Customers are using it to talk about products and companies they love -- and hate. People look to re-establish their personal networks during tough economic times. Heck, your mother (or your kids) may be connected to you on Facebook.

But is this real? Specifically, can social media help your business grow?

The answer is a bit complex. Let's say it's both real and fake. I'm thinking 60/40. We'll see. You may think I'm being non-committal, but I'm not. The social media movement is filled with a lot of hot air right now. Just like the real estate market, the social media boom will pop.

But people need homes, and people have a real need to communicate with others in meaningful ways. Social media is a real communication medium that can be incredibly valuable, but getting started is like being thrown into a raging river and learning how to swim. It can be overwhelming at first, and if you look for help, you'll encounter a lot of bad advice. That's why I am writing this article, to offer you practical advice and real world experiences about how social media can help those of us who work with traditional media.

Continue reading the article here.

Essential Questions to Ask at the Start of a Project

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Through the years, we’ve learned a lot of lessons the hard way. While every project is unique, it often seems that the problems remain the same. Here are a few questions we always encourage asking at the start of a project:

  • Who is our customer? Projects often have many parties involved. Know who you are responsible to keep happy.
  • What is the purpose? You need to know what the video is trying to accomplish.
  • How will we measure success? Determine which factors will be used to judge the success of the project.
  • What do we want to say? Identify the goal of the piece and the message that the audience should walk away with.
  • What resources do we have? Decide who will be assigned to the project. Establish if there are any assets or resources available to the project that should be utilized.
  • What is the budget? Never discuss approach without having an idea of your financial constraints. Creative types often get swept up into big ideas without knowing what the project can support.
  • What are the deadlines? Equally as important as budget is schedule. You need to understand any major milestones so you can schedule work and adjust your approach to match the available time.
  • Are there any customer requirements? Never make assumptions. It’s always a good idea to ask the clients if they have any specific needs or requirements for the end product. You’ll often be surprised how important details can go unspoken until the very end of the project.


This article is excerpted from the Pre-Production chapter in the book Video Made on a Mac: Production and Postproduction Using Apple Final Cut Studio and Adobe Creative Suite.

Some Social Media Statistics

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WHY BOTHER WITH SOCIAL MEDIA?
Because it's worth it. Here are a few statistics about the size of social media:

  • 96% of Generation Y uses social networks.
  • If Facebook were a country, it would be the fourth largest.
  • 300,000+ businesses have a Facebook page.
  • Dell has sold $3 million dollars of computers on Twitter.
  • Only 18% of TV campaigns generate a return on investment.
  • Ford Motors spends 25% of its marketing budget on social media -- and didn't need a government bailout.
  • The average American watches 124 videos per month online
  • 70% of 18-34 year olds watch TV on the web -- but only 35% use a TiVo.
  • 24 out of 25 of the top newspapers are experiencing record declines.

Budgeting by Averages

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I've posted this before, but people keep asking... so here it is again:

There is an easy formula used by many experienced project managers to estimate the amount of time to be spent on each budget item task. The formula looks like this:

(1O + 4M +1P) ÷ 6


It means one optimistic + four most likely + one pessimistic divided by six.
What does that mean? It’s pretty simple: You create a time estimate based on averaging the information you gather. For example, you can approach a graphic designer and ask, "How long would this take?” The answer is not the most likely number. It’s the optimistic number, because if you ask any creative person how long something will take, the answer is an exaggerated number. Let’s say the number is eight hours.
Then you say, “Well, if it was anybody else, how long would it take?” And that’s the most likely number. For our formula, let’s use 12 hours.
Then ask, "If something goes wrong that you really didn’t count on, what is the worst case scenario?" In this example, use 22 hours.
You then plug these values into the formula to get your result: ((1*8) + (4*12) + (1*22) ÷ 6 = 13 hours for the task.
This budgeting formula works well when no historical data is available for review. It’s also more accurate if you are able to ask more than one person for time estimates. You can then average multiple answers.

This article is excerpted from the Pre-Production chapter in the book Video Made on a Mac: Production and Postproduction Using Apple Final Cut Studio and Adobe Creative Suite.