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Editing:
Our
editing system is a high-quality digital system with critically
acclaimed VTASC compression delivering in excess of 750 lines
of noise-free resolution. Lightwave3D animation; lots of effects,
fonts, custom-built transitions, sophisticated graphics, layering
capabilities. For your website, we can create either video-stream
clips or GIF or JPEG files of freeze-frames from live video. Any
acquisition formats are accepted.
The suite
is located in Amherst, MA, across Main Street from the famous
Emily Dickinson Homestead, and just behind the railroad station
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Imaging:
For
many of our clients who do not need to spend the extra $300-$500/day
for Betacam imaging, we have two cameras: the Canon XL-1
which is one of the most popular digital cameras now being used
by professionals around the world; and the Panasonic EZ-1, a digital
camera small enough to hold in one hand enabling our videographer
to capture images that are inaccessible with larger cameras.
Both cameras produce noise-free digital images, which, when combined
with our digital editing system, guarantee no generational loss
through the entire production. Both cameras have amazed
reviewers with their betacam-like quality, and they keep
your budget for broadcast-quality television as low as possible.
Of course, for higher cost productions we can make BetacamSP available,
but many people look at the digital image and say, "I can't
tell the difference."
Production
Costs
Clients often
wonder what contributes to the bottom line. Producing a video
is a labor-intensive business: roughly 2/3rds of the cost is labor;
1/3 equipment and supplies. Asking how much a video costs is a
bit like asking how much a car costs: the answer depends
upon what kind of car you have in mind--a Corolla or a Mercedes?
Rules of thumb don't help much except to give you an idea of range!
In exceptional cases, for a few non-profit clients, we have produced
programs for under $1000 per finished screen minute. An
expensive program might run as high as $4,000 per screen minute.
Production costs depend on the length and complexity of the production,
the number of shooting locations, the production values and formats,
the number and elegance of the graphics that need to be created,
and so forth. Short programs usually cost more per minute
than long programs.
Creating
a video is traditionally described and budgeted as a 3-step process:
(1)
Pre-production: Pre-production is what happens before the
shooting starts. The producer works with you to develop a creative
concept, then writes an initial treatment, which is a several
pages-long description of the project, containing enough details
of images, places, and content to give you a sense of the scope
and style of the proposed production. When you agree on what is
to be done, the producer schedules the shooting, coordinating
staff and equipment with "talent."
(2)
Production: this is the "shooting " phase
of the project.
(3)
Post production: this is the editing phase of the project.
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