Outdoors in Arizona

Thank-you very much, you answered all my questions and I can't tell you how much you've helped me. My hunting buddies and I have always laughed over beer about taping our crazy hunts, but, I guess I never realized how possible it really was! Thanks for helping the newbie.

[Michael Rosenberger]

Well,

Now I am going to play the devils advocate.

Though it isn't difficult to get on the air, there is a right way and a wrong way. I see many programs on the air, specifically outdoor shows, that disregard editing and production standards and basically put out a very poor product, not to mention showing unacceptable situations for safety and ethics. Added to that, there is TONS of legal issues to settle before paying for air time, including E&O and Liability insurance, business registration, taxes (jeez, there is ALWAYS taxes.), and contracts.

I talk to many people about starting shows, and I whole heartily support those efforts, but I have to harp on what I consider of the utmost importance. We took 2 of the four years doing research and working our regular jobs. We took the next couple years putting the business together and creating our product identity. Plan, plan, plan.

Speaking of planning, even as a tight run two person company you need to plan to have NO INCOME for the first year. Our company runs itself and does pay for some things for us, but we don't get to draw a regular check. Not all shows start that way and good sales people can help in that regard, but I am telling you to be prepared with business loans and such. Well, unless you have a good chunk of change lying around. Most advertisers in larger markets want to see at least one year of stability to make sure they are not supporting some flash in the pan. I have seen 3 of the 5 local show go out of business with the first couple years.

I will get off my box now and return to our regularly scheduled program.

Best of luck and let me know if I can be of any other help. There will be many questions and the best advice I can give is ask as many people as possible for answers and develop a plan from the input.

Cheers!

[Michael Rosenberger]

We have some of the commercials we produced online and was wondering if anyone has had a chance to check them out? I would appreciate any comments. They are larger files so may take a minute to download, unless you have DSL or cable.

http://www.azuho.com/azsj_tv/sponsors.html

Quicktime format.

Thanks!

[John Locke]

Michael, I checked out all your commercial spots and they're all inspiring in their professional look, sound, pace, and graphics. Thanks for sharing them.

Speaking of graphics...what did you use to make them and animate them? FCP doesn't have much of anything available for titles, but I hear the new 3.0 version has been souped-up.

One thing...in the "Retrievers" commercial, I particularly liked the "bounce" transition where you quickly zoomed in then cut to a new shot as you quickly zoomed out.

[Michael Rosenberger]

That's the Canopus system using Premiere 6, TitleDeko, and TitleMotion. All free versions and almost everything done in the commercials was realtime in the DVStorm. I LOVE FCP, but for the money and capabilities Canopus has been invaluable.

Thanks for your comments. As I said above. Nothing super fancy, but they were shot and edited in one long day...and they were free.

I should note that we did not produce the Kohl's Ranch, 4 Wheelers Supply, or 4 Seasons Motorsports commercials.

[John Locke]

Michael,

Could you tell me more about what the market requires for submissions? You've mentioned that they require tone, bars, slate, and count on the leader. Does it matter how many seconds that the bars are shown? Or the setting of the tone? Why is there a need for both a slate and a count (can't imagine why you'd need a blank slate inserted between the bars and the count)?

Man! I wish someone would write a book or make a video along the lines of "The Practical Guide to Submitting Film/Video Productions for Airing." I've searched Amazon.com high and low. Seems all the titles I find talk about "theory"...more along the lines of "How to Succeed in Business" rather than simply outlining concrete procedures as in "Okay...here's what you need to do and how to do it. One,..."

To you and all the veterans out there...write the book or make the video...and I'll be your first customer!

[Michael Rosenberger]

I don't remember what the industry standard is/was anymore, maybe someone could chime in.

I put 30 seconds of bars and tone. I set my tone for 0 vu, 1k tone at -10dB (using my old Fostex tone generator, model TT-15.). I use -10 becuase that is what most consumer and prosumer equipment is referenced to. The pro stuff I have used is +4, again 0 vu and 1k tone. The BIGGEST thing is to keep audio consistent to whatever tone you set. That way the station or duplication house can set their audio output to your 0 vu point. For direct to consumer stuff, like making vhs copies for people, you should make sure you use the correct reference.

One of the most difficult setups I have done is to make sure I have consistent tone throughout my system. My Canopus system references to -12, as does my Xl1-S, Tone and bars generated by Premiere are like 0dB, or something like that. Anyway, just make sure you take whatever tone you want to use and put it through each piece of equipment to see where it comes up for levels. There is much more to that, but that is the basic concept.

I put a 10 second slate on the front of every program. This includes name of the show, title of the show, episode or reel number, audio assignment, Creation and copyright dates, air date(s), contact information, and whatever else the stations require.

Another note on audio is that many stations use automation for switching, so every station you send to may have different requirements for audio assignment. Some use mono right or mono left, with the other track blank for control. Some want both mono tracks clear and stereo on the Hi-Fi tracks.

Even though I am talking audio I guess my point here is kinda global to formating leaders, and for that matter tape format in general.

- Ask the station what they want.
- Make sure to adhere to that.

With all the information from the stations you may be able to find a standard format you can put on all of the tapes you submit. As an example, I put mono audio on left and right lower tracks and stereo on the Hi-Fi tracks. I called each of the stations and they said that was fine and that they would just lay down their control track over which ever channel they needed. Saved me from having to create several different formats.

It is really funny you should ask for a book on the topics. My partner Doug and I have talked to dozens of people just in the last few months on all the same topics we have been chatting about here. I was talking to a local guy just last week who, after listening to my same blabbering about marketing, and format, and shooting ,and editing, and the business, said the same exact thing. I wish we had the time and patience to write a book, but we are slammed! I am thinking of throwing all this information and more on a personal website. Not sure if or when that will happen, but it has been on my TODO list.

Anyway, I don't mind writing when I have time and this is the place for getting good information from good people. As usual, the above is just my expierence that is working for our show. Your expierence will certainly be different in practice, but similar in theory, and I am sure there are other rock solid standards and setup practices out there that can be shared. In other words, I still don't consider myself and expert or professional, so adjust the volume and tone of the conversation to your liking :)



Hope this helps.