Hello from Vancouver

[Mark Utley]

Looks like I'll be doing some work in Vancouver this summer.

I do lots of video work with bands and my friend's band will be doing a 3-week tour from Saskatoon to Victoria and back so I'm going with them. I'll make a tour DVD out of footage shot on the road and the shows they play.

I'll post more details closer to the actual tour date but all I know right now is that it will be sometime in July. I can't wait!

[Saturnin Kondratiew]

damn, i still got this cast on, cant do $hit i'm usless lol

[Glen Chua]

Sat, what happened to you??

[Saturnin Kondratiew]

never mind, lets just say that i've been watching to much "skating with the stars" lol.....cough cough.... but if i could post pics here i would lol....looks so funny, i ripped off the cast myslef about 2 hrs ago, shit was hurtin to much. Plus its been 6weeks already, i'm going in for sexrays tomorrow. Anyway, the right leg that the case came off looks so thin and weak, lol so funny. We have named it "chicken leg"

[Juan Parra]

Hi

Do you know any company who has these rentals?
Thanks a lot

[Gary Redmond]

I have been on a part time basis photographing, mostly weddings. I am thinking of expanding to DV. I have only a cunsumer sony DV camcorder that I have played with the last 6 years to learn and edit, to dvd now. I would like to expand share and get more involved artisticly and on a professional level. Any ideas?

I'm 52 years old. M.....dont let my age scare you I can still see and hear.

studies...Grad of Emily Carr.... many moons ago.
.............Fine Arts Dip....Langara
.............6 mths at CDIS.. 2d animation. Photoshop

Gary Redmond

[Chris Mah]

Both these companies rent the Z1U in Vancouver.

http://www.provisionvideo.com/rentals.htm

http://llsr.com/rentals.html

[Dylan Couper]

Originally Posted by Chris Mah

http://llsr.com/rentals.html

FWIW is my preferred rental place.

[Juan Parra]

Originally Posted by Dylan Couper

FWIW is my preferred rental place.

Thanks guys!

[Colin Minihan]

wow there is a lot of ppl from van ...

[Colin Minihan]

I need help on projects and if you guys are interested in checking out some of my work it can be found here: www.digitalinterference.net

We do a lot of music videos in and around Vancouver. We just got an hvx200 and we also shoot on ps technik mini 35 with all of our projects.

Check this link if you might be interested in helping out on a video i'll be shooting on March 16th: the details are listed in the add below.
http://www.digitalinterference.net/thegorgeousadd.htm

thanks,

Colin Minihan

[Dylan Couper]

Originally Posted by Colin Minihan

wow there is a lot of ppl from van ...

No, not really. They are all just me. I just have tons of fake users and lots of free time. ;)


Checked out your site, looking good Colin!

[Scott Thibodeau]

Hi there,

I'm new here, obviously :), and new to the world of DV. Actually I have not even entered into the world of DV, hence my membership here, as there seems to be a plethora of resources, information, knowledge and experience.

On Aug. 21st I'm leaving the country and driving my newest toy, a 1973 VW Hi Top van, to Central America. I'd like to be able to travel like this full time so in order to fund this excursion I've lined up a few different business ideas which include travel writing, some photography, web related business etc. I've also decided that I would shoot and host video on the countries that I visit and sell them through my website. Kind of like an in-depth Lonely Planet guide that will go into more detail on each location. As an example, Mexico itself may be a 4 hour DVD, as it is a vast country with a lot more to offer the traveler than Cancun and Cabos san Lucas.

These productions would be amateurish of course but the information contained within would be useful to a lot of people. I will be doing everything myself from my bus while I'm on the road. In Mexico I will edit the U.S. portion of my trip and in Guatemala I will do Belize. I know a lot of the members here will tell me to take another year or two to get some experience, take some classes, learn the equipment better etc but that's not an option for me. I'm not looking for an oscar in cinematography but I would like the productions to look good and so I will probably bombard a lot of you with questions as I stumble into this new art form.

That being said I am a traveler at heart, it's what I love to do. I've always enjoyed photography and writing. I play and listen to music and I'm passionate about the places that I visit. I beleive that with some willpower, hard work and a lot of practise I can eventually put together a somewhat decent presentation that will be marketable.

Enough of my ranting. It's nice to be here.

Cheers,

Scott

[Jason Robinson]

Looks like you have lots of plans in place already. Do you have a business model and advertising plans worked out? In other words, how to get the word out about your productions while you are unable to meet clients face to face? I see that being a little kink in the road. Nothing too major, but something to consider.

I'm just going to throw out some questions to help churn the creative & business thinking process...

Being a traveler, I assume you have watched lots of shows on the cable networks that are the sort of "globe trotter" showcases. Have you thought about any focus on food? Foreign food and food reviews is big business and you will be places that specific shows target. I am thinking of <a href="http://www.fronterakitchens.com/">"Mexico One Plate At A Time"</a> a very cool show.

Considering the remote locations, have you thought about data backups or content distrobution? How about type of products. Are you wanting to make travel DVDs and then sell the physical product from your location on the road? Or do you create the production master discs and then ship them off to a duplication company and have a warehouse / business in the states handle distribution / marketing the items? What about downloads of the product allowing the customer to burn the product to DVD or store on HD?

Do you have a company name, web site, or tax ID? Are you going to incorporate, LLC, or remain sole proprietor? What state will you base your US operations from? The home state location affects taxes and commerce may be easier in some than in others.

Do you have any concerns about the security of your expensive digital equipment while out on the road in countries not know for tight security?

I have more questions, but that should be enough to get started. I have been asking and answering these questions of myself because I am starting a home business. Hope these help.

jason

[Scott Thibodeau]

Thanks for your reply. You offered up a lot of good questions to consider, some of which I've gone through and some of which I haven't. I'll try to answer them in order and any suggestions that you have will, of course, be invaluable. I'm in the learning process right now.

"Looks like you have lots of plans in place already. Do you have a business model and advertising plans worked out? In other words, how to get the word out about your productions while you are unable to meet clients face to face? I see that being a little kink in the road. Nothing too major, but something to consider."



I do have a general business model in place and some general advertising ideas as well. A lot of the advertising will be word of mouth, postings on different discussion boards, traffic to my website, reciprocal links, selling via amazon etc. The last time I was on the road I posted an update with photos about 1 per week which generated an incredible amount of traffic to the site. People like pics. This time there will be small video updates as well. As for meeting clients, well, that's what the Internet is for. I also have a business manager here in Vancouver who will be handling the fiscal side of things as well as dealing with customers. He's a good friend but he's also a certified accountant.

"Being a traveler, I assume you have watched lots of shows on the cable networks that are the sort of "globe trotter" showcases. Have you thought about any focus on food? Foreign food and food reviews is big business and you will be places that specific shows target. I am thinking of "Mexico One Plate At A Time" a very cool show.

My interest in this escapade is to create an overall travel journal that will go into detail on many aspects of these countries. Some programs will cover tourist areas, others will deal with the culinary and yet others might focus on wildlife. I'd like to touch on all of these subjects at one point or another, hence the DVD format. The program is a straight to DVD format that will not have to be watched chronologically. People can choose regions and view them out of order and still not miss out on anything. Mexico is a good example of why it needs to be done this way. The entire country could easily warrant a good 5 to 6 hour program. If it's broken down into sub categories like Baja California, Chihuahua and the Copper Canyon, Mexico City etc then people can choose to view it as they wish.

I will take a look for that program on Mexico though, it sounds interesting. I have been downloading a lot of programs like Lonely Planet and have been studying how they shoot, how they keep people engaged, etc etc.

"Considering the remote locations, have you thought about data backups or content distrobution? How about type of products. Are you wanting to make travel DVDs and then sell the physical product from your location on the road? Or do you create the production master discs and then ship them off to a duplication company and have a warehouse / business in the states handle distribution / marketing the items? What about downloads of the product allowing the customer to burn the product to DVD or store on HD?"

I won't be selling the physical product from the road. I will be dealing with a duplication company that can take care of everything for me including shipping. That way I only need to ship them the masters and the art work and I can go back to concentrating on the rest of it. Allowing the download of the product is an interesting concept but I think my bandwidth will be high enough as it is without adding more gigs to the mix. It is something I'll look into though. Thanks for the idea.

As for backups, I will have 2 external hard drives with me as well as the latest in DVD burners. Before working with any footage it will be stored on the HD, backed up to DVD and then Fed Ex'ed back to Canada so that I will have all the raw footage available when I get back...if I get back.

"Do you have a company name, web site, or tax ID? Are you going to incorporate, LLC, or remain sole proprietor? What state will you base your US operations from? The home state location affects taxes and commerce may be easier in some than in others."

The company name will most likely be my domain name, wander globe travel productions or something along those lines. I'm not sure about sole prop. or incorporating yet. I've got my business manager looking into all that. He's been checking out some organizations in DC I beleive. No need to remind me about taxes though, I'm from Canada, the land of legalized theivery. When people ask me if I'm concerned about theft in Latin America I always tell that that at least there I'll be able to see the theif face to face. :)

"Do you have any concerns about the security of your expensive digital equipment while out on the road in countries not know for tight security?"

Security is definately and issue. I've spent a lot of time in the countries I'm going to and am very aware of the types of circumstances that can arise. My VW will have hidden storage comparments for the more expensive gear as well as an alarm system and an immobilizer. All precautions are being taken.

"I have more questions, but that should be enough to get started. I have been asking and answering these questions of myself because I am starting a home business. Hope these help."

Well thanks for the feedback and questions. Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. I'm a busy lad these days. Tell me about your business. What are you getting into?