Who's making money with their HD10 or HD1?
 

I know that's a "loaded" question, but I'm just now starting to make money, nearly a year after I bought it. And it's mostly in the DV mode, believe it or not. I did one thing in SD, but I have to convert it now to DV.

I'm hoping to shoot in HD and make money that way soon. I feel like my friends who use the DVX100A in 60i mode to make a living, then do their films in 24p.

Let us know if you're profiting!

heath

I haven't made a nickel yet on HD, but customers are slowly gaining interest. Hoping to sell them on the idea of an HD Training video.

My biggest customer is a Fortune 50 Aerospace company that has dozens and dozens of beautiful Pioneer HD Plasma displays that do ridiculusly stupid things - like display powerpoint slides all day!!

The funniest one is located in one departments waiting area - it spends its days cycling through a 15 slide powerpoint presentation that's done mostly in BLACK AND WHITE!! I think it's about 55" Pioneer Plasma HD Display that probably cost $12,000, but is living it's life displaying a single crappy powerpoint presentation.

Silly huh?

Bill, is that company Pratt and Whitney?

heath

You must live near west palm beach Heath!

Si, senor! My close friend's Dad worked at the one in Palm Beach County, and decided to move up there.

Have you done, or will be doing, HDV stuff for them yet?

heath

I'm not sure if they will buy into it really soon, but I have pitched it to a few people. I think the only way to get my foot in the door to produce 'Corpoate HDV' would be to do something on spec first. I'll keep you posted.

Good idea. yeah, keep us up to date!

heath

Not on my HD1, but I've gotten several inquiries for some more 'risque' work. ;-)

Troy

Do you think there is a market for High Definition Porno Movies?

Before we go further, maybe we should consider not talking about producing porn.

My two cents,

heath

nuff said - agreed

This is a great topic, probably should be discussed way more on here....making money.

I am trying to start a "Weddings, Events, Original Television and Films" company right now. My specialty will be HDV (but, I will market as HD) productions.

Just a thought, but I'd really like to see a forum (or at least a new thread) on "Making a Living". There are so many things we could all share regarding making money...like marketing tips, etc.

I've always made money at television stations (sounds like Heath and I have similar backgrounds). Now I'm trying to go out on my own, and it's difficult...I'm in major debt!

Here is one of my ideas for making $$$ with HDV - I want to shoot weddings and burn DVD's. The next thing I want to do is figure out how to make HD DVD's. Anyone have the latest on that?

Murph

True HD DVDs are a little ways off, still.

You can market an HD wedding and get more money.

Debt sucks, but when it's expenses like gear and such, you can write it off.

I left TV news nearly 2 months ago and haven't looked back!

I'll submit your request!

heath

You could create Windows Media 9 HD and include one of the $199.00 Bravo D1 HD DVD players in the package. Then deliver both SD and HD to customer. DVDs are cheap enough these days that you could deliver a whole package that can be mailed to the guests.

You would have profit centers in Production, selling the HD Media/Player packed, and you could add in another profit center for fufillment (mailing the DVD's to all the guest - maybe with an invitation for a screening of the HD version at the brides house!)

How does that idea sound?

That's cool, but remember, most people aren't buying Windows Media 9-readable DVD players. Are they even out yet.

Otherwise, GREAT ideas!

heath

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought that the Bravo DVD Player did play Windows Media 9 in HD.

You're probably right, but still, that's a very small percent of the market, and most people who have bought new DVD players likely WON'T buy an HD/WM9 DVD player for a while, unless they have an HDTV.

heath

There's all kinds of business tips -- like how not to get in trouble, how to do things right, not get scammed, etc. -- in our Taking Care of Business forum.

heath

Also, to help find gigs worldwide, check out our Helping Hands forum!

heath

Thats pretty true. I was guessing that some videophile Grooms might really like to get an HD DVD Player as part of the package, and at the same time downconvert the entire video to also produce SD DVD's for family and other participants in the wedding.

Just my two cents.

Bravo D3 DVD should be able to play Windows Media when it is released.

However right now it is in "preliminary design stage", according to the manufacturer's email I received today.

Just FYI.

(And yes, I'm waiting for it just like you are! :)

Wow! Some awesome ideas!!

To take it one step further, I was thinking about doing this...

"Everyone dreams of the perfect Hollywood romance. Now, you can live it and have the movie to premiere for all your family and friends." (something like that)

What I'd like to do is spend a day prior to the wedding with the couple shooting a short "movie". I'll shoot them on the beach, at home...something whimsy and romantic. (interwoven with photos from their relationship, no audio from them, just mood music that uses their favorite tunes)

That'll be on the DVD as "A Love Story" or something like that...and also "Interviews" with family/friends and the actual wedding. I'll do the wedding as a "Documentry"...no fancy stuff like on the "A Love Story".

How does that sound? Something unique on a DVD.

murph

That's cool, Murph. I should suggest that to my friend who does weddings.

heath

That sounds like a really cool idea Chris. I bet it would be easy to sell if you presented at one of those wedding shows on a real nice looking HDTV. I'm pretty sure you can rent some of the higher end ones.

You could also pitch the customers with 'preserving their precious memories in the TV Format of the future' as a selling point for HD.

Murph,
That's a great idea. you should really follow through on that. Anything to keep busy right? I hear you on the whole "in debt" thing but it's something we have to do in order to make our ideas into reality, right?

I have only made a little bit of money selling copies of my HDV short to friends and family. SD DVD, I still haven't tried the whole WM9 HDDVD.

You can always go market the HDV to a company to make corporate videos. But drop the V and make it HD! ;-)

heath

In actuality it is HD! The medium that we're using to record it is HDV, but the net product (those actualy mpg tranport streams) are pretty much what the cable and satellite companies are delivering now and calling HD.

Good point.

hwm

100% HD if you look at the specs. It's the bottom of the barrel HD, but hey...who cares? The fact is that no one cares except the people on this board because we're "in the know" regarding the minute details of "TS" vs. "PS". When you get down to it...we definately can deliver a product that "matches or comes very close"to high definition productions that cost 10 times as much. We've all read and heard it multiple times from people - our camera makes a comparable image. It also has the resolution of what is "standards based" HD. Therefore, just like the previous poster said...we shoot HD!

Hey, Heath...go ahead and tell your friend my idea. There ain't no competition on here, and I really like that a lot.

FYI - I've just applied for another network affiliate job in my area. (ABC affiliate) I'm broke, so I need a job that pays weekly again....spent all my cash on HD(V)! Wish me luck, it's for shooting and editing one of the most popular shows in New England.

Murph

We have paying customers for a docudrama we're editing now & a cooking show coming up.

The last day of our doc shoot, we were on the Franklin St Bridge
near the MLK center, getting the shot of downtown Atlanta skyscrapers (Guess every video shooter in ATL goes there) . A producer and cameraman/DP roll up
with a rented Sony Cine_Alta for a documentary they're shooting on a former president of Notre Dame Univ. So we compared notes on lighting and cameras.

They had a nice lens, bridge plate, matte box, filters. I'd love to have the huge budget (& profit!) to rent the Cine Alta or Varicam.

But nice to know I can do Hi Def TV on a small budget.

Ed Hill

I run an Advertising Company that uses
Plasma Ed & HD to display ads. Currently
we are using SanDisk Flash Cards as input
with ads created in photoshop. We do not
use sound or motion at this time. We do
simple to complex stills. They are by no
means as good as HD 1080 x 1920.
How could our ads be created with your
cameras to improve our format and generate
revenues for you?
Thank you for your replies.
D. Brewer

The JVC JY-HD10 & HD1 both produce MPG Tranport Streams which are 1280x720 pixels - but progressive scan instead of interlaced. If you take your time doing the photography you can make stunning images with these cameras.

I would guess there are 2 ways that you could drive your Plasma HD displays using HD Footage. Method one would be to use a D-VHS VCR to drive the display. You can make the ad using the HD10 camera, then record it to the D-VHS tape. You can fit 420 minutes on one of the longer tapes.

The second way would be to hook the plasma display to a PC and use a player like Windows Media 9 to cycle the ads for the viewers. This method might be more flexible, but alot more expensive. The JVC D-VHS players can be had refurbished for about $280. You would need a PC that has a processor of at least 2.8GHZ to use it to drive the display.

I hope that helps. Please send me an email as I am working on something like this for a corporate customer.

Bill Piedra

football tapes
 

Does anyone know if the HD10 would be ideal for producing simple football game tapes? I"m talking shooting the game and then dubbing straight off the HDV tape onto VHS for the coaches to review. (I have the opportunity to do that and get paid!) But my question is this--would there be any increase in resolution in the final VHS dub or would it look the same as if I'd shot in DV? Would the wide-screen mode lend itself to the game better than 4:3 format? And how would I make the VHS dub--using the analog output cable from the camcorder or would I need one of the HDV decks (clamshell or 40000)?
Maybe I'd be the first among the group to actually make money...and not have to do any editing in the process!!!

I don't see any advantage to using the HD10 if you're going to downconvert to low resolution VHS. Reviewing game in HD would be excellent thought.

Also, this camera is not very good in low light AND the fast pans that would be required for a football game would look terrible. I would suggest a nice 3 chip SD camera for that sort of job.

So you're saying there would be NO appearance of the image looking sharper in the sense that movies shot on 35mm and dumped to VHS look much better than movies shot in DV and put on VHS? I've already got a DV camera to shoot games. I was hoping shooting in HD would look "better" since you're starting with a better image.

Lynne, it will look better depending on how you shoot.

If you do lots of fast pans and zooms...probably not a good idea. But, I have found that shooting outdoors with the HD10u producing amazing (yes, truly amazing) footage.

Murph

I may be making money!!!!
 

Trust me, I do not pan and zoom no matter what I'm shooting. So how do I go from the HDV tape to VHS directly? I do not edit since they want the tape within hours of the game. Cable, clamshell or deck--which is best to send directly to VHS decks?

I think you can run a line directly to a VHS deck from the camera. I've yet to try it, but that will allow you to grab a "live to tape" VHS copy.

Murph

I'm looking at the JVC "clamshell" VH1 unit and I see where that outputs NTSC in letterbox mode but the cable option is certainly the most economical way to go. When you say outdoor stuff looks really sharp, you're not familiar with how it looks dubbed onto VHS, right? How's come nobody's tried this yet???

From JVC's web page...
 

Built-in digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversion allows easy dubbing between digital and analog sources. S-Video, composite and audio connectors function as both inputs and outputs, allowing HD/SD or DV sources to be dubbed from the CU-VH1U to an NTSC deck or analog material dubbed from an NTSC source onto Mini DV in the CU-VH1. Component video outputs allow dubbing from the CU-VH1U to a professional deck.