Why I'm BLEEDING money (and what I could have done to prevent it)

[AroundTheWorld]

The reason renting is a problem is because even the schools nearby don't have the hardware or software I need.
When I went to a broadcast school I eventually had to buy my own, because theirs didn't do a good enough job.
I'm not sure of the rules, but I'm unsure if they let me spent 170hrs/week there editing.
Having a machine I can wake up next to is the only way I can meet my workload.



Brilliant. This is much more useful to me.
I'd need between 25-35 people to sign up.
I wonder if I can get that sort of volume?

@MJ DeMarco is it cool with you if I do this?

You can do it in the marketplace.

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/how-to-sell-yourself-on-fastlane.19701/

 

[RHL]

I don't. I've been doing video freelance since 2006 and that's the only time I've seen that kind of $.
This was a one time thing and I don't expect it to happen again anytime soon.

Ooof. Well, need officially spotted then.

 

[Red]

The videos you produce are pretty amazing. My background is graphic design/motion graphics (and my current skills are waaaaay outdated), but I still mess with After Effect & know the pain of setting something to render, coming back the next day & noticing your timing was off on *one* tiny thing... Fix. Rinse. Repeat. lol.

 

[smartman]

congrats and good luck dude!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Bouncing Soul]

Have you considered building your own?

I used to run dual Xeon processor number crunchers for work and my last two machines we built even when I wasn't paying the bill. I could get more machine for half the cost, and just as importantly, if it broke in the middle of a job we could go buy the pieces to fix it ourselves same day.

 

[DennisD]

sounds like you have given up...

If I had 30k knocking at my door I would find a way to get what I need.

No giving up.
Accepted the situation, accepted my faults and bad decision making, and took steps to rectify.
Read my last post.

There's always 30K knocking at the door. Most of us just can't see the opportunities.

Have you considered building your own?

Yes. Galactica is custom built.

The videos you produce are pretty amazing. My background is graphic design/motion graphics (and my current skills are waaaaay outdated), but I still mess with After Effect & know the pain of setting something to render, coming back the next day & noticing your timing was off on *one* tiny thing... Fix. Rinse. Repeat. lol.

It's even worse than that.
My computer, the one I'm using now, the one I'm going to throw off a balcony tomorrow at 2 when Galactica gets here...
I can't even check the timing when the videos done because this computer couldn't even playback standard video
It's that slow.

So I'd watch my videos frame by frame, and then send them off to the client, fingers crossed that it was passable without have even seen the videos.

I DID learn to work around most of my problems. lowering the resolution to 1/10th, using preview areas, turning off unnecessary effects until the final render, only rendering every 3 frames during previews.

 

[RogueInnovation]

Could you take a 20k deal, get it in writing and then go to the bank and say you need "x amount" for your work gear.
I mean, they get paid back in a week, so its not a huge issue.
If not, there are other ways, like a high limit credit card or a few, and you use all that credit and repay it in the week etc. Sure that can be a major pain in the a$$, but they are options.

You can also offer a friend with the money to buy you a station a RETURN on his investment.
"yo guys, give me xyz, after I call these guys up, and after I've done the project, you get back the money PLUS xy% as a return"
Also, to minimise risk, you can, say they own and can sell the gear if it doesn't work (which it will), so that there only possible losses are matched by reward.

Renting gear, or getting it off a friend who has it for the week can also work.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[CommonCents]

You can't get a down payment on the projects?

Public schools, city halls, and county seats often have A/V stuff and editing stations/studios for school/public access television. My city will let you use it and even check out equipment once you meet w/ the A/V coordinator.

 

[DennisD]

Public schools, city halls, and county seats often have A/V stuff and editing stations/studios for school/public access television. My city will let you use it and even check out equipment once you meet w/ the A/V coordinator.

This is when you have to beat the streets and be resourceful. You seem like a resourceful person..Go knock on the door of a college and ask them to use their equipment. If they say no, then go to another school. Keep doing it until someone says yes. Maybe you can't do it for something like this?

Rep$+ for the ideas.
I understand the thought process. That would work in many cases.
I'll spare you the details, for these particular projects it was a no-go.

I'm sure there were many ways it work,
I made a ton of mistakes in negotiation all around.
The end result was: I couldn't make it work.

But that's not what stings me right now.
I wouldn't even BE in the position TO fail on such negotiations if I had just made the smarter investment decision to begin with.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[DennisD]

Finance a machine. It sounds like you turned down 30k in work for lack of 5-7k in equipment.

 

[DennisD]

If you really have $30K in business PER MONTH passing you buy,

I don't. I've been doing video freelance since 2006 and that's the only time I've seen that kind of $.
This was a one time thing and I don't expect it to happen again anytime soon.

You can do it in the marketplace.

Thanks. I'm putting together something, I'll be paying for a marketplace ad soon.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[CigarMan]

sounds like you have given up...

If I had 30k knocking at my door I would find a way to get what I need.

 

[LeungJan]

Do many other editors have this problem? Smells like an opportunity somewhere in here

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Guest428]

Hey Dennis,

How is the campaign going? Just read the entire post.

Were you able to get some money in order to get this new machine?

Looking forward to hearing about this.

 

[DennisD]

Do many other editors have this problem? Smells like an opportunity somewhere in here

Depends on what they do. Many can get by with a macbook pro.
I do lots of 3d work which requires more than your standard editor,
So I needed a custom solution.

Where there's a heavy need is in a website that teaches how to get started.
Is the Intel Geforce GTX 780 better than the Intel Quadro K4000 for Motion graphics?
How much better is the Quadro K4000 than the 4000?
If you want to know "what's best" you have to start randomly googling video cards and processors until you get some bearing on how things work.

If you're good at video but you're not particularly tech savvy, there's no starting point except for forums.. and most of the forums that come up in google search are outdated over the past 10 years... and I'm not about to register for 8 different random tech forums just to use their search feature.

Huge painpoint here, if I wasn't in such a tight spot, $ I'd pay double just to have someone else take care of the whole thing for me.

Even googling "prebuilt editing machines" didn't do much for me...
It's all way too complicated to get started. Somebody needs to step in here.
Even some sort of continuously updated resource or ebook would be worth it to me if it really broke things down.

Hey Dennis,
How is the campaign going? Just read the entire post.
Were you able to get some money in order to get this new machine?
Looking forward to hearing about this

The campaign didn't do anything for me.
I actually booked 5 guest spots on the #1 crowdsourcing podcast, but by the time he got around to airing it the deal was over.

I had to figure out a few other creative solutions to make my $.
What really did it was a licensing deal which allowed existing assets to be offered inside somebody else's membership site.

 

[million$$$smile]

So. the campaign is over before it started?

Shucks man, let me know if you ever decide to do one like you mentioned. I think you could launch the campaign but sub alot of it out and just oversee.

I'd be interested if you ever decide to try it.

One or two vids

R