Giving Raw Footage to Bride (Technical question)

[William Smyth]

Okay, this is going to be somewhat convoluted, so bare with me.

I got hired by a friend to shoot her wedding. She works at a TV station as a producer/editor. She asked for copies of all the raw footage. She's wants a chance to edit the material into other projects in the future and also just wants to be able to see all the raw footage. No problem, I can understand as an editor that she would want to have this stuff to mess around with.

My problem is, how do I get it to her? We shoot on HDV. Easiest thing to do would be to give her the originals or dubs, but she doesn't have an HDV deck. Down converting then dubbing to MiniDV isn't the answer either, she doesn't have a MiniDV deck either.

So, I thought the easiest and quickest thing to do is give her the files on an external hard drive. The wedding was edited in Final Cut Pro. We dragged the files to her drive, but she can't get them to play. There was some material shot 16x9 SD and those QuickTime files are fine, it's the ones that originated on HDV that are causing the headaches. To further complicate matters, she's using a PC to look at the footage. If she purchased QuickTime Pro would that help? I don't want to have her spend the money (even if is only $30) if it's not the right solution. Help.

[Perrone Ford]

She only needs a new install of quicktime (not pro) on the PC to view pro-res files out of FCP. I do it all the time.

[Chris Davis]

QuickTime Pro does not allow you to play anything that regular free QuickTime can't.

[Andrew Smith]

Just give her the tapes. If she works at a TV station then they will have all the gear for converting external formats for ingest in to their systems.

Ultimately, draw the line here and consider it to be her problem or it will drive you nuts.

Andrew

[Kees van Duijvenbode]

Originally Posted by William Smyth

We shoot on HDV.

If you shoot on HDV the captured files are .m2t files aren't they? m2t files can be played with the Windows Media player without a problem.

[William Smyth]

Perrone, thanks, we'll try that route.

Andrew, using the TV stations gear doesn't really solve the problem, they don't use any HDV. Also, as I mentioned she's a friend, not just a client and it's something I'd like to do for her,

Thanks to everyone for your input.

[Chad Dyle]

We will give our brides the original HDV tapes after the final product has been delivered. We don't charge them for this and have been doing it for years. We have only had one issue. A bride called and asked if we could add "this scene" into the video and I told her there would be a charge if we did. Out of all of the original tapes we have given out, I have yet to see a re-edit of the wedding. I have told the brides that I would love to see something if they ever did anything, but nothing yet.

[Craig Terott]

Originally Posted by Chad Dyle

We will give our brides the original HDV tapes after the final product has been delivered. We don't charge them for this and have been doing it for years. We have only had one issue. A bride called and asked if we could add "this scene" into the video and I told her there would be a charge if we did. Out of all of the original tapes we have given out, I have yet to see a re-edit of the wedding. I have told the brides that I would love to see something if they ever did anything, but nothing yet.

Ok, I just don't understand this utter capitulation (pardon this ridiculous run-on sentence): So you let them see all the oops, goofs, camera repositionings; the time when you were outside and those mosquitoes were biting while you were rolling and your shots looked like a 5yr old was behind the camera but the person watching just thinks you suck, or when the guest stepped in front of your shot and then didn't move, how 'bout when your assistant said to you "hey check out that one over there" and the audio is heard in the video, or when the groom spent all his time before the ceremony talking about the game last night instead of the monumental event that was about to happen, never mind made that derogatory comment picked up clearly in the lapel mic's audio channel, or how about those creative shots... many work, but we all know, some are complete train wrecks, or how about when you accidentally kept the camera rolling?

I'm a long form editor, so I provide a lot to start with, but never all of the original out of cam stuff. Proud photographers don't even do that. It would be like a photographer providing all the shots that he deleted in-camera on the day. ...gee, that trash button is so handy on an SLR, just two quick clicks and you're a better photographer than anyone else will ever know. Video's best delete key is not providing the original out of cam stuff. Don't let them see you're human - the photographer doesn't, why should you?

[Cole McDonald]

although I'm on craig's side a bit, I'll just ask the obvious... have you asked her what format she wants it to come in? One phone call could solve your problem right there. Perhaps burnt to a dvd would be acceptable for her to rip in as she needs the footage later.

[William Smyth]

Cole,

She wants the raw for two reasons; one; just to see some of the outtakes, and B to perhaps edit it into some future projects (i.e. family videos, maybe a blooper reel, whatever). But, she isn't planning to use it immediately. As I mentioned earlier, if I could just hand her the tapes and let it go, I would, but she doesn't have the equipment at this time to be able to view it now.

Anyway, the issue has been resolved. I had her download the latest version of QuickTime and it seemed to work.

Thanks again to everyone for their input.

PS. Normally, I don't let any client have the tapes. I wouldn't even sell them. The most I would do is let them have a lightly edited version. - I don't want them to see the out-of-focus shots, the shots of the floor or the sky, etc.. It's too much like letting the client see behind the curtain of the almighty Oz. To me editing is as much about what you choose not to put in as it is about what you choose to put in.

For this particular client. She's in the industry and she knows what happens behind the curtain. - I've shot promos for her, so she's used do seeing all my out of focus shots. :)