anybody own their own video business?

gmes29 wrote on 4/23/2008, 4:36 PM
just curious how you got started (capital, rental space), what services did you provide when you first started and were there any demographic studies involved in determining the location of your shop. basically all the gritty details.

looking at local places in the yellow pages, i noticed a lot of existing places offer services that i don't know how to do or don't have the necessary software/equipment. is this something i could grow into or would i have to offer a full line of services from the start?

Comments

dan-hedrick wrote on 4/24/2008, 2:57 PM
What type of business are you considering? I have also considered a small business (very small) to run out of my home. I would use videos and photos provided by the customer and edit them into a "collage" with background music. I would not actually do any video taking. It would be to make videos for schools and possibly weddings, birthdays, etc. I tried to do research on the copyright requirements of placing music in the background, but found nothing that would apply to a "small business" of making videos. I have talked to other video making businesses and they indicated that they did not worry about the copyright requirements, because it was too confusing to try to comply when they only address large businesses or users of their music. Has anyone else tried to address the copyright issue for small businesses?

lcdrdan
gmes29 wrote on 4/24/2008, 4:12 PM
this pretty much sums it up (except for the videography)..

Wedding/Event videography (don't want to/can't do)
Video tape to DVD conversions (can do)
8 & 16mm film conversions (could do/am willing to do if i knew how)
Photo/35mm slide montage to DVD or tape.

i found this in an ad in my local yellow pages for a similar business.
Editguy42 wrote on 4/24/2008, 5:23 PM
About copyright, simply stated if someone other than yourself made the music, or video, or took the picture, than it is in copyright and you
CANNOT use it withour written permission. peroid..

the only way around this is to use what is called buyout music or royalty free music. several websites sell it and it can get quite expensive. The way I do it is I use Smartsound's SonicFire Pro software it is an automatic music generator that uses a patented process to make the music match your video, you buy the music disks from smartsound each disk costs $99.00 sometimes they are on sale for $69.99 so keep and eye to the website. check it out at www.smartsound.com.

Also Sony has a product called Cinescore it is basicly the same thing as Sonicfire but not as much music yet (they have entered into a patent agreement with smartsound but I am not sure what that means)
Any way the best thing is that any music bed you create with either software is royalty free meaning you can use it anyway you want and never pay any fee after the initial purchase of the software and music disks.

Good Luck
dan-hedrick wrote on 4/24/2008, 6:25 PM
gmes29...what software are you using (VMS version ?). Do you plan on putting music to it? What is your potential client base...schools, churches, friends, etc? Why set up a "shop" when you may be able to do it out of your home?
Some possible things to also consider is the DVD packaging...
I have an HP 5280 printer / copier / scanner (Cost $129..but on sale sometimes for $99). It also prints photos directly onto "treated DVDs" and makes a nice looking package. It works great. Lightscribe also works pretty well....but quality isn't the same as the photo printing. If you plan on mass producing DVDs, ...here is a website that sells in bulk (recorded or blanks) www.diskmakers.com
Or if you plan on producing smaller quanties ....say under 40 or so, you can purchase a "cd/dvd copier" that will copy 3 or more at a time.
I bought one for around $400 and it works great and makes three copies at at time in under 4 minutes.

Hope this helps....

lcdrdan
dan-hedrick wrote on 4/25/2008, 8:32 AM
Editguy42:
Thanks for the information and links. Some people like to have popular songs for background to their videos. I have researched somewhat with BMI, etc. and am willing to pay any "fees" that they might have. But I have not been able to find any information on this for small businesses that work in small volumes. Until I get information on that...I cannot make videos with this type of music background. Can anyone help with this???

lcdrdan
gmes29 wrote on 4/25/2008, 10:34 AM
Icdrdan..
i really can't answer those questions accurately only because this is just a gleam in my eye right now. haven't yet done any kind of research. although i probably will start out working out of my residence until i can afford to rent office space. that is if i even go through with it.
i am using 6.0b which is probably the most efficient and well running of all the editors i have (Pinnacle, Adobe). will probably upgrade if/when it becomes necessary.
big daddy wrote on 4/26/2008, 8:39 AM
Some people I know in the video business require the clients supply the music they want in the video production. This practices mainly ensures that the right music is chosen for the project minimizing that avenue for customer complaints. It does not resolve the copyright use issue but rather adds another layer of obscurity to it. You will have to consult with an attorney skilled in copyright law to really understand your legal risks, exposures, and liabilities for each music approach.