Back when i used Vegas 2 or 3, My start up screen on the monitors would be the AVID logo. no one ever said a word,, now i fly the Vegas flag on the system, and have no problems at all , just do the job.

good on ya winrock!!!

thankfully i'm out of it (sort of) - but when i was in it and dealing with ad wankers etc., i had my old linear suite in one room (audio and vision mixers etc,), another had a couple of macs (basic ones to test websites, etc.,) along with the 'office' pc, and finally the third room had a keyboard, tablet and a couple of monitors along with a sony hr trinitron. NO pc or box in sight. when asked i simply said we connected it to either the mac's for avid (which was on one of them - basic xp and pretty pathetic compared to vegas 3 / 4), or vegas. i always ran roughs, raw footage, etc., back through vegas, explaining my last client (naming some big organisation - as far removed from the business of my present client as possible) insisted i use vegas - citing the usual vegas highlights....

only ever had one wanker demand playback through avid (he dabbled at home on one), and even he gave up when he realised the speed and efficeincy of vegas....

nowadays, i simply send the bill, and if the want to know what i edit on - i simply ask them why they came to me - my skills or the box i work with. touche

leslie

Jim,

Thanks for the SGI fridge, espresso maker, etc.!

Snif.

:O)

i get asked alot about the NLEs i use.. im lucky in a sense i have access to everythign, but i really only use Vegas coz it does everythign i need it to do without a headache...

Ushere is right.... if theyre being dicks and want to know what you edit on, i usually jsut say i use whats needed for the job.

If they ask specifics, i usually say Avid first (this usually shuts them up immediately) then i throw in afew other NLEs. Ive never had anyone want to sit with me, coz by the time we actually sit, i bore them with details.. i HATE... and i mean absolutely DESPISE dipshits hanging over my shoulder while im cutting..

Other times, if its a fairly ok relationship, i tell them that if i tell them my trade secrets, i wouldnt be in business, they usually giggle and move on.

Ive never really had a problem with this and if i was to lose work because of one persons opinion, then that company doesnt deserve my service.
One of my clients is the biggest relationship marketting companies in australa who deals with all those awards and credit card points and frequent flyer type programs.
Their head office in the UK use macs, they do all their own video production and editing.
One time we were both online chatting while cutting for a deadline in 12 hours which needed the final piece to be uploaded and ready to download the next day, burnt to dvd from ISO then to be played in singapore live in front of 3000 business execs... were talking billion dollar company, with billion dollar offshoot child companies.

The UK in house office using FCP couldnt keep up with editing, let alone with the final render...
Aand this guy was a "certified" FCP editor with something like 10 years experience or some shit like that..

This proved to me, that im onto a good thing with vegas and if people dont believe this story, i tel them to check out my testimonials on my website...

The biggest stuff up above all else is people misconceptions and exposure to NLEs and what each one can do above the other.
so many FCP users think its the bees knees coz they havent seen anything else.. So many avid users think the sun shines out of its proverbial backside, but even a mojo system cant compete with V6
Its all about the name.. Sony have it.. if they jsut market THIS product with the parent name and as farss said, list a range of houses that use V6, then the program itself will show its credibility to the public and shut the naysayers down...

It was a year ago this month that I switched all my new projects over to Vegas.
I just got my year end taxes done and wow – I have had a 28% net increase over 2004!
I know I was doing well, but what a surprise.
I’ll attribute at least 50% to Vegas for such a great gain.
I’ll have to admit that my 30 sec. spots have improved with the use of Vegas as well.
Also, looking at my time tracking for the year, I’ve worked 15% on average fewer hours Monday-Friday.
So if this year goes as well as last year or better – I’ll be able to get me a new XDCAM HD.

It's tough to be a ground-breaking leader in technology - believe me, I've got dozens of stories to tell - (and an old Milt Associates giveaway cup that said, "Bleeding on the Cutting edge" - :>))

The complaints??
Everything from printing my own still photos in "C" process with negative film (we've GOT to have chromes)
to editing on off-line video ( it's GOT to be done in film on a moviola)
to shooting in 1" ( it's GOT to be on 2" )
to BetaSP (are you kidding - that's too small)
to shooting national spots in digital video (where's the real camera)...
well, you get the idea.

First - DON'T YOU DARE write the president of the agency - not only will he not do anything (or understand or even care) - you will never, ever work at that shop again or for any other shop where they know you wrote a letter.

Otherwise, unfortunately that's the game we're in.
My response is always the same... "Hmmm... I see what you're getting at. Would you like me to bring in an AVID set-up? We can rent one for only $400 (or $200 or whatever) a day to finish up the project." In a case like this, it's way more important to keep the client. I would have rented an AVID room and broke even on the day, to keep them happy. By the end of the session, the AVID/Vegas question would have disappeared, and your prestige as a supervising editor would have gone way up.

We are definitely in a business where you can always get something "better" or "faster" for more money. Lots of people are only half informed, and that's the problem. Any time I had a 25 year old (or less) client come into the editing suite, I knew it was going to cost me money (no slight intended to you 25 and younger readers - as Vegas users, you are clearly in a different class). A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Your client base is going to continually turn over - that's just the nature of the game. Stay friendly and act as if nothing happened. Keep pitching the same guys - they may come back.

In general, although I've had some clients for up to 15 or 20 years years, most will only last 18 to 24 months. Then they'll either get promoted, fired or bored with you.

Forewarned is forearmed.

v

I have friends in the video business who have had mac's for video editing and have switched to PC and Vegas and they all are glad there have done it. I use to hear them complain about projects locking up, ect. I use Dell computers and Vegas and have never had issues of lockup, or anything major that I would want to switch to something else.

I love Vic's philosophy of always saying customer demands can be met, "and this is the cost for it, I trust it is still necessary, right?"

I had a customer from a very large company who was used to getting his way with every vendor. What he really needed was a limited license that we were offering for about $250K.

In a meeting with him and me and my boss, he demanded to get an unlimited worldwide license instead. We were not offering this to anybody. Period.

I said, "No problem, we can do that," and immediately felt a strong kick in the shins from my boss's direction.

Looking at my boss, he seemed to be developing cardiac arrest, but I calmly continued, "OK, let me see here..., mmmf + bzzvdf / nmdfzzz * fmzzbrtf, mumble, mumble... unlimited license, that will be $10M, and we can give you your special 10% discount on that, so $9M."

My boss was still red in the face from suppressed anger, but he kept quiet.

"Would you like me to get the unlimited license brought in here, or should we go with the regular one?"

The customer seemed to have some breathing problems, probably caused by the realization that $9M wasn't in his budget. He signed the limited license and felt that he made the choice.

And I kept my job, and developed trust with my boss too.

(Which came in handy the following year, after we had acquired a company in the UK with a really really frugal managing director. We did our first joint tradeshow in Germany, and on my first day back in the office in L.A. I got called into my boss's office "immediately, no delay." Hmmm, not a good sign.

He had the managing director of the UK company on his speaker phone and he was totally livid. He "had rented a 3-cylinder Daihatsu for his staff to save money for the company, so what was my staff doing there with two Mercedeses?"

My boss asked me to explain myself, but when he saw that I was totally calm and even smiling very very subtly, his anger disappeared and he started smiling too because he figured there was something good coming...

I just asked, "How much did the Daihatsu cost you?"
He said, "473 DM"
Me: "OK, let me pull my invoice here from Hertz. Umm, for the two Mercedeses, I paid 463 DM together."

My boss started laughing uncontrollably, and this was put to rest immediately.

(I used a hidden Hertz plan that is not advertised in print, online, or known to reservation agents. It has been working for more than 15 years, and it can only be used from the U.S. for rentals in Europe, so I couldn't share it with our new UK company.)

For video clients, I found that it really helped to have an NLE keyboard that immediately says, "this is not an office computer." Between that, a pro NTSC monitor, a Sony PCM-R500 pro DAT deck, a mixer board and nearfield monitors, the question about Avid vs. Vegas was flown past in about a minute.

I put away my Avid mouse pad a long time ago... :O)

or you could follow Milt's advice