Your possibilities must be balanced.
On one hand, you have what you want to accomplish (video for our website, instructional purposes, the kiosk in the lobby or the TV network in the hospital). This must come into balance with the following two things:
- What you can afford.
- Your ability or capacity to learn what you need learn to maintain a workflow that will fulfill your video production needs and allow you to meet your primary objective.
So what's your primary objective?
If it is to create an occasional video or one video in particular, then you should hire it done. The project then becomes both wish fulfillment and a learning opportunity for you.
If it is your desire to create an ongoing enterprise that produces videos like six titles or more a year, then you should be thinking about a production facility or capability.
To hire someone to do a video of say 10 minutes in length, documentary or ENG style (Electronic News Gathering or journalistic style) then it will cost you approximately $500 a finished minute on the low side, and $3,000 a finished minute on the high side, and that's local prices.
I'm doing videos for a hospital, now, and I manage to do what they need for $500 to $1,000 a finished minute depending on the type of preparation and post production required to do a particular project. Every job is different.
They find it far more economical to hire me then to do their own thing.
On the other hand, here's what you need to get started:
A good professional video production ensemble today costs from $3,000 to $13,000 for the computer, boards and software. On the high side you have the Matrox or Mac-based Final Cut Pro system that has full- HD capabilities, onboard rendering for expedient workflow, and all sorts of rendering-to-finish options. I recommend high def. I shoot all my stuff in high def. There is no economy whatsoever to shoot in standard definition. I want top quality regardless of where it will wind up, on the Web or cable TV The system you buy comes with the editing software. On the PC side it will be Adobe Premiere. On the Mac side, Final Cut Pro from Apple.
Now for a camera: I would recommend a good Sony HD camera in the $6,000 range. This will provide the quality you need to deliver professional results. Anything less is a toy. Tripod is a thousand dollars for a good one… Manfrotto or Miller.
Microphones: The most important equipment you buy, believe it or not. I recommend Sennheiser Evolution ENG kit… wireless lavaliere (just one for now) with transmitter body pack, two wireless receivers. A stick microphone with a butt transmitter. It's all in a single kit… about $2,500. Don't scrimp on this! Microphones are critical in maintaining video quality. If you have bad sound, it makes the video unwatchable.
I have a good source in Davenport for all your hardware… ECS and Rex Lawrence. He can sell you a complete turnkey system of editing equipment, camera, tri-pod, the works. If you get this far, I'll give you a telephone number.
The “works” also might include a camera kit bag ($300 for a Porta-Brace or KATABag, and what about a lighting kit ($1,500 for a Totalite quartz system from Lowell , three lights, stands, two umbrellas, etc)
Good luck. --G.O. |
elcome to Gary Olsen's Production Notebook. Since I do a lot of instruction along with my production, I carry a small palmcorder on location, and use it to record production notes that can be played later in a classroom or online. It really comes in handy for those students who can't make a video shoot in the field or would like to have some addtional, information. 
